Crown Center

I'm so excited to have all of my blogging friends come to Kansas City for BlogPaws in April! The area of town we will be in has been one of my favorites for years-I always made sure to visit the Crown Center area before I lived here.

Crown Center is almost its own community. It is surrounded by the headquarters of Hallmark with its own visitor center; Union Station with restaurants and rotating exhibits; the National World War I Museum and Liberty Memorial; and the Crown Center Shops. It is also located at the beginning of the KC Streetcar if you want to venture a little further north!

The Sheraton Crown Center Hotel is connected to the Crown Center Shops and Union Station by the Link. You don't have to cross the busy streets or even go outside to travel between the buildings! I recommend visiting the lobby of the Westin Crown Center Hotel while you're there, too. Just on the other side of the shops is the most breathtaking hotel lobby I've ever seen.

The Crown Center Shops are full of KC originals. You can eat at d'Bronx and have New York style deli food or pizza.

Yum!

Feel like a burger? Have it delivered to you by train at Fritz's Railroad Restaurant.

Sheridan's Frozen Custard has a loyal following.

And for the visiting chocoholics, there's Chip's Chocolate Factory.

Yes, he's making fudge right in front of us. You can see that it draws a crowd. You can even have it delivered right to your mouth!

There is plenty to see and do besides eat.

Make sure to get your KC souvenirs!

There is some bad news: the Crown Center Shops aren't pet-friendly. At least you don't have to go far to get there though so your pets won't be without you for long!

#MOblogPaws - KC By The Numbers

The gang from ATonksTail.com are back to tell us more reasons BlogPaws should come to Kansas City!


Hi everyone! We're baaaack! Thanks to Sebastian & his mom for letting us guest post on their blog again about one of our fave topics - our hometown.

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Mommy loooves lists, so when she saw this one in the newspaper, she knew she had to share!

Kansas City is popping up on all sorts of national lists and here's where we rank in them:

Top Five

Kansas City was in the top 5 in.... (hit it, Faraday!)

#5 - Most Charity-Conscious City (Charity Navigator)

This is not ranked, as you might think, per capita. Instead, Charity Navigator looked at the financial health of the nonprofits in a city. And KC ranked fifth most healthy!

(That's because we have such big hearts)

#4 - Most Underrated US Cities (shermans-travel.com)

Did you know we house the US's only WW I Museum? We also have an American Jazz Muesum (we *are* the home of 19th & Vine after all) and the Negro League Baseball Muesum, to name a few.

#3 - America's Manliest Cities (Sperling's Best Places)

*puffs out chest* They must have seen my Fabio picture. 'Nuff said.

#2 - Top 10 Cities for Book Lovers (Livability.com)

As kittehs we love this! More lap time! Mommy definitely contributes to this statistic, since she loves to read.

aaaaand......

#1 - Favorite City for Barbecue (Travel + Leisure Magazine)

No really! We didn't make this up! Our city has tons and tons of places filled with the smoky mouth-watering aroma of barbecue. One of our faves is housed in a real live, still working gas station, too. YUM!

*giggle* But wait, there's more!

Other Honorable Mentions:

• 17th Most Literate City (Central Connecticut State University)
  
• 12th Smartest City (Daily Beast)
  
• 14th Best City for Families (Parenting magazine)
  
• 10th Most Affordable Place to Buy a Home (US News & World report)
  
• One of America's Best Ice Cream Cities (Food & Wine Magazine)
  
• 11th Most Frugal City - Hey! You can prolly get a coupon for that ice cream! (coupons.com)
  
• 9th Most Tattooed City - you gotta come over & check out Sebastian's Mom's Cattoo
  
• 2nd Most Drivable City in America (Travel + Leisure)

And we wrap this list up by mentioning something Sebastian's already blogged about:

Frommer's listing KC as a TOP 10 DESTINATION!! Woot!

Now don't you want to come visit us?

Wow! We sure have a lot of top rankings! Thanks again guys for contributing to #MOBlogPaws!

#MOBlogPaws: Delicious Doggie Treats

So far, I've told you about many of the cool things that humans would like about Kansas City. Now I'm going to tell you why the doggies will want to have a BlogPaws conference in Kansas City: KC is home to a gourmet dog bakery, Three Dog Bakery.

The founding bakery is located on the Country Club Plaza, which has been featured in a couple of previous #MOBlogPaws posts. Dogs are always welcome in Three Dog Bakery and are even offered a sample treat when they visit! Three Dog Bakery offers all-natural, baked treats, pastries, and food. Don't worry kitties-they have cat treats too! "We Pity the Kitties" treats come in chicken and salmon flavors.


