A Football Weekend in Kansas City: Chiefs, Barbecue and the Road to 50

With the NFL preseason starting, I thought it would be a good time to share. Growing up, my father and two of my uncles had season tickets to the New York Giants. Thus, my love for Big Blue was born. For eight Sundays and an occasional Monday each year, they would head to the Meadowlands to see the Gmen take on a contender. But before the tailgating commenced, my father would get the sandwiches ready for the crew. They got on the road earlier than I was willing to start the day, so I would wake up to a sandwich from my father. Post-game, he would stop at DQ and bring my brother and me ice cream in the little helmets they had during football season. How could I not love football season? Which gave me an idea for my Road to 50 mission.

When I started the crusade to visit all fifty states, I knew there would be some that I’d be more excited to see than others. Missouri was one of those states I wasn’t particularly excited to visit—no offense to anyone who hails from there. But back in 2023, football gave me a reason. At that time, I was really enjoying the Kansas City Chiefs as a team, and Travis Kelce as both a player and someone who is easy on the eyes. So I hatched a plan to go to a game—one trip, two states—and yet another really awesome friend willing to entertain this fifty-state adventure.

We had amazing seats in the second row behind the Chiefs’ bench. We went early to see the teams warm up. For that night, we were part of Chiefs Kingdom—war cry and all. And yes, Taylor Swift was at the game. Given where our seats were, she was actually in the box above us. But more importantly, the Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos in that Thursday night game. 

Beyond the game, I was pleasantly surprised—Missouri and (bonus—Kansas) had more to offer than I gave them credit for. 

Also surprising—when I mentioned this trip to a few people, they immediately said I had to go to a gas station for barbecue. I raised an eyebrow each time but I added it to our list of places to check out. 

It took about an hour from getting in line to getting our food, but Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que was probably the best bbq I’ve ever had. I even got a t-shirt to commemorate the occasion. 

Because of my love of history, we visited the National World War I Museum and Memorial. The inside was worth the walk-through, but the outdoor grounds provided a nice view of the Kansas City skyline. We didn’t venture into downtown Kansas City, but we were okay with that because there was a lot to offer outside the city proper.

For instance, we stumbled across the world’s largest badminton shuttlecocks at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art—I mean, who knew! 

We stayed in a really cute area called Country Club Plaza. Very walkable. Lots of shops and restaurants. I would highly recommend it if you’re headed to Kansas City. And on game day, it is a sea of Chiefs fans.

It was a quick trip, but we made the most of it. Hopefully, my father is looking down with a smile and will forgive my first football-related article being about the Chiefs and not the Giants. He was a big fan of travel so I think he’ll cut me some slack.

Who’s your favorite sports team?