After viewing my KC photo gallery, a friend of mine said, “Oh, what a romantic city!”

Now, I love this town and yes, I have always thought there was a certain romance to it, but I never thought I’d hear someone not a native say it. I mean, that’s like saying Toledo is romantic. Maybe it is, but “romantic” isn’t the first thing I think of when I hear “Toledo, Ohio.”

Then there’s the inevitable comparison of what cities are more romantic and, well, N’awlins tops my list. Most of Europe qualifies, although I’d be hard pressed to tell you my favorite spot (maybe Maredsous Abbey in Belgium…oh, the cheese!).

All that said, I took Tax Deduction #1 (hereinafter referred to as TD1) out and about this afternoon to some of my mostest favoritest haunts, all mentioned in The Proviso. Peter May’s House of Kielbasa (no website, drat them) has a spot in my gallery now (and I have a good 10 pounds of fresh homemade kielbasa in my fridge at the moment—that should last a couple of days). I also added the UMKC School of Law (where two of my female characters go to school and one of my male characters teaches). Lo, I went looking for Tasso’s Greek restaurant, absolutely positive it was on 79th & Troost only to find out when I got home that it was on 84th & Wornall. *headdesk* (Yeah, it’s been a while. I must rectify that situation. They don’t have a website either; what’s up with the good dives not getting online?)

I spent most of my gigabytes at Loose Park, though, which is probably what I’d consider our version of Central Park. I would have gone into the rose garden to take pictures, but TD1 had to go potty and we couldn’t find it fast enough. This necessitated a trip to the Crown Center fountain to clean her up—you can’t turn around in this town but you bump into a fountain.

In my life, every moment of every day I’m doing something and if it doesn’t produce something, I won’t bother doing it. I’ve always been this way; I’m even working when I read. However, running around Kansas City just to hit its sweet spots is one of the only ways I truly relax.