American Jazz Museum

Saturday, June 8, 2024

We got to the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, MO, about 1:30. We stopped for a quick breakfast and lunch on the way – neither of them turned out to be quick. Oh well.

I liked everything they had at the museum, but I wish there was more. There were big sections on Louie Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, and Duke Ellington. There were lots of pictures and programs and stories about significant achievements. There was a big part that taught me about jazz (you’d think I’d know by now) that was fun. There were examples of tons of types and versions of songs and/or performers – strangely they would give you the whole song instead of the featured part they talked about and you would stand there listening and listening and wondering if you had read the wrong introduction. Someone should tell them that they could just ooze into the middle of a recording to the part we want to hear. That someone could be me! But probably won’t be. No. Definitely won’t be.

I was doing all the things and learning all the things when Keith came up and asked me if I noticed anything weird about the mutes in front of me. Um. Yes. The cup mutes are put together backward. Someone should tell them. It could be me. No. It won’t be me.

We went to Q39 for dinner. Keith’s coworker KC Casey recommended it, and it was #3 on Daniel’s list. It was a much “nicer” place than Joe’s garage from last week. We walked into a whoosh of air conditioning. There were quite a few people when we arrived at 4:30, but I saw open tables. We said two, and the hostess whisked us away – to an outside patio. Huh. It was 87 degrees out. Huh. At first I thought TOO HOT, but a big drink of ice water cooled me down. We were the only people on the patio. Keith ordered the brisket/burnt ends plate with beans and corn. All of it was absolutely delicious. I had a sandwich with burnt ends, pepper jack, onion strings and sauce. I also ordered the macaroni and cheese. Again, delicious. Sandwiches don’t come with a side in KC (apparently) and sides run from $5 -$9 (M&C was $9), so eating BBQ is not cheap. A manager guy came by and asked how things were. We raved. We confessed we had had Joe’s on the way down last week and he said they love Joe’s, but Joe’s doesn’t used certified beef, so…. I thought, “Go away now.” Eventually, he did.

After we left Q39 (it’s on 39th St), we went to Joe’s and did another curbside order. We got a pound of that Smokie Joe’s that I loved and a quart of beans, that Keith loved. In the cooler it went and off toward Des Moines we went.

We got to the Qube (that is not spelled wrong) Hotel about 9:30pm. It is about 8 miles off the highway, or so, and it is in a neighborhood. I don’t get it. It looks new. The neighborhood looks new. The houses all look exactly the same. Weird. The hotel is two stories and doesn’t have an elevator. We are on the second floor and had to drag stuff up the stairs. I was put out, because it is weird. Keith was not put out, because he is always nice (even after driving for 7 hours). The room is nice and we have a refrigerator for our BBQ. All is well.