Kansas City, MO - overall a cool city with modern flavors set against the backdrop of a traditional Mid-West town. The people of Kansas City were so hospitable and friendly - really great people. It reminds me why I love this country so much. The Power & Light District provides a new take on night life and has some excellent venues with unique themes not present here in San Diego. P&L is essentially a master-planned nightlife venue where the various bars and clubs line a two-story perimeter and surround a courtyard space complete with high-definition big screens, full audio, stage lighting and patio seating for all of the venues. Each patron is then allowed to take their beverage from venue to venue within the Power and Light District. Since P&L is contained on all sides by security checkpoints, the entire venue essentially serves as one large bar/club with a variety of different themed "sub-venues" contained therein. An excellent concept that I would like to see duplicated elsewhere.
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| Our interview with Larry Himmel from KFMB |
We also visited Arthur Bryant's BBQ for some original KC BBQ - AWESOME! This place has played host to a large number of celebrities (they had the pictures on the wall - de rigueur for such a venue). I opted for the chicken and sausage sandwich with the sweet BBQ sauce. The original flavor made Arthur Bryant's famous, but I preferred the more vinegar-based sweet sauce.
The NEW Arrowhead Stadium - all weekend long, locals were telling us how lucky we were to be able to watch the first game in the new stadium. At a cost of $375 million, the State of Missouri along with Jackson County and the Chiefs organization helped to foot the bill for the much needed improvements. Some footage from the opening ceremony:
While this was my first football experience at Arrowhead Stadium and consequently, I have no basis for comparison, I have to say that this was a cool football stadium experience and probably worth the money. The new fan areas in the parking lot make tailgating an even more enjoyable experience (and let me tell you, KC fans know how to tailgate) with open gravel and garden areas for tailgate seating in some of the reserved lots. The concourse areas are expansive and make for easy fan movement around the venue. Bathrooms are also plentiful which is a nice change of pace from other venues where you have to walk a country mile to get to a bathroom (i.e. Qualcomm Stadium). Last but certainly not least, the Founder's Club - wow! This was one cool club level with HDTV's everywhere, no lines for drinks or food and fantastic game viewing areas where fans can sit in a race-track style format with a table in front of them to make eating and drinking an easier and more enjoyable experience. Great idea.
That brings me to my last point - the Chargers need a new stadium and us voters need to make that happen! Larry Himmel from KFMB Channel 8 did a great piece on the New Stadium for the Chargers in a four part segment. I've placed the links to that segment below. I could go on and on here about all of the reasons why San Diego voters need to approve a new stadium for the Chargers, but I think Mr. Himmel does a fantastic job:
State of the Stadium, Part 1 - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com
State of the Stadium, Part 2 - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com
State of the Stadium, Part 3 - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com
State of the Stadium, Part 4 - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com
