K is for Kansas City

K is for Kansas City

In 1996 I applied for and received an NEH (National Endowment of the Humanities) fellowship to study Miguel Cervantes at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA.    The group that I attended with were all from the north.  I was the token southerner.  They were sorely disappointed when I got off the plane and sounded like someone from Kansas.  They did not know I was a transplanted Alabamian...that I had grown up in South Florida around people from Pennsylvania, Connecticut, upstate New York, Cuba, Queens, the Bronx.  My neighborhood and childhood was a true blending of cultures.  My voice does not have the soft southern lilt to it.  It is midwestern flat.  Most people are shocked when I tell them I am from Alabama and not Kansas.  With that said, that is my springboard for my adventure letter today.  K is for Kansas City.  One of my favorite stops in my travels through these great United States was Kansas City.  It has such a split personality with its frontier roots and it modern megatropolis feel.  Did you know that there are more fountains in Kansas City second only to Rome, Italy.  There are more boulevards second only to Paris, France.  It is an awesome place to visit.  Before I went to Kansas City when I thought about blues and bbq I thought of Memphis....after visiting Kansas City....I knew where my bbq loving heart would be forever.  I learned in Kansas City about rubbed, dipped, wet, and slathered ribs. 

I like my ribs wet.  I like the sauce to be added after the ribs are cooked and then placed back on the grill to cook into the meat.  Oh yes, this is bbq at it's finest.  I ate at only one place while there, my visit was brief, and if I ever go back I will eat there again.  The food was to die for.  If you are ever in Kansas City and want a true culinary adventure you must eat at Famous Dave's BBQ.  You won't be sorry.  Now, I have loved all my travels so far and there are many places I still want to see....there are some places I would love to see again...and others that once was enough....Kansas City is one of those need to see again places.  If you are ever passing through Kansas City....stop and set a spell....and tell them Karen sent you.