Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

NOTE:  This blog is part of the "1980 Buick LeSabre Road Trip - October 2011 Series".  Branelle and I flew up to Minnesota and drove back to Texas in her grandmothers 1980 LeSabre, a gift from her parents and Nana.  We took about a week getting back because, as I reminded Nel on a number of occasions, "sometimes it's about the journey, not the destination".

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

After hitting all the bridges of Madison County, we headed out of the area in the early afternoon.  I didn't have anything planned for the rest of the trip because I wasn't sure how far we would make it each day.  Kansas City was the next major area so we got on-line and booked a reservation at the Q Hotel right in the center of the Old Westport District.  Q is one of those upscale, trendy places that calls itself a "green" hotel.  To be honest, I find these places annoying.  We headed out for some BBQ, KC style, and drove down to Fiorella's Jack Stack BBQ - voted the "Best BBQ in the Country" by Zagats. 

The next morning we got up and headed out for some sightseeing before hitting the road.  Our first stop was the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.  I had never been to a Federal Reserve Bank before, and they have a free museum at this one called "The Money Museum".

 

The Fed was our first stop simply because they open at 8:30, much earlier than any of the other attractions we planned to visit.  There was NOBODY at the Fed museum when we arrived, but there was a contingent of the 99% idiots camping in a park right next to the place.  A sad collection of young hippies and old….well, hippies, the 99% folks promote class warfare (ironically, probably the primary cause of WWI - whose official museum sits on the other side of their camp and was our next stop).  They blame the wealthy for their lot in life.  I guarantee that if I had walked over to these ignorant fools and asked them a few questions, they would have never been able to articulate a coherent "reason" for their "revolution" - as sad as it is.  We don't have these idiots in Texas.

99% Idiots camped across from the Fed.

Look closely at this sculpture next to the Fed - See it?

The Money Museum itself isn't really much to see.  The security getting in is quite extensive, as you might imagine, and the place is pristine, there just isn't much there.  You can't take pictures in most areas, especially the section where you can view people actually working near the vaults.  They have robotic machines that carry totes of money in and out of the giant vault areas.  On a given day this bank will have about 160 billion on hand.  They have about 40 million stacked up against the wall (encased in glass of course) that you can stand next to in one of the halls. 

One day minions, one day.

 

There are a few interactive things to do and a lot of little artifacts to see, and they even have a small gift shop.  It's educational and free, so worth the stop if you're in the area.  You can’t spend too much time there - we probably only spent about 30 minutes or so - but you will learn quite a bit.  When we left there were busses of school kids arriving.  It probably makes for a quality educational field trip.