A Trip to Kansas City

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On Sunday, November 23rd, my grandmother and I made our annual trip to Kansas City. I brought my Kodak DC210 with me to document this trip, so here's how it went.

Our first stop was the Oak Park Mall. I had a Hot Topic coupon to use (of course), and since the Sioux City Fye closed, this mall has my closest location. This is a really nice mall, probably the best in the KC Metro. This mall is pretty busy, and even though I got here a few minutes after opening, there was still a healthy amount of shoppers.

The entrance hallway of the Oak Park Mall. The floor is made of white and gray tile, and the ceiling is lined with potlights and accent lights. Storefronts line the sides, and signs line the middle. The JCPenney court in the Oak Park Mall from the first floor. The middle of the court has massage chairs, an arcade machine, and a photo prop, with an escalator off to the side. The JCPenney court from the 2nd floor, looking into the mall. A star hangs from the ceiling, along with other holiday decorations. A snack vendor is off to the right. The sign above the Fye entrance. The sign uses the company's 2000s logo. Three CRT televisions hanging from the ceiling of the Fye. Below the TVs is a sign advertising Hatsune Miku merchandise. The JCPenney court from the 2nd floor, looking at the JCPenney. The escalator leads to JCPenney, lit by a skylight. Two stars hang from the ceiling. The Zumies storefront in the Oak Park Mall. A black frame surrounds windows and the woodgrain entrance, with the Zumies logo at the top. The inside of the Zumies. The walls and floor of the store are lined with skater-themed merchandise. The Hot Topic storefront in the Oak Park Mall. White brick surrounds two doors, which flank the sides of a tall window in the center. A wall of the Hot Topic. The wall is lined with skirts, jackets, and handbags. Racks of various merch are visible in the shot. The south Dillards court in the Oak Park Mall from the 2nd floor. A carousel is visible on the 1st floor, with the brick building containing Dillard's in the background. A slightly blurry photo of the Eddie Bauer in the Oak Park Mall. The storefront is log cabin themed, with a wooden entryway leading you into the store. Me sitting in a mall massage chair. I'm wearing a Shadow the Hedgehog t-shirt, black and red bondage pants, black and red fishnet armwarmers, and a heart choker. I'm holding a Hot Topic bag in my right arm, with my left arm holding the camera. The center court of the Oak Park Mall from the 2nd floor. Stars are hanging from the ceiling, with a holiday themed photo booth set up on the bottom floor. The front entrance to the Oak Park Mall. The mall's cursive logo sits over the glass front of the building.

It was noon by the time I got done shopping, so we went to Zarda. It's a nice comfy barbecue restaurant, one of many in KC, and one of several we've tried. While here, I found out a Kansas City Chiefs game was taking place in the city, and started to worry about traffic.

The front of Zarda BBQ. Their red logo is on the front of a brown wood building. The inside of Zarda BBQ. Soft white lamps hang from a tiled ceiling, with wood floors, an order counter, and tables below.

After filling up, it was time for my favorite way to waste time and money: Micro Center. Every nerd knows about the magic of Micro Center, but for those unfamiliar, it's basically if Best Buy was actually good. I love wandering around the shelves upon shelves of Arduino parts and audio/video stuff, with inappropriate yet oddly fitting oldies music playing through some crappy ceiling speakers.

The entrance to the Overland Park Micro Center. The company's logo sits above glass doors, surrounded by white tile and concrete. The home computer section of Micro Center. Monitor boxes line the walkway, with shelves of routers to the left and tables of demo systems to the right. The home entertainment section of Micro Center. Monitor boxes line the walkway, with shelves to the left and right. A peg board with boxed software in Micro Center. Software on this wall includes anti-virus, website design, finance, and home office software. A walkway in Micro Center. To the left are demo tablets, and to the right are shelves with peripherals. In the background is the store's DIY PC section.

Afterwards, we hopped over to an antique mall in a nearby shopping center. This was my first time in this mall, and it's a nice antique mall.

Outside of the Glenwood Antique Mall. The building is brick on the bottom half, and concrete on the top half. "Glenwood" is spelled in an Old English font on a tartan background, and "ANTIQUE MALL" is spelled in serif caps font. A walkway in the Glenwood Antique Mall. The sides are lined with tightly-packed booths, each containing various collectibles. A neon Budweiser sign, hanging in a booth in the Glenwood Antique Mall. The front of the Glenwood Antique Mall. Cabinets of jewelry line the middle, with rows of shelves to the left, with signs and artworks hanging from the wall on the right. A room in the Glenwood antique mall. Shelves in the middle hold various collectibles, with more collectibles lining the walls.

After this, we crossed the border into Missouri to visit Crown Center. This is always a nice mall to visit during the holidays. I found an ornament of a cat on a laptop, and a cute little Shadow the Hedgehog plush.

The parking garage entrance to the Crown Center Shops. The doors and the entrance surrounding them are painted pink, with a large awning of light over the entryway. The stairway of the Crown Center parking garage. The stairs are brown carpet with metal trim on the edges, with green handrails in the middle and tan walls to the sides. The storefronts of Topsy's and Curry In A Hurry. Both storefronts appear to be from the 80's, as both have neon signs, brown tile floors, and are lit by soft white and fluorescent lights. The front of Fritz's in the Crown Center Mall. A model locomotive and "RAILROAD CROSSING" sign sit next to a blue column, supporting the company's logo on a wood barrel.  The sign for the Toy Time in the Crown Center Mall. The "TOY" is spelled in a wacky font on a yellow and purple spiral, with "time" in a playful sans-serif font. Me, dressed in a Shadow the Hedgehog t-shirt, black and red bondage pants, and black and red armwarmers. I'm holding a small Shadow the Hedgehog plush with my right hand, and taking a photo with my left. I name this photo "me and the friend i got by being autistic".

As we were leaving Crown Center, the Chiefs went into overtime, which bought us enough time to get to Zona Rosa. This is my first time visiting this shopping center, and as someone who's not used to outdoor malls, this is a nice mall. All your typical mall staples are here (except for Zumies, oddly), albeit with different storefronts.

Down a street of the open air Zona Rosa shopping center. Cars are parked at the side of the street, with sidewalks and stores surrounding it. The storefront of the Spencer's in Zona Rosa. The outside is the company's typical brick with concrete base design, with a glass door to the left of a large window advertising store products. The Toy Time storefront in Zona Rosa. The front of the store is black tile above windows, with the company's wacky 2000's logo above glass doors. The Hot Topic storefront in Zona Rosa. The company's logo is above glass doors, surrounded by brown brick. Invader Zim and Hello Kitty merch hanging from a wall in the Zona Rosa Hot Topic. The merch is lit by my camera's flash, which I forgot to turn off. The back of the Zona Rosa Hot Topic. The walls are lined with shirts, pants, and little trinkets. The middle of the store has racks and shelves for t-shirts, plushies, and other merch. Down another street of the Zona Rosa. To the left and right are various stores, with cars parked on the side of the street. A red Corvette is waiting at the stop sign. An intersection in the Zona Rosa. A store is on the right, and an empty building is in the background. A large crown is suspended over the intersection. The front of the Zona Rosa Barnes & Noble. The building is made of white and brown concrete, with windows decorating the sides of the building. The entrance is in a cylindrical tower, with the B&N logo proudly at the top. A normally lit photo of the Barnes & Noble. Tables support board games and other merch in the middle, with shelves of books in the background.

Since I was done shopping for the day, we stopped at a gas station to fill up, and got back on the interstate to go home.

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