Kansas City and Independence, Missouri

Do you cherish your loved ones? Do you love them enough to create a work of art utilizing their blood or hair? Some victorians thought this was a great idea did but more on that later.

BBQ is serious out here in Kansas City. We’ve got suggestions that will tremble your tastebuds. One of which is located in a gas station.

Harry Truman made the call to drop the first atomic bomb. You can get up close and personal with him while in Independence, Missouri at his house, Presidential library or just by walking the streets.

Over 1000 battles during the civil war were fought in Missouri. Tension ran high back then and there are still remnants of those today. We learned about confederate guerrillas, jayhawkers, slavers, gold lust and blood on the boulevards.

These are but a few of the highlights from our stay in Independence, Missouri and the Kansas City area. Won’t you please sit back and get ready for an earful of what we saw and our opinions on it all? This is another installment of Leons’ Great Escape.

kansas city map.png — Kansas City is in Kansas and Missouri

It’s interesting that folks from either side are passionate about their affiliation with their residence over the other.

There’s a funky thing that is somehow okay with all the residents of Kansas City; they’re shared by two states, Kansas and Missouri. I want to somehow convey the rift that is the dissonance between these states. Chat with any local and they’ll confirm that they’re proud to be from their side of the city and that’s that. The rivalry goes back to the days of the Union and when outlaws like Jesse and Frank James were riding about holding up banks. Way back in the day, the folks on the Kansas state side were opposed to slavery and at that same time the folks on the Missouri side weren’t. As far as I understand, it wasn’t all the Missourians but it was enough for it to be an issue. Clearly, no man or woman should own another and history is on the side of the state of Kansas. Those were dark days.

Let’s cut to the victorian tradition of manipulating the hair of the living and deceased into rings, bracelets, and butterflies. It’s an oddity that very few will love. Leila is one of those few. She will not let this art die. Leila’s Hair Museum is the largest of its kind with over 2000 hairy pieces and has been featured on shows such as The Osbournes and Mike Rowe’s Somebody’s Gotta Do it.

Some of us will be familiar with the term Sepia. You know that filter you can use to make photos look old timey? It has a colorful past. When Victorians used the term they meant a scene painted with pulverized hair. Leila has some of those for you, too.

I was skeptical upon entering the museum and remained so throughout the tour. This art was prevalent in the 1600s before there were cameras. It was a way to remember your dead. Hair, apparently, doesn’t change once you snip it off, or die. The color will remain intact. Leila has multiple Presidents’ hair, Elvis’ hair, and the Mother Mary’s hair which has been verified by the Vatican. Some of these pieces took multiple life times to complete. The cost of entry was $15 per adult and Pepper was free. To be honest, I’ve never seen anything like it so I’d have to advocate for others to comb through, as we did. It took us about an hour to take it all in.

Yes, you get a free bumper sticker at the end of your tour of Leila’s Hair Museum.

We were lucky to find and have stayed at a spot called Campus RV Park which is located in Independence, Missouri. Independence is a short drive to Kansas City but also has entertainment of its own. We have no complaints about the park other than its proximity to the train tracks. Those suckers will jolt you out of a sound sleep. It was reasonable. $33 per night. We even filmed our soon to be famous music video for Hotel Yorba there. If you’re in the area and need a spot to park with full hookups, then you can’t go wrong here.

When we started hunting for restaurants and things to do, Lee’s Summit started popping up. We spent an afternoon here and it was well put together. They have a fountain and they serve beer but they didn’t hold our attention. Maybe it was the heat. I encourage anyone from this area to invite us back to change our minds ;)

Independence, Missouri is significant if you’re interested in where our 33rd President is from. I’m referring to Harry Truman. He grew up here and he is quotable.

“The Buck Stops Here.”
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”
“If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Truman’s desk recreated in the Truman Library.

When FDR kicked the bucket while still in office, Harry was thrust into the most important role our country has to offer. He inevitably dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan. This changed our world forever. He also did a lot for race equality which almost cost him his reelection. Complicated guy. Visit the Truman Library in Independence to learn more.

I’m personally tired of discussing politics. Can we chat about barbecue? A Little BBQ Joint is soon to be so famous that you won’t get a seat there. You need to try their burnt ends. They’re umami overload.

Joe’s BBQ. Delicious, go here unless you despise flavor.

Have you ever been filling your gas tank and thought, I should get some BBQ? Oh, you must be at Joe’s BBQ. We spent 3 hours in line at Franklin BBQ in Austin, Texas. The wait at Joe’s was 40 minutes and the quality was on par.

The Distrikt Biskuit House is hidden away in a hotel. The owners of the joint started out by borrowing time at a fish fry place and have entrepreneur-ed their way into their own spot and, from the taste of their scrumptiousness, they’re going places.

You want tacos. I know you want tacos. I have your tacos. Actually, Kansas City Taco Company has them and they’re all about staying local which I appreciate. The food was pretty good but the margarita was fantastic! I really got down on the hibiscus tequila. Give that a go and you won’t be sorry.

A short walk from those tacos will get you to River Market Antiques and it will captivate ya. Four floors of all sorts of doodads and gewgaws. Candice purchased a few purses there for pennies and I spent the majority of our time there telling Pepper not to touch things because they’re fragile.

After we got our fill on things old, we guzzled things new at Strange Days Brewing Company. They know what they’re doing.

Before I depress or impress you with my closing statements, I’d like to plug Bar K which is a 2 acre dog park and bar. This place serves cold IPA and loves our pup Dahlia.

The suburbs of Kansas City are downtrodden. Buildings are in need of care, businesses are closing, there are downed trees, socioeconomically speaking it’s crap. Maybe they’re waiting for their next Truman to pull them up by the bootstraps and kick out some revitalization. The bucks have stopped flowing here or at least they’re not evenly dispersed. Missouri is a mixed bag and it’s fumbling to get its footing.

Let Ralph be your guide to Independence, MO.

Ralph is a good man and thorough. He runs the Pioneer Trails Adventure company and he’s well worth the $50 bucks that we spent to tour Independence on his stage coach with his Kansas City mules. Thanks to him I now know that when I see a statue of a man on a horse that the number of horse hooves on the ground is significant. Four hooves down means the rider was not injured in combat. One foot off the ground means that they were and two off the ground, well, that dude didn’t make it.

We’ve finally heard back on our generator and it isn’t pretty. If you’re not familiar with our generator woes, then check this out. The estimate is that it’s going to cost a bit more than two thousand dollars to repair it. We knew that things would break and to budget for them but this was a deep cut and may shorten our time on the road. We’ll see. For now, we are going to keep manifesting our destiny and head to Iowa as our next destination. Until next time, mahalo.