Kansas City, Missouri 2012 - Day 4

Us at the National World War I Museum

We had a wonderful last day in Kansas City.  Had we known that it would take over 18 hours to get home due to delayed flights, missed connections, and United ticket agent error, the day would have probably sucked eggs.  Instead, only the evening sucked eggs, and the majority of this morning.  But who wants to read a list of complaints and grievances?  Hopefully the FAA does.  Because that’s what they’re getting from this weary traveler.  But I digress. 

This morning was another scorcher and we planned on being inside for most of the day.  We checked out of our hotel at 9:00, and ate a scrumptious breakfast at a café called Eggtc.  I’ll skip talking about the food because I realize how much time I’ve spent describing our meals on this trip.  When you live in Olympia, and are stuck with the ho-hum eateries there, travel-eating can become a magical thing.

We spent the greater part of our day at the National World War I Museum.  It was so fascinating, and it sparked an instant desire in me to read all I can about the war.  Or at least watch movies about the war, depending on how lazy I am.  Upon entering the museum, we walked across a glass bridge that spans a field of 9,000 red poppies.  Each poppy represents 1,000 combatant fatalities.  We took an elevator 217 feet up the Liberty Memorial, and had incredible views of Kansas City.  It was so hot up there and the observation deck was so small, that we were finished in 5 minutes.  Back inside the museum, we started the tour by learning about the global events that led up to World War I; namely, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.  The timeline of the world powers’ various declarations of war astounded me.  It reminded me of when kids on a playground are playing Four Square, someone cheats, and they all immediately start pointing fingers, blaming each other, and fighting.  On a much wider, and world-changing scale, of course.  This quick list of how the war went down will demonstrate what an insane fighting frenzy it was.  Keep in mind, this all happened in three short years:

Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia—Russia mobilizes troops in support of Serbia—Germany declares war on Russia—France mobilizes its troops in support of its Russian ally—Germany declares war on France—Germany invades Belgium—Great Britain declares war on Germany—Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia—Serbia declares war on Germany—Great Britain declares war on Austria-Hungary—Germany invaded France—Japan declares war on Germany—Turkey enters war on the German side—Russia declares war on Turkey—Britain declares war on Turkey—France declares war on Turkey—Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary—Russia declares war on Bulgaria—Bulgaria declares war on Serbia—Germany declares war on Portugal—United States declares war on Germany.

The first 2 hours of our visit were spent learning about the war before America’s involvement.  And the next 2 hours were spent learning about America’s involvement “Over There.”  And we were rushing.  The museum is humungous.

My life tends to be so calm and easy, that trying to envision a life of war is nearly impossible.  But I read a quote about the conditions of trench warfare that, for whatever reason, stuck with me through the entire exhibit.  It said, “Men die of mud, as they die from bullets, but more horribly.  Mud is where men sink and—what is worse—where their soul sinks… Mud hides the stripes of rank, there are only poor suffering beasts… Hell is not fire… Hell is mud.” 

I see that there is a high probability that this blog is about to become a report on the WWI Museum.  I apologize.  But it was the most comprehensive history, and exhaustive collection, of any era I have ever experienced, and I didn’t want to leave.  But Oklahoma Joe’s was calling.

Last year, Zagat rated Oklahoma Joe’s as having the best barbeque in Kansas City.  And it was featured on Man Vs. Food.  And it’s located in a gas station.  How could we NOT go?  We walked in, got in line behind 30 other people, and started to peruse the menu.  I settled on burnt ends with red beans and rice, Chad had the chicken, sausage, and dirty rice.  Seriously, how is it possible that there is so much good food in one city?  So much good food that is so not good for you?  

we almost ate the plate, too

We said goodbye to one of the coolest cities we’ve had the privilege of visiting, and headed to the airport.  We dropped off our rental car without an issue, we made it through security – no problem.  And that is where the hassle-free vacation ended

The next 18 hours involved one mishap after another, beginning with our flight to Houston being delayed “due to weather.”  Once we knew we were going to miss our connection, two agents silently clicked away on their computers until they found a later connection from Houston to Phoenix which would eventually get us to Seattle.  Upon arriving in Houston, we were going to have less than 15 minutes to try and make that connection. The story goes on and on and is quite comical.  It was our own version of Planes Trains and Automobiles, with a 4-hour hotel stay that was bizarrely similar to Steve Martin and John Candy’s.

We finally made it home to Seattle just before 1:00 PM on Monday.  Along the way, we met people who were a lot worse off than we were, so we are grateful it turned it out as well as it did.  We are back with our kids, in our happy home, and so grateful to our family who helped so much with the kids, the house, picking up groceries, etc.  Unfortunately; however, the time has come for me to declare war on United Airlines.

“Over There, Over There

Send the word, send the troops Over There…

So prepare, Say a prayer

Send the word, send the word to prepare…”

-George Cohan

-Chad and Rach