Reporting from Lenexa, KA
LAT 38.57 N LON 94.44 W
We began the day in Nebraska, and visited our 6th State Capital in Lincoln. It’s unique—Nebraska is unicameral, so there’s only the Senate. Also, the building doesn’t have a traditional dome—instead, it has a 14 story tower. You can actually go outside near the top. The place looks like a church inside—no metal detectors to be found. Ironically, the outside seems more like a prison.
A panorama on the 14th floor, near the top of the tower. Lots of black stone and murals.
View from the top.
Driving on, we ran into some wooden objects.
In a guy’s front yard. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a tree?
Replica of a Lewis & Clark boat. Very narrow and cramped.
After a quick sprint across the corner of Iowa, we found ourselves in Missouri. St. Joseph is the self-proclaimed “Pork Tenderloin Capital of the World”, so we shared one at a local dive.
A local resident.
BPT with homemade chips. Delish!
We jumped over the river to Kansas, where dinosaurs run wild.
Not Photoshopped.
Back to Missouri and Kansas City. We started with a castle tower in a residential neighborhood. A guy decided he wanted to build one, and I guess there was no HOA to stop him.
A treacherous spiral staircase takes you to the top.
The top includes a cannon, in case you have an issue with a neighbor.
Then it was onto KC proper. We had to have BBQ there, and found a place that started in a gas station (ambiance is inversely equivalent to quality in ‘que). After a 15 minute wait in line (and this was an early dinner), we got ribs, burnt ends, and a meat-centric salad. All were great.
The following are artistic installations in the downtown area. We decided to get to all of them tonight, so we didn’t have to go back into downtown again. The roads and traffic are a mess! (Of course, having a Chiefs game going on tonight didn’t help).
In the garment district, almost hidden.
Giant books at the library, with Mindy shown for scale. Took 15 minutes to find a place to park.
A replica of TWA’s “Moonliner” from Disneyland, on a random building. Perhaps it’s there because of…
…Walt’s original animation studio, pre-Disney. Can’t understand why the Mouse House doesn’t pay to have this abandoned building fixed up as a shrine!
One of several giant shuttlecocks at the art museum.
A glass labyrinth, possibly inspired by KC’s roads.
By that point, we were beat, and we headed to the Kansas side of the KC metro area for the night. Tomorrow, museums, libraries, and an electric house. #gowestboomers