If you're getting into KC on Friday, April 5th, drop in and hang out with us at Nighthawk, located in the basement of the Hotel Kansas City, from 7:00-10:00 pm. We have some space reserved in the back of the bar, and there will be drinks and light snacks.
The Kansas City Royals are playing a series of home games from April 4th to April 11th. The team's not great, but Kauffman Stadium is. Since Gunnar is a big fan of baseball, and Carrie is a big fan of sitting outside and having a beer, we'll definitely be at at least one of these games.
If you like baseball, also consider checking out the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum while you're in town.
Kansas City has a a few very cool museums, including the great (and free!) Nelson-Atkins Museum. The Nelson-Atkins has a very broad collection, with especially good Impressionist and Post-Impressionist sections. The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art also has a good collection of Modern Art.
We especially like the The Arabia Steamboat Museum. In the late 80s, a couple of local families excavated the remains of a cargo-bearing riverboat that sank in the Missouri River in 1856. This museum displays the perfectly-preserved artifacts they found during the excavation, presenting a really unique look into what trade, manufacturing, and design were like in the 1850s.
Kansas City also has the National WWI Museum and Memorial. It has a super exensive collection and is extremely well curated and impactful.
Kansas City is known for its BBQ, and there are so many good BBQ places in Kansas City, so you probably can't go wrong. A few stand-out examples are Jack Stack (a local chain with several locations), Arthur Bryants, and LC's. If you're looking for a place to get BBQ downtown, Q39 and Joe's Kansas City BBQ are both popular choices.
There are several casinos in Kansas City and areas nearby. Ameristar and Argosy are both pretty good places to lose money. Be aware that smoking is allowed in all casinos in the area, so if you're sensitive to smoke, you may want to avoid them. Fun fact: Missouri's weird gambling regulations allow only riverboat casinos, so all of the casinos in Kansas City are built on top of small artificial "lakes" of water from the Missouri River to comply with this law.
KC is in the process of building a downtown entertainment area with a ferris wheel and minigolf, along with food trucks, cocktails, and beer.
The Crossroads Arts District's First Fridays event is a good chance to check out local galleries, vendors, and food trucks and April's event happens to fall right before the reception.