Maker Faire at Kansas City's Union Station opened up your right brain

From near to far, from here to there, creative people are everywhere.

Car shows are great, and we go to them all the time to see what there is to see. But sometimes, it’s easy to forget that there are other places where fun and interesting automotive-related activity may be happening.

Take the other day. I was sitting around working on my sunburn at a car show, while the 2012 Maker Faire was taking place at Kansas City’s Union Station. I never would have even considered going to that, but luckily my wife Maria and BHo were on the case.

Art of the Chopper display in Kansas City's Union Station showcases exquisite workmanship and creativity

I’ve always been more of a car guy that a motorcycle freak, but I can certainly appreciate fine workmanship and creativity when I see it. And did I see it. Kansas City’s Union Station is hosting the Art of the Chopper display for a limited engagement, and we spent some time checking out the beautiful custom bikes under gallery-quality lighting.

This exhibit took place in the same area as they had the Princess Diana stuff, the Dinosaurs Unleashed thing, and other similar displays. And the one thing it had in common with all of those other displays was that it was expensive. We’re talking $12.50 for each adult ticket, and $9.50 for kids. That ain’t chump change, Charlie. And that was really the reason it took me so long to get there. At least there was a slight discount if you ate at the Harvey House upstairs.

Union Pacific Living Legend 844 steam locomotive stopped at Union Station during Great Excursion Adventure

And now for something completely different.

While it is true that we typically only discuss road-going vehicles here, there is another mode of transportation that touches the Hover household in a big way. My wife’s dad Joe is a retired signal supervisor for the Union Pacific Railroad, and he has every bit as much passion for the railroad as I could ever have for cars. So when we heard that the “Living Legend” 1944 steam locomotive would be passing through our area, we gave him a call and went on an adventure.