Missouri Day 1 - Memorials, Murals, and Missing Steamboats
I kicked off my first full day in Missouri with a trip to Main Street Coffee House in Independence. The name and the aesthetics gave off a very classic Americana coffeeshop vibe, but they also had a lot of fun and creative flavor combinations to mix up your traditional morning routine. I kept it simple and just got my standard iced coffee, but it tasted great and got the job done.
After fueling up, my first stop was to visit maybe the craziest-looking building I’ve ever seen, Independence Temple. This temple, belonging to the Community of Christ Church, features a 195 foot-tall spire in a distinctive spiraling from supposedly inspired by a nautilus shell. The spire is made of over 300 panels of custom-built stainless steel, and it looks like a massive unicorn horn shooting out of the Missouri ground. Supposedly the inside of the building is also bonkers, but I had to just content myself with the fantastical exterior.
After taking in the funky house of worship, my next major stop in Independence was the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. My brother and father had visited KC a few years earlier to see a baseball game, and those two history buffs said it was a must-see. I didn’t really know a ton about Truman, other than that he took over when FDR died, but becoming president right in the endgame of a multi-front international war seems like one of the least auspicious beginnings to any job ever so I figured that was enough to make for an interesting story at the very least.
Another big selling point for me (which I unfortunately lost my own photos of) was a big mural by fellow Missouri native, Thomas Hart Benton, called Independence and the Opening of the West. The mural is one of the first thing visitors see when they enter the lobby, and, while the meeting between settlers and native tribes might be a little rosier than it actually occurred, it’s hard not to be impressed right away by the sheer style and drama of the large scale work.
The main exhibits began with the start of Truman’s Presidency which was a pretty action-packed place to begin. He was sworn in as president in April 1945 after having only been Vice President for 82 days. FDR had told him virtually nothing about the US’s military plan for WWII, not even that they had been developing a nuclear weapon in New Mexico, so he was not exactly in an enviable position when he became commander-in-chief.
Truman had to make the decision whether or not to drop the atomic bomb on Japan in August 1945, just 4 months into his presidency. With the benefit of hindsight, I think it’s a lot easier to say it was the wrong decision because of all the then-unknown environmental and health consequences (the death toll almost doubled in the five years after the actual bombs went off due to radiation sickness) and because really the war probably could have been ended by just demonstrating the bomb without dropping it on actual Japanese civilians. That being said, in the actual moment that’s got to have been one of the worst decisions any human had to make, and Truman always said he genuinely believed more lives would have been lost on both sides if they hadn’t dropped it, and it had to be done to ward off Russia from greater post-war expansionism. I think a lot of military advisers told him that, and it’s possible there’s even some truth to it, but I do think there was also a degree of racism (“the Japanese can’t be reasoned with”) and some element of wanting retaliation for Pearl Harbor that does sour a lot of the rationalizations. One thing that might have kept Truman from making the decision was that he was confident this choice was supported by scientists, but in reality, many scientists from the Manhattan Project had had a change of heart and felt there were too many unknowns to recommend dropping the bomb but the letter they sent to the White House arrived after the bombs had already been dropped. It’s super messy, and I thought the museum actually was very even-handed in laying out all the reasons why Truman made his choice as well as all the reasons maybe he shouldn’t have (sadly I lost the pictures from this part of the museum).
Truman couldn’t even spend that much time agonizing over his choice because major world events were coming fast fast and frequent at the end of the war. The next section of the museum was dedicated to the Berlin Airlift, probably one of Truman’s biggest early successes. In 1948, in an attempt to take control over the unification of Germany, the Soviet Union decided to create a blockade around Berlin, essentially stranding all Allied forces in West Berlin. With food and other necessary supplies running low and no means of reaching Berlin by ground, Truman opted to take to the skies. Against all odds, the airlift was a success and the US was able to completely supply West Berlin by plane for almost a full year until the Soviets lifted the blockade in 1949.
