Remember the classic Chevy Chase vacation films with the family piled into the station wagon embarking on a cross-country trip to see the “second-largest ball on twine on earth”? Maybe eight hours with anxious children crammed in the car to see the world’s wonders isn’t your idea of the perfect vacation. Still, you might like to see the strange and unusual … if it were easy enough. For the curious-at-heart, you don’t have to invest a fortune in gasoline or spend hours in the minivan to see the odd and peculiar! Kansas City has 11 super-sized wonders in our own backyard.
The BIG Piano. This park in front of Children’s Mercy Hospital in downtown Kansas City, is a charming and fully accessible playground perfect for children coming to the hospital. The park's signature is the Big Walking Piano, designed by artist Remo Saraceni, who was also responsible for the piano from Tom Hanks’ film BIG. In 2019, Variety KC oversaw renovations of the park including repair to the piano so that it plays when walked, danced, or wheeled on so that even children with wheelchairs or leg braces may play it. Hospital Hill Park: Sybil Silk Wood Nutter Inclusive Playground (2401 Gillham Rd., KC, MO).
World’s biggest ball of string (not twine). In the 1950s, Finley Stephens opened a museum in Weston, Missouri. One of the many artifacts was a ball of string weighing more than 3,700 pounds and measuring 19 feet in diameter. Stephens asked local postmasters to save string for him, and he used it to create the ball. The museum no longer exists, but the ball of string does. It is now outside O’Malley’s Irish Pub in a glass display case (500 Welt St., Weston).
Giant book collection. The Central Library in Kansas City, Missouri, is in the former Federal Reserve Bank. The five-story library is breathtaking with marble fixtures, chandeliers, the old bank vault turned movie theater, the Missouri Valley Room housing historic artifacts, a rooftop view and reading area, and one of the most fantastic children’s departments in the area. However, what gives the library its oddity is the parking garage painted with gigantic books and featuring book-shaped stairs leading to the pedestrian exit. If you haven’t visited this library yet, you’re missing out on a true treasure (14 W. 10th St., Kansas City).
Giant pencil. In Liberty, Missouri, one of the city’s telecommunications towers is cleverly disguised as a giant #2 pencil. Head to 312 Preston St. to find this yellow beacon in the sky.
Not-itsy-bitsy spider. Standing guard at the Kemper Museum of Modern Art (4420 Warwick Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.) is an 11-foot-tall bronze spider created by French artist Louise Bourgeois. The gallery lawn is home to the mother spider and her baby. Families never know what they’ll discover on a trip to the Kemper, and the spiders are a favorite for kids!
22-foot needle and thread. In the 1930s, Kansas City’s garment district was known as “Paris of the Plains.” It was home to many of the nation’s leading clothing manufacturers and was second only to New York City. Now, that history is preserved at the Historic Garment District Museum (801 Broadway, Kansas City, Mo., 816.474.2112). Across the street at 404 Eighth St., you’ll find a statue of a gigantic needle and thread commemorating the area.
World’s largest iron. If you ever need to press gigantic wrinkles after sewing gigantic clothes, visit Kansas City, Kansas, home of the world’s largest iron, which can be found at the intersection of Wilson Boulevard & Central Avenue.
Great big chicken. The Agricultural Hall of Fame (630 Hall of Fame Dr., Bonner Springs, Kan.) is also home to the National Poultry Museum. The idea of a poultry museum may seem adequately odd, but there’s more ... outside the museum, you’ll find a giant cast iron chicken welcoming you to come inside and learn the history of poultry and egg processing. While you’re there, take the kids to Farm Town USA to visit the blacksmith shop, farmhouse, barn, general store, one-room schoolhouse and train.
Smokey Bear. If you grew up with commercials reminding you that “only you can prevent forest fires,” a trip to Burr Oak Woods Nature Center will bring a bit of nostalgia (1401 NW Park Rd., Blues Springs, Mo.) An animatronic Smokey Bear is on display there, and when you push a button, he cautions children to exercise fire safety. The nature center is a free field trip with wonderful hands-on activities and beautiful nature trails.
Jumbo penguin. Since 1964, children have been sliding down the gigantic penguin, climbing to the top of the elephant slide and peeking out of a kangaroo’s pocket at one of Kansas City’s most beloved parks. The whimsical characters at Penguin Park (N. Vivion Road & N. Norton Avenue, Kansas City, Mo.) create a true haven for kids!
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Shuttlecocks. An article on the big stuff in KC would not be complete without the Shuttlecocks (more than 17 feet tall and weighing more than 5,000 pounds), perhaps the most recognized outdoor sculpture in the Midwest. Most of us are familiar with the Shuttlecocks on the lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, but how many of us know why Shuttlecocks? The artists imagined the museum (4525 Oak, Kansas City, Mo.) as a net and that a large game was taking place on the lawn. The feathers and shapes reminded them of teepees and the Native Americans who first lived here.
For more local oddities and curiosities, check out these books:
- Missouri Curiosities by Josh Young
- Kansas Curiosities by Pam Grout
- Off the Beaten Path: Missouri by Patti DeLano and Cathy Johnson
- Off the Beaten Path: Kansas by Patti DeLano and Cathy Johnson