twrama 1990_final oc.. - AMA WA

TRAVEL
Kansas City, Missouri is one of those
quintessential American cities that offers
the traveller a huge amount – yet is all too easily
overlooked. It is also highly recommended as the
ideal city to get a real feel for the American soul
if you are flying from the east coast of the US to
Australia.
KC (as it is popularly known) is a wonderfully
welcoming town that offers a taste of the real
America and a chance to soak up the history,
culture, shopping and food of mid-west USA.
Situated almost at a central point in the
continental United States, KC has remade itself
after some decades of demographic challenge
and societal change and seems to now be facing the future with
new-found confidence.
Easily seen in three days (I had four days there very recently),
KC should be on the to-do list of anyone really interested in
the growth and future of the US. Most visitors fly into cities
on either the east or the west coast to see places such as Los
Angeles, San Francisco, New York, even Boston.
And yet the US is predominantly a land of smaller cities.
Chicago, Illinois; Austin, Texas; Richmond, Virginia; Little
Rock, Alabama; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City; Utah
and Portland, Oregon. All these cities reveal more about the US
than a visit to New York ever will.
And yet tourists – especially Australians – continue to pour
into New York like lemmings looking for the real American
experience, not realising that in many ways the city is fast
becoming a type of traveler’s Disneyland where tourists talk to
tourists and the person sitting next to you at breakfast or in the
theatre is far more likely to come from Frankfurt or Tokyo or
Madrid than somewhere in the US.
KC – and other cities like it - is therefore a wonderful balance
to the global nature of NY. The home of the American Jazz
Museum, the impressive National World War I Memorial and
Museum and the 1920s Spanish-style shopping area, Country
Club Plaza, KC seems to have a great spirit that is easy to catch.
Locals are intrigued that you have visited them, repeatedly
asking what was it about their town that attracted me to call in
on my way home.
Founded
in 1838 at
the point
where the
Missouri
and Kansas
rivers meet,
the city has
at various
points of its
history been
Talking points: The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art acts as a net to the
giant shuttle-cocks sitting on the grass outside.
(Facing page) Kansas City’s famous Union Station is worth a visit.
Fountains galore: The J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain on the
Country Club Plaza in Kansas City.
major transport hub (its renovated Union Station is worth a few
hours at the very least), a hugely influential jazz and blues centre
and has a fascinating African American history, especially of the
days of segregation.
The Jazz Museum shares a building with the Negro Leagues
Baseball Museum which commemorates the history of the
African American teams that flourished during the years of
segregation.
Claiming to have more fountains than Rome, the KC local
barbecue style has also set the food style for much of the US.
In fact, it is worth visiting KC for the food alone – especially in
such landmark barbeque joints as Arthur Bryant’s or Oklahoma
Joe’s.
Especially important for history and political buffs, KC is
just five minutes from Independence, the former home of US
President Harry Truman which now features the Truman
Presidential Library and Museum. Within the gardens of the
Museum you will find his grave, alongside his wife Bess.
The museum is a wonderful compilation and explanation of
the second half of the 20th century, including his decision to use
the atomic bomb, the formation of the United Nations and the
huge post-war economic growth of the US.
A short walk through the suburban streets of the dormitory
suburb bring you to the simple home he and Bess retired to in
1952 and where he would entertain world figures of politics and
entertainment – but only for a maximum of 30 minutes.
KC itself is also the home of a range of world class art
galleries, including the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, where the
building itself acts as a net to the giant shuttle-cocks sitting on
the grass outside.
The great American city is not dead, but it is changing. Unlike
dying cities such as Detroit, KC seems to have found a good
mix of the past and the future. The towering demonstrations of
1920s wealth, the hotels, have all been or are being renovated. I
stayed in three of them, and all were impressive, both in terms of
retaining their history and offering modern comforts.
KC will welcome you. As a city it offers a real taste of the
United States, especially when mixed with an offering of
hickory-smoked pork, chicken or ribs barbeque! ■
a
October MEDICUS 55