Originally Posted by
boxo
And here I am, a year later, planning my second visit to KC for a few days before heading to Iowa for a family event...
But this time, I have a question about the stretch of I-35 to Des Moines. Is there anything of interest to see or eat off the highway? We can take the Jefferson Line bus for 2 x $37 or rent a one-way car for $90.
Get the rental car -- you'll also be able to use it on both ends of your journey. There are picturesque covered bridges on the Iowa side of I-35 (there was a fictional book that popularized them thirty years ago:
The Bridges of Madison County).
The Kansas City streetcar will be extended to the Plaza in the next few years (and beyond -- so far the approved terminus will be at the University of Missouri at Kansas City -- and perhaps one day southward to Brookside). Nearby UMKC is the national Toy and Miniature Museum -- worth a visit. The World War I Museum and the Liberty Memorial near Union Station are worth a detour. I am in downtown KC today, and the whole city is ablaze with blossoms and flowering trees.