How to Spend a Weekend in Kansas City

Thinking of spending a weekend in Kansas City? Here’s a guide based off my quick stop there while driving all the way down to Oklahoma.

Do you want to know one of the many ways Taylor Swift and I are forever linked? We were both drawn to Kansas City in 2023!! Sure, hers was a tall, hot NFL player wanting to give her his number so that two years later they’d be engaged, and mine was because someone told me BBQ in KC was better than all of Texas… but, you know, tomato, tomahto!

Anyway, writing this guide as made me realize that Kansas City has always kind of existed in my household. We’re Eagles fans and my mom’s work was based there, so I vaguely knew of its existence in terms of Andy Reid, the Kelce Brothers, and corporate America. However, I never really considered visiting until that BBQ comment. Taylor may have put KC on the map for a large swath of the population, but that’s what did it for me.

All of a sudden, I was very interested in spending some sort of weekend in Kansas City. Not just to eat my way through as many BBQ joints as I could but also because all of the cool culture and things to see that seemingly flew under the radar!

When I was planning out my drive down south to meet up with my friends, I mapped it out to make sure I’d hit KC. And in just under 48 hours, consider me charmed! (And now offended when anyone dogs on the city. It’s ok, dog on the Chiefs, but not the city! ((KIDDING)))

How to Spend a Weekend in Kansas City

Friday

Check into your hotel

Assuming you’re arriving later in the afternoon to kick off your weekend in Kansas City, the first thing you’ll want to do is drop your things off at your hotel! There are actually quite a few cute, boutique hotels in the city, but I absolutely loved staying at The Truitt. With a few rooms in a historic mansion, it’ll feel more like you’re staying at your rich friend’s house instead of a typical hotel. The owners, Ryan and David, are hands on and very helpful as well.

I’m also still so, so deeply obsessed with the interior decor. Like I still think about how much I want to decorate my future home exactly like this.

If The Truitt is booked up, try their sister property, The Aida. Otherwise, here are some hotels I also considered:

Hotel Name	Location	Cost
The Fontaine	To the west of Country Club Plaza	View Prices
Crossroads Hotel	Downtown, near Union Station	View Prices
1812 Overture B&B	Downtown, near Union Station	View Prices

Go straight to BBQ

Now for your first order of business — a BBQ dinner! I know based on my history, it seems like Kansas City only entered my travel list when Taylor Swift started dating Travis Kelce. However, I am pointing out now that I visited a good month before he tried giving her a friendship bracelet!!! And I’m also adding again it’s because of the BBQ comment. As a bonus, my mom’s co-workers based here gave her a bunch of recommendations and opinions when she told them I was visiting.

Anyway, the place I’ll first recommend is Joe’s KC Bar-B-Que. Go to their original gas station location on 47th Ave! I didn’t know what they were at the time, but Kansas City’s specialty in general are burnt ends. And they are DELICIOUS. Get them here if they haven’t run out of them.

Saturday: Downtown KC

Breakfast at Historic City Market

Today we’re going north to Downtown Kansas City! Start off with breakfast at the Historic City Market. It’s the largest farmers’ market in the region and goes back to 1857. Hours differ slightly on the season, so just check the site before you drive over.

Check out the Arabia Steamboat Museum

Now I got this recommendation when I made a pit stop in Casey, Indiana. I was only supposed to stop in for gas but saw so many “Largest….” signs, I had to explore a bit. While there, I visited this fantastic secondhand shop called Deborah’s Attic and had such a lovely chat with Deborah. She recommended I check out Arabia Steamboat Museum if I loved old stuff, and she was not wrong. It’s such a cool museum.

Essentially, the Arabia sunk to the bottom of the Mississippi River in 1856. When they recovered it in 1988, they found a lot of its items — which included everything from general store items to frontier tools — were in near perfect conditions. The museum is both the steamboat’s history as well as the history of all these 1800s items. Basically if you love history and/or thrifting, you’re gonna love it here.

Kansas City Library / Explore Downtown

Once you’re out of the museum, I recommend just strolling around Downtown. Look for the Kansas City Public Library! There’s a great book mural, and I learned after the fact that the actual library has some beautiful, historic interiors as well as a nice rooftop terrace to learn more about the city from.

Admittedly, I didn’t spent much more time in this area, but here’s a guide to give you an idea of where to go and do.

Lunch Gates Bar-B-Q

I told you, this is a BBQ-heavy weekend in Kansas City! Since I partially packed food for myself for this longer road trip, I didn’t eat out nearly as much as I would have otherwise. Gates Bar-B-Q was one of the places my mom’s coworkers listed but I didn’t get to go. It has a location close to where I’m recommending for the rest of the afternoon and evening, so that’s my lunch rec even if I didn’t get to sample myself!

Visit the National WWI Museum

One of the fun facts I learned about Kansas City is that it’s home to the National WWI Museum & Memorial. Why KC? Well, they pulled together money to build a memorial less than year after the war ended in 1918. When the memorial was complete, all five Allied leaders gathered for the first time ever to commemorate it.

