A Pocket for Charlotte: little stories: Kansas City Here We Come

We attended a funeral in Kansas City, MO last Saturday. It's less than a three hour drive from Des Moines, but rather than make it there and back in one day, we stayed in a motel on Friday night.

I don't know if it was a spring break rewind or a preview of summer, but Friday night and Saturday morning felt like a mini vacation.

Daphne worked hard to find a downtown hotel that had an indoor pool. Most have pools on the roof or outdoors. A pool was our big selling point to Charlotte for taking this trip. Char knows that funerals aren't any fun.

When we got to the hotel, Char was disappointed by the pool's size.

I didn't blame her. At first I thought that this was the hot tub and someone had misplaced the pool. No, this was it.

While we unpacked, Charlotte set up a desk so she could negotiate for a bigger pool with hotel managers Sheep and Pinky.

The fruit snacks and applesauce bargaining chips were on the table. For the record, this is the first time I have ever heard Char use the word "negotiate". And no, I didn't set up this picture. This was all of Char's doing.

I'm a big fan of using a city's resources when dining. We ordered seafood when we were in San Francisco. What do you order when you're in Kansas City?

BBQ, of course. We chose Jack Stack Barbecue because the restaurant was about a block from our hotel. It was dark inside, but the camera reveals a classy interior.

Daphne and I share a sampler plate anytime we try a new BBQ restaurant:

"ROUNDUP – (‘cue for two) Sliced Beef & Ham, Pulled Pork, Pork Spare Ribs with Hickory Pit Beans, Creamy Coleslaw, Fries."

Daphne substituted the creamy corn bake for the fries, and I'd highly recommend that.

We swam in the tiny pool for about an hour when we got back. We were the only people using the pool at that time, and its size proved to be just right. The negotiations team agreed to back off.

The visitation began at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon, so Daphne planned to spend our morning at the Sea Life Aquarium. Daph didn't tell that to Char, though. She would have bugged us about it all morning.

We parked in a garage near the aquarium. The parking garage's elevator stopped at the "Exhibits" floor, and we stepped out. Suprisingly, Charlotte started complaining while we were walking along the sidewalk. "Exhibits? I don't want to see an exhibit. That's boring!"

Daphne asked her, "Charlotte, what do you think an exhibit is?"

"It's this thing where you just stand around and look at stuff."

When we rounded the corner she exclaimed, "Hey! That's Legoland!"

"And what's beside Legoland?" Daphne asked.

"Sealife! It's an aquarium! Are we going there?" Daphne nodded as a reply and Char thrust her fists in the air.

I asked her, "Do you know what an aquarium is?" I then answered my own question, "It's an exhibit."

Charlotte whispered to herself, "I love exhibits."

Daphne thought that this aquarium visit was the best one yet. Instead of just looking at each tank and then moving on, Charlotte wanted to read the displays and learn about the fish. She became really interested in the colorful tangs.

Color changes!

Cleaning up a virtual beach isn't all that satisfying.

I love this fish's guitar riff. link

Most of the aquarium was dark, and flash photography was forbidden, so that's all I have to share. Let's go to lunch at the nearby mall's food court. The deli had the shortest line.