Quintessentially KC Date Night

For this month’s date, why not choose something that’s quintessentially KC?

Coffee

One option is to take a tour of the Roasterie, home of air-roasted coffee and the famous DC-3 airplane. On our tour, we learned that the Roasterie was founded in 1993 in a Brookside basement, and in the early days, a regular clothes iron was used to seal their coffee bags. Also, coffee starts out as a berry-like fruit called a coffee cherry, and the actual process of roasting coffee beans looks eerily similar to popping popcorn. After the tour, we were able to sample the cold brew and the nitro brew. We also received a hot brewing demonstration using both a French press and a pour over, followed by more samples. If you are a coffee lover, this is a fun way to spend a couple of hours. Even if you are not a coffee drinker (like me), it is still interesting to hear about one of KC’s most famous companies. Plus, they have a nice cafe there at the factory, complete with baked goods from Baked in KC.

Fountains

Another option is a fountain tour. KC’s fountain season is from April to October, and there are more than 200 to explore. The Country Club Plaza alone contains 19 fountains (and four wishing wells!). And each of Kansas City’s fountains has its own story. You can build a DIY tour of your own using a brochure published by the City of Fountains Foundation, which features around 30 fountains. My husband and I visited quite a few on a nice sunny Saturday. Some of our favorites were the Children’s Fountain in North Kansas City, which has six bronze children playing, and the Firefighters Fountain in downtown, which remembers firefighters lost in duty. Others that we really enjoyed are the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fountain just south of Westport, the Carl J. Dicapo Fountain (waterfall) on Cliff Drive and the Northland Fountain off Vivion and North Oak. The Northland Fountain is actually one of three fountains that runs year round. Fountains are such an integral part of KC’s history.

Gangsters

A third option is to go on a 90-minute gangster tour, which is offered by Kansas City Transportation Group. The tour departs from Union Station in a nice bus and traverses much of the city, traversing from the River Market area to south of the Plaza. We learned that back in the 1920s and ’30s during Prohibition, Kansas City was known as one of the crime capitals in the United States. Bootleg liquor flowed freely, and the city was full of political corruption, mob activity, gambling, prostitution, jazz and nightlife. Political bosses like Tom Pendergast ruled the city. It was fun to hear about KC’s past and almost hard to believe at times. Our tour guide was a local actor dressed as a gangster who did his best to keep us all engaged and entertained. Truthfully, the tour was kind of cheesy, but it was also very interesting and educational.

Hannah Berry is a freelance writer who lives with her husband in Kansas City. They enjoy regular date nights and love trying new restaurants and activities.