Travelblog: Kansas City

Just got back from Kansas City on Saturday night, and frankly, I wish I was going back. If OSU had defeated Kansas State in the Big 12 semifinals, it appears the Cowboys would have gotten a No. 4 seed and been placed at the Sprint Center. Instead, K-State got that No. 4 seed, and I’m headed to San Jose, along with the Cowboys.

I never get enough of Kansas City, a great old city with tons of character and great restaurants and a sense of place. I’m ready to go back.

I traveled with my wife, Trish the Dish, plus colleagues Nancy Sue Kuzydym, our OU writer, and videographer Damon Fontenot. Here’s how the trip went during Big 12 week.

TEXAS STOP SIGN

We stopped for a quick bite at the Dairy Queen on I-35 north of Perry. Not my choice, but we’re a democracy on the road.

I’m no fan of DQ. There’s a reason they’ve all but disappeared from the Oklahoma landscape. Poor management. Dairy Queens remain popular in Texas, but they’re fading fast. You can tell the management problems have slipped into Texas’ DQs, too.

But the idea of Dairy Queen remains strong. The brand still packs a punch, even for people born after the moon landing.

This DQ, connected to a Phillips 66 station, was actually decent. Big, relatively clean. Solid service. I had no complaints, even though I didn’t order anything. The best thing about the DQ was a wall that included a variety of vintage photos of Dairy Queens from all over the country. It took you back in time, which is never a bad place to go.

TONKAWA DETOUR

I needed a Sonic drink, so we pulled off I-35 and drove a couple of miles into Tonkawa. I’d been to the Tonkawa Sonic before; it sits just off the campus of Northern Oklahoma Junior College, sort of hard to find. Which I find completely charming. How can something in a small town be hard to find? Then we toured around town for a few minutes.

Tonkawa, population 3,216, is a great example of how Oklahoma is a crossroads. Tonkawa is a classic small Midwestern town. Completely different feel from what you’d find in western Oklahoma or southeastern Oklahoma. You could place Tonkawa in Kansas and Nebraska, and nobody would know the difference. Quite a few buildings and homes made of stone, which is not something you see every day.

The college is sort of cool, because when we think of junior colleges here in the metro, we think of massive student bodies and contemporary campuses, like Rose State and Oklahoma City Community College. But Northern has a traditional campus look. If you took a stranger there and told them it was a four-year regional university like Southeastern State or USAO in Chickasha, no one would question it.

We drove the couple of blocks through town, and like any small town, Tonkawa commerce’s best days are behind it. But you got the feeling that Tonkawa is a town still holding on.

And I’ll always remember Tonkawa as the place where we got the news about the new Pope. While we drove around Tonkawa, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was announced as Pope Francis, the new leader of the Catholic Church. Everyone but me had their iPhones following the proceedings from the Vatican, another example of how up-to-date we want our information. The radio wasn’t good enough.

We even drove by the Catholic Church in Tonkawa, St. Joseph’s, a few minutes after the announcement. For a moment, we thought there might be a group of people assembled there to celebrate, but the truth is, the good folks of Tonkawa had things to do on a brisk Wednesday afternoon.

HELLO, KNUTE

Nancy Sue is a big Notre Dame fan. She grew up just outside South Bend and has been around Notre Dame all her life.

So imagine her delight when we pulled into the McDonald’s travel plaza on the Kansas Turnpike, just past Cassoday, and discovered the Knute Rockne tribute. About three miles from the site of that McDonald’s, just outside Matfield Green, Kan., is where Rockne’s plane crashed in 1931 and he died at the age of 43.

In the vestibule connecting McDonald’s and the convenience store/gas station, a fairly elaborate Rockne memorial has been established, with all kinds of large photos and tributes, with some audio recordings of Rockne. You don’t think you’ll bump into college football history on the Flint Hills of Kansas, but you never know.

Alas, that McDonald’s is due to close in a couple of weeks. I searched around to figure out why but couldn’t find an answer. If someone knows, let me know.

