Kansas City is a fairly popular Midwest destination, but it’s also a common city to drive through on your way to your final destination.
If you’re renting an RV from Outdoorsy and plan on vacationing in Kansas City, or you’re simply planning on driving through, make sure you check out one of these weird stops. Strange pit stops on road trips are part of the traditional American vacation, after all!
Glore Psychiatric Museum
There are plenty of museums to check out in Kansas City. You can check out the art museum or visit Science City, but if you’re looking for a museum experience you won’t find anywhere else, stop at the Glore Psychiatric Museum.
The building was one of the first medical centers in the country that catered to mental health patients. When it was shut down, it was turned into a museum.
The medical equipment in the museum is the biggest draw. However, some of the equipment can be a little disturbing and graphic, so children under 12 aren’t permitted inside. A few examples include dousing tanks, cages, and straightjackets.
Kansas City Library Parking Garage
Who would want to visit a parking garage on vacation? In any other city, the parking garage is just a means to an end, but not in Kansas City!
The Kansas City Library Parking Garage is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Instead of featuring concrete and steel, this cool parking garage features a huge bookshelf filled with some literary classics.
The books are a staggering 25-feet high and nine feet wide. The design was created by the community, which makes it even more meaningful. Community input was requested on how to beautify the parking garage, and community members voted on the titles that line the sidewalk.
Fat Matt’s Vortex
If you’re looking for a way to relax and unwind, but you want to do it in a unique and memorable way, stop into Fat Matt’s Vortex.
It’s a dive bar that serves some of the best drink specials in the city, but that’s not what makes this place so weird. The bar is built inside an old funeral parlor and the old crematorium still exists in the basement. The place is so weird that it’s also the home base for the Kansas City Ghost Tour, which is another weird thing you can do while you’re staying in the city.
If that still isn’t weird enough for you, consider the fact that this dive bar is run by a pagan witch.
Weird Stuff Antiques
If you would rather have the opportunity to buy a few weird things instead of just looking at them, stop into Weird Stuff Antiques.
It’s true that you can find some weird old stuff in any antique store, but no other store compares to what you’ll find here.
Just some of the things you can find on sale in the store include:
- WW2 gas masks
- Taxidermied animals
- Vintage pinball machines
- Giant pairs of pants
- African hide drums
- And much more
If there’s something weird that you’ve always wanted, and just never had the guts to ask your local antique shop about, the owner, Terry Sanchez, is the one to ask. He’s so good at finding the weirdest stuff around that films and television shows often turn to him when looking for the strangest things for their sets.
Unlike other shops that are open on the weekdays with limited hours on the weekend, Weird Stuff Antiques is open Friday through Sunday, making it a great pit stop to take on any vacation.
1950s All Electric House
It’s amazing how many strange predictions from the past about the future were completely inaccurate. From flying cars to jet packs, so many of their predictions haven’t come true, but they weren’t completely off the mark. Just visit the 1950’s All Electric House at the Johnson County Museum.
This real-life family home showcases the futuristic technology that the 1950s predicted would become commonplace. Many of the things in the home you can find in homes today, like hidden televisions, electric curtain openers, and garage door openers, all designed with 50’s flair, of course.
Your vacation can be so much more if you’re willing to travel off the beaten path. The next time you find yourself RVing in Kansas City, make a little time for the things on this list. There’s no doubt that they’ll provide you with plenty of lasting memories.
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