Going to Kansas City.....Any Good CD Shopping?

Tagging along as the traveling nanny for my wife. Will be downtown by the Convention Center (with car). Never been there and have always wanted to get there. Outside of 12th Street and Vine, any cool places to visit, more importantly - any good CD shopping?

I checked the archives and came up empty.

 

Sorry I cannot give you directions(my wife is the driver in our house) but try locating the Old Westport shopping district. Last time I was there(several years ago) there were at least six or seven music emporiums down there with fairly good used and new stock including imports. Also try to locate The Record Exchange, a collector oriented shop that used to advertise in the collector periodicals.

 

I've heard that they have some crazy little women there.

 

Directions from Bartle Hall to Music Exchange:

HERE

Streetside is next door.

I highly recommend eating at Fiorella's Jack Stack BBQ while you are here as well.

 

I just read that Music Exchange closed -- I guess Kyle will find out. They were so overpriced, I'm not surprised -- I hated giving them my money. Streetside is pretty fun, and they have lots of used CDs.

And if you want to fill up on BBQ, Fiorella's is

 

Music Exchange is supposed to be open until the end of the year. There are also Recycled Sounds and a Half Price Books.
Check and see if there is anything going on at the Folly Theatre (http://www.follytheater.com/) during your visit - a beautiful venue.
Other points of interest: The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, The River Market, and the Country Club Plaza.

If you have the time, the nearby city of Lawrence is a nice place to visit (about 40 min from KC). Love Garden, in the downtown area would be the place to go for records. Also try the beer and food at the Free State Brewery and visit the campus of the University of Kansas.

Cody
(A Jayhawk)

 

.......Yeah, definitely if you have the time and inclination, visit Love Garden in Lawrence, Kansas! Wonderful place, wonderful stock of used/new Cds and vinyl.About the only actual STORE where I can feed my jones for the obscure,rare,weirdo,eccentric,exotic,sounds I require and peruse the stock in person around these parts. And unlike the Music Exchange In K.C.(sorry I got the name wrong before), the prices are usually not overbearing.

 

I'll agree, Love Garden in Lawrence really is a great place, definitely worth the drive from KC. Nice to see some fellow Kansas folks on here.. even if one of them is a Jayhawk

 

Thanks all for the tips here..
Spent a couple of hours CD shopping while my kid slept this afternoon. Got to Recycled Sounds - nice store - had Lou Reed on the turntable. Great selection of Local Bands - wish I knew what to buy. Music Exchange had everything 30% off - they are closing the first week in January. They were complaining about not being able to afford the rent (they should try to operate in NYC...) Great place for vinyl, but I don't have a turntable anymore. Streetside was the best of the three - they are actually owned by Trans World Entertainment - the people who give us the overpriced mall stores like Coconuts. Picked up a couple of used SACD's there.

Wife's work took us to Gates BBQ. Not very good - how did they get their reputation or did I catch them on a bad night. I will try to get to Fiorella's tomorrow.

Also picked up a rental car so I may get to Lawrence if I could find something for the kid to do there that's train related. He loved Union Station today.

 

The first time I was in K.C. on business ... 20+ years ago ... a friend and I checked out "12th Street and Vine" ... IIRC, it's a pretty non-descript intersection ... looking at the Map ... the two streets don't appear to intersect ... we didn't find any "crazy little women" either ...

 

Just went there myself tonight. There is nothing there - not even an intersection - just a commemorative wood plaque and benches - no buildings - just a patch of grass near a highway. Where did the lyrics of this song come from? - was there something there years ago? Burst my bubble - I've been singing that song forever...

 

But if you're accompanying the wife, you'd better NOT "get you one!"

 

Years ago, there was something there - long since torn down. But, when "Kansas City Loving" by Willie Littlefield was recorded in 1953 the area was full of old bars and jazz clubs. BTW, Gates BBQ is well-known with many locals as not being good. I go to a little place in Stilwell called "The Stilwell Smokehouse". The Smoked Brisket is outstanding...

Bob

 

There is a Natural History Museum on the KU campus that has some interesting stuff. We also have a restored train station (not nearly as big a Union Station).

The regional specialty, BBQ-wise is called "burnt ends." As far as the best place to eat them, you get a different answer from every person you ask. Fiorella's is generally agreed to be one of the best, though.

In Lawrence, you should eat at Free State, the local brewpub. Also, do yourself a favor and sample some Boulevard beer.


Cody

 

Given your raves here, I spent a few hours in Lawrence this afternoon and loved the place!! The architecture, the fun shops and the general cool vibe.

We started at the Free State Brewery. Now I've been going to microbreweries since 1983. Must have been to over 300 around the world. I'd rank the beers that I had there in the top ten. Had a bunch of five oz samplers. Probably the finest Imperial Stout I'd ever had. The hoped-up beer that they had there was mighty tasty. Food was excellent. No wonder why they were packed at lunch. Wish we had something close to this place in New York!

Of course I needed time to sober up so we walked around and found a great toy store for Kyle. After an hour and my son ahead several Thomas the Tank Engines, I asked where "Love Garden" was. The checkout girl looked at me strangely and said it's literally right above the toy store. So we went upstairs - my son playing with his trains in their cavernous aisles and me digging for CD's. Great store. Wish they had a bigger used jazz section though.

Thanks to everyone here for the tips.

We started the day in Topeka at their restored rail station there - which was a great place if any of you also have budding "foamers" (adults who foam at the mouth when they see a train).

Been drinking Boulevard since I got here. Will try to get on the Brewery tour tomorrow if they let kids go too...

 

Sorry about no crazy little women or much of anything when you were in K.C. but glad you managed to have some fun in our state. Kansas gets a lot of bad press but there are interesting things here. And your long green probably stretches a little further than on the East Coast.

 

Yeah - I've been pleasantly surprised at the much lower cost of food, drinks, museums and entertainment out here. Having been around the country quite a bit, I did not expect it to be significantly different here, but it is. You guys must think CD prices are way too high in comparison to all other things.

I really like KC but it's a bit of a construction zone. Too many big projects going on at once. Reminds me of Atlanta in the run-up to the Olympics. Nothing going on downtown, but some fine neighborhoods. Country Club Plaza is a gem.

 

The quality of their food has been in a steady decline for the last 10 years.

I imagine they will be serving McRibs within the next 10.

I'm glad you found some things to like about our town - 'cause I freakin' hate it here.

 

Glad you had fun in Lawrence.
Come back again sometime....


Cody