Truman’s other big coup early in his presidency was enacting the Marshall Plan, a massive aid package to help European countries rebuild after WWII. The plan was a pretty unprecedented bit of international intervention from the previously isolationist US, but Truman was able to get pretty much unanimous bipartisan support by pitching the aid as an important step toward curbing the rise of communism. While it’s certainly had its critics, mostly US conservatives who hate giving anyone money and Europeans leaders who want credit for their own hard work, the Marshall Plan is largely thought of us as a success. The European critics are correct in saying that it didn’t actually save Europe, because, while it was a lot of money, in terms of rebuilding nations it was a very small percentage of the total expense, but where it was crucially important was as a stop gap in preventing the kind of economic and political turmoil that ensued after the first world war. Rather than ending the war with harsh punitive measures against the Axis powers, the Marshall Plan offered aid to all nations (even the Soviets, though they naturally refused) and while post-war years were hardly easy most nations were able to avoid the heavy rationing, famine, and poverty that created all the destabilizing conditions that largely led to WWII. It was a rare instance of politicians actually dealing with the human side of things, and surprise actually taking care of people’s basic needs is a much better way to prevent war than more military intervention. Lest we get too rose-tinted about the kindness of politicians, the Marshall Plan was also a very shrewd way of building the US back up into a more major global player after the Great Depression, earning favors from Europe, and also funneling a couple million dollars to the CIA for God knows what. Even with an ulterior motive or two, it’s a pretty amazing accomplishment for Truman’s administration.
Ironically Truman had a much harder time getting funding for domestic aid. While he had been a bit more conservative Southern democrat in his early career, he became a lot more progressive as he got older. He felt the best way to ease the country back into post-war life while avoiding supply/job shortages and inflation was to invest in social protections. He proposed measures like greater minimum wage, expanded Social Security, basic Civil Rights reform, and even national health insurance. Considering that we’re still fighting for a lot of these things you can imagine how they were received by then Conservative-led Congress. Most of Truman’s proposals were blocked, and then when the inflation, strikes, and shortages he predicted would happen without them did end up happening, he received all the blame. Tale as old time.
Another difficult position Truman was put into after the war was deciding whether or not the US should recognize fledgling nation of Israel. In 1947, the United Nations approved the partitioning of British-controlled Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The partition was not accepted by Arab leadership and civil war broke out. In 1948, the Jewish leadership declared the existence of a sovereign State of Israel. Deciding whether or not to recognize the State of Israel was a very delicate matter for Truman, which was on par with having to decide to drop the bomb in terms of no-win scenarios. On the one hand, recognizing Israel could upset potential Arab allies while not recognizing them could potentially turn Israel into an ally with the Soviets, with either decision leading to the displacement of thousands of people with legitimate claim to the land and increased geo-political turmoil (this is where European handling of the situation years before was disastrous in that they did create a scenario where Jewish and Arab peoples both had legitimate claim to the region. How they couldn’t foresee this becoming an issue is beyond me). There was also quite a bit of both antisemitism and anti-Arab racism among the world governments, so the situation was messy even if you assume everyone had good intentions and that’s absolutely not something that could be assumed. However you feel about the modern-day Israel-Palestinian conflict that is very much directly linked to this decision, I think it must have been truly impossible for Truman in that moment to really know either way which decision would be best so some sympathy must be granted him for being in that position. Ultimately, he had been super affected by the revelation of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust and that had turned him into a staunch believer in the need for repatriation of the Jewish people. When the time came he went with his gut and chose to recognize Israel within 11 minutes of the Jewish government declaring the State into existence. While the relationship has certainly been tumultuous, this decision was the first step in pretty lasting US-Israeli allyship and really one of the first major example of a US president openly supporting Jewish people more broadly which is kind of crazy to think about. This section of the museum also featured gifts of thanks given to Truman by Jewish politicians and citizens alike. Apolitically, these were great pieces of art, and the little piano on the bottom right is actually made of silver and the person who gave it to Truman managed to successfully smuggle it with them through Concentration Camps in the Holocaust which is an insane story for a little knickknack.