Three Dog Bakery was started in 1989 by Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff and their three dogs, Dottie, Gracie, and Sarah Jean The Biscuit Queen. Mom actually got to meet Sarah Jean! All three dogs have now gone Over The Rainbow Bridge, but their legacy continues. There is even a book about Gracie titled Amazing Gracie: A Dog's Tale by Dan and Mark.

In order to help not-for-profit rescue groups, the Three Dog Bakery Foundation was created. The company gives up to 1% of its net profits annually to help the Foundation.


There are several locations around the world, but the founding bakery on the Plaza is pretty special. It is the heart of the company and is very warm and welcoming. Three Dog Bakery is a must-see for any dog visiting Kansas City. In fact, every time Mom goes to Wichita, she goes to Three Dog Bakery first and buys treats for Grandpa's dog, Yaz, since he doesn't get to visit them himself. So, start barking doggie pals! Tell your humans you want to come to Kansas City for BlogPaws in 2013!

Bring BlogPaws to Missouri!

Mom has attended two BlogPaws conferences: BlogPaws West in Denver, September 2010 and BlogPaws 2011 in the Washington, D.C. area. The next conference will be in Salt Lake City in 2012. I am now going to start a campaign to bring the 2013 conference to the midwest, specifically Kansas City, Missouri.

J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain, a Kansas City landmark.

I live in the Kansas City metro area, on the Kansas side of the state line. It's a great place and I think it would be the perfect place for a conference like BlogPaws. You might think I'm biased because I live here, but other people think KC is an awesome place too! Check out this article from the September issue of Wild Blue Yonder magazine featuring KC and many of its unique offerings. You'll get to hear more about some of these places in upcoming blog posts (this is a full campaign!) from me, Mom and other local Kansas Citians who love this city passionately.

And there's more! Frommer's recently named Kansas City as a Top Destination for 2012. Why wouldn't the BlogPaws crew want to come to a Top Destination? Not only is it a top destination, it's a convenient destination! We're in the middle of the country, so we're easy to get to, whether it is by flying or driving. According to the website travelnotes.org, from KC to Dallas/Ft. Worth it is about 510 miles. To Denver or Columbus it's about 610 miles. To Chicago it's about 540 miles.

I hope you stay tuned for all of the upcoming posts and I hope you jump on board with team #MoBlogPaws. KCMO has a lot to offer and I would love to share it with all of my blogging buddies!

Blog the Change for Animals: Chain of Hope

For today's Blog the Change for Animals-started by the great folks over at Be the Change for Animals-I was thinking about posting about Wayside Waifs. You guys know how important Wayside has been in my life. That's where I met Mom and where she volunteers. They have the best people over there. You can even read what my pal Ryker's mom had to say about them in her Blog the Change post today. Since I talk about Wayside all the time, I decided to post about a different local group.

There is a grass-roots organization in Kansas City, MO called Chain of Hope. It was started by Kate Quigley in 2010 as a way to reach dogs in the inner city that are chained; without shelter, food or water; neglected; or homeless. She and her volunteers will drive around until they find a dog who needs their help. They will provide a lighter tie-out for the dogs on heavy tow chains. They will give dog-houses with fresh hay to dogs living in mud with no protection from the elements. They will feed and water dogs whose owner's aren't able to care for them.

They don't just care for the dogs though. They also provide education. They knock on doors and talk to the dog owners. If the owner will agree, they will take the dog to be spayed or neutered. Sometimes, the owner will give up the dog altogether and Chain of Hope will foster it until it finds its forever home.

Situations are not always that easy to deal with though. If a dog is completely neglected and the owner can't be reached, they will call Animal Control and report the situation. Other times, it is too late for the dogs that Chain of Hope encounters. They might find them near death and the only way to help is to get the dog to a vet so it can be humanely euthanized, rather than suffer any longer.

Chain of Hope regularly holds fund-raising efforts to help sustain the organization. Mom went to one not long ago at a local bar. Many people came and brought food, treats and most importantly, cash. She met Ms. Quigley there and was amazed at what this one woman has been able to accomplish. She sees her as a hero, somebody to strive to be like. Ms. Quigley is an inspiration and a model for what all humans can do to help animals. Like her quote on the front page of their web-site says, "...if we can change the life of even one dog, it matters."

You can learn more about them and "Like" their Facebook page. You can also read their blog. My favorite story was a recent one about Jackson, who they helped to reunite with his owner. If you are in the KC area, I hope you will support Chain of Hope. Get to know them, spread the word, donate and maybe even volunteer.

And for my kitty friends-don't worry. Ms. Quigley feeds the felines she comes across too!