Children's Museum of Kansas City
4601 State Ave., Kansas City, KS 66102; Tel. 913.287.8888
Kansas City's Children's Museum features more than 40 hands-on activities for children ages 2-8 and their families.

Clinton State Park
Four miles west of Lawrence, Kansas in the Osage Questas woodlands; Tel. 785.842.8562
The numbers -- 1,500 acres, 460 campsites, and 25 miles of mountain biking trails -- may sound impressive, but they do little justice in describing the natural beauty of the landscape at Clinton State Park. Natural prairie grasses, untouched forests, even a cross-country skiing path make for a unique environment that provides the perfect getaway spot. In fact, half the 460 campsites are what Park Manager Jerry Schecher calls "primitive" -- nothing more than a small clearing and patch of gravel for a fire. "In very few cities can you drive this short of a distance (4 miles) and come to a completely different world," Schecher says. (Source: Pitch Weekly, October 19, 2000)

Ernest Hemingway's Kansas City
Papa was just eighteen when he arrived in October 1917, eager to start his first job as reporter with The Kansas City Star. (Sure, he left after about six months to join a World War I ambulance corps in Italy.) Start the tour at Union Station, where Ernie rescued an unconscious smallpox victim, taking the patient by taxi to the hospital. He wrote it up under the headline "Throng at Smallpox Case." Then stop by the old General Hospital site at 24th and Cherry, where Hemingway got material for his charming chronicle of the graveyard shift's parade of shooting, stabbing and fistfight victims titled "At the End of Ambulance Run." Look in on the Star's offices at 17th and Grand, where a main-entrance display memorializes the leathery man of letters. Head south to 3629 Warwick Boulevard, the home of Hemingway's aunt and uncle, and 3733 Warwick, where Hemingway boarded during his Star tenure. Cross the state line and check out 6435 Indian Lane in Mission Hills, where Hemingway stayed with his pregnant wife in 1928 while writing his classic A Farewell to Arms. And then quote Hemingway's 1933 story "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen": "In those days the distances were all very different, the dirt blew off the hills that now have been cut down, and Kansas City was very like Constantinople.'' (Source: Pitch Weekly, Best of Kansas City, October 17, 2002)

Fiesta Hispana
Barney Allis Plaza, 12th & Wyandotte; Tel. 816.452.4712
Sponsored by Kansas City National Hispanic Heritage Committee, the two-day celebration of Hispanic heritage takes place downtown in September.

Grinter Place State Historic Site
1420 S 78th St., Kansas City, KS 66111; Tel. 913.299.0373
1862 Georgian-style home of Indian trader and farmer Moses Grinter overlooks the Kansas River and features furnishings from the late 19th Century.

Harley-Davidson Assembly Plant
11401 N Congress. Kansas City, MO 64153; Tel. 816.270.8488
The only Harley-Davidson plant west of the Mississippi offers an hour-long walking tour that includes the actual production line where Sportster and V-Rod motorcycles are assembled. The tours are free and take place from 8am-noon, Mon-Fri. Children must be 12 or older and accompanied by adult. No open toe shoes. Photography is prohibited on tours; lockers are available. Gift shop sells Harley-Davidson logo merchandise.

Huron Indian Cemetery
7th and Ann Streets, Kansas City, KS 66101; Tel. 913.321.5800
Huron Indian Cemetery, established in 1843, has resisted schemes to commercialize the sacred burial ground as a casino, a parking lot or department store. Thanks to preservation efforts, the cemetery today memorializes the members of the Wyandot Nation who died of typhoid, cholera and exposure to the elements during the forced migration from their homes near Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Members of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas still live in the Kansas City area.

Independence, Missouri
Independence, Missouri is still, and will forever be, a bastion for good old American values. Downtown is a dead ringer for Mayberry, with its quaint shops arrayed around the picturesque Truman Court House. There's even an old-fashioned soda shop where folks can belly up to the counter and lap up a root beer float. With its many tributes to its native son, Harry Truman, Independence is all about history. The late president's home is just a short walk from the courthouse. Tours through the fourteen-room Victorian home -- known as the "Summer White House" during Truman's presidency -- commence every fifteen minutes. From there it's a short drive to the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum which contains a collection of gifts President Truman received from foreign heads of state and fourteen million pages of papers, books and other historical materials relating to the man who said "The buck stops here." (Source: Pitch Weekly, Best of Kansas City, October 18, 2001)

Kansas City Sculpture Park
The 17-acre Kansas City Sculpture Park includes the largest collection of bronze sculptures by Henry Moore in the United States. Also on the grounds is Shuttlecocks -- four sculptures of 18-foot-tall badminton birdies. Admission to the Kansas City Sculpture Park is free, and it's open during daylight hours. Picnic lunches on grounds are allowed.

