American Gam

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” ~ Albert Einstein

Thursday I drove to Kansas City, Missouri to see the Liberty Memorial. This monument and its subterranean museum are dedicated to preserving the memory of World War I and to all those souls who paid the ultimate price to keep America and her allies free and safe. To walk the grounds of the monument is free; to enter the museum and ride the elevator to the top of the tower is fourteen dollars. The view from on high is a 360° panorama of Kansas City and you may stay up there as long as you like.
The museum is a thoughtful, yet stark display of the horrors of war. The exhibits tell the story of the events leading up to the war, America’s resistance to enter the war to her inevitable involvement, to the hell of the battlefield and the weapons of the era, to final victory and peace.

I went to the top of the 217 foot tower first…



In the underground museum, beneath the monument…
Life in the trenches was described as “a living Hell”…

The back side…

which is actually the front side…

After the museum and memorial I had to find me some famous Kansas City BBQ and I did, right behind Union Station at Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbeque. I forgot to take a picture of the delicious ribs, corn, beans and Texas Toast that I had for dinner but I did, however, take a picture of dessert. It was a piping hot, fresh-out-of-the-oven Carrot Cake! One of the best I’ve ever had.

I sat at the bar, enjoyed my meal and had a conversion with a guy, a veterinary doctor from North Carolina, who was clearly a huge fan of Tom Cruise. We sat there comparing all of Tom Cruise’s movies for an hour.
Remember the picture of the Kaufman Performing Arts Center that I took from atop the monument, the silver one that looks like two attached shells? This is the back view of that amazing piece of architecture!

At night, the top of the memorial tower emits steam that’s illuminated by bright orange lights creating the illusion of a burning pyre.

I hope Albert Einstein is wrong…but I doubt it.

The gam continues…