J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain – Kansas City, MO

Kansas City is the “City of Fountains” and if there is one fountain that encapsulates the meaning of that title, it is the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain. It is easily the most famous and most frequently photographed fountain in the entire city.

Although the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain is a Kansas City landmark, it has an extensive and colorful history before it came home to the City of Fountains. The fountain was originally made in 1910 in Paris by French sculptor Henri Greber.

Later, it was moved to Long Island, New York where it adorned the estate of Clarence Mackay until 1949. (Fun Fact: Mackay disinherited his daughter when she married Irving Berlin against his wishes. You may know Berlin as one of the greatest American composers of the 20th century, writing such classics as “White Christmas” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business”). The fountain became the centerpiece of the large formal gardens and was known as “The Mackey Fountain.” But during that time, the estate was destroyed by fire and the figures of the fountain were vandalized. In 1951, the figures were sold for salvage.

Members of the Nichols family purchased the figures and transported them to Kansas City. The fountain was refurbished and dedicated in 1960 to J. C. Nichols, the developer of the Country Club Plaza. (Fun Fact: The Country Club Plaza was the first suburban shopping area in the United States.)

The J. C. Nichols Memorial Fountain consists of a large pool with a two-tiered basin at the center. The 80-foot diameter pool is encircled by four equestrian figures standing over a ten feet high. The four equestrian figures, representing four rivers: the Mississippi River, the Volga River, the Seine and the Rhine. I’m not sure which river is represented by each figure, but I do know the Mississippi River is represented by the Indian riding the horse fending off an alligator. At the center of the fountain is a two-tiered basin that shoots water up to thirty feed in the air and around the central basin are figures of children riding dolphins that shoot water towards the center.

If you're traveling through Kansas City or talking a stroll through the Plaza, be sure to stop and see the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain. It may have began in France and New York, but now it is part of the beautiful City of Fountains.

Total Time Traveled: 2 hours
Total Distance Traveled: 85 miles
Soundtrack: "Jukebox" Cat Power

Dwight Eisenhower Fountain - Kansas City, KS

On Friday, I was forced to take a day off work. I suppose that's the result of loving your job and spending way too many hours in the office doing it. So I spent the day with my mother and my sister who was visiting from Oklahoma with her friend. And of course what visit with two college girls is complete without a shopping trip?

In Kansas City, Kansas there is a very large shopping center called The Legends in East Village. It earned the name The Legends from it's various homages to 80 different notable Kansans. From athletes to civic leaders, The Legends honors them in various artistic fashions.

Following a yellow brick road from the parking lot into the shopping center, you can see a large statue of Dwight Eisenhower is wading knee high in a pool of water. The water dances from the drops jumping from the surface like fish to the children splashing on the side.

Eisenhower served as the 34th President of the United States and Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. He was born in Texas, but his family moved to Abilene, Kansas when he was two-years-old. So he may not be native by birth, but certainly is by his upbringing.

As to why the former president is depicted fishing, I suppose it is because he was an avid sportsman during his life and during his presidency. He was well-known for his love of golf and of fishing. In that sense, it is a fitting memorial. In honor of his love of golf, a tree on the 17th hole of the Augusta National - where the Masters Tour is played annually - has been named after him.

Total Trip Time: 3 hours
Total Travel Distance: 45 miles
Soundtrack: Whatever my sister felt like playing on her iPod

Inappropriate Fountain - Kansas City, Missouri

Outside of the Starbucks in the Plaza of Kansas City is a thoroughly inappropriate fountain called "Boy and Frog." Why is this fountain inappropriate? If you can't tell from the picture, it is a naked young boy with his frog. When turned on, the water sprays from the little boy's peep into the frog's mouth. It is a little boy peeing in a frog's mouth! How is that appropriate for public viewing?!

I first saw the fountain when my friend Anna came to visit me last year. We went to the Plaza and to look at all high-fashion things we couldn't afford and be "ladies who lunch." For those who don't know, ladies who lunch are the ostentatious well-kept wives of wealthy business men. They don't really do anything except shop, look good, and go out to lunch to gossip with their friends. We found a nice little Italian bistro that looked like a place kept women would go. Turns out we were right. While Anna and I were enjoying a nice lunch, we overheard a group of first wives gossiping about the trophy wives who were being forced into their circle of acquaintances. Thus confirming the Plaza is the hangout for Kansas City's ladies who lunch.

After lunch we went to get some coffee. That was when we saw it. A boy peeing into a frog's mouth. We both stared for a while, trying to be sure of what we were seeing. Then I looked around for someone else who was shocked by the fountain, but nothing. People were buying their lattes and going on their way. Apparently public depictions of little boys peeing in the mouths of amphibians is okay in Missouri.

It was originally sculpted by Raffaelo Romanelli and was acquired for the Plaza in Florence, Italy in 1928 by John C. Taylor, the chairman of the J.C. Nichols Company. I'm all for artistic expression and extremely opposed to censorship, but I'm struggling to get what the creative merit to this fountain is. It is an allegory for something? A political statement? No, it is just a boy peeing in a frog's mouth. So everyone say it with me now - Romanelli, what the hell is wrong with you?!

Wild Boar Wishing Fountain - Kansas City, Missouri

In the Plaza of Kansas City, Missouri is a really odd wishing fountain - a wild boar. People shopping or wandering around can drop in coins and rub the nose of the boar for good luck - apparently many people do because the bronze statue's nose has been rubbed until it is golden.

The fountain is a copy of a Greek marble statue at the entrance to the straw market in Florence, Italy. Coins are dropped into the fountain in Italy for the benefit of children. Kansas City has adopted the charitable tradition as well as the statue. Coins from the fountain are given to the Children of Mercy Hospital.

Still, as altruistic and artistic as the fountain may be - why is there a wild boar in the middle of a city shopping center? Really? Why?

Also, looking at the fountain itself you start to notice more and more things that just don't seem right about it or at least don't scream "Help the little children." For example, the ...ahem... genitals of the boar are prominently displayed. The boar is also surrounded by a number of other little creatures - toads, frogs, crabs, snails, turtles and snakes. Apparently, they do not share the good will of the fountain's patrons because in at least one case a snake is eating a frog. I don't get how a demonstration of natural selection helps sick children.

I wonder if anyone has ever raised these similar issues in Florence?

Total Trip Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Distance Traveled: 20 miles
Soundtrack: "Le Red Soul Comunnitte" Tokyo Sex Destruction