MISSING THE MOUNTAINEER

We made a major strategic error. We skipped the Sprint Center on Wednesday night. We had no basketball business – neither the Sooners nor Cowboys played on Wednesday – and the games didn’t excite us. Texas Tech-West Virginia and Texas-TCU.

But I completely brain-locked on the fact that it might be our only chance to see Jonathan Kimble. You know Jonathan as West Virginia’s Mountaineer.

I’ve written before about the best mascot in college sports. I met Jonathan at the Big 12 football media days last July, then I called and wrote a column about him in November before the OU-West Virginia game. He offered to give us a tour when we got to Morgantown, so we took him up on it that Friday and we had a swell time.

I told him I’d see him in Kansas City, but I had no clue the Mountaineers would be as bad as they were in hoops. WVU stumbled to eighth place, and then was upset by Tech on Wednesday night in Kansas City.

Which meant no Mountaineer on Thursday. West Virginia was already gone when we darkened the door of the Sprint Center. Total bummer. We should have dropped by the arena, picked up our press credentials and said hello to Jonathan.

But great news. Jonathan has been selected to be the Mountaineer again next school year. That’s outstanding news and gives me the chance to make up for a major faux pas.

WELCOME HOME

The race is always for second in Kansas City. That’s largely true concerning the basketball, which Kansas dominates, and it’s always true concerning our favorite part of the trip. The best part of any trip to KC is a visit to Garozzo’s.

I’ve written multiple times about my favorite restaurant in the world. A classic Italian joint set in KC’s Columbus Park, which once was Little Italy but is becoming more and more Little Saigon. Still, the neighborhood retains a great, old-school feel. And inside is scrumptious food with a phenomenal atmosphere.

We walked in, and there was the Cowboy basketball team. Garozzo’s is an OSU tradition. Travis Ford got up and chatted with us for awhile.

We had a reservation for eight – we were joined by OSU writer John Helsley, our intern A.C. Slater, OSU correspondent Kyle Fredrickson and photographer Sarah Phipps.

We had just ordered the three-way pasta – a massive heaping of ravioli, spaghetti and mostacioli, along with a sausage or meatball – as an appetizer, when owner Mike Garrozo stopped by.

Mike is an archetype Italian restaurant owner. Full of personality, loves his restaurant, proud of his restaurant, which he should be. I introduced myself a few years ago, told him how much I love the place, and he told me his daughter would be headed to OSU for its superb hotel/restaurant management program.

Over the years, Mike always has appreciated the things I’ve written about Garrozo’s, so he was his usual gregarious self.

He immediately told us he was sending over complimentary stuffed artichokes, toasted ravioli and calamari. We actually never got the ravioli, which was a blessing, because we had too much food anyway.

Mike Garrozo entertained us with a series of quotes:

“Welcome, home!” he said when he first saw me. “Many are called. Few are chosen.”

“Berry, you never show weakness,” when he saw the three-way pasta as an appetizer.

“You’re all-Big 12 with a fork and knife.”

The meal was superb. Johnny Damon, the Dish and Nancy Sue all shared their entrees – lasagna, steak modiga and chicken spiedini Gabriella. I had the steak modiga and was sharing with no one, let me promise you. Best steak in history, with a modiga sauce that could be a world-class soup if served by itself.

And then, as we’re trying to leave, we get the news that Travis Ford picked up our check. It didn’t please me – I don’t want coaches buying my dinner – but I certainly appreciated the gesture. Told him so the next day.

CYCLONE SALUTE

Here’s the naked truth. Kansas City does a great job with the Big 12 Tournament. I hope we get it back in Oklahoma City soon, but the bar is set high. Even without Missouri, the turnout was excellent.

On Wednesday night, I’m told the Sprint Center was about half full. Which is somewhere north of fantastic. Remember, Tech-West Virginia and Texas-TCU. That doubleheader wouldn’t draw flies in San Antonio or Dallas. But in Kansas City, good solid crowd.

And the next morning, with an 11:30 a.m. OU-Iowa State tipoff, the arena was buzzing.