Geese fly in their famous v-formation against the backdrop of a full moon and the cheerful lights of the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri.
In this season, partly dedicated to consumerism, I’m posting this photograph I took this past January of the Country Club Plaza Shopping Center, one of Kansas City’s notable areas.
The Country Club Plaza was the first shopping center in the world designed to accommodate shoppers arriving by automobile. J.C. Nichols, a residential developer of nearby upscale homes, designed the shopping center after European styles, especially those of Seville, Spain. More than thirty statues, murals, and tile mosaics adorn the Plaza, as well as major architectural reproductions, such as a half-sized Giralda Tower of Seville (the tallest building in the Plaza).
Even though the Country Club Plaza was designed for automobiles, once you arrive you really need to park your car in one of the garages and walk from store to store. Pedestrians rule on the Plaza. Thousands of people live in condominiums and apartments nearby, and the Plaza is always teeming with activity. I drive by a lot, because my mother-in-law lives nearby, and it’s also on the way to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I’m not a shopper, though, so I seldom join the throngs, except to go to some of the great restaurants. A quaint restaurant on the Plaza with fantastic vegetarian food is Eden Alley, which is in the lower level of the Unity Temple. It also has a great people-watching patio outside.
The trend in Kansas City now and elsewhere is to look toward another European design, and that’s mixed use –Situating housing areas, restaurants and stores in the same area, so that you can easily walk to a store or restaurant from your home.
For more information about the Plaza — Country Club Plaza Shopping Center. Eden Alley Website.
Kansas City Plaza Christmas Lights Under Full Moon by catherinesherman
Catherine Sherman 
It does have a European feel to it. When I first saw the picture I thought to myself, “Man, she sure does get around.”
Turns out it’s a shopping mall. Well, okay. I can hang with that especially since the photography is so stunning. How did you get the geese to pose like that? 🙂
Geese are like buses in this town. Wait five minutes, and another flying V will pass through. Cathy
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So what’s funny about those photos is I never would have guessed Kansas. Thanks for broadening my horizons!
The Country Club Plaza is in Missouri, just a few miles east of Kansas, so you’re close. Kansas City, Missouri, likes to say that it has more fountains than Rome, which gives me an idea. I ought to start photographing them! Cathy
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Cathy, that is a wonderful shot!
Love your info on the Plaza.
Merry Christmas!
Thanks, Sandra! I drive by it so much and sometimes I even stop so I thought I’d do a little research on its origin. (It was mostly from wikipedia…) Cathy
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Wonderful shots of the plaza. What a beautiful site, eh?
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I just send your card featuring the Plaza all aglow with Christmas lights to my parents. They always loved driving down to Kansas City to shop for the weekend. I know it will bring back fond memories.
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Gosh, I wish I had a camera that captured warm colors the way that yours does. Geese-oh how I miss those strange Kansan creatures that never seem to fly south for the winter.
Your photos are beautiful–as usual!!
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Really beautiful photos, thank you for sharing them.
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Hello. Very interesting Post. Not really what i have searched over Google, but thanks for the information.
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our christmas lights this 2010 would be made up from light emitting diodes which does not generates so much heat’-:
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