After WWII, Truman also became the first president to make a dedicated effort to establish a civil rights program. Truman was an unlikely champion for Civil Rights as for most of his life he was by all accounts pretty racist. His grandparents on both sides were southern slaveowners, his early letters contain racial slurs, and he met with the KKK when he was first running for public office. His eyes were finally opened after the war however when he learned of Black veterans being lynched after returning home. Truman was a military man, and racist or not, he knew what Black servicemen had sacrificed and endured for their country and seeing them treated with such appalling cruelty upon returning to the very country they had defended was too despicable even for him. He really had a “Come to Jesus” moment, and established the first committee on Civil in 1946 to come up with a series of reforms to ensure the equal protection of civil rights. Based on the committee’s findings, Truman proposed a Civil Rights Bill of reforms including voting rights protections and measures to prevent race-based employment discrimination. Congress refused to pass the bill, so Truman resorted to using Executive Orders to get as much as he could. He passed three Civil Rights-based executive orders: one to end segregation in the armed forces, one making it illegal to discriminate against anyone applying to be a civil servant on the basis of race, and one to establish the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs which would ensure that anyone doing business with the federal government also could not legally discriminate on the basis of race. In the long run these were baby steps in the right direction, but to Truman’s credit it was still the most progress a sitting president had made to protect the rights of non-white citizens.
The next section of the museum was dedicated to Truman’s contentious 1948 re-election campaign. Truman strongly divided the democratic party, because Southern Democrats hated that he was pushing for Civil Rights but Progressive Democrats felt like he wasn’t pushing enough for Civil Rights and was being too hawkish against the Soviet Union. This led to both third and fourth party candidates on Dixiecrat and Progressive Tickets. Republicans put forth a thoroughly middle-of-the-road candidate in the form of New York Governor Thomas Dewey, who was fairly moderate and kept his campaign promises vague. With Dewey’s relative inoffensiveness and the Democrats totally split, popular thought was that Truman didn’t have a snowball’s chance. However, despite having little support from his own party, Truman garnered a lot of popular support by crisscrossing the US by train and speaking to the people directly on his “whistle-stop” tour. These stops drew big crowds and gave Truman a lot of positive momentum going into the election, so even though the Chicago Tribue famously printed out front pages proclaiming “Dewey Defeats Truman” his re-election was handily won.
Despite his general popularity going into his second term, Truman’s next four years were filled with turmoil. In the first year of his second term, former Soviet spy Whittaker Chambers testified before the House un-American Activities Committee that a network of Soviet spies had been infiltrating the US government since the 1930s. He specifically named a former State Department official Alger Hiss as part of that network, and while Hiss denied the accusation he was found guilty of committing perjury during his Grand Jury hearing which led most Americans to believe there must have been some truth to the conspiracy. This coupled with the Soviets successfully developing their own atomic bomb and communist leadership taking over in China gave rise to a Red Scare that would cast a shadow over the rest of Truman’s presidency. We generally think of the 50’s as a “simpler time” but the pervading paranoia and looming fear of nuclear warfare really make you see why people drink so much on old TV shows. I think rather than actually being simpler, there was just a great need at the time for media to portray a more comforting reality to let people pretend like things were better than they were and that TV 50s is just what people who weren’t alive then remember. My favorite part of this exhibit though was all the old Sci-Fi and horror movie posters and book jackets because they were the only genres where really digging into all that anxiety was a lot more permitted.
In 1950, Truman’s popularity was almost permanently soured when North Korea invaded South Korea sparking a civil war. Truman initially had the country’s support in sending American troops to South Korea to prevent the spread of communism, but support soon dwindled when China entered the fight leading the war to stalemate accruing many more casualties than expected and severely bruising the US’s ego as a military power. The public’s disapproval of Truman reached new heights when Truman made General MacArthur step down from leading the war effort in Korea. In the public’s eye, MacArthur was a war hero and surely more knowledgeable about military operations than Truman, so it was seen as damning proof that Truman couldn’t competently handle the situation. In reality, MacArthur had been campaigning to use nuclear weapons and to invade China, both of which would have escalated the conflict to likely another World War, so Truman was 1000% correct to not go that route. But the average American at the time didn’t know any of that, so MacArthur was welcomed home as a wrongfully persecuted hero and Truman’s approval ratings dropped to the lowest a sitting president would have until George W. Bush. He would lose his next election to Dwight Eisenhower in a landslide and for years to come Truman’s legacy would be defined by what was seen as his failures in Korea. In more recent estimations, Truman’s performance as a president is looked on considerably more charitably especially considering the string of hugely weighty decisions he was forced to make almost immediately after being thrown into the position. Ultimately, the most impressive thing about his presidency was not so much what he did but what he didn’t do, namely avoiding a global nuclear war (granted he did drop the first nuclear bomb, but that’s its own can of worms). It’s not as flashy as being a war hero, but sometimes knowing when to show restraint is really the most powerful thing a person can do.
