going to kansas city, kansas city here i come!

Last week, I returned to Kansas City for six days to attend the NCMPR National Conference. Regular readers will remember me going there for our summer board meeting in June, and being pleasantly surprised by what the city had to offer. This time around, I wasn't able to get out as much ... they work us hard during the conference ... but did manage to take a few shots. Surprisingly, the weather was in the 70s until the day I left!

Kansas City is home to the national World War I Monument. I visited it last summer, in the daylight, but this time around had a view of it from my room at the Westin Crown Center. The eternal flame was so pretty at night!

My friend Melinda, the President, had a view of the Hallmark Plaza from her penthouse suite. Each night they had ice skating and a fountain show, featuring the Hallmark theme music from their commercials.

One of the traditions we have at NCMPR is taking our districts out for a group dinner one night. FYI - there are 7 geographic districts in NCMPR, mine happens to be District 6. I partnered with District 3 and we hauled 65 of our attendees to Arthur Bryant's considered by many to be the best BBQ in Kansas City. It is located in the historic 18th & Vine District and while the ambiance isn't anything to write home about, the BBQ was SOOO good!!!

I don't have pictures of myself chowing down, but here is my colleague Cris from Fresno chowing down on ribs, pork, brisket, homemade coleslaw, baked beans, and french fries. And as if that wasn't enough, we finished the night off with HUGE pieces of apple pie.

After dinner, we attempted to walk off our meal with a visit to the Power & Light District, which was located near our hotel. It's fairly new, stil not 100% complete, but has quite a few fun shops and restaurants, including the Maker's Mark Bourbon House. It is attached to the Sprint Center, which hosted a portion of the NCAA basketball tournament, and the College Basketball Experience.

All in all, it was a tiring trip (above is a picture of the NCMPR board), but I did attend some fabulous sessions and even led one of my own (go me!). I don't think I will go back to KC anytime soon, but am glad to have experienced yet another part of the country. I was definitely happy to return home to California ... with her many mountains and green trees!