Big 12 Championship Weekend
What a disastrously fun weekend that was had in KC for the Big 12 Championship game in KC for the MU vs Oklahoma game. Poor planning and some misfortune caused the disastrous part but overall it was a great trip.
The weekend started with a large group of us bar hopping on Wash Ave. We went from Rue 13 to Lucas Park to Lure. The first two were totally dead but Lure had a pretty good crowd. I suspect the small crowds were due to the utter cold. Some of us concluded the night by going to our favorite pizza place. As you may or may not have heard, I left the place “screaming” and went home. In all reality, I had some heartburn so I didn’t want to wait for everyone else to finish.
Ted, Mike, and I woke up bright early after less than 3 hours of sleep to meet my cousin at the Amtrak station downtown for the ride to KC. None of us had any clue what to expect. Surprisingly the train was pretty cool. I wish I wouldn’t have been so tired but it was fun seeing the country side plus being able to walk around wherever you wanted. If only Mike and Ted did not think it was so funny to wake me up every time I started to fall asleep.
We arrived at the historic Independence train station to find out that KC cab company that I called previously lied to me when they told me there would be cabs at this station. This station was in the middle of no where so I am not sure why they told me that. Anyways, we called a cab that arrived fashionably over an hour late after he got lost. We killed time by making friends with an old timer that was working there. We were told to go to the Sheraton because they had a good bar that was close to the stadium. We wanted to get some food plus we wanted to watch the Florida game while we waited for the rest of the group to get to the stadium to start the tailgating. They had a Mexican buffet so it was good.
Tailgating was pretty fun. It was very cold but I was wearing 5 layers of cloths so I was pretty well prepared. I did have a great time hanging out with Smith and Rengel. It is not often that they are out on their own like that.
We finally decided to go to the game even though everyone, included the Tigers team, knew they did not stand a chance. The first quarter was competitive but we fell apart in the 2nd. The combination of our dismal pass rush and Daniel’s inability to make good decisions put us in a deficit real quick. We decided at half time to find the mysterious shuttles to take us downtown.
We got downtown around 10PM. We went to the new Power and Light district. I has heard numerous recommendations on this area. I was not disappointed. The same builder of this area is supposed to be the one building Ball Park Village. I would be totally grateful if BP Village was half as cool as P&L district. I liked the area so much that it would be worth going back to KC in the summer just for it. We started out at McFadden’s. I am assuming it is the same chain that I went to in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was packed since the game was still on. It was okay but not my style. We then went to Lucky Strike. I would have never thought that a bowling alley would be a place to go to but I was proved wrong. It was a part bowling alley and part ultra lounge. I think Flamingo Bowl and Pin Up Bowl need to look at Lucky Strike’s model. We then concluded with the bar that I really wanted to go to, Angels Rock Bar. Rue 13 would be the bar that would be most similar to this because of its layout and video DJ but that is it. The thing that made this bar different was the amount of hot girls in it plus the fact that they played all Rock music. I would do anything for a bar like this in St Louis. I think it would be a great model for anyone looking to open a bar on Wash Ave. This bar along with RockIt in Chicago seem to be very popular.
We had some time to kill, approximately 4.5 hours so we decided the best bet would be to go to the Casino. We picked Harrah’s. It was packed full of sports fans. I watched Mike play roulette for a couple hours. We did run into an interesting guy probably about 25 at the roulette table. He kept placing even bets on only black and red. I kept telling him that there was no possible way for him to win and he would lose everything if it hit a zero. He kept saying that he liked paying for kids education. I think he was way to drunk. He kept saying he was going to drop another grand which he definitely had in his wallet. He at least dropped a couple hundred while we were there briefly.
After eating breakfast at the casino we decided to head to the train station. Unfortunately, it was not open yet when we arrived. Luckily a side door was open and we were able to go into this large Union Station when all the lights were off. A guard immediately came down and said they were closed but we could wait in this area until they opened. We finally got into the waiting area where we slept for a while.
We finally got on the train around 7:30 to only find out, after sitting on the train for 2 more hours, that the bad boy was not operable. The master plan was to ride a bus. They of course said it was going to be 15 minutes but it was way over an hour. We were afraid that it was going to stop at all the train stops plus be a crappy bus so we were not looking forward to it. Surprisingly, we got a brand new bus that was headed only for St Louis. The bus trip was a great time. I got some good laughs with Mike and Ted on the bus. One of my favorite classic conversations with Mike was had about McDonalds double cheeseburger after we made a pit stop. He purposedly got a double hamburger because he likes to give this image that he does not like cheese.
The rest of my pictures can be found on my Flickr page.