The next section of the museum was dedicated to photos from throughout Truman’s life. I got a big kick out of these because between Truman’s almost perfectly round head and his giant glasses he really can’t help but look like a real-life Mr. Magoo and, even though I generally like him, it’s just too fun to imagine him bumbling around everywhere and talking in that ridiculous voice. It was also crazy to see childhood photos of him and realize that he basically looked that way his entire life.
My personal favorite photos included: Truman getting surprised by a particularly aggressive chicken (I love how little context there is for this one); Truman talking to one of my all time favorite performers Harpo Marx (must have been a one sided convo); Truman in a big goofy bathrobe walking to the pool of his summer White House on Key West; and the Trumans being entertained by a very uncharacteristically playful Richard Nixon on the piano.
The museum also included this incredibly vivid and surrealist painting called Journey to World Peace that had been gifted to the Truman Library and the United Nations on the 60th anniversary of the United States joining the UN.
The museum also had a beautifully manicured courtyard that looked really peaceful in the summer sun. In one corner of the yard was a memorial dedicated to Truman by the American Legion called the Eternal Flame of Freedom, which was simple but evocative.
The special exhibit while I was at the museum was dedicated to Truman’s time serving in the military during WWI. Truman had initially wanted to go to West Point because they had no tuition and he couldn’t afford college as a young man. His eyesight however, 20/50 without glasses, was considered far below acceptable and he was denied admission. He was able to join the local Missouri National Guard, overcoming the eyesight requirement by secretly memorizing the eye test. In the national guard, he attained the rank of corporal, and when his unit was sent to France during WWI he was promoted to captain. Truman’s unit was known for their discipline problems but Truman was eventually able to whip them into shape by using curse words he learned while working in a railroad yard. The men were so surprised to hear this dorky guy talk like that, they just ended up listening (this is completely true which is hilarious). Truman’s men would go on to supply support to General Patton’s tank brigade through France and made it through the entire war without losing a single man, which was a massive boost to young Truman’s confidence in his leadership abilities. My favorite part of this exhibit was the inclusion of letters that Truman wrote home to his wife from France. The quote “That helmet picture was a dickens of a looking thing, but I thought perhaps you’d like to see what I looked like as a real fightin’ man” killed me.
Next up was a collection of vehicles that Truman had throughout his life where you really get to see how much the world changed so quickly after the turn of the century.
The next exhibit was dedicated to the Truman’s family life featuring childhood photos of his future wife Bess Wallace (whom he met when he was six!) and photos of the young couple after their first child, Margaret. Truman was classmates with Bess all through childhood and high school, but he didn’t work up the courage to ask her out until he was 26! When Margaret was born, the Trumans couldn’t afford a crib so they used a drawer from their dresser.
The next few displays were dedicated items from the Truman’s presidency including his elaborate table settings for White House dinners, an ancient Greek battle helmet that had been gifted to the president from a Greek Ambassador, and a fancy baton that had been given to Truman to conduct the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra.
There were also more photos of Truman later in life. My favorites included him one of him taking a photograph of the press outside the White House and one of him holding his grandchildren, both of which feature him striking absolutely maniacal poses.
Next up there was a full replica of Truman’s Oval Office. The Truman presidential library was the first presidential library to be established by the Federal Government (partly because Truman came up with the idea of preserving important documents and artifacts for public use, and also partly because he needed the extra income after his presidency), and basically every president after him followed his example and also included a mock Oval Office in theirs.
