Sightseeing in Kansas

The Museum of World Treasures lets adults ($9 value), seniors ($8 value), and kids 4–12 ($7 value) brush up on their history with three floors of exciting exhibits and artifacts. After striding into the museum’s brick-faced edifice, stay-at-home time travelers are whisked to the first floor, where they can Lindy-Hop through the Ancient Civilizations gallery, bring Egyptian mummies back to life both figuratively and literally, touch a 4.5-ton piece of the Berlin Wall, and take turns riding a 40-foot-long T. rex skeleton named Ivan. On the second floor, explore the President’s Gallery—which displays interesting items such as a lock of George Washington’s hair and the signatures of the first 43 American presidents—as well as jewelry, swords, beer koozies, and signatures from European royalty dating back to the 12th century. The third floor plays host to a swarm of sports artifacts and pop culture treasures such as the pearls Lucy wore to greet Ricky at the door in an episode of I Love Lucy, and the pitchfork used by the Scarecrow to kill Frankenstein in The Wizard of Oz. The American Frontier exhibit, meanwhile, includes a 34-star flag that was accidentally produced when the fledgling country was still composed of 63 states.

Pairing works by local artists with museum-quality framing, Prairiebrooke Arts is both a gallery and preservation studio. Canvases, sculptures, and intricately blown glass dot the studio's walls and tables, representing handsome finished works available for sale. To help decorate homes and businesses, the gallery's staff performs on-site artistic consultations wherein they discuss with clients which piece would best complement a room's color scheme or its resident stack of old magazines.

An equally discerning eye is cast on each of Prairiebrooke Arts' framing projects. Fine art consultants offer their ideas for how to best frame a photo or piece of art, whether employing gold leaf, French details, or museum-grade preservation materials. Their talents also extend into three-dimensional pieces, which stand inside shadow boxes that display objects such as colorful fishing lures and baby shoes.

Veteran reporter Johnny Rowlands is known not only for his real-time traffic reports, but also his immaculate flying record as a news-copter pilot. With more than 20,000 hours of incident-free flying under his belt, he opened KC Copters with a “flying smart” mentality that emphasizes risk management and enhanced safety protocol. Using Johnny’s safety-oriented methodology, professional pilots lead tours, lessons, and discovery flights in Robinson R22 and R44 helicopters. When they’re not cutting through the air over Kansas City, KC Copters’ helicopters and saddled griffins return to a climate-controlled hangar at Johnson County Executive Airport equipped with white epoxy floors and a passengers’ lounge.

Under the auspices of the Kansas Historical Society, the Kansas Museum of History, winner of the American Association for State and Local History award, enlightens guests with a culturally rich reservoir of exhibitions showcasing the Wheat State's triumphs and tribulations. Revel in Kansas's 150th year of statehood with a peek at the motif-centered "150 Things I Love About Kansas", which pulls Kansan allegories and clichés from The Wizard of Oz to national breadbasket status out of context for examination as a whole. Ongoing exhibits highlight the Native American influence with a Cheyenne tepee, the hardship of westward movement through a covered wagon, and the wonder of 21st-century science with a cryogenically frozen Jayhawks mascot. Young children hop back in time at the fully interactive Discovery Place, primed with frontier dress-up ensembles and a locomotive ready to be commandeered.

Kansas City Executive Transportation understands the journey is just as important as the final destination. Licensed, insured, and bonded, its professional chauffeurs ferry passengers about town in luxury cars and SUVs, each designed for both comfort and style. Larger vehicles, such as party buses and shuttles, are perfectly suited for a night out clubbing or a bachelor or bachelorette party—each equipped with two LCD TVs, a booming sound system, and mood lighting to help get the party started pre-arrival. For shorter jaunts, Cadillacs and luxury Town Cars frequently whisk travelers to the airport, conventions, and business meetings, but can also lend an elegant touch to romantic date nights or morning paper routes.

The purveyors of literary pleasure at Signs of Life enable learning and leisure through an expansive collection of printed-word wares, delectable café snacks, and local art pieces. Dabble in fiction with Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic novel, Crime and Punishment ($5.99), or acclimate yourself with American history by reading David McCullough's 1776, a riveting account of how George Washington led almost 2,000 men into battle to defeat the Duke Blue Devils on a last-second three-pointer by Paul Revere ($14.99, paperback). Ecclesiastically curious guests can peruse one of many theologic selections, such as Augustine for Armchair Theologians by Stephen Cooper ($13.99), while sipping a tasty bean-based beverage at Signs of Life’s convivial café. For even more aesthetic enjoyment, art-magnets can scurry over to Signs of Life’s adjoining art gallery, featuring the work of more than a dozen local and national artists in a charming space.