Postcards from Kansas City

On the Road Again

Hello from the road!

This time we are headed to Kansas City for an Upright Piano Regulation Workshop at the home office of the Piano Technician’s Guild. (You’ll see … it’s way more exciting than it sounds!) It’s a long ride, so buckle up!

We took a bit of a detour to Niland’s Cafe in Colo, IA, which is the location of one of our nation’s oldest truck stops. So you might say it is the great grand-pappy of today’s Pilot Flying Js, Love’s, TravelCenter, and Buc-ee’s. It rests at the center of the old Lincoln and Jefferson Highways.

The old gas station pumps at Reed’s Station are still here, and the station itself is now a museum. The old Colo Motel still exists too with six … count ’em SIX … comfy rooms that are nearly always booked. Visitors can walk through the courtyard and read all about this historic site. There’s even an old-school diner here if you’re up for some good, wholesome fare.

Fun fact … Jefferson Highway runs from New Orleans all the way to Winnipeg.

Today is a big day for us. We’re off to explore town and see some of the highlights of the city before Andy attends a class and I hunker down to work.

Stop One — PTG Home Office — Jack Wyatt Museum

Oh my! Andy saw this when he attended the Grand Action Regulation workshop in the fall of 2024. This museum features some highly unusual pianos in both cabinet shapes along with exhibits on how different piano action functioned throughout the history and evolution of the piano.

They also have the piano that was in the Ford Theater the day that President Lincoln was shot! An exhibit highlight was The Giraffe, a grand piano that is masquerading as an upright. Or is it an upright that is disguised as a grand piano?

Stop Two — The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

It’s no secret that Andy and I enjoy baseball as well as history. This museum preserves the legacy of the Negro Baseball League and the heroes of the game. It charts our nation’s progress toward more equitable civil rights.

One memorable quote that keeps playing over and over in my mind is attributed to the museum’s president, Bob Kendrick, as well as the late legendary player and museum founder, Buck O’Neil.

“The Negro Leagues established their own teams and forged a glorious history during an inglorious era… Their talent, passion, and perseverance changed Major League Baseball and America.”

Can we imagine what the game would be like today if those amazing players of days old were never denied equal access to the game? Go further and apply that concept outside of the game to our society as a whole. How much further along could we be if we weren’t trying so hard to make life easier for some and more difficult for others based on color, race, gender, identity?

Fun fact … did you know that Jazz legend Cab Calloway was owner of one of these teams? I think my favorite photo in the museum was that of a very young Lena Horne surround by a star-studded group of Negro League All-Stars. The photo illustrates that the Negro Leagues were not solely focused on sports. On the contrary, they were a growing, spirited movement that spanned across multiple artistic genres including American jazz, movies, and theater.

Stop Three — The American Jazz Museum

Okay, full disclosure…there is zero travel time between this and the last stop because they are located in the same building. And so we shift from sports to music.

The layout of this museum is fantastic. There are lots of areas to stop and listen to music of some of our greatest and most prolific jazz musicians. We saw a Graphton Saxophone that was played by Charlie Parker. There was one photo of Ella Fitzgerald with a young Dizzy Gillespie in the background watching her sing. His eyes held a great deal of admiration as well as what appeared to be a mild crush on her. The words in Duke Ellington’s silky voice from his 70th Birthday Celebration “Final Speech” about snapping fingers to the music rings in my ears. He says “I love you” in ten languages at the end. Cool and classy!

Stop Four — LUNCH

Upon recommendation from a friend in Boston, we were directed to LC’s Bar-B-Que. As we drove in, Andy wondered if it was the establishment several blocks ahead belching out all the smoke? Oh my… we are haunted for life by this meal. It’s by far the best we have ever had, so put it on your bucket list.

Stop Five — The National WWI Museum & Memorial

This is a huge museum with a massive monument. There is a giant tower of large blocks, and on either side, two Syrian Sphynx with wings covering their faces. The east-facing Sphynx is named “Memory” and hides its face from the horrors of war seen on the European battlefields. The west-facing Sphynx is named “Future,” who is also hiding his face from the unknown future.

Visitors can travel to the top of the tower to observe the city. It’s truly beautiful.

Additionally, there are two rooms on either side of the tower. One was open with a display of Soccer played during the war. We saw the actual soccer ball that was kicked across the battlefield, reminding us that first and foremost, soldiers are largely young adults.

Inside the main body of the museum there was a special exhibit about Paris during the war, with shrapnel from old battles on display. The rest of the museum had timelines of events along with a multitude of artifacts of everything you could imagine: uniforms, weapons, currencies, field medicine instruments, and more.

But the installment that really got to us was a large theater screen in front of a wide open trench down below the walkway. The screen had words of soldiers about life and death in the trenches of mud. Just like the soccer ball, there were artifacts of musical instruments and even old Victrola players that were used by soldiers in the war.

Fun fact … Poppy seeds and the poppy flower are recognized for their ability to thrive in decimated landscapes. This makes them the universal symbol of military sacrifice, remembrance, and hope.

I purchased poppy seeds from the gift shop to plant in my gardens back home.

Stop Six — Royals Hall of Fame Museum at Kauffmann Stadium

We finished the day with our brother and sister-in-law Manny and Jennifer, watching an actual baseball game; the Kansas City Royals versus the Cleveland Guardians. The best part? It was Bark at the Park Night! This is the game where people are allowed/encouraged to bring their dogs with them. And there were so many DOGS!

They were all extremely excited by the number of people and other dogs. All ball parks have their own feel and scent, and for a dog I could only imagine that the aroma was overwhelming!

Kauffmann Stadium has a wonderful museum in the corner of the far left field. The National WWI Museum and Memorial were still fresh in our minds as we read about baseball players that were sent overseas during WWI.

These are the work days! Andy had an amazing time at this workshop and met some remarkable technicians from Hawaii, Alaska, Rhode Island, Chicago, Montana, and Kansas. I got a lot of back end work and writing done.

Big news on the horizon…more baseball on Friday and Saturday against the Detroit Tigers!

Time to drive back home! We have one more stop to make, and that is just outside of Clear Lake, IA to pay our respects at the Buddy Holly Crash Site. The song American Pie by Don McLean references this event in American Music History when he sings about “that day in February … the day the music died”.

On Feb 3rd, 1959, three great music legends and an airplane pilot died tragically in a crash in a corn field outside of Clear Lake, IA shortly after take off. Buddy Holly (23), J.P Richardson aka “The Big Bopper” (29), and Ritchie Valens (18), were lost to us all.

Many of our students play the song La Bamba which was popularized by Valens. He wanted to record a song in his native language for the radio. This was in 1950s America, so he was told flatly that “No, a song in Spanish would not be aired on American radio.”

La Bamba is a traditional Mexican song, but Valens gave it a bit of a rock beat and it was a huge success. Many students don’t know this song as well these days, but I always share his story with them.

In the end, music history isn’t just about Beethoven and Mozart. It’s forever ongoing and crosses into many aspects of our lives, even war and baseball.

As the Grateful Dead put it so eloquently, “What a long, strange trip it’s been!”