You know what? I just took an amazing trip to Kansas City, MO. I was there for the Academic Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO), an Olympics of the Mind.
Several things made this trip amazing.
The Philadelphia ACT-SO team arrived in Kansas City at 11: 30 am on July 8, and checked into a hotel. One of the things that I noticed was that there were fewer people walking on the sidewalks on Kansas City. In Philadelphia, people weave their way through sidewalks crowded with people, but in Kansas City, the sidewalks are almost empty of pedestrians. Also, the air contains less haze than the air in Philadelphia. This is probably because Philadelphia receives all the pollution that the west wind carries across the country. Kansas City has less land to the west of it, so the visibility is better.
â–º Quarter Finalist 2010 Teen Travel Writing Scholarship
After I competed in Oratory and Chemistry/Biochemistry, there was a social where all the ACT-SO participants from across the country could meet to eat and dance to music. This was held from 10 pm – 1 am on Friday night/Saturday Morning. I walked out of the room where the music was and I saw a gorgeous sight. There is a huge window on the side of the convention center where people can look out onto Kansas City. The multicolored lights. The basketball arena. The dark night. All of this contributed to a beautiful view. On the benches beside the window some people were sitting and just taking in the beauty of Kansas City.
Later, I wandered outside at the rear of the convention center. What I saw took my breath away. Immediately outside was a stone walkway with some abstract painted marble sculptures on it. I walked down steps and onto an area surrounded by a small sidewalk. Inside the area is a two hundred meter by two hundred meter patch of
grass. There were trees on two opposite sides of the patch of grass. About five
hundred meters from the convention center, the city is building an opera house. Near the opera house there are three cranes. They look as if they belong there; they do not look ugly at all. On the left side of the grass area is a large stone overhang supported by poles which restricts people’s views to the greened area of Kansas City. If I could name the area with the grass, trees, and sculptures, I would name it the maximally picturesque garden. It is serene.
On Saturday, we visited an amusement park in the suburbs of Kansas City called “Worlds of Fun.” We only had to wait twenty minutes to board the most extreme roller coaster there! That night, part of the amusement park was all aglow. Soothing music from Charlie Brown was playing, and holograms of bees were dancing on the walls. Additionally, we saw fireworks at Worlds of Fun; is not that unusual for an amusement park?
On top of all of that, a Kansas City McDonalds only took forty seconds to give me and my two sisters our meal. I thoroughly enjoyed my five day trip to Kansas City.
Everything in the city is faster: lines at McDonalds, lines for roller coasters, traffic.
Everything in the city is larger; convention center, city’s total land area. Everything in the city is prettier: lighting, public gardens, sculptures. If I could live in any major city in the USA, it would be Kansas City.
Dear Reader: This page may contain affiliate links which may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Our independent journalism is not influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative unless it is clearly marked as sponsored content. As travel products change, please be sure to reconfirm all details and stay up to date with current events to ensure a safe and successful trip.
