Sculpture Park and World War I Museum

After our Unbound visit we went back to our condo and then walked over to the sculpture garden at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art which was a short but hot and humid walk from where we were staying. We would have loved to go in the museum but it was closed today and tomorrow. The outdoor sculptures are very interesting and they have some new sculptures that depict the 4 seasons right outside the stairway.

Shuttle cox at sculpture garden Nelson-'Atkins Museum of Art

The Seasons sculptures

 We made our first ever stop at a Coldstone and had an ice cream treat. Now I can't say I have never been to Coldstone! We went to the grocery store and got a salad for dinner after our barbeque lunch and ice cream dessert. We had a little excitement tonight with a huge thunderstorm that hit almost right after we arrived back home and then there was a tornado warning with alarms going off outside and inside. It only lasted a short while and then it was over!

Baby robins outside our condo

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Day 91

We had to decide where to go today, the National World War I Museum or the Negro League Museum. Both would have been excellent choices but we decided on the WWI Museum which was truly wonderful. It is rated in the top 25 museums of all of the USA and was extremely well done.

Liberty Memorial Tower

 It explained a lot about the background and evolution of the First World War and the suffering it inflicted, in loss of life, hardship, and hunger.

French soldier uniform

German helmet

 It explained how the United States who had avoided getting involved, became involved. It also explained the end of the war, the Treaty at Versailles, the division of countries and borders, the League of Nations.

 It possesses the most diverse collection of WWI artifacts in the world and is the nation's official World War I museum and memorial. The Liberty Memorial tower is 217 feet high which offers a nice view of downtown Kansas City. In the Memory Hall there is the largest remaining section of the Pantheon de la Guerre, formerly the largest painting in the world at 402 feet by 45 feet that originally featured 6000 prominent Allied nations figures from World War I. In just 10 days and in the middle of a deadly influenza epidemic– Kansas Citians came up with more than $2.5 million, of which $2 million was designated to build the Liberty Memorial. Nearly a quarter of the city's population donated.