Last but not least were the tombs of Harry, Bess, and their daughter Margaret, all of whom were buried on site, which was sort of sweet in that they’re all together but also a sort of somber note to end on.
After the Truman Library, I decided to enjoy some more of that famous Kansas City barbecue, by going to a local favorite called Jack Stack BBQ. I had an absolutely incredible lunch, that consisted of a truly monstrous baked potato cut open and positively filled with crispy burnt ends from beef brisket, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and green onions with a side of BBQ sauce. My photo doesn’t do it lick of justice, but it was one of the most delicious lunches I had in the country. The meat was so perfectly cooked and flavorful, and the potato was such a perfect mix of fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside.
After lunch, my next stop for the day was a funky museum that has been voted one of Kansas City’s hidden gems, the Arabia Steamboat Museum. The museum is dedicated to the salvaged remains of a steamboat that sank into the Missouri River in 1856, and both the story of the salvage and the collection (which the museum says is the largest collection of intact Pre-Civil War American artifacts in the world) are fascinating and delightfully offbeat. Walking into the museum the first thing you see is the massive steamboat paddle-wheel that was salvaged from the wreck of the Arabia, and it makes for a very striking introductory image.
The first few displays were concerned with scene-setting, featuring replica store-fronts, paintings of grand old steamboats, and artifacts including the world’s oldest steam engine which help put you in mind of mid-19th century commercial bustle and river travel.
After setting the scene of the time when the Arabia set sail, the next few galleries told the story of how it was salvaged. The ship set out in 1856 when it hit a tree snag and became totally submerged in the Missouri River. Shifting river currents led to the steamboat being submerged under a Kansas cornfield where it would remain until 1988. The boat was salvaged by River Salvage Inc., a company founded by Bob Hawley, a refrigerator repairman, his two sons, and their friends Jerry Mackey, a restaurant owner, and David Lutrell, who owned a construction company. Hawley had the idea to get this group of guys together after hearing about the Arabia on TV. He believed that if they could find the ship it would be an incredibly profitable treasure hunt and one heck of an adventure. He and his sons traced old maps and used a magnometer to discover what they believed to be the Arabia’s final resting place. They got permission from the family that owned the land to begin excavating, and they brought in heavy machines to dig up the cornfields and pump out all the water that would otherwise fill up whatever they dug down. After 4 and a half months of excavation, the Arabia was finally unearthed, and the five men realized they had stumbled into a much more exciting find than they had imagined. The mud of the Missouri River had actually worked as a shockingly good preservative and almost the entirety of the fully-loaded ship’s cargo was completely intact (if more than a little muddy). Rather than finding a few valuable antiques, the treasure hunters had found a perfect snapshot of daily life and commerce from 1856 and they realized its educational and historic value was much greater than any pure monetary gain. They decided to continue their partnership and open up a museum to house the collection, and The Arabia Steamship Museum has now been a beloved local attraction for just over 20 years.
Alongside the gallery about the excavation process, there was a really beautiful artist’s rendering of the Arabia at the height of its glory.
On a slightly darker note, the next display housed the remains a mule that had died aboard the Arabia (the only casualty as thankfully all the crew and had passengers had time to evacuate safely). At the time of the sinking, the mule’s owner told everyone that the animal was too stubborn and refused to leave the sinking boat. However after the excavation, this story was proven to be a lie (just a little over a hundred years late) and as the remains showed that the guy had never bothered to untie the mule and he was clearly just trying to make himself look better by not mentioning that part.
Next up we had some of the heavy machinery used during the excavation attempts. Before the successful excavation of the Arabia, others had tried and failed over the years. My favorite story is one guy who tried to dig down to the sunken steamboat in 1897 because he had heard there was a lot of whiskey on the ship and he wanted to get his hands on. Never underestimate what some people are willing to do for good whiskey.
Next up were some really striking photos of the Missouri river that really capture both its natural beauty and its dangerous power. This haunting piece was a particular favorite partly because it’s amazing photo and partly because the guy on the right’s umbrella seems a bit comically un-equipped for the elements so he and his buddy make a fun pair.
