Today, we had a walkabout around the Plaza District of Kansas City, which is near the Country Club Plaza, which we visited on Wednesday and the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, which we visited last week.
We started at the Jacob L. Loose Park. It had a beautiful pond, nice fountain, rose garden, and a garden center, as well as a great walking path around the perimeter of the 75 acre park. The park was pretty active with a number of people enjoying the trails, large lawn, or walking around the ponds. Jacob Loose founded the Sunshine Biscuit Company, maker of Cheez-Its, among other crackers, cookies, and cereals.
On the way to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, we popped into the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library. It was not the main library, which is in downtown, but still allowed for a pleasant perusal.
We continued on to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. It was a smaller museum, but we enjoyed the space and many of the art pieces. It was free and had a nice-looking cafe and a cute museum shop. Out front, we saw a sculpture that looked like one we had seen at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain. Checking the names of the sculptors, turns out it was the same artist, Louise Bourgeois.
Next, we walked to the Ewing and Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden. The garden is free and provides a lovely space for a short stroll. It is not open for private events, maybe because the Kauffmans are buried here as well. It was lovely and is just a part of the green space and other gifts made by the Kauffmans to Kansas City.
Finally, we walked across the street to check out the Kauffman Foundation campus. Ewing Kauffman was the founder and first owner of the Kansas City Royals, who play in Kauffman Stadium.
Peckish Travels 