Downtown Kansas City

Kansas City is the largest city in Missouri and is known for its jazz heritage, barbecue, and craft breweries. It has several neighborhoods that each has a variety of things to do. I moved back to the Kansas City area this past November. Due to the unusually cold winter, I hadn’t really gotten A chance to get out and explore the city. On my most recent day off from work, I decided to take a trip to the downtown Kansas City area and do some sightseeing. I visited three places near the Crossroads District of Kansas City area. While on my foot tour of the CIty I also played some Pokemon Go and really was able to explore and learn more about the city.

Art Alley

I started my foot exploration of Kansas City at Art Alley a hidden gem in the crossroads district. It’s between 17th and 18th street near locust and cherry. It is a place where the walls of buildings serve as a canvas for the artist in the city. Where Street art and murals are all over the neighborhood. It showcases the creativity and talent of Kansas City’s street and graffiti artist. The amazing thing about Art Alley is that it is always changing. Since so many artists display their works at any given time, each visit there is something new to see. On the first Friday of every month, the Crossroads Art District holds an event called First Fridays. The event has food trucks, street music, and sidewalk vendors. It’s an all-year event and definitely something to check out if you’re in the area.

Cafe Gratitude

After walking around Art Alley I made my way to Cafe Gratitude a solar-powered vegan restaurant on Southwest Blvd. The restaurant was a short walk away. Along the way, I discovered more murals and a few restaurants I wanna check out someday. It was my first time dining at Cafe Gratitude and really liked how the menu items were affirmations like “I Am Genuine”.  I had the I am honoring a live nacho for lunch and I am Vibrant a matcha green tea latte. The food was really good and next time I visit I plan on trying the I Am Awesome an eggplant parm sandwich. The matcha green tea latte was creamy and refreshing especially after being out in the sun for a few hours. Next time I visit I’m gonna try the I Am Awesome an eggplant parm sandwich.

Mud Pie Vegan Bakery

Next, I decided to have dessert at a local vegan bakery. At first, I was going to walk but, my GPS said it was going to take an hour so I decided to try. It’s on 39th street is Mudpie Vegan Bakery in Kansas City first all-vegan bakery and coffeehouse. They offer an array of vegan baked goods, coffee drinks, and tea. I had a vegan red velvet cupcake and grabbed a vegan peanut butter cupcake for my husband. The cupcake was delicious the cake was moist with a perfect cake to frosting ratio. Most of all their baked goods aren’t too sweet and are perfect for a little pick me up.

While wandering the city was a lot of fun I caught a few new Pokemon, visited a few Pokestops, and hatched a couple of eggs. With summer right around the corner, I’m excited to get out and see more of sightseeing.

Related post: Succotash, Gardens, and First Friday

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