Expecting wedding guests, family, friends, and even members of the wedding party from out of town?
Don’t worry about their options for transportation, entertainment, lodging, or dining while they’re in the always-growing and improving KC metro. At the top of their schedule is the happy day itself, of course, but during their stay, there’s plenty to do and see – truly something for everyone.
Come fly with me!
The dazzling terminal of Kansas City’s brand-new airport.
Anyone who has not been to Kansas City in the last two years will be dazzled right out of the gate – literally! – by the new airport.
The three old horseshoe-shaped terminals represented innovative airport design in 1972 but weren’t adaptable to new needs around security and passengers’ higher expectations. Now, travelers are welcomed by a state-of-the-art airport filled with light and vastly improved amenities, more efficient security and passenger pick-up, along with shopping and dining options that will make them wonder if they should even leave. They will, of course, and they’ll do so more quickly and conveniently than they have in the past.
The Aloft in nearby Leawood
Where to stay?
Fortunately for visitors, the Kansas City area is car-friendly and highly drivable. So, those wanting a “big city” experience can choose from luxury brand-name hotels, upscale regional favorites, and moderately priced chains throughout the area.
Leow’s Kansas City
For a truly KC experience, there’s the 21c Museum Hotel in the River Market. A real treat for history buffs, it is an exquisite rethinking and restoration of the oldest hotel in Kansas City, the Savoy, which originally opened in the late 1880s. Other high-end options include the Loews, within walking distance of major Kansas City attractions, and a little jewel box of a hotel, the Hotel Phillips, restored to its original 1920s elegance.
Closer to home, or the Ball Event Center, rather, are an equally wide range of options, including the mod and trendy Aloft. In fact, an easy Google search shows a wide range of options, and an equally wide range of price points, within just a few miles of the venue.
What to do?
The KC Streetcar passes through the Power & Light District
Fortunately, both downtown KC and Johnson County offer cultural and entertainment options for everyone. The (free!) KC streetcar runs a two-mile route that starts at Kansas City’s historic Union Station, fully restored and worth a look itself. From there, it drops riders off at major attractions such as the Kansas City Power & Light District, with bars, restaurants, cafés, and shops for any taste and any age; the T-Mobile Center and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts where, if concerts or performances are scheduled, visitors can take in a show; the Crossroads Arts District, dense with galleries and the site of a popular and lively First Fridays event every month; and the River Market, home of the oldest Farmer’s Market in the region, the Arabia Steamboat Museum, and casual dining options.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art are across the street from each other and within walking distance of Kansas City’s premier shopping district, the Country Club Plaza.
Ball Event Center’s home in Johnson County, Kansas, is convenient to a wide range of entertainment and cultural options, too.
The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in nearby Overland Park, regarded as one of the region’s most significant cultural destinations, has a nationally and internationally acclaimed collection of contemporary art, as well as rotating exhibits of both established and new talents on the contemporary art scene. The nearby Museum at Prairiefire celebrates the area’s natural history and has become one of the most photographed buildings in Kansas. Its design pays homage to the prairie burns that were an integral part of life for Kansas farmers and Native American populations. Visitors move through immersive and interactive exhibits about regional paleontology, geology, astronomy, and history. The Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens is 300 acres of educational, recreational, and cultural activities, with more than 1,700 species of plants in a variety of landscapes, including meticulously designed and manicured gardens, wild hiking trails, and open prairie.
Where to eat, drink, and hang?
Affäre, offering a new take on German food
While justly famed for steak and barbecue, there’s no shortage of unexpected – and delicious! – dining options on either side of the state line.
Current downtown hotspots include Farina, Affäre, and The Town Company. Farina is long-time KC culinary star and James Beard award winner Michael Smith’s latest take on Italian. Affäre offers a completely unique experience, seasonal dining with a German twist, and The Town Company in the historic Beaux-Arts Hotel Kansas City, features fare by James Beard-nominated chef Johnny Leach and a menu supplied by local farmers and ranchers.
On the Kansas side and located closer to Ball Event Center are Páros Estiatorio, Verbena, Wild Child, and Drastic Measures.
Páros Estiatorio’s dining room is inspired by the Greek island of Páros.
Páros Estiatorio in Leawood features Greek food with a modern twist, made from sustainable seafood and locally sourced produce. Verbena serves up fresh seafood, prime steaks, and seasonal small salads, soups, and small plates, and one review proclaims, “Your restaurant makes us feel like we’re not in Prairie Village, Kansas. It really is like being in wine country or Europe.” And Shawnee, Kansas, is the home of two of the most upscale and innovative cocktail lounges in the area; Wild Child crafts their non-alcohol offerings with as much care as they do their more potent creations and was named one of the five best bars in America by Vox-owned Punch magazine. Nearby Drastic Measures – also a James Beard nominee – is entered through an almost nondescript door and does not allow parties of more than six.
Got kids?
Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs and its star, Patrick Mahomes.
Visitors with kids in tow will find no shortage of family-friendly entertainment, either.
The brand new CPKC Stadium, home of the Kansas City Current
Kansas City is home to four professional sports teams – recent Super Bowl winners Kansas City Chiefs, baseball’s Royals, and men’s and women’s professional soccer teams, Sporting Kansas City and the Kansas City Current, who play in a brand-new stadium on the rapidly developing riverfront, and the country’s first stadium built exclusively for women’s soccer.
SEA LIFE Kansas City
Other family-friendly attractions include SEA LIFE Kansas City, with a 180-degree underwater tunnel that lets visitors come face to face with sharks, stingrays, sea turtles, and countless other species of colorful sea life. The Kansas City Zoo includes over 200 acres with approximately 1,300 animals. LEGOLAND Kansas City celebrates one of the world’s most popular toys and gives kids plenty of opportunities to build and let their imaginations go. Worlds of Fun is an exciting, always-changing amusement park with rides, shows, and games for everyone and, in the warm months, Oceans of Fun gives everyone a chance to beat the heat of the area’s hot summers.
Plenty to celebrate!
Traveling for a wedding does not have to be all obligation, all the time. The Kansas City metropolitan area offers options enough to fill out any schedule. Plan an extra day or two and build in time to enjoy one of the widest varieties of dining and entertainment options in the country before – or after – the big day at Ball Event Center.
