Monday, October 26, 2020

Lawrence, KS Reunion

 Two decades ago, I moved to Lawrence Kansas and met plenty of friends there. And I gotta tell you right now, I really loved living there. And now that I moved to Bluffton four years ago, I will remember all the good times I shared there after all these years.


So I wanna take the time to talk about visiting Lawrence Kansas once again for my next vacation idea. And another thing that's fun is that maybe if I'm lucky maybe I'll ride my bike there once again. Heck, I might even ride my bike around downtown again. And if I'm also lucky, maybe my friends that I know could help me out on my YouTube show with my bee puppet. I'll even reunite with my old friends that I know. Like my teacher from Cordley. Or maybe my friend that I know who we used to play with the VideoToaster. Also, Eric, Jill, and the kids too.


And when I come back to visit Lawrence again, I wanna do something special that I haven't got the time to do, especially when I got to visit KU all the time. I never forget the first time I joined Best Buddies at the Kansas Union back in 2005.

So my mission for when I visit Lawrence once again, I need to ask somebody that I know who can help me out on my YouTube show along with my Axtell puppet Buzzy, so that I can finish and pick up where I left off. Also while visiting, I wanna check out the Lawrence Public Library, The Spencer Art Museum, South Park, The Natural History Museum, Royal Crest Lanes, and say Hi to one of my other favorite teachers in Free State High. Plus, I wanna visit the Americana Music Academy and say hello to friends that I know and love too.

When I go to visit downtown Lawrence again, I wanna visit the shops and dining places I enjoy going to. For example, if I wanna visit Jefferson's once again, I wanna got dinner there. Another example on that, if I wanna go to Cold Stone or Sylas & Maddy's, I can go for some ice cream.

And when I wanna visit my old friends such as Kurt Henning, Lois Orth-Lopes, and perhaps the Fitzmorris family, I wanna reunite and visit them and say hi to them. Then, we'd go on some nice trips together.

If I were to plan on coming back to Lawrence right now, I would start to huge reunion with my old friends that my family and I know and love. Then we would share all the good times I had together. Also, maybe a special Americana jamboree. This would probably be what a jamboree will look like when come back to visit again.


Sometimes I feel like I miss Lawrence Kansas a lot ever since I moved to Bluffton, but whenever I need someone to talk to, I will always have my friends to get in touch to. And someday when we have a chance to come back to Lawrence, I will return with a bigger reunion.


Coming soon, I will write my next blog about my life in Lawrence Kansas.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Kansas City, MO

When I was a kid, my family and I visited Kansas City many times during trips. I really enjoyed visiting there because it's got many attractions to choose from. It's got the Union Station, the Country Club Plaza, the Crown Center, plenty of museums, and many others.

 



One of my favorite places in KC is the Crown Center. What I really like about it is that there's plenty of shops, eateries, theaters, and such. One time, my family and I checked out the Crayola Cafe and we got together for some lunch. I loved it a lot because it's got all the different colors of the rainbow from every crayon. There was even a Crayola Shop next to the cafe. And out there on the TV screens, you could see how Crayola crayons were made.


At the Crown Center, there's shopping and dining around every corner. There's even fun attractions at out doorstep. They've got theaters for watching shows or seeing movies.For example, there's The Coterie for live theater of all ages.


Another example, there's also a theater for seeing musicals. That one is called Musical Theater Heritage a.k.a. the MTH theater. It's got classic Broadway musicals with a live orchestra.


Also, there's the Hallmark Visitor Center for free tours and exhibits about Hallmark's history.



And there's also a place where families can create great art. I went to a place with my class at Cordley Elementary School back in the day. That place was Kaleidoscope. It was like a replica of a city's imagination. There's splattered paint on walls, glow in the dark areas, entertainment, creativity, puzzles, and many in between. Heck, I couldn't decide. I like them all.



And there's another attraction that my dad and I went to while I was visiting. SEA LIFE Kansas City Aquarium! Man, we enjoyed visiting there. I saw plenty of tropical fish, and tons of aquatic life.



My dad and I really loved visiting there too ever since we visited Science City at the Union Station. My favorite part of SEA LIFE is that there's more than plenty of fish to sightsee. Plus, marine life and other special effects in this attraction.












































My next visit in Kansas City was the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. It was so fun. Outside, you can see the giant badminton on the lawn. My favorite parts of the museum art the painting and sculptures made by modern artists of the century. My dad and I got to see one of the paintings by Thomas Hart Benton. We even got to see other artwork from Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenberg, and many others. We even got to go to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. We looked around and we saw some video art on the projector screen. That one had something to do with the autumn leaves.





Whenever we visit KC, we get to visit the Country Club Plaza. That place used to have FAO Schwartz, the Store of Knowledge, Canyon Cafe, and the Discovery Channel store. We all know that Kansas City is the home of the Royals. And you know what they say. "You gotta love these guys!" It's also the home of KCPT Public Television. If I can choose between that and other places, I would pick Union Station because it has Science City and Crown Center. I also wondered if one day I could visit Kansas City once again and remember all the places that I love going to. And in fact, I'll always will. Besides, Kansas City also used to have a radio station for smooth jazz hits. It was 106.5 The City.









I will never forget the time I visited my Uncle Vinny in KC also. He was so happy to see me. I even got to show him my bee puppet. He was so pleased with the detail.





I can also remember that time in Kansas City that we went to the Oak Park Mall to go window shopping. But I didn't know what was inside one of those stores.

Anyway, what's really nice about Kansas City is that we love to explore. Even many things come in different sizes in this city. This city will always remind me of the good old days and as always smooth jazz.


The next time when I visit Lawrence Kansas once again for vacation, I gotta visit Kansas City more often or anytime. Also next time, I want somebody that I know from Lawrence to help me out on my video project with my bee puppet Buzzy on YouTube. Let's just hope that I'm right.