The Wonderful World of Hallmark

This past weekend was the first time that I have visited Kansas City, although I have been through it several times by train & car, and to the airport.

We took the train from Newton to Kansas City and back. It had been a long time since we were on a train, so it was nice to be on one again.

One very cool thing is that Kansas City Union Station is connected via elevated, enclosed, and climate controlled walkways to Crown Center. We spent the whole weekend at Union Station, the Westin, and Crown Center -the home of Hallmark Cards- , and never went outside!

John wrote about the Union Station Experience, so I won't repeat it here. It is an amazingly restored building, and it was funny to watch people applying to be the next Apprentice!

The highlight for me was Crown Center and the Hallmark Visitors Center. I've been a Gold Crown Member since 1996 and am a huge Hallmark fan.

The visitors center chronicles the history of Hallmark along with an overview of US history. There are exhibits of Hallmark Christmas ornaments, gifts from Hallmark employees and famous people to Hallmark's founder, and examples of the official White House Christmas cards that Hallmark creates each year.

Then you get to see actual production methods in process. It was really neat to see how the machines work. Even John liked this part! I walked away from this section with a paper crown (intended for use in the kids' section) and a gift bow that says "Hallmark Visitors Center" on it!

And I had a coupon for a free parting gift on my way out. I got three different styles of Hallmark postcards and another Visitors Center gift bow. I had to try really hard to not jump up and down and squeal with delight, and did manage to wait until we were not in public.

Another highlight was eating dinner at The American Restaurant. We knew about Kobe Beef from watching Iron Chef and were really excited that it was the special of the evening. Everyone needs to eat in a really nice restaurant occasionally, and this is the perfect place to do so! This place made us feel truly special.

And, probably the best thing about this whole weekend is that I walked miles and miles and did tons of things and was able to do it all. This is the second trip we've taken since my big October health episode, and the first trip wasn't so great health-wise. It was so nice to have a whole weekend where I felt like a relatively normal person!