Next up was a recreation of the Arabia’s deck complete with the original anchor and capstan. In a fun bit of curation, the deck was surrounded by a mural of sunset on the Ol’ Muddy on the day the Arabia sank. It’s a little weird to be looking at the wreck of the Arabia from the deck of the Arabia though which seems like a potential rip in the time space continuum if you time travel movies are to be believed.
Next up was more heavy-duty machinery from the internal workings of the Arabia which were more artistic than I usually expect from industrial parts while also showing just how powerful the steamboat was.
Despite all that power, all it took was one funny shaped log to strike and damage the hull beyond repair and amazingly the excavation also managed to salvage part of that infamous snag that took the Arabia down.
From here on out, the galleries contained the meat and potatoes (sometimes literally) of the museum’s collection: the salvaged goods that the Arabia had been transporting. The first few displays gave more of an overview of the different types of items passengers and traders were carrying with them aboard the Arabia which later galleries would do more of a deep dive on. Immediately in this introductory section, it’s very clear how varied the Arabia’s passengers were with items ranging from lavish Wedgwood China and perfume to more classic frontier items like rifles and whiskey glasses. It was also absolutely insane how well preserved so many of the items were even with the occasional cracked glass or porcelain.
After the introductory displays, the museum grouped items of a similar nature together. First up was a pretty extensive collection of porcelain buttons and colored glass beads. The bead and button trades were massive businesses during the mid-19th century supplying the frontiers with simple materials to style and fasten various articles of clothing. Living in our modern world it’s easy to take for granted simply having access to buttons, but for most of human history things like these could be a luxury. Seeing the variety of colors and patterns and the sheer quantity of beads and buttons being transported on the Arabia, the display did a great job of taking something commonplace and making it seem almost extraordinary.
Up next was a collection of rifles, pistols, and surprisingly decorative gunpowder pouches. The firearms were accompanied by some really interesting and valuable context about the political situation along the Missouri River around the time of the Arabia’s sinking. While the Civil War was still about a decade away, bloody conflicts between pro-slavery and abolitionist factions were springing up with increasing regularity across the Western frontier. A number of the salvaged firearms from the Arabia were actually being smuggled to Abolitionist forces in a box labeled “Tools”. Somewhere along the route, the ruse was discovered and the guns were seized by pro-Slavers. So least one good thing came from boat sinking in that there were at least a few less guns in the hands of those defending slavery.
Next up were some more Wedgwood ceramics, which featured some absolutely jaw-dropping designs. I can’t even imagine looking this good after a century under mud and water.
Next up was a collection of ornate jewelry that passengers had been carrying with them. I’m sure some of them must have been pretty heartbroken to watch these things sink into the Missouri, but it’s a good reminder that even the most beautiful stuff is just stuff and not worth risking your life on a sinking boat for.
The next section featured various household items including a pretty snazzy looking antique coffee grinder that really surprised me because it’s not the sort of thing you expect to see in the Wild West.
Up next was some more fine British earthenware but this time from Davenport Pottery. These ceramics were slightly less colorful than the Wedgwoods but the designs were equally elegant and insanely detailed.
The next gallery was all about mid-19th century advancements in technology, focusing on recently patented items that were aboard the Arabia. This was a really interesting snapshot into the time period because you don’t necessarily think about bed springs, scissors, movable type, and circular saw blades as being co-occurring inventions.
One of the more surprisingly pretty displays was this very artfully arranged collection of locks and keys.
Next up was more tableware with the plates filled with various small knicknacks including more buttons, bobby pins, and various nuts and grains. Personally I think the trinkets held up pretty nicely, but the snacks look a little under the weather.
Up next was a fine cabinet of assorted glass bottles containing impressively well-preserved fruits and vegetables, spices, and lots and lots of gin (I’m sure the one guy who was trying to dig up all the Arabia’s whiskey would be jealous to see that there really was quite a haul of booze buried under the Missouri). Apparently, the sweet pickles on the top shelf are still edible but I don’t know really want to know how this was determined.
