Blondes vs. Brunettes #36 -- Kansas City #1

Thanks for checking out this week’s blog. 

So this is the start of a trilogy of sorts, based in Leavenworth, Kansas.  My time there was spent working on a government project, let's say in the late 1980s (I don't want to get to specific).  For a guy in his 20s who had pretty much spent his life on the east coast this was like "Whoaaa!!" … a big step moving to America's heartland for what I thought would be a few months.  It turned out to be a better part of a year.

And what a fun year it was!

My work, so to speak, was running a team of contractors in support of an army war gaming project.  Most of my work was done in some buildings in Leavenworth, but occasionally I'd venture on to the Army base, Fort Leavenworth, which was (is) adjacent to Leavenworth.   Strangely, there's also a bunch of prisons in the area which allowed me to drum up more business for the home office back in Washington DC. 

Ah, the bosses couldn't have been happier!!

Part 1 of the trilogy starts with me staying in the "downtown" hotel which, if memory serves me correct, was a Best Western sitting in the middle of Leavenworth. I've googled the property and it looks like it's been out of business for a few years. The newspaper article I pulled up also refers to it as a former Ramada Inn … mmm maybe it was or maybe it was a BW and then changed to a Ramada years later. 

If you're reading this and you’re from the area, please click on the "comment" tool below and help me out.  I think the place was between 3d and 4^th streets.

Anyway, I moved in just after the holidays, it was cold, windy and for a guy in his mid 20s, it sucked. 

Well, at first it did.  Shortly, I found myself saying, "Well, there's a bevy of gorgeous blondes living around here, how nice!"

So the first few months were tough.  Eventually the weather got better and I got out more.  One of the places I discovered was a dance club called “Senor Frog’s” or “Senior Frog’s” or maybe “Senor Phroggs”, or maybe Senior Phroggs, or maybe it was just one “g” like Senor Phrog’s.

Ok, I’m done.

The place wasn’t in either Leavenworth or Kansas City, but in, if I remember correctly, Lenexa, Kansas which is a suburb on the Kansas City’s “Kansas side.”

Quick geography lesson:  there are two Kansas City’s … on in Kansas, and one in Missouri.  The KC in Kansas (KCK) is the small Kansas City.  The one in Missouri (KCMO) is the big Kansas City.  When you hear people talk about “Kansas City” as in the “Kansas City Royals” they’re talking about KCMO, not KC, i.e., the big, significant Kansas City is in Missouri, not Kansas.

http://www.mediafire.com/watch/vzy8tm399r7obn1/Chick_Fight_Fight_video.mp4

That’s tough for some people to understand.  When my folks flew out to visit me they  were like “Are you sure we’re supposed to be flying into Missouri?”

Back to Lenexa, Kansas.  The night club, whatever the hell the actual name was, no longer exists.  I tried googling it under various spellings and the only Senor Frog’s I come up with is the place in Nassau, Bahamas right next to where the cruise ships pull in and is always jammed with drunk 16 year olds.  I ought to know, I had to drag my daughter out of there many years ago, less we miss the departure of our ship!

But this place did exist, check out this Tweet somebody sent

https://twitter.com/KCTrends/status/115997279202197504

See? I told you so.

Anyway, one night I was pulling out of there in m extremely cool Toyota 4Runner and out of the side, I saw fists flying.  Yep, CATFIGHT!!

A blonde vs brunette catfight, I soon quickly discovered.

I’m not going to get into a long description of the fight – what good would that do?  The brunette beat the blonde’s ass but naturally I don’t have the pics to prove it

Yeah, we had camera’s back then, smart ass, but not cell phones with cameras.

http://www.mediafire.com/watch/pp2f1e3gryva9be/Parking_Lot_Fight.wmv

Come to think of it nobody had cell phone either, except maybe some really rich, fancy guy who carried it around like a brick which is what it looked and felt like. But they sure didn’t have built in cameras with video capability.

No matter, I’ve got a couple of videos that will keep you happy, take a look.

I went back there regularly, but never did see another chick battle and believe me, my radar antenna was always on max!

But the most interesting thing did occur to me while I was out jogging one day:  a bikini wrestling match.  Actually, several of them.  Right in Leavenworth. 

We’ll get into that next week.