#64: Visit Four of the Following States Overnight

Our trip to eat barbecue in Kansas City was a success. We visited LC's, Gates, and Arthur Bryant's. Each had its attraction, pros and cons listed below.

LC's
Jacque assures us this is a neighborhood we shouldn't have visited, but we lived in South Central LA and I lived in Harlem so we're not scared! But we had heard the neighborhood was dodgy so we went for lunch. I had the burnt ends and an order of onion rings; the dude had short ends (ribs) and cole slaw. LC's turned out to produce our favorite sauce: more tomatoe-y and vinegar-y more hot than sweet than the others. The burnt ends were cut in large chunks and had a bit more fat on them than they should. The short ends were great--super tender--but toward the end they were a bit gristly. I could wax poetic about their onion rings. I know this wasn't the reason we went to Kansas City, but these are the second best onion rings I've ever eaten {the best are made by my uncle} LC's onion rings were not at all greasy and were deliciously salty. I was happy.

Gates
I ordered the burnt ends and potato salad; the dude had mutton and cole slaw (they were out of short ends). We also bought, but could not eat {until later}, a individual size sweet potatoe pie. The big surprise here was the sides came with a generous sprinkle of rub on them. YUM! We didn't buy the rub, but I may have to order some so I can throw it on side dishes this summer. Or every day when I eat. The burnt ends were chopped up very fine and were served (hooray!) on a bun not the nasty ubiquitous white bread. The grease soaked into the bread. I loved it. It was like Texas toast without the cheese. The dude thought this was overchopped, but I'm not a fan of chewing meat {it's true} so the closer I get to having someone regurgitate chewed food into my mouth, the better. No not really, but I did like the chop. The dude loved the flavor of the mutton but he really had to work at the bones to get past the fat. Is that how mutton is supposed to be? Probably not, but he dug it because the meat was tender and falling off the bone, of course. Gates had our second favorite sauce: thicker and spicier than LC's, really good. It was our first favorite price because we won $5 when our receipt came up with a red star on it.

We were pleased with the pie when we ate it the next day. Nice, crumbly pie crust but sturdy enough for the sweet potato mash. Not as good as Aunt Kizzy's {"so light it can float like a feather"} but it was quite tasty.

Arthur Bryant's
We finally got a clue and only ordered one thing and no sides. We split the burnt ends. This had the best chop size--not too fine, but the sauce was too sweet, very tasty but not to our tastes. The burnt ends were very good. Served, again, on white bread, which the dude ate. I steadfastedly refused. We bought this on the way to the airport, so we didn't actually eat it right away. I'm not sure this made that much difference. The meat was a good quality.

Other things we did besides eat:
Truman Library and Museum
The dude's a fan of presidential libraries--well of the Kennedy library--so we decided to visit this one. Obviously we're both too young to remember this period in American history, so this was quite educational. Many exhibits featured excerpts oral histories from various people. Most interesting, Truman left office with a 30% approval rating. History has shown that his policies and actions have become more popular--like when they had a boatload of presidents and vice-presidents from both parties quoting him in their speeches. I'm pretty sure we won't see similar changes in 40 years at the George W. Bush library (which will house, what? coloring books?).

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
A relatively new museum, this place is really about racism in American culture. A terrifically interesting narrative. Because there's so little space, there's more text crammed in each square foot than there probably should be, but I really learned a lot here.

Jazz Museum
How do you make a museum about sound? I think they did a pretty good job engaging us as listeners. There's probably a bit too much focus on the big names of jazz, but they did cover a wide variety of styles, instruments, and time periods. There was also a section that let you listen to particular sounds--rhythm, percussion, etc. Though the dude was disappointed that their reed section didn't include any clarinet (he plays). Too bad we didn't have an opportunity to go to the Blue Room.

Letters

Dear Kansas City,

Why the Wonder Bread? You use quality beef to make your barbecue. Your sauce is on the spicy side, which I enjoy—brought home four bottles, even. Yet you insist on using the crappiest bread you can find. I have this thing about bread dating back from when I was a child. I’m only picky about two things: no fat or gristle on my meat and no bread that deteriorates on contact with the slightest bit of liquid. It’s a little sad how much bread was wasted this past weekend. And I blame you.
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Dear Mother Nature,

While I greatly appreciate that you held off with the snow until we were actually out of Chicago, couldn’t you have done a little better with Dallas? I know it doesn’t seem like it should matter since we flew MCI-> MDW -> PHL, but those winds in Dallas threw everything off and we spent 10 hours in transit, mostly in airports just sitting.
###

Dear Midway Baggage Handlers,

When they cancel a flight, say 440, and put all the passengers from 440 onto the same new flight, you should take the bags that you have stacked up to put on 440 and bring them to the new plane. You had over an hour; I really think you should have been able to handle this one.
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Note to Self:
When checking bags, make a note of three things that are packed in each bag. That way when the lost baggage clerk in Philadelphia asks for three items in the bag, you can think of at least one thing that’s not birth control.
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It was a fun trip. Full report later!

KCMO

The dude and I are heading out of town in a couple of weeks to continue our journey to taste the great variety of barbecue in the U.S. Our next stop is Kansas City, Missouri. According to the research we have done, we are in for brisket and burnt ends with sauce that is thick and spicy and sweet. Burnt ends--I love burnt food so I am really excited to try this!

We began our BBQ quest on our cross-country drive in 2005. It all started in Memphis where I ate my first rib. (I'm picky about the meat I eat, and I thought I wouldn't like them.) We plan on visiting N.C. and possibly re-visiting Texas as well for this journey. Of course, it will be a lifelong adventure, but these are the four states we're starting with.

This visit will mark the second stop on #64 "Visit four of the following states overnight: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, or Wisconsin." (These are all the U.S. states I haven't yet visited; I've shopped in Delaware, flown through Minnesota, and driven through Arkansas, but I don't think that counts.)

#64 Visit four of the following states overnight

I have been to Texas, and I stayed. The office sent me to a conference in San Antonio. The dude came and we extended our visit so that I could get out of the hotel for a while. We stayed on the Riverwalk, which is fine and totally prevents the downtown from being an armpit, but is of course totally touristy, which is where I belonged because I was the total tourist. I have been to the Alamo. I have been to El Mercado. I have been to the King William historical district, but there's really only so much you can do in a day and a couple of nights.

I did almost plow into Jeff Van Gundy when I was getting off the elevator. We had seen him on Friday night doing an ESPN talking head thing on the river in front of our hotel (the official hotel of the visiting team--I shared space with Steve Nash!). Then on Saturday night, he was planning dinner with some ESPN producers right in front of the elevator. He was pretty humble ("I'm the new guy. I'm a team player," he said as they tried to decide where to go...)

On the way out of town, our taxi driver was telling us how much house we could buy for what we paid for our tiny treasure in the burbs (two words: gated community). We were jokingly thinking about it, but since we don't have jobs in Texas, there's no point. When we got to the airport, there was an advertisement for a job opening for what my husband does.It was like a sign. Except the job was at the University of the Incarnate Word. Oh, it was a sign all right. A sign to go home to Philadelphia.

More Photos:


The ubiquitous river cruise boats.


Day of the Dead figures from El Mercado.


San Fernando Cathedral