Lunch in the Crossroads

Ventured into mid town to have lunch with my pal Phil. Phil's a fellow Bill Nelson nut and talented designer too! We had both been busy over the holidays, so it was nice to finally be able to get together for lunch again. We decided on Grinders in the Crossroads district.

While walking to the restaurant I had to get a few snaps in of one of my favorite KC attractions. The TWA rocket on top of the Barkley building.






Turn the corner and there it is. My destination.







Grinders specializes in pizza and Phillycheese steak. When weather allows they also have outdoor concerts in a back pavilion area. Last summer Blondie played here.


We opted for the Margaretta pizza. When the waitress saw my camera she was very enthusiastic about me taking a picture of our pizza.


It was quite tasty!




Since we were in the historic Crossroads Art District I thought I should get at least one shot of some of the art. This sculpture is on the side of the concert space behind the Grinders building.




My drive home. Thought I 'd take some quick snaps of downtown while paused in traffic.




Not a particularly good view of the KC Star newspaper building. But it was all traffic would allow. The Sprint Center to the right.



Slightly better view of the Sprint Center. Still have not been. Would be fun to see a basketball game here. Was tempted to see Fleetwood Mac when they performed here.



Supporting the nifty vintage Cannon sign is one of my favorite buildings in KC. And it houses one of my favorite shops in KC, Retro Inferno.



Approaching the Bartle Hall pylons, Power and Light District and the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts currently being built.



Closer view of the Kauffman Center's construction.






Closer view of the BH pylons. A KC skyline icon. Most of P & L and downtown are to the right off camera.

St. Louis visit - part 7: Mid-Century shop and Gus's

Wednesday I had to return home, but before I did we had time to check out a nifty mid-century focused antique shop T.F.A.


If I lived in the St. Louis area I would shop at T.F.A. frequently.

And then stop at another of St. Louis' food destination spots Gus' Pretzels.



I liked the texture of my pretzel stick. It had a slightly crunchy outer shell similar to a standard small pretzel stick. Yet the inside was soft and doughy like a soft pretzel.

Then it was back to Clayton's to pack up and head for home. I was sad to leave, but excited to return home to LB and Lily.

St. Louis visit - part six: Crown Candy!

After our Busch Stadium tour we went for lunch at a St. Louis classic Crown Candy.
The image below has nothing to do with Crown Candy. It's just a building I admired on the way there.



We've arrived!





I love classic soda fountain/ice cream/candy shops. And Crown Candy has it all.



It's like being transported back in time once inside.



The vast selection of frozen treats.



The Challenge!



Each booth had one of these vintage table top jukeboxes.



The building.



The neighborhood. Seems to be going through a revitalization.



Heading back after a tasty lunch and a tremendous malt!

St. Louis visit - part five: Foggy drive

It was pretty foggy the day of our stadium tour. So I took some of my quick out the window snaps on the drive downtown. Below are a few unadulterated images of it enveloping the Arch.







Fog rolling in.

Mitts and Cookies

When Becky was here visiting, we made sugar cookies using AF's Mom's sugar cookie recipe. We had fun making lots of different shaped cookies.

Airplanes, dinosaurs, rockets, cats, fish, birds, sailboats . . . and on and on.

The cookies offered a good opportunity for Becky to model the Mitts I made my Mom for Christmas.




These are made with handspun yarn, which I used to make her a scarf last yer.

St. Louis visit - part 4: Busch Stadium tour

On Tuesday we took a tour of Busch Stadium home of the St. Louis Cardinals! First I must confess, I am a Kansas City Royals fan and a Chicago Cubs fan. But I'm also a fan of the game at heart and I appreciate a first rate ballpark and respect the historic ballclub and well run organization they have in St. Louis. If only the Royals could recapture some of that luster. Sigh...



Clayton walking to the gate. Note the fog in the distance. More on that soon.




Inside: our first view of the field.




AF in front of the field. Picture by Clayton.



Our guide pointing out a section.



Plaques featuring the evolution of the Cardinal logos that have graced the uniforms through the decades.



The one on the right above is one of my favorite "Fredbirds". Our guide said it wasn't well received at the time and was soon changed. Now garments featuring this throwback bird are quite popular.



I'm also pretty fond of the one with the cap.

Below are a series of program illustrations that adorned the walls throughout the various rooms inside the stadium. Being an illustrator myself and an enthusiast of vintage illustration, this was perhaps my favorite aspect of the tour.




Love the sense of whimsy in this one.



Terrific graphic quality and vibrancy in this one.






Wouldn't mind some of those in my collection.




Hey look who's featured on the scoreboard! It's the reigning AL Cy Young award winner, Kansas City's own Zack Greinke!


Below are some views from inside the home team's radio broadcast booth.


View from where the broadcasters sit. I'm sure they have monitors and other assists, but it gives me even more appreciation for how accurately they call a game. I often prefer listening to games on the radio. Of course it helps to have your games broadcast by a Hall of Famer like KC's Denny Mathews. And the Cardinals have certainly had their share of broadcast legends like Caray, Buck and Shannon.




On the field.


View looking up into the stands from the warning track.



The mound looked REALLY close standing right behind home plate. How intimidating it must feel to be up there against say Halladay or Greinke. Unless you're Pujols that is.




And me standing behind home. Thanks again to Clayton for taking the photo.



Our guide pointing out another section of the stands.



The dugout.



Two pals in the dugout! Definitely a highlight. Thanks to our guide for suggesting and taking this shot.



Way to the clubhouse. The clubhouse was the only area we weren't allowed to access.




Memorabilia once owned by super Cardinal fan Marty Hendin and donated to the team after his passing.



Mascot Fredbird's "office"!



The ushers' cafeteria.



Great statue outside honoring the great Stan "The Man" Musial.




Ozzy "Mr. Cardinal" in my eyes.



Clayton posing with his favorite player's statue, Lou Brock.





Leaving the stadium after a fun insightful tour on a cold misty winter day. But it was a slice of summer inside. Ah not too long until Spring Training.