48 hours in Kansas City? Oh yeah. I just did that. Well, to be brutally honest, it was more like 42 hours and a time zone change. But TOTALLY worth it!
Guess what happened in Kansas City last Friday? Chopped Con, that’s what.
I joined about sixty other bloggers in KC. We all share a mutual obsession with taking pictures of food. And, it gets worse….. we like to tell you about it. 
We gleefully obsess over just the right lighting and the right props.
And, we snap chat ourselves finding that amazing prop!
So naturally, we get together at conferences to talk about how how we arrange our food and snap-chatting said food subjects.
That’s how I found myself in Kansas City last Friday. More specifically, it’s how I ended up in front of Danny Edward’s Blvd BBQ.
At 11:00 a.m.
Like, right when they were opening. That’s how much I wanted to try Kansas City BBQ! (Remember my Four City BBQ Sauce Tour?) I was their first customer.
THERE WAS NO SHAME.
Only lots of wet wipes for that sauce. OMGoodness. That sauce.
Being an Alabama native, finding good barbecue is a life priority.
Danny’s has been featured on three Food Network shows, and I figured if it was good enough for Bobby Flay & Guy Fieri, it would be good enough for me!
How cute are those red tablecloths? A place like this just HAS to have good BBQ.
Now, I’ve waited a looonnng time to have Kansas City barbecue. Hence my decision to order a large (supersize me!) pulled pork sandwich with onion rings.
Go big or go home.
Sorry for the smudge of sauce on the plate.
Ok, no I’m not.
NO SHAME.
Danny’s did not disappoint. Full & happy, I headed to the Hilton President Hotel to check in for two nights. It is GORGEOUS.
I walked in, checked in, then headed up to the 10th floor.
The President opened in the 1920’s and was the first hotel in KC to offer ice. I suppose that is similar to a hotel in Orlando being the first to offer free wi-fi. Or shuttles to the theme parks. Take your pick.
Game changer.
Several U.S. Presidents stayed at the hotel, hence the name.
I had roughly four hours to kill before the pre-conference cocktail party.
Guess what I did?!?!!
Mama SLEPT. And slept. And slept.
Seriously, when I left Orlando I had huge dark circles under my eyes.
Because, life.
So I took sheer advantage of the quiet, well appointed room and SLEPT. My alarm went off around 5:30 p.m. and I dashed off to the cocktail reception!
The President is located in Kansas City’s bustling Power & Light district. I loved wandering around en route to our reception venue at River Market.
I called it an early night (I had been up since 3:30 a.m.!) and got ready for the next day. YAY! It was almost conference time!
The conference was wonderful – lots of camaraderie and learning. I even met a fellow blogger from Central Florida!
We arrived and regrouped from the night before, then we got right down to business. SEO, social media, working with brands and avoiding blogger burnout….everything was covered by experts who have blazed the way in this industry.
Emma from A Beautiful Mess was a presenter:
And, I met a blogger who has more followers on Instagram than Larry the Cable Guy.
True Story.
She was gracious and helpful. But, I digress. Every food conference has to have…FOOD! Stonyfield Organic Yogurt provided breakfast for us. Those tiny little seeds adorning my strawberries are lavender seeds. Not only was my creation tasty and healthy, it smelled like a spa. I had to take a picture for you. (See, we take pictures of food! All. The. Time.) 
After Emma’s presentation & lunch (thanks, Qdoba!) we got back on track.
We had a fabulous social media panel, including Kristen from Dine & Dish. You absolutely have to add her as a Snapchat friend & check out her daily Coffee Talk chat.
Ali from Gimme Some Oven was also a presenter.
God bless that woman.
She artfully wove into her dialogue Kyle Chandler quotes AND visuals!
Not only have I been a fan of Friday Night Lights, but our family BINGE WATCHES his new show, Bloodline. It’s filmed here in Florida, for goodness sakes. Plus, Kyle Chandler!
I took lots of notes during Ali’s presentation.
As the conference closed, we were treated to wine and appetizer pairings. Afterwards, it was time to check out the infamous Drum Room.
The Drum Room is housed in the President and opened in 1941. It hosted guests like Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller, to name a few. It is tiny. And dark. And super elegant. Everything you would imagine it to be.
Alas, I had an early flight out of KC the next morning, so I was on the 10th floor really early Friday night. (I left the President at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday and met a skunk near the airport but made my flight. My fellow passengers could smell me a mile away. YIKES. Another story for another day!)
48 hours in Kansas City. It can be done. It WAS done.
And I had a blast.
Still, there is no place like home. (Sorry for the Kansas/Wizard of Oz pun!)
I was back in Orlando (hellllloooo MCO!) before lunch to celebrate a very, very, very special family birthday.
P.S.: If you doing 48 Hours in Kansas City (or more!) and are wondering about transportation, here’s the deal:
A rental car may be cheaper than a cab to get to & from the airport. If rental car prices are steep due to demand, a private car service may still be cheaper than a cab. Around town, the street cars are clean and free! I rented a car for transportation to & from the airport (the President did not have shuttles). Ubers were readily available; I used them twice to get to and from the conference venue!
The President is within EASY walking distance of the Sprint Center. The photo below was taken steps away from the hotel:
The new Kaufman Center was front & center in the view from my hotel room:
I hope you enjoy KC as much as so did! If you tailgate at a Chiefs game this fall, tag your tailgate Totally Tailgates!
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