[Magdalen] Kansas City

[ROGER STOKES]

I had hoped to see Jon Egger while in Kansas City bit it wasn't to be so I had to occupy myself, which I did quite enjoyably.  My intention had been to use Union Station as the centre of my explorations, so the first task was to find it, and then somewhere to park.  Not having a street address for the station complicated the first part of that but eventually I succeeded and then street parking up the hill opposite.  Surprisingly most parking in Kansas City is free unless it's on privately-owned land.
Having  visited Tourist Information, in the magnificent station building (apparently third only to Penn and Grand Central in NYC in scale when they were constructed but now lacking the level of train traffic the others still have) I headed back up the hill again to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas and the Money Museum.  That was both fascination and informative.  Aside from the history and the technical stuff about the Federal Bank's responsibilities you can see people working in the sorting room checking through the money and  putting it in containers for storage,  You can also see what $400 million looks like.
Taking a bus tour when visiting a city for the first time is often a good idea, and in Kansas it's in a traditional trolley.  Informative and entertaining which is an ideal combination.  We also saw the new street car which is due to come into service in three weeks being tested.  That will apparently be free and a useful way of getting up Main Street. Having wandered around the Arts District for a bit I found an unusual pub back on Main Street.  It isn't quirky but unusual in that it has 40 taps from which you can serve yourself, paying by the ounce for what you pour. Given the number of beers (including 12 on the main bar) it is perhaps appropriately named Ruins as it would be all too easy to get thoroughly ruined with so many beers to choose from.  The most expensive was a strawberry lambic beer at $1.30 an ounce, just over $20 a US pint
Roger