I have travelled to Kansas City at different times of the year for several years, but my favorite time to visit KC, by far, is during the holiday season. There’s just something about the stately hillside mansions dressed in Christmas lights under a light blanket of early winter snow that is guaranteed to get one into the Christmas spirit. There is so much to see and do in Kansas City, especially during the holidays, from November – December, that it would require several days to see it all.
The Country Club Plaza
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Kansas City, at any time of year, is the Country Club Plaza, a historic shopping district more commonly known as The Plaza. Over 170 retailers line the main streets of The Plaza, including Michael Kors, Kendra Scott, White House Black Market, Vera Bradley, Athleta, Apple and many more.
There are many great Plaza restaurants from which to choose, and I can personally recommend Brio Tuscan Grille, Classic Cup Sidewalk Café and The Cheesecake Factory, in that order. The holiday season at The Plaza begins with a downtown ceremony on Thanksgiving night when 280,000 multi-colored lights are switched on, outlining the 15 blocks of Spanish inspired buildings of the Country Club Plaza shopping district. The Plaza lights remain on every night until the middle of January.
If you need a place to stay and want to stay close to the action at the Plaza, there are several high-rise hotels just across the river, within short walking distance. I have stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, where I was attending a wedding reception, and can highly recommend it. Both the top floor reception room and my own luxurious room had breathtaking views of The Plaza streets and Riverwalk below.
The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures
I visited this museum when it was still called the Toy and Miniature Museum of Kansas City. This is conveniently located a little over a mile from The Plaza, and so could be an easy walk if the weather is nice. It was already an impressive (and adorable) collection back when I visited in the early 2000s. Since then, it has grown and become The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures, housing the nation’s largest collection of “fine scale miniatures” and one of the largest antique toy collections in the country. I regret that I did not have a moment to visit it on my last visit, but the theme of toys and miniatures (dollhouses!) totally says “Christmas” to me.
Crown Center District
Another of my favorite places to visit in Kansas City, especially during the holidays, is the Crown Center. The Crown Center covers 85 acres and offers shopping, restaurants, hotels, an ice skating rink, and a movie theatre. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to describe every attraction and event at the Crown Center, but one could easily spend the entire day and not see everything there is to do there. Hallmark Headquarters is there, and houses the Hallmark Visitors Center, a free museum of Hallmark history, from its beginnings in Kansas City more than 100 years ago to present day. For kids, and young-at-heart adults, there’s Crayola Kansas City and Crayola Café, Toy Time, Kid OH!, LegoLand Discovery Center, and Kaleidoscope! Especially for the holiday season, the Coterie Theatre offers “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical”, the MTH Theater has “A Spectacular Christmas Show”. Children can visit Santa’s Gingerbread Station free of charge and have pictures taken with Santa. In the Level 1 Atrium of Crown Center, everyone can enjoy Christmas carols sung by different area choirs every day of the season, and see the over 100 year old Laughing Santa, originally from Emery, Bird, Thayer Department Store, counting down the days until Christmas.
Just across the street from Crown Center is Union Station. This is a 104 year old historic train station that is at its most gorgeous when decorated for Christmas. Stepping into the 95 foot high Grand Hall is like going back in time. The Hall is elegantly lit by 3 chandeliers, each weighing 1.75 tons and the clock hanging from the central arch is 6 feet wide! You can still catch an AMTRAK train here, or board a KC Streetcar, but the real attractions at Union Station are shopping, dining, and special travelling exhibits by such organizations as National Geographic and the Smithsonian Museum.
National World War I Museum and Memorial
Liberty Memorial Groundbreaking November 1, 1921 (Footage from: “Flashes of the Past: A Review of Historic Events from 1910 to 1925.” Pathe News. Pathe Exchange, Inc.)
The Liberty Memorial was the beginning of what would later become the World War I Museum and Memorial, which is just a short walk up the hill from Union Station. The groundbreaking ceremony, shown in the video above, was greatly historic in that it was the first time that these 5 Allied Forces Commanders (Lieutenant General Baron Jaques of Belgium, General Armando Diaz of Italy, Admiral Earl Beatty of Great Britain, Marshall Ferdinand Foch of France, General John Pershing, U. S.) were ever together in one place, and it happened in Kansas City!
The memorial was completed 5 years later in 1926, but the museum itself did not open until 2006. The relatively new museum houses more than 75,000 collected items from World War I, including uniforms and personal effects of soldiers from all nations on both sides of the war, flags, weapons, ration cards, and stories from the front lines and the home front. The amount of information provided and number of items on display is astounding. If you have the time and attention span, this museum gives an extremely thorough and well-rounded accounting of every aspect of “The Great War”, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914, well before the U. S. declared war on Germany in April 1917, to a murky and unsatisfying end in 1920. There are accounts of German women lobbying for peace early in the war, British women lobbying for the right to work in war industries, American women arrested for demanding the right to vote in their own country. At the same time, the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, the czar’s family was assassinated, the Espionage Act was enacted, the Selective Service Act was signed, the first Daylight Savings Time began and the Treaty of Versailles was ultimately voted down in the U. S. I do not always find museums “exciting” exactly, but this one is well-conceived and a must-see if you are in the area!
