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Daytripping Lee's Summit Missouri


Lee's Summit Missouri

Ken and I set out for the next suburb in line as you head east on 350 Highway out of Raytown and Knobtown -- Lee's Summit.

  While Lee's Summit is a sprawling/growing part of the Kansas
City metro area, it has the kernel of a small town that the sprawl is growing out of, with a nice alive downtown area.

     Ken and I started at the old MoPac depot where we parked.  Amtrak had come in while we were there.

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Today I actually got to do some of my other hobby -- railfanning.  Yes, I am a foamer, and I plan to include more train vids and pix in this blog.  In addition to the livestream, I caught three other trains passing through Lee's Summit -- a UP mixed manifest, a Missouri and North Arkansas mixed (which is the first time I've ever documented something from this line) and another Amtrak train.
   Ken and I then embarked on this warming afternoon on exploring downtown.  We have had a recent respite from the heat, but this afternoon was the beginning of a re warming trend.  Ken and I went to the block of buildings across from the station first.  There seems to be a lot of bars and restaurants downtown, which is nice for a non-college town.
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The first gallery we perused was the Hidden Gallery.  The featured artist is Bob Byerly.
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In addition to bars and restaurants, there are a lot of galleries and boutique shops downtown. We made our way to yet another gallery on this hot afternoon.  Tima could not come in unfortunately...
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GOT art, or Gallery on Third, is a place started by a married couple who wanted to see more art downtown.
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They are in between shows, with a call for artists for a new one coming out soon.
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We hit another boutique shop/gallery with an interesting past...
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Anytime I see an old neon sign, I'm interested.  Apparently, according to the person at the store, this was once a hotel, and the old Lee's Summit hospital before that.
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Around the corner, we found a facade that left us scratching our heads.  It looked like newer construction, but the streamline modern style seemed much older.  We walked past several artifacts from a different era...
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www.thefillingstationbbq.com
When we made it around the block,  we finally came to the answer to the mystery of the streamline modern theatre building we found.  No, it is not a historic building -- it actually is a reproduction of a theatre that used to be there at one time....
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The whole block is part of downtown redevelopment in Lee's Summit.  Ken and I noticed that downtown Lee's Summit has invested a fortune in sidewalks and lighting and beautification.  I think the fact that downtown seems to be alive is a reflection of the pride that this town has shown in it's urban core.
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Our next stop was right around the corner for ice cream.
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The heat of the afternoon was finally breaking.  We walked on and explored a thrift shop and we headed west to the chinese restaurant that is in a former Griffs Burger Bar, with the distinctive A Frame design by Valentine Diners of Wichita Kansas.
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We stopped in and ordered some a la carte and lemonade, but underestimated the serving sizes.  What was meant to be a snack turned out to be a bit more.  It was good, though.  For more information on Griffs than you'd ever want to or need to know, go here....
http://www.agilitynut.com/eateries/aframegriffs.html

Also, Valentine Diners, of which there are several in the area, can be found here...
http://www.kshs.org/diners/index.htm
http://www.kshs.org/diners/identify.htm#aframe

We took a few more pix at dusk, then headed back.
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