Kansas City Road Trip (Weekend Getaways with Teens & Tweens)

If you are jonesing for a vacation but don’t have the funds or the time off to take a long trip, hit the road for a fun weekend getaway to Kansas City. There’s so much more to KC than Legoland – now that your kids are older, try a few of our favorite places to visit with tweens and teens!

Sports in KC

There are several sports teams to catch in KC. The Royals play 81 home games in a season, so you have a good chance to see them play. Sporting KC plays with a crowd that rivals any other MLS teams, and of course the Chiefs play every year to ear-splitting, record breaking noise. Put those all together and year round you have a chance to see a professional sports team in action.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is a great place to learn about the history of the Negro league and African-American baseball. It is a self-guided tour experience that includes text, videos and photographs. 

Throughout the museum you are “segregated” on purpose and you have to learn the history before you are “allowed on the field”. At the end of the tour there is a mock baseball diamond that includes 12 life-size statues of famous Negro League players. Of the 12, 11 have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  

Arts & Science in KC

If you aren’t a sport enthusiast there are plenty of other things to do in Kansas City as well. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is a super cool art museum. Bonus: admission is free every day! Their collection of art is expansive and there are many different galleries. If you find your child is not interested in that specific style of art you can simply go to the next area. Check out their website before you go because events throughout the year are specifically geared towards families.

Another option for when the summer heat is too much to take is Union Station. Union Station is a hub to eat, catch a movie in their extreme screen and Planetarium or take in the history and trains. Traveling exhibits rotate in and out and the current featured exhibit is Mummies of the World. It features mummies and artifacts from Europe, South America and Ancient Egypt.

Another stop at Union Station is Science City, a science center. Several attractions are open every day to give your kids a hands on science experience.  A recently opened outdoor exhibit lets kids learn about mechanical devices and simple machines while playing.

Fun Fact about Union Station: it is the site of the Union Station Massacre. A shootout occurred in 1933 and a convicted mobster and team of FBI agents were killed. Supposedly there are marks at the front of the building made by bullet holes!

If you have a weekend to spare and want to break out of ICT, Kansas City is a hotbed of history and fun! What’s your favorite thing to do with older kids in KC?

 

Kendra Fernandez
Kendra lives in Derby with her husband Leonard and her two boys- Leo and Jacoby. She works in downtown Wichita but spends most of the rest of her waking hours wrangling two crazy boys. You will more than likely find them at a game or practice. Besides spending time with her family Kendra loves to read and watch Game of Thrones, HGTV marathons and the Royals! She is also very active in PTO at her sons' school and is always trying to find ways to interact with other parents.

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