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Kansas City

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Streetcar in Kansas City. Another thing off my bucket list!

My beautiful daughter Heather & me at Chez Elle

My beautiful daughter Heather & me at Chez Elle

On Saturday, our daughter Heather and I went to eat crepes for breakfast at Chez Elle Creperie in Kansas City and while there, we rode the streetcar on a cable in Kansas City. I had so much fun! I was able to scratch off another thing on my bucket list!

Chez Elle is a Parisian atmosphere coffeehouse, inspired by France when owner Ellen Trakas lived there. It has sweet and breakfast crepes, Gluten free, Vegan, buckwheat batters available, a full coffee bar, espresso, cappucino, Lattes, Mochas, French wines and spirits.

Paris pics

Paris pics

Cute Paris paintings in Chez Elle

Cute Paris paintings in Chez Elle

Menu

Menu

fresh flowers on table

fresh flowers on table

French doors

French doors

coffee art

coffee art

Eiffel Tower deco

Eiffel Tower deco

It has cute tables and chairs under umbrellas, like the outside cafes are in Paris, France. (I’ve been there twice.)

Chez Elle

Chez Elle

Heather ordered a spicy chorizo sausage with eggs and potatoes (Monsier crepes) and a cinnamon roll and I ordered the Paris crepes with Nutella chocolate and bananas. YUM! We both drank cinnamon iced coffee.

Heather's chorizo sausage & egg crepes

Heather’s chorizo sausage & egg crepes

Heather's cinnamon roll

Heather’s cinnamon roll

My Nutella chocoate-banana crepes with whip cream

My Nutella chocoate-banana crepes with whip cream

After we enjoyed our crepes, we walked around the neighborhood and visited the By Grace Shop. They sell beautiful lingerie and clothing,which are hand-made by women in Tamale, Ghana and Bangalore, India. The shop donates beautiful lingerie to the homeless, sexually abused, and other women. Underwear is the least donated item to the homeless.

Lace lingerie

Lace lingerie

Women in Ghana and India also hand-make blouses, skirts, dresses, jewelry, and other items that the owner sells at the store and online. Heather and I loved this place. The owner was so sweet and beautiful. She shared how her grandmother was a great artist and the owner decided to get a tattoo of her grandmother’s art before her grandma died. She laughingly said her mother didn’t normally approve of tattoos but in this case, she did since it was the grandmother’s art.

Satin robe

Satin robe

Hand-made items in third world nations

Hand-made items in third world nations

I loved this black grace T-shirt and white Africa tank top

I loved this black grace T-shirt and white Africa tank top

bracelets

bracelets

comfy lounge wear

comfy lounge wear

cute desk

cute desk

The most important thing a girl wears is her confidence

The most important thing a girl wears is her confidence

Near Chez Elle were black iron gates that made a perfect backdrop for a pic for Heather and me. Cute!

Heather by black iron gate

Heather by black iron gate

Me by black iron gate

Me by black iron gate

A couple doors down outside Chez Elle, we saw a tall house with unique architecture that Heather loved. It had beautiful purple hibiscus flowers outside it.

unique house

unique house

There was a pretty mimosa tree like a canopy down the sidewalk.

Mimosa

Mimosa

I also saw purple lavender planted beside one sidewalk. So pretty!

lavender

lavender

After we walked around, we rode on the Kansas City streetcar. It is free and on weekends, parking is free, too–which is a BIG deal in Kansas City! Heather had gone on the streetcar before at night with a friend, and it wasn’t crowded then.

KC streetcard

KC streetcar

streetcar on cable

streetcar on cable

This was on a Saturday during the day, so it was very crowded! I had a blast riding it! Another thing checked off my bucket list! Heather and I both want to ride a red one in San Francisco.

Heather riding on streetcar

Heather riding on streetcar

We stopped at Union Station (a former big train station in KC) to buy some water and to chat a little while, which was one of the funnest parts for me. I loved being able to just spend time with Heather, as she works full-time and is often busy. We went into a cool black light tent with some art, laughing at how it made our shirts glow cool colors.

Heather in black light tent

Heather in black light tent

art in black light tent

art in black light tent

During World War II, approximately one million people, many of them soldiers, passed through Union Station. It was built in 1914 and has 850,000 square feet that originally featured 900 rooms.

Union Station chandelier

Union Station chandelier

It has a 95 foot ceiling and three 3,500-pound chandeliers hanging from the ceilings. This building has a planetarium, Science City where I’ve taken our kids during our homeschooling years, live theatre, and giant screen movies. You can also take train trips from Amtrak there.

Union Station

Union Station

sign at Union Station

sign at Union Station

Our next stop was the City Market, which is the largest farmers’ market in the region and has amazing fresh produce, spices, flowers, and international grocers. I am definitely going back!

fresh produce

fresh produce

spices

spices

fresh sunflowers

fresh sunflowers

bouquets of fresh flowers

bouquets of fresh flowers

international grocers

international grocers

One vendor booth had wines to sample. We tried both the white and red sweet wines, and Heather bought a bottle of the white for dinner later with a friend. She also bought a glass coaster at one shop. I bought Heather and our daughter Leah a bouquet of fresh flowers. I have some things in mind to buy on my trip back there for souvenirs.

Heather with her sunflowers

Heather with her sunflowers

Heather got a raspberry cheesecake beignet at a Cajun restaurant. They are a deep-fried pastry and the official state doughnut of Louisiana, often served at breakfast hot and filled with fruit. They are covered in white powdered sugar and taste delicious.

beignet

beignet

I had an amazing time with Heather. Here’s a great pic of us together riding the Kansas City streetcar. 

My beautiful daughter Heather & me on KC streetcar

My beautiful daughter Heather & me on KC streetcar

Afterward, I was able to spend time with our beautiful daughter Leah alone when she got off work at her cashier job, and talk with her for about two hours. She’s now training for a customer service position there at her grocery store.

Our beautiful, precious daughter Leah

Our beautiful, precious daughter Leah

There’s simply nothing better than time with a daughter! It was an incredible day for me and I was so happy!

“One of the greatest gifts I’ve ever gotten is my daughter.”–Ace Frehley

What is on your bucket list for 2017? Make a decision that you are going to start doing it, one adventure at a time!