It’s gettin’ hot. Summertime is here, and the living is definitely NOT easy, as the song goes. That’s the case nationwide, including in Independence, Missouri, just outside Kansas City, where we paid some sweaty homage to a wide variety of chiefs.
President Harry S Truman
The main CHIEF around Independence is their hometown boy, Harry S Truman, the 33rd President of the U.S. Note there is no period after the S. His parents couldn’t agree on the middle name but both of their choices started with an S, so that was the compromise. “S” is his entire middle name.
The Truman Museum has just been completely redone and modernized with fantastic multimedia displays and presentations. Despite being small, it was one of the best Presidential Library/Museums we have been to (this was #10 of 13 recognized by the National Archives for us).
He was “a most uncommon common man,” having deemed himself a loser, enduring multiple bankruptcies and failures through his 40s, before becoming a senator and then suddenly President at age 60, upon the death of Roosevelt. He was the last president to be without a college degree, and even when he was President, his uppity mother-in-law still called him “that farm boy.” Guided tours of the simple Truman Home displays the “uncommon common” life the Harry and Bess enjoyed here in Independence before, during and after his Presidency.
They could often be seen walking around town (at a fast clip; in the military, Truman was taught to walk at 120 steps per minute, a habit he maintained as long as he could), and the guy behind me at the town bakery said his mother took care of Bess during the last three years of her life … it’s just that kind of place. The town has a walking tour of buildings and homes with a special connection to Truman, including Clinton’s Soda Fountain, where he had his first job.
Most notably, Truman coined the all-important phrase “The Buck Stops Here,” which as the chief of any organization knows, is the best way to minimize BS and get things done. And, if a fan hasn’t carved your face into a coconut and sent it to you, are you really a chief at all?
National World War I Museum
All the chiefs of most of the developed nations of the world got their panties in a wad from 1914-1918, and the resulting conflicts across Europe are on full display at America’s only museum dedicated to the “Great War.” You can climb to the top of the museum’s 217-feet tall Liberty Memorial, with some of the best panoramic views of Kansas City.
With one of the largest collection of WWI artifacts in the world, this modernist museum was thought-provoking and well done, with multi-media presentations and multiple short movies that really helped this non-history-expert to better understand the issues at play in WWI, when 36 nations took up arms in the world’s first global conflict.
Arabia Steamboat Museum
Also in Kansas City, one of the most fascinating museums we’ve visited was dedicated to the perils of the chief method of transportation in the mid-1800’s, the steamboat. The Missouri and Mississippi Rivers are dotted with the carcasses of literally hundreds of sunken steamboats, but this one was located and excavated, and NOT by shipwreck experts, government officials, or well-financed conglomerates. They were just some family dudes running an A/C business, whose customer got them interested in shipwrecks.
When the Steamboat Arabia hit an underwater branch in 1856, she sunk to the bottom of the Missouri. Over time, however, the course of the river changed and she ended up under a Missouri farm field, under two stories of river mud, where nobody knew she lay. Here is the scene of their eventual excavation … sooo deep!
Over many years, they and their friends and family painstakingly recovered, cleaned, organized and catalogued 200 tons of stuff that had literally gone down with the ship … construction materials, clothing, shoes, tools, jewelry, you name it, up to including perfectly preserved fruits and veggies and spiced pigs feet, from the smallest screw to the actual boat itself. This seemingly impossible rescue mission is on display at this wonderful museum.
You just gotta see it to believe it!
Kansas City Chiefs Stadium
The real chief of chiefs, or chiefs of chief, I’m not sure which, are the reigning three-time Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. Their stadium, officially called GEHA Field at Arrowhead, is located in Independence, and a 90-minute guided tour was a lot of fun, even if we felt a little guilty, like we were cheating on our very own Arizona Cardinals.
The 90-minute tour covers most areas of the stadium, but the most important stop, obviously, besides finding out where Taylor Swift sits when she comes to cheer on her boyfriend, was in the locker room.
Because if you don’t sit in Kelce’s and Mahomes’ locker seats, were you even really on the tour? They were on the practice field at the time, many miles away in St. Joe, MO. Philip offered to stay and keep their seats warm until they returned, but was denied.
One surprise was the presence of a private 4,000-square foot apartment, hidden in plain sight right there in the middle of the stadium behind this simple glass door. It’s for the REAL chief of the Chiefs, owner Clark Hunt and his family. When they come to town to watch a game, they don’t stay in a hotel, oh-no they don’t! They pop on over to the stadium and live there instead, for as long as they like. We couldn’t go in, but a peek through the glass gave a taste of the opulence.
Turns out there are no shortage of Chiefs fans. E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. loves a winner, am I right? Regardless of race, creed, religion, or attire of questionable color.
From every aspects of the Chiefs history, to the underground tunnel, to the trophies and rings and accolades, it was a fascinating look into the team, and we were happy that they are winners, but sad that the Cardinals (as of late, anyway) are not. Tear!
Town of Independence
Downtown Independence is dominated by the massive Independence Temple, constructed in 1994. The headquarters for the Community of Christ church, you literally can’t miss this unusual building looming over the town from every angle. I definitely wanted to climb into the spire but didn’t see any secret staircase to do so.
The downtown square of Independence is set around the beautiful courthouse building, modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It has your usual assortment of small charming shops and restaurants, and some surprises … Direct Casket Outlet, anyone? The Hallmark Channel was filming a Christmas movie (because that’s all they make anymore) in the square, so the Corona beer neon signs were turned off and the entire square was instead festively decorated in holiday cheer in July.
Scattered throughout Independence and Kansas City are the Parade of Hearts, more than 100 and counting. K.C. became one of the first cities identifying as the “heartland” of America, being literally in the center of the country. Railroad workers even donned KC Heart pins in the early 1900s, to signify the town they called home. New ones are released each year, and it’s fun to spot all the different designs as you go about town.
Despite being chiefly interested in the things mentioned here, we could see that there’s a lot more to explore in Kansas City, so we will definitely be back! We’ve got a few interesting stops in the state of Kansas left, as we now head back to Arizona at the end of this three month trip.
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