Experiment 4
Driving on the five lane interstate into the skyline should be considered dangerous at sixty-five miles per hour.  It is a view that I guarantee will take your breath away for a brief instant, especially when the sun is setting at just the right angle to send a glamorous shimmer across all forty-two rows of windows of the One Kansas City Place building.  Once you’ve got your breathing back in rhythm, slightly to the left of the immaculate skyline is the intricately designed Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, which glows once the sun has set.  The white oddly shaped building leads your mind to wonder how the architect stammered across ideas to build such a place.

If your eyes wander farther to the left, the simple rectangular building that serves as the entertainment center for the entire city sits surrounded by an incredible bar scene.  Musicians and bands from all over the world visit the Sprint Center and Power and Light District, and the sounds pour out of the doors as more and more people cram in to see the shows.

Panning over to the right of the skyline, the two stadiums are back-to-back with each other and keep the city rumbling with some of the most powerful fan-based support systems in the MLB and NFL.  Kauffman Stadium and the Royals practically run the city from March until October; the fireworks during the summer months on Friday nights light up the city sky with red, blue, purple, green, and white.  Arrowhead Stadium and the Chiefs are in control from August until January and the surrounding city feels the vibrating effects of the loudest stadium in the league.  Needless to say, you can feel the fan support by just driving into the city.  Especially when you look to the left on the five lane interstate and see a driver wearing a royal blue Kansas City Royals t-shirt, or if you make it out of the car to walk around the Plaza Shopping District and see a ridiculous amount of people casually shopping around wearing red and black Kansas City Chiefs shirts and blue, white, and gray Kansas City Royals shirts.

Finally, if you look past the glowing stadiums in the dark night sky, the tallest hill of the Mamba lights up the World’s of Fun theme park in the absence of noise.  If you catch the park during the day, shrieks of joy and fear echo throughout the city.  Parents scramble around to keep the young children in view, and occasionally they will take a break to chomp on a snow cone or lick an ice cream cone.  The scene of a family spending a day all together, truly having fun and enjoying each other’s company is a scene that emits feelings of hope, joy, and happiness to fall over the city.

It seems funny to hear people I meet from other places talk about going to Kansas City for vacation or a long weekend, because I have spent so much time there, and I was dying for an opportunity for change.  It’s weird though, I wanted to leave the city for something different but when I return home and drive around town on the five lane interstate, the immaculate skyline, glistening windows, incredible baseball and football experiences, and beautiful scenes of friends and family enjoying each other overwhelm me in bittersweet feelings that help me realize that Kansas City is my home, and I was lucky enough to grow up in a place with endless opportunities.