The 18th and Vine Jazz District
This historic Jazz District is not to be missed! My cousin and I went to The Blue Room, which is actually a jazz club INSIDE the American Jazz Museum, to hear some amazing live music. I forget the name of the band we heard that night, but I do remember a woman in the audience, intently listening, and wearing a vibrant red ensemble, including a red fedora in the same shade of red as her pantsuit. She made me wish I were an artist, so I could put her in a painting.
The place was packed, standing room only, and we had to wait to get a standing table to set our drinks on. At one point, one of us accidentally picked up a stranger’s drink due to the close quarters, but we all shared a laugh and went back to people watching and great music listening. The museum itself has listening stations, sound mixing boards, and a gift from President Clinton, Charlie Parker’s saxophone! In the same building is the nationally renowned Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, bringing to life the stories and players in the leagues from just after the Civil War to the 1960s. The museum contains photographs, film, artifacts and 10 life-sized statues of some of the league’s greatest players.
The Crestwood Shops on E. 55th Street
If you’re looking for a last minute stocking stuffer, a unique gift, a perfect bottle of wine, or just want to see some beautifully decorated Christmas windows, go over to the Crestwood Shops, E. 55th Street, between Brookside Blvd. and Oak St., not far off of Shawnee Mission Parkway.
Underdog Wine Co. – I love this little wine shop at Crestwood! I have made a tradition for myself that I go get one or two bottles of wine there whenever I’m in town. On my most recent visit, over Thanksgiving weekend, I had an assignment to pick up a bottle of white wine to go with the turkey. I could have gotten it anywhere, but this place came immediately to mind. They have a cooler in the back of the store with a nice selection of already-chilled wine and I grabbed a nice cold German Riesling (which later turned out to be DE-LI-CIOUS). While I was there, I asked if they happened to have any Cabernet Franc, which I can’t seem to find very often, but which I really enjoy, and guess what. They had 3 different labels of Franc to choose from! Perhaps this would seem even more incredible if I explain that this shop is very small, like 10 feet wide and 20 or 30 feet long. The last time I was in town, it was closer to New Year’s Eve and I was looking for Prosecco (Italian bubbly). To my surprise and delight, they carried several kinds of that too and I stocked up!
Peruvian Connection – I admit I have yet to enter this store, but I pass by them every time I go to Underdog next door, and I just love their slogan: Artisan apparel for nomads & romantics. It’s a genius slogan, because, even if I wasn’t already both of those things on some level, I would really, really want to be. While I have not walked into the store (yet), I have checked out their website and, as I suspected I would, I love their clothing. It’s certainly on the pricey side, but if I had a very special occasion coming up, I could probably justify “investing” in one or two of their pieces.
Other shops at Crestwood – There is a block long strip of charming little shops, that will have to go on my “maybe next time” list of things I would like to explore further. Some of them are Aixois Bistro (French restaurant and coffee bar), Café Europa (restaurant and bakery), DelBrenna (jewelry from Tuscany), Charlecote (fine English furniture and accessories).
Russell Stover
Although Russell Stover candies originated in Denver, CO in 1923 as Mrs. Stover’s Bungalow Candies, the company that later became Russell Stover candies has operated out of Kansas City since 1932. The name Russell Stover has become so synonymous with Kansas City in my mind, and I’m probably not alone in that, that I can’t seem to leave town with stopping in at any number of conveniently located candy stores (they’re a bit like the Starbucks of candy), enjoying their free samples, and leaving with a bag full of goodies. With Christmas around the corner, I was able to round out my stocking stuffer shopping nicely!
Holiday Themed Tours Around Town
The Holiday Luminary Walk at Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens is an easy 1 mile walk along winding candlelit trails. To say it was magical would be an understatement. Groups taking the walk seemed to be well-spaced apart so that it did not feel crowded, but very peaceful in the woods at night. Because of the winding, wooded path, and periodic stations for live acoustic music, a tent serving warm apple cider, and Christmas light displays near the end of the walk, it took longer than a typical one mile walk would take, over an hour at least. We all went home rosy-cheeked and ready to sleep well after our time in the brisk night air.
The Olde World Christmas Night Time Tour is on Fridays and Saturdays from Thanksgiving to the end of December at the Strawberry Hill Museum and Cultural Center. This Queen Anne style home, built in 1887, was a private home until 1919 when it became an orphanage. In 1988 it became the Strawberry Hill Ethnic Cultural Society, that celebrates all the nationalities and ethnicities of Kansas City. For the holiday season, the museum is decorated with Christmas lights and opened for night-time tours of the chapel, house, orphanage and museum. On these special holiday tours, hors d’oevres, desserts and “adult beverages” are served.
Christmas in the Park is a drive-through Christmas light display, with 75 lighted and animated displays. Admission is free, but donations made upon exiting benefit local charities.
As you can see, Kansas City has a lot to offer, especially for the holiday season. These are just a few of the highlights that I’ve seen and experienced over a few years of going there. Tune in next week when I will highlight some of the best restaurants I’ve visited in Kansas City.
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