Our Trip to the Kansas City Plaza with our Dog for Three Days with Eating, Drinking, and Fun

View from Our Room at InterContinental on the Plaza

Carrie and I had a wonderful time in Kansas City on the Plaza following the Christmas Holiday. We had planned it back in November to make for a fun time away from home and since we were not traveling anywhere for the holidays. We wanted to stay in a hotel and because we were taking Oliver, we wanted a dog friendly location. 

We selected the InterContinental on the Plaza. We contacted them back in November to schedule the room and stay. We were told it would be $75 additional to have Oliver stay with us. No problem! The rates were really low following the holiday, so we jumped on it and booked the room.

Oliver Watching People

This would be a first time trip for Oliver staying in a hotel. He is ten and never stayed in a hotel. We were hopeful he would be good, not bark, or cause a disturbance while we were out two nights. He did great! He was a perfect little gentleman... well, except that in our room he could see the people walking in front of the shops and he would do a low bark as he watched them walk along the sidewalk. Nothing loud, but it was constant as he did this the whole time we there. The only time he was not concerned what was happening outside was when we shut the curtains so he could not see out. It made us laugh and I think he was trying to protect us from whatever those tiny people were doing he could see way off in the distance.

Overall, he did great! We took him out and did good on walks. He loved it because we took him on walks multiple times each day we were in the hotel. On the way back from walks, he had not figured out that all the rooms look alike, so he would stop at each room on our way back to our room on the second floor.  The first night when we went to dinner, we came home to find him on top of the coffee table looking at us when we came in the door... we are still not sure what he was doing, but he looked to be having fun!

Carrie and John at Dinner

The first night (Monday) we were able to connect with my brother, Tim, who was having dinner with his boys. Originally I had contacted Tim to see if he could meet for dinner or drinks Monday night, but he said he already had a commitment. As it turned out, he invited Carrie and I to join him, Donna, Brian, Jack, and their spouses. Tim took us to The Capital Grille on the Plaza. What an experience! Tim had a private space for us to eat and we had a nice visit with everyone. The food was good and the wine was flowing freely. Good memories to be able to meet up and see everyone that evening. Carrie and I did not do great with pictures on our adventure to Kansas City, but we did manage to get a picture of us at dinner that evening... no, did not get any pictures with anyone else, but it was a fun time!

BayCoyKC Sandwiches

Tuesday was a lazy day. We stayed in bed, read, snoozed, took Oliver on walks, and basically did nothing the whole day. We did order BayBoyKC for lunch. It was really good and the sandwiches were huge! After finishing lunch, we decided to lounge more, so we continued to read, watch TV, and lounge around our room. Oliver was enjoying barking at the people on the sidewalks of the Plaza. By about 4 or 4:30, we decided we better figure out where we were going to eat. I reached out to my brother, Tim, to check if he would like to meet for drinks and/or dinner, so we made arrangements to meet him for drinks. Again, no pictures of our visit, but we were able to spend a few hours with him having drinks, eating oysters, and enjoying conversation. 

Dinner at McCormick & Schmick's

Carrie and I had late reservations at McCormick & Schmick's at 8:45, so we decided to head over early to sit at their bar and enjoy more drinks, apps, etc. Our plan was to hang out and then sit and have dinner, but we decided to eat at the bar. We had more oysters, drinks, and a delicious meal all while at the bar. I opted for the lobster which was good, but could have used some butter. What I had ordered originally was two lobster tails, but they were out of that and went with this lobster pictured to the right which had shrimp over the top. All very good and we had an enjoyable time.

The best thing about staying at the InterContinentalwas that we could walk to everywhere. Monday night when we met Tim for dinner, the The Capital Grille was right across from the hotel. For Tuesday nights meal, we were able to walk to meet Tim for drinks and then walk on to McCormick & Schmick's for dinner. It was perfect! Really, the whole three days felt like date night with Carrie, so we had fun and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

By eating at the bar, we were able to beat the 8:45 reservation so we were not out as late and we could get back to Oliver who was holding down the hotel room for us. When we got back to the hotel room, he was sleeping on the couch and looked up as we came through the door. I think he enjoyed some alone time after being with us for the whole day.

Oliver at Snooze Eatery

Wednesday was our day to leave, so we set a late checkout as we wanted to sleep late (we are on vacation) and run some errands later in the day before heading back to Topeka. I took Oliver on a few walks that morning before we finally checked out about 12:30. Our first stop was going to be Snooze A.M. Eatery. This was our second visit to Snooze and it did not disappoint. We selected this place to eat as we like it and because they allow pets. Oliver was the hit of the patio! The staff all wanted to come out and see him. He got whipped cream to enjoy and lots of praise and petting from the staff. I think he had a great time!

Following our lunch, we stopped by Summer Moon Coffee which is another favorite before we made one last stop and headed home to end our fun in Kansas City.

We did this whole trip while Washburn University was closed between December 25 and January 2. I would certainly do this again as we had a wonderful time. Like I mentioned earlier, it felt like one large date night with our kid along. We both had a lot of fun and look forward to doing something similar next year for the holiday break.