Decades later in 1994 when the memorial was deteriorating, KC locals rallied again to raise over $100 million to not only save it but to expand it to a museum that could showcase all the different WWI artifacts collected through the years. Once completed, it was officially considered the National WWI Museum by Congress and the Liberty Memorial a National Historic Landmark just two years later.

The museum closes at 5:00 pm, so I missed going in but as a history buff and huge fan of the WWII Museum in New Orleans, it’s on my list to visit when I return!!

Sunset at Scout Statue

When you’re done at the museum, I recommend exploring Penn Valley Park for a bit. Catch golden hour by the Scout Statue. It’s roughly a 20-30 minute walk from the Liberty Memorial and has one of the best views of the city. Return to the memorial for the full sunset and then see the views of Union Station and the city lit up from there. A very lovely way to end the day!

Dinner

Okay you have two options for dinner. More BBQ, this time back down south at Jack Stack Barbecue in Country Club Plaza. A local I randomly chatted with recommended it for its sides, which I can confirm were delicious!

You can also stay downtown and get dinner in the area. I don’t know anything specific besides listening to New Heights and learning the wings at The Peanut are some of the best and that Travis Kelce opened up an extremely fancy steakhouse called 1587 Prime.

Sunday: Shopping & Free Time

Breakfast & Shopping at Country Club Plaza

If you didn’t go to Country Club Plaza the night before or couldn’t really see it because of the dark, now is your chance. I’m kind of obsessed with this shopping area because, no lie, it’s completely designed to look like Sevilla, Spain. Mmhmm, yep Sevilla, major part of Andalucía, aka al-Andalus, aka the seat of Islamic power on the Iberian Peninsula… Yep, that’s a whole lotta Islamic architecture you see, and it is so beautiful!! I even did a comparison carousel on Instagram comparing the two after I went. Don’t miss the view from Mill Creek Fountain. KC is actually home to the most fountains of any other city in the world besides Rome!

While here, you can shop around. It’s mostly chain stores and restaurants, but I really liked Made in KC for souvenirs and coffee.

Ewing & Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden

About a 20 minute walk away is they very lovely Ewing & Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden. It’s free and open year round, and I very much enjoyed walking around and finding a kitty sleeping away in one of the rooms. If it’s nice out you can keep going to Kauffman Park as well.

Drive up to midtown for lunch

Okay, last official BBQ place I’m recommending – Q39. If you’re on your way out of Kansas City onto Wichita or just back to the airport, midtown is a nice spot to stop. This was my favorite of the three I tried, and I started eating the burnt ends before I even remembered to take a picture.

Stop into Prospero Books

And to round up this weekend in Kansas City, I just had to stop into a bookstore. Namely Prospero’s Bookstore which has both a gorgeous exterior and a much larger interior than you’d expect. I’m talking 3 floors with like 50,000+ titles. I want to say they’re all used but if not all, than most are, so be prepared for a glorious treasure hunt.

More I’d Like to Do in Kansas City

Obviously, I had a few specific things on my mind when I came to Kansas City and like any place I go, I always seem to learn even more after the fact. Here are just some more ideas if you want to swap anything out of this itinerary or have more time than I did.

• Arthur Bryant’s – This was the other recommended BBQ place I didn’t get to visit! Not only is it supposed to be good, quite a slew of presidents have visited including Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. Not to mention Harry Truman was a regular.
• Everything Jazz – If you stay downtown, you’ll actually be near a lot of cool jazz spots and nightlife venues. Apparently back in the day, KC largely ignored Prohibition and became known as the Paris of the Plains. Because of that, the city developed a really gorgeous jazz scene that still exists today. All of a sudden I’m hoping Beatriz Williams sets one of her books here!!
• A Chiefs Game – If you’re not big on football or from a place that is but you’re visiting during a Chiefs game, I’d highly recommend finding a way to watch. You don’t necessarily need to go to Arrowhead Stadium; just ask around for a local bar and enjoy. Coming from a big sports town, it’s a lot of fun to watch in a bar full of fans!!
• Negro Leagues Baseball Museum – I learned about this museum in real time and was bummed I couldn’t see it. It’s the only museum in the country dedicated to the history of African-American baseball. Also fun fact — Jackie Robinson was playing for the KC Monarchs when he caught the eye of Brooklyn Dodgers’s GM.
• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art – One for art museum lovers! It’s actually right by the Truitt and I saw the outside but I think it was closed the days I was there.
• Hallmark Visitors Center – Literally just learned about this. Hallmark’s HQ is in Kansas City and they have a whole visitor center. My mom is gonna LOVE learning about this.

And there you have it! A quick little guide on how to spend a weekend in Kansas City. My time was so short; I definitely need to come back for more. Maybe Taylor and I can have a museum day together. I’ll get inspo for my next book and she can get inspo for next album :p

For More of My Midwest Travels:

• Get Off the Grid in the Wichita Mountains, OK
• Unique Things to Do in Cleveland, OH
• Storybook Castles to Visit in America

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