On Friday we visited the: Coldwater Creek (new sweater!), Dick's Sporting Goods (where Matt found me some wool undershirts to keep me warm!); Lunch with Gram, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; Country Club Plaza (shopping for Matt, my favorite dish at the Classic Cup, and Christmas Lights!).
On Saturday we helped B.V. (a wonderful friend who opens their house for us whenever we come up to KC) with some computer/techy stuff in the morning and then it was time for some fun at Crown Center/Union Station !
I love the Nelson-Atkins and all the art in it; but I think the above functional art was the best piece that should be in every restroom!
Photo op at the Classy Cup. New sweater from Coldwater Creek, I love the red in it!
Christmas Lights!!!!! So pretty!
I highly recommend traveling to KC and going to Dialogue in the Dark. There are no words to describe the experience. Our guide was James; originally a fire fighter/hazmat worker from Texas. His story is, one night a few years ago he went to bed and woke up completely blind. James has what he describes as something like an aneurysm in the vessels of the eyes and he lost his sight completely. He took great care in showing us his view of the world.
In Dialogue in the Dark you are given a walking cane with instructions and taken to the "transition chamber" where you sit on lighted benches that slowly dim to nothing as you are introduced to complete darkness. (You are to secure you personal belongings in lockers provided-no glow in the dark watches, no cameras, nothing that emits light is allowed in the exhibit.)
There is a hush that comes over everyone as the darkness envelopes us; then in the dark a calm, confident, compassionate voice pierces the darkness and introduces himself as James.
James first asks us how we are all doing and asks the obvious question, "Is anyone feeling a little scared?" Of course there is the "well, kind of." that comes from somewhere in the room. He then reassures us that this will be a safe environment to experience everyday occurrences in darkness. We go around the room introducing ourselves by name. This is the only room before the exhibit that we know what it looks like; the rest of the exhibit is in complete darkness as James walks us through. With sound, smell, touch, and taste we experience a new world without sight. I will encourage you to take a few (maybe 5 one dollar bills) in with you to purchase a soda and a snack while you are in the exhibit- yes you experience a lounge complete with a purchase counter, music, and seating- but there real experience is paying for goods without sight and sipping a soda- the smell is overwhelmingly fascinating!
I may never meet the other 7 people who went through the exhibit with us, but for the time (approx 1 hr) we were without sight together we had to rely on each other and experienced what life would be like without having the ability to judge with sight. Bumping into each other was no big deal- it let you know you weren't alone!
P.S. You might want to purchase your tickets on line or go early and purchase tickets because they do sell out rather quickly. We arrived at 1PM and are ticket entry was for 3:12 PM.
I had pulled out our hockey skates to take with us, Matt got so excited when he saw them in the pile to be packed.
After our amazing adventure in the dark it was time re-claim the ice! Some of our first dates were on the ice rink in Wichita and many after that were on the ice or me cheering for Matt as he played hockey.
I had not skated in over 2 years and was pleasantly surprised to be able to take to the ice as soon as I stepped on it. We skated for just over an hour and we decided our tummies were ready for some dinner.
You just can't go to KC without having BBQ!!! So we went to one of our favorites and had BBQ ribs, brisket, and chicken with all the fixin's! They have dinners for two and the servings are perfect- we were not stuffed, but pleasantly satisfied.
One of Matt's early anniversary gifts is pictured in the bottom left of this photo. We tend to start the gift giving the day after Thanksgiving. The TomTom was on sale on Black Friday; so now BekBek can enjoy her time taking photos from the passenger side instead of reading a map the whole trip! BekBek does have a few pointers from experience in KC that the TomTom doesn't so Matt has the best of both worlds when he is piloting the vehicle!
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