Date Nights: Exploring the letter A in KC

This month’s roundup of dates is brought to you by ... the letter A!

On a recent Saturday, we made our way to the Airline History Museum, which is located at the downtown airport. We paid $10 each and then watched an 8-minute video on the history of aircraft. Next, we moved on to a room with exhibits, including historical newspaper articles, old airline menus, and other memorabilia, flight attendant and pilot uniforms through the years, and old airplane seats. We were then escorted out to the hangar that houses flight simulators, aircraft, cockpits, airplane engines, and other machinery. We learned all about the DC-3 that the museum reclaimed in 1993. They have been working on refurbishing it for 25+ years! According to the tour guide, money goes out faster than it comes in, and all refurbishing is done through donations. Honestly, I don’t have much of an interest in planes, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this tour.

In keeping with this month’s theme, we chose to have dinner at Anton’s on Main Street. This was our first time there, and we noticed that it’s part restaurant, part butcher shop and part art showcase. Thanks to the nice weather and the fact that it was a First Friday, we picked a table on the front sidewalk and enjoyed some great people watching. We were there in time to enjoy their happy hour, which features half-price apps and salads, as well as drink specials. A few things we really enjoyed were the potato latkes with fruit butter, steak kebabs, sliders and the bread service with whipped honey butter. We also enjoyed the nice ambiance with the big band music playing out front. Next time, we would like to check out one of their dessert items or an entree.

My husband and I are big fans of the Marvel movies, but one we had not seen was Ant Man, starring Paul Rudd. So we snuggled up with a blanket and some pizza on a recent Tuesday evening to see whether it lived up to our expectations. We were not disappointed. Ant Man is the story of Scott Lang, who is released from prison after burglary. His skills as a thief are admired by Hank Pym, one of the founding members of the Avengers and a discoverer of shrinking technology that would enable anyone wearing his shrinking suit to become a man the size of an ant. \What follows is a great heist that saves the world and makes Ant Man a superhero. Of course. This is Marvel after all. The movie was witty and light-hearted with a good balance between action and heartfelt moments. And Rudd was very likeable as Ant Man.