I was refreshed and chipper in the morning and looking forward to exploring the city. First thing after waking I went back to the library and farted around a bit looking over emails and things. For some reason I was in no mood to post so I forgot about it. Venturing back to the hotel I decided to do my chores and put in a load of laundry that was in dire need of a good washing.
As I did this I got my quarters in order and my detergent ready, but in the wash room a guy was there and told me not to bother with the quarters. He did something to the back and pressed something up front and told me to go ahead. A free washing, that was nice. Before leaving he also tossed back that the dryer in the corner had about thirty minutes left as well. A free drying, even better. I’d picked up a local events paper so I read that and then my book a bit as the clothes flung their dirt from them.
Once all was well I shaved then walked down the road to the great city of Kansas in Missouri. The walk was longer than I’d thought, but it was nice enough once I reached the little town part of Kansas City North, or North Kansas City (this seems to be a point of contention even amongst the locals as I’d found out).
Crossing back over the great Missouri River I landed myself down in a neighborhood I couldn’t quite figure out. It seemed industrial, but there was a French restaurant on the corner. I’d seen a cute girl come out of there so I went in to see what the deal was. One look at the menu let me know it was not for me, but it seemed cool anyway. The waiter came up to seat me and I told him my ordeal asking for a recommendation of a place to eat that would be more in the $5-$6 range. He was very cool about it and said anyone can hang out there but pointed out some hip hot spots down the way. It turned out I’d wandered into one of the cooler parts of the city.
I followed his directions and looked for the names he said but they too seemed too bar-ish so I continued on noticing the streets were getting less industrial and the neighborhood taking on more of a cool local hang out appeal. Here is where I discovered the Cup and Saucer. I thoroughly enjoyed this little coffee shop and recommend it to anyone passing through this way.
Outside there were some folks sipping on coffees chatting at sidewalk tables. Inside there were a couple people doing the same so I sat at the bar and got myself a coffee as well. It was excellent. I got to talking with the guy there, Nick, and we got along quite well. We talked for a good two or three hours about what ever and I was introduced to various regulars as they appeared as the guy who was walking across the country. I met Kadi and Justin here (Kadi who signed the guestbook with quite a few suggestions) as well as later in the night, after a romp through Kansas City proper to figure out the bus situation for the way back, Joseph and Leslie.
Joseph and Leslie became good friends of mine while I was in town. The coffee shop transformed gracefully into a bar so we had a few beers there and chatted. Joseph is very conversational and likes to meet just about anyone, so he introduced me to more than a memorable amount of people that came and went through out the night. Leslie was quite cute, yet quiet, and occasionally drifted to and from Joseph and I chatting. Eventually they decided they wanted to hit a club down the street so we all went to Kabal.
At the door Joseph got us in free of the cover. Inside I supplied myself with a Jack and Coke and checked out the break dancing in the galley below. Then downstairs there was what seemed like freestyle rapping, I’m not sure maybe they were just local guys, but the crowd was large and decent, yet not quite my scene. The three of us had sort of spread out so I just found various places to watch the folks there and took it all in. Just before leaving some girl grabbed me and pulled me close to her saying she loved my hair. I replied with some sort of return witty remark and she whispered with a raspy sexy voice “do you listen to 96.5?” This sort of creeped me out because she said it in an inflection of trying to impress me, or at least I got the impression she said it because she worked there or was a DJ there or something. Either way, it seemed creepy. Joseph and Leslie were about to leave me there thinking a love connection had been made, but I hastily backed away hoping not to be left behind with the radio queen.
Off we went to another bar. Kansas City is interesting because it seemed that there were bars that closed at various times, not just the old “its 4am, we’re closed” deal I was used to. Anyway, we bounced on to another bar that was open until 3am or 3:30. My attention to details was getting foggy at this point. This bar, as I discovered from a girl I met at the bar, was very well known for having ruffies slipped in the drinks. I told her jokingly that sounded like fun and we talked about it about it. Later I wandered off to Leslie and Joseph again and showed some funk on the floor of dance.
The night was wrapped up at a little place for pizza. I couldn’t tell you what we talked about as we ate, but we had a good time. They dropped me off at my hotel and I felt like the good time guy as I drifted off to la-la land.