The vices continued in the next gallery with dozens of clay pipes, wine corks, boxes filled with tobacco, and kegs of ale. A careful comparison to the pictures above will show that booze and tobacco greatly out numbered fruits and vegetables.
Some of the displays like the one below used a passenger’s belongings to make a little portrait of one person’s life. Here we have the sturdy boots, rifles, and extra ammunition of someone going to try to make their fortune out on the wild frontier.
Up next was a surprisingly large collection of axes, augers, saw handles, and planes that had been aboard the Arabia which really gives you an idea of how vital wood-working was to mid-19th century life.
Unsurprisingly the Arabia’s haul has caught many a person’s eye since the museum opened up, and they’ve highlighted some exquisite photos taken of the collection that add some really beautifully composed framing to the already impressive items.
In a similar vein, this display of glass bottles was lit up from the bottom to really accentuate all the different colors of glass. It was both very pretty and sort of haunting.
Next up was an extensive collection of different articles of clothing from the Arabia’s passengers. It was really interesting to see all the materials and styles (the belt buckles were particularly neat in my opinion) but it must have been one heck of a laundry bill getting all the mud out of these.
Next up was an assortment of various metal items ranging from keys, cookware, fasteners, nails, and cubes of things so rusted over that they’re pretty much unrecognizable.
Last but not least were some delightfully horrific found remnants of food and animal bones that had been on the doomed steamboat including a full tin of sardines which was mercifully only shown in photographs. It was wonderfully weird note to end on in a very wonderfully weird museum.
After plumbing the depths of the Missouri, I got a little caffeine boost in form of an excellent coffee from local chain, Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters. The coffee and atmosphere were both top notch but I was particularly excited by the fact that they named themselves after one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books, John Steinbeck’s East of Eden.
After fueling up, I went to check the National WWI Memorial and Museum which features the largest collection of WWI artifacts in the country. The museum part was closed by the time I got there, but that wasn’t too bad because I had already gotten quite a good museum fix by then. Instead I just enjoyed the impressive exteriors, most notably the 217 foot tall Liberty Memorial Tower. Designed by the wildly named architect Harold Van Buren Magonigle, the tower is made of clean, smooth limestone and granite in a stately Art-Deco style with influences from Egyptian Revivalist architecture (weirdly popular in the early 20th century). The tower is surrounded by grand columns with topped with sculpted busts and neat geometric patterns. It really cuts quite the striking profile.
Other notable features at the memorial included two large stone sphinxes named Memory and Future who are covering their faces with their wings to shield themselves from the horrors of the past and the horrors yet to come (cheery!) and a clear glass walkway that looks over a field of red poppies each commemorating the death of 1000 soldiers.
While I didn’t get a chance to see the view from the top of the tower, the Kansas City vista overlooked from the base of the memorial was still pretty breathtaking.
After my more somber sightseeing, I went to visit the home and studio of one of Missouri’s greatest artist’s Thomas Hart Benton. I really fell in love with the surreally emotional Americana of Benton’s paintings over the course of my road trip, so I was excited for this stop. Right away I was very happy to see that in very Wes Anderson-y fashion, this eccentric folksy artist had a suitably eccentric and folksy home that looked like a little castle overlooking his residential neighborhood.
Benton turned the carriage house of the estate into his own personal art studio. The studio was largely preserved exactly as Benton had left it at the time of his death, and the estate had several works of art on display. These included 13 original pieces as well as sketches, prints, and photographs of the artist at work.
One of the big highlights for me was seeing a bunch of lithographs that Thomas Hart Benton did as illustrations for the Grapes of Wrath. They had a really beautiful expressionistic quality to them that captured both the harshness and the elegance of the story itself. The illustrations were accompanied by a letter from John Steinbeck himself to tell Benton just how much he liked them which was very neat. I guess between these and Thou Mayest Coffee it was a pretty Steinbeck-y day for me.
