Walkin’ Around Checkin’ Stuff Out. #14
Still kicking out drawings from our Kansas City/Hot Springs road trip. The whole process makes me itchy to plan the next.
It’s -10 in Minneapolis right now so I’m thinking we need to go somewhere warm. And by “warm” I mean somewhere that’s like 20 degrees.
Hammerpress.
Hammerpress. Kansas City, MO
I’ve been a fan of Hammerpress since they opened in the mid 90’s and I appreciate them even more in a digital world where printed materials are scarce and letterpress printing is almost nonexistent.
The space is amazing…and amazingly tidy, although the founder tBrady Vest assured me that was because they were mostly on holiday break and didn’t have jobs running through the shop on the day we were in.
The front of the space is a cool little shop where they sell cards and prints and posters created and printed by Hammerpress. They also sell notebooks and sketchbooks and cool pens and stuff like that.
In the back is where the business happens…all of the old printing presses and metal type cases are super cool to see. Brady was very kind and patient with us as we geeked-out over all the gear.
In a digital Powerpoint email newsletter world, it’s nice to see really cool things printed with soul.
Hotel Kansas City.
Having our bulldog puppy Davis with us meant finding hotels that allowed dogs.
All hotels should allow dogs, I mean seriously…they’re cleaner and less obnoxious than most people. And they lift the spirt of a place…when a dog walks through a hotel lobby people smile and come out of their shells.
Dogs are the best.
Davis made sure to greet each person that walked through the front doors of the hotel while we were hanging out in the lobby bar.
Bed Bug Killer.
Midland Hardware. Kansas City, MO
Ok, so Midland Hardware probably doesn’t crack the top 1000 list of things to see in Kansas City, but I love this kind of stuff.
How does BED BUG KILLER, LAWN MOWER PARTS and GLASS REPAIR not catch your attention?
Oh, and the motorcycle parked on the sidewalk. You know it belongs to the owner and that’s the guy you want to get help from. Any dude that rides to work on a motorcycle and parks the thing on the sidewalk knows what they are talkin’ about.
Security Dude.
Kansas City, MO
I would see this guy every morning before the sun came up when I took Davis out for his morning walk. He would say “Hey” and I would say “Hey” back and Davis would stop for some pets and we’d be on our way.
Tool Shop Hats.
Harry J. Epstein Tool Co. Kansas City, MO
Nice collection of donated hats above the counter at the tool shop. I guess it’s kind of like those bars that have bras hanging above the bar.
Fordyce Bath House.
Fordyce Bath House. Hot Springs, AR.
There are probably a half dozen of these old bath houses in downtown Hot Springs.
Each building is ptetty amazing, Fordyce being my favorite.
Sadly, they are not all working bath houses, but they are still standing and have been going through renovations the past couple of years so it’s nice to see they are committed to keeping them around.
The bath houses alone are worth a trip to Hot Springs.
About 20 years ago we went to one of the old bath houses and did the routine. Not gonna lie…it was a little creepy. I could have done without the dude giving me a sponge bath. I like old school…but that’s a bit much. (Now that I think about it, I may require some therapy to move past the whole episode.)
Waffle House.
You can’t go down south without seeing a Waffle House every half mile.
Sorry, no food review because we still haven’t been. Maybe next time.
Robbbb...there's 8 bathhouses and 2 are operating with baths. The Quapaw and also Buckstaff...which has been in operating non-stop for over 100 years.
Waffle House hasn't made it to Canada yet, but IHOP has.