What's for lunch?

The Hereford House is now open for lunch in the Hollywood Room, 100 East 20th Street, (previously O'Quigleys) just east of their old building on Main Street. The buffet lunch is $7. The original plan was to be open for lunch on Mondays until March when the Hollywood Room will be remodeled and reopened as the Hereford House; however, lunch is now being offered Monday - Friday on a trial basis. Call ahead to make sure lunch is being served: (816) 842-8718

A walk around the neighborhood

This morning we walked to Crown Center to take pictures of the Hallmark ornament window that was displayed on Times Square for Good Morning America from December 3-31. You can find this in the lower level at the bottom of the south escalators. Scott Butterfield, trend consultant and Hallmark employee for 20 years, used Hallmark's Keepsake Ornaments for inspiration as he incorporated iconic Kansas City scenes to build the window. The window includes five oversize ornaments that depict Kansas City scenes, including the Mayor's Christmas Tree and the J.C. Nichols Fountain. With nearly 200 LED lights, the Kansas City holiday display used almost a half pound of specially formulated iridescent flitter to create a sparkling snow effect.

Then we strolled over to beautiful Union Station. This fully restored 1914 landmark is one of Kansas City's treasures. What a great reconstruction! Closed in the 1980s, the Station sat empty and neglected, escaping demolition on several occasions. In 1996, a historic bi-state initiative was passed to fund the Station's renovation, which was completed in 1999.
The Station is once again a popular destination for the surrounding community just stopping by for lunch or to mail a letter from the post office in the west end of the Grand Hall. The station draws tourists from all over the world who marvel at the Grand Hall's 95-foot ceiling, three 3,500-pound chandeliers.

I've never seen anyone do this, but I've heard that some people lay on the floor on their backs just to gaze at the ceiling! We took this photo from the 3rd floor balcony.

Currently on display in Union Station is Canstruction®, a design/build competition sponsored by the Society for Design Administration (SDA). Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by SDA professionals compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food. The results are displayed to the public as magnificent sculpture exhibits in each city where a competition is held. At the close of the exhibitions all of the canned food used in the structures is donated to local food banks for distribution to emergency feeding programs that include pantries, soup kitchens, elderly and day care centers. Since its inception, ten million pounds of food has been donated to aid in the fight against hunger. You can view Canstruction at Union Station through February 13.

Liberty Memorial’s Dedication Wall

Directly across Across the street from Union Station on the south side of Pershing Road is Dedication Wall containing the busts of the 5 Allied generals of WWI. These busts are located on the exact spot where the main Allied military leaders spoke to a crowd of close to 200,000 people November 1, 1921. It was the only time in history that these leaders were together at one place. In attendance were Lieutenant General Baron Jacques of Belgium; General Armando Diaz of Italy; Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France; General John J. Pershing of the United States; and Admiral David Beatty of Great Britain.

Farewell Golden Harvest Bakery

Those of us who have been buying our coffee for years at the Golden Harvest Bakery bid a sad farewell to our friends Cynthia, Ann, Karen, Angela and others who lost their jobs when the bakery abruptly closed its doors on Dec. 29, 2008.

In other Crown Center news, The Kids Place has moved to Micah's, just across the hall.