Kansas City Zoo
6800 Zoo Dr., Kansas City, MO 64132; Tel. 816.513.5800
More than 400 animals populate one of the Midwest's best zoological parks, which comprises more than 200 acres of Africa- and Australia-themed natural habitat. See elephants roam through a 4.5 acre re-creation of Botswana's Okavango Delta replete with pond and mudbaths. Watch sable antelope, impala, kudu, cheetah, lion, giraffes, black rhino and hippo traverse the plains along Lake Nakuru. In the Congolese Forest, leopard, bongo and lowland gorillas play in the trees. Chimpanzee frolic in the Tanzania-themed area. For visitors' enjoyment, the zoo provides indoor restaurants, train and pony rides.

Kansas Speedway
400 Speedway Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66111; Tel. 913.328.7223
State-of-the-art motorsports facility about 15 miles west of downtown Kansas City hosts NASCAR, Busch, Truck and Indy racing events. The 1.5 mile, 55-foot wide tri-oval track is suitable for all types of racing and has grandstand seating for 78,000 people.

Lakeside Speedway
5615 Wolcott Dr., Kansas City, KS 66109; Tel. 913.299.2040
Half-mile dirt oval track hosts weekly NASCAR racing events on Friday nights from March through September.

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111; Tels. 816.561.4000.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, one of the country's premier art museums, displays European and American art, modern sculpture and a renowned collection of Chinese art. Especially noteworthy is the plaza, about which Kansas City's Pitch Weekly writes: "Certainly the prettiest spot in Kansas City to sit with a cup of coffee and a pastry, the center courtyard of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has been a restaurant and gathering place since the former outdoor atrium received a glass ceiling in 1981. The enchanting Rozelle Court, with its bubbling center fountain and glass-topped cafe tables, is not only a wonderful place to eat lunch or dinner, people-watch and gossip with friends, it's a remarkable place to take a book of poetry and temporarily escape from everything familiar and dreary." (Pitch Weekly, October 19, 2000)

Plaza to Penn Valley Park Hike
This urban sightseeing tour suggested by Pitch Weekly stretches from the Plaza to Penn Valley Park and passes through inner city neighborhoods, Westport's residential and shopping areas and the Olde Hyde Park Historic District.
Full review available from The Pitch.

Powell Gardens
1609 NW US Hwy 50, Kingsville, MO 64061; Tel. 816.697.2600
A 915-acres botanical garden with nature trails, contemporary architecture and chapel located 30 miles east of Kansas City. Major features include the Perennial Garden, Rock & Waterfall Garden, Island Garden and Wildflower Meadow. Built on lands donated to the city by Kansas City businessman George E. Powell, Sr., Powell Gardens offers year-round events and classes, with an emphasis on horticulture and conservation.

Rosedale Memorial Arch
35th Street & Booth, Kansas City, KS 66103; Tel. 913.677.5097
Inspired by Paris' Arc de Triomphe, the Rosedale Memorial Arch was built in 1923 to pay tribute to America's World War I soldiers. In 1993, a monument was installed under the Arch to honor World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans.

Quindaro Ruins
27th & Sewell. Kansas City, KS 66104; Tel. 913.321.8024
Preservationists scored a major victory in 2002 with the naming of the Underground Railroad destination where which African-American slaves attained freedom to the National Register of Historic Places. The Quindaro Ruins are what's left of Quindaro, an abolitionist community in Northeast Kansas City, Kansas, that may have once had as many as 5000 residents and 100 businesses during its mid-1800s heyday. Abandoned for more than a century, a handful of historical buildings and foundations remain of two hotels, a drugstore, a newspaper office, a brewery and residence. There's also a statue of John Brown, the Vernon Center, a cemetery overlooking the Missouri River Valley, spring-fed creeks and abundant wildlife.

Science City at Union Station
30 W Pershing Rd., Kansas City, MO 64108; Tel. 816.460.2020
Restored 1914 train station features the Science City interactive science museum, along with restaurants, shops and theaters.

Spirit Festival
2100 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64108; Tels. 816.221.4444, 800.366.FEST
The Kansas City Spirit Festival takes place the weekend after Memorial Day and features exhibits, crafts booths and carnival rides along with performances by noted local and regional jazz, blues, rock, reggae, country, gospel and swing acts.

Strawberry Hill Museum and Cultural Center
720 N. 4th St., Kansas City, KS 66101; Tel. 913.371.3264
Historic 1887 Victorian mansion contains original furniture, stained glass windows and gold inlaid Bavarian crystal chandeliers. Museum pays tribute to area's Eastern European immigrant communities.

Wyandotte County Lake & Park
91st & Leavenworth Rd., Kansas City, KS 66109;Tel. 913.596.7077
Just northwest of Kansas City, Kansas, sits the 400-acre lake and 1,500 acres of oaks, hickory and sycamores with hiking and equestrian trails. The park is popular with winged creatures, including Canadian geese, northern shovelers, northern pintails, green- and blue-winged teal, goldeneyes, herons, wild turkeys, buffleheads, screech-owls, great horned owls and mergansers -- and sometimes osprey, warblers, vireos, bald eagles and hawks. Four-legged residents include white-tailed deer, beaver, opossums, raccoons and foxes.