One display featured a pretty eclectic collection of various products utilizing Benton’s artwork ranging from decorative bowls to puzzles to stamps to local phone books:
Lastly, I really loved this big photo of Benton painting and smoking a pipe because his body language has such an amusing “Well what’re you gonna do?” vibe to it,
After the art studio, I had some time to kill before the night’s open mic so I went back to downtown KC to hang out for a bit, and, naturally, I had to stop to take a photo of this adorably depressed-looking robot inexplicably stationed outside of a CBD Store. Judging by his big chain necklace that says “CBD” (an accessory that seems a little intense for a product meant to chill people out), the robot is in some way affiliated with the store but if you want any kind of answers or explanations as to this guy’s identity or purpose there were none to be found.
While killing time before the mic, I made my way to a funky arcade bar called TapCade where I got to enjoy some pinball and local beers (a wonderful recipe for any evening). I was particularly fond of a rich and flavorful vanilla porter from Kansas City’s own Casual Animal Brewing Co.
The night’s mic was at a place called Uptown Arts Bar. They were a good open mic venue because they had a fun bar up front and then a back room with a stage and chairs for the comedy so it wasn’t like unsuspecting bar patrons were having an open mic happen to them which can often be the case. The bar itself was a lot of fun and they had $5 mystery beers where the bartender would just give you a can of whatever they felt like which I got a kick out of. Plus their bathrooms weren’t afraid to ask the tough questions:
The open mic itself was a little bit tougher even though they had a great setup. I could be biased because I personally didn’t do very well, but I remember other comics who I thought were very good also struggling a bit. I think the reason for this was a common enough problem in open mic comedy (certainly not unique to the venue or KC) where one newer comedian brings a bunch of their friends to see them perform for the first time and then after they go up everyone leaves creating a little energy void. It’s not great mic etiquette but I also get that if it’s a long list of performers it isn’t super fun for your friends to sit through. The rule of thumb I’m familiar with is that you should wait until at least three comics after you before heading out, but I don’t know how standard that is or if every new performer is aware of these little kindnesses.
While the energy was a little off in the room, I thought a lot of the comics were really great. My personal favorite of the night was a guy named Dustin Slentz. He had a very confident stage presence and I particularly liked a joke he told about his father: "My dad has never had a reaction to a gift that wasn't one hundred percent neutral. Like he’ll unwrap it, look at it, and say ‘Heck of a deal”’
Other Highlights
Matt Harris - I used to think wonder was a delicious blue raspberry drink.
Brett lacy- I joined a fight club and the coach said I needed a cup. I had to stop drinking my water with my hands
Sam Hooker - I’d love to act like Lando but if Donald glover can't do it how can I?
Nate Scott- I learned my abcs backwards because my parent knew I was going to be a drunk
Mike Anderson- I was auditioning for a commercial and they told me "you have more of that single dad look"
Spencer- I work at a deli and someone walked up to me at work and said “What's up deli daddy?”
As I said earlier, my own set didn’t do particularly well. Maybe I had too many mystery beers, maybe what was left of the crowd was too tired, or maybe I just did a bad job, but I just couldn’t really get any momentum going which is always a bummer.
Luckily, even though I was a little down about doing poorly, I randomly made friends with two girls at the bar who happened to also be stopping by KC on their own road trip. We hung out for a bit and shared fun road trip stories and then they said we had to go Insomnia Cookies to get late-night chocolate cookies which I was very happy to go along with. I wasn’t expecting to end the night with camaraderie and cookies, but it was not a bad note to go out on.
Favorite Random Sightings: An ATM offering “Cash in a Flash”; Harry Truman stickers that said “Wild about Harry”; and a hilariously named plumbing service called Wizard of Clogs.
Regional Observation: I’m not a big sports guy, but Royals Stadium really looks incredible even from a distance so it’s a fun landmark for the city. I particularly like the crown on the scoreboard.
Random Joke of the Day:
Seeing her friend Sally wearing a new locket, Meg asks if there is a memento of some sort inside.
"Yes," says Sally, "a lock of my husband's hair."
"But Larry's still alive."
"I know, but his hair is gone."
Song of the Day:
I can’t prove that this is what Harry Truman and Harpo did when they hung out together, but I like to imagine
It’s really sweet that the extras are very genuinely laughing in the background.