The sun came out today, but it was pretty cold, especially later on, when the wind whipped up more cold — the forecasters are saying that there is a chance for snow tomorrow, so I suppose it is good that this is our final day.  We checked out the River District and the City Market, picking out some souvenirs and admiring the cheap produce for sale.  We had breakfast at the venerable Harvey’s Restaurant inside Union Station, which was also hosting an Easter Bunny event that drew in hundreds of kids.  I had the cinnamon roll pancake, which was doused in melted butter, or so I thought.  One bite into the pancake and I discovered that it was melted frosting, which meant that I didn’t need any syrup for this treat.  Actually, I found the cinnamon roll pancake to be too sweet and too much, so I am glad that Lisa allowed me a few bites of her Crab Cake Eggs Benedict and hashbrowns.

After breakfast, we hiked up the steps opposite Union Station and visited the World War I Memorial and Museum.  Traveler reviews recommended a minimum of three to four hours here, and they were right — we spent four and half hours learning about the complexities of how the war started, read accounts of life in the trenches and key battles in the Western Front, and how the US finally got involved and how the war ended in 1918.  Man, some stark stuff, and it ended just about 100 years ago.  That just blows my mind.  I will definitely be paying more attention next month to hear of any events to commemorate the date.

With our museum visit finished, we made our way back to the downtown core for one more final serving of barbecue, this time courtesy of the people behind Joe’s BBQ.  Lisa and I split the combo plate of pork ribs, beef burnt ends and sausage.  This time our sides were french fries and baked beans.  It was pretty good, but Lisa and I both agreed that we enjoyed Jack Stacks more.  And for our next time visit, we will hit up:  Gates BBQ, Q39 and Arthur & Bryants.  Then we will have tried the top five Kansas City Barbecue Joints.  Don’t know when we will ever return, but when we do I will make sure that we have a rental car so that we can also visit Independence, MO (start of the Oregon Trail!) and check out other attractions that were just a little too far out of reach on public transportation.  We had a great visit here in Kansas City, and part of that was the fact that we stayed dry the entire time because it didn’t rain one bit!