The House with the Obama Chair

We are in Kansas City for our friend Tad’s wedding. 

Together with ten friends we have rented this historic old house that once belonged to a former mayor of Kansas City Mark Funkhouser. We have an extremely friendly neighbor, Tim across the street who comes over every day bearing gifts of all sorts and he has told us all kinds of stories about our historic house. It was our neighbor, Tim who told us that before he was the American president Barack Obama visited Mark Funkhouser in this house and they had a beer in the livingroom. Tim said Barack Obama sat in front of the fireplace. Even though this is probably not the chair Obama sat in we’ve dubbed it The Obama Chair. People who don’t agree with Obama politically say they get a weird vibe sitting in the chair, while others are enjoying basking vicariously in the President’s aura of power.

The house would be a lovely place to stay except that on our first night here in Kansas City there was a horrible storm and the electricity to thousands of homes in the city was cut off.  During the rest of our stay we’ve had no power. So we’ve managed with these lanterns our neighbour brought over for light and a large cooler to keep our perishables in. Luckily the stove is gas as is the hot water tank so we can still shower comfortably and boil water for coffee in the morning.  We go to the local coffee shop to use the internet and before the wedding a couple of us even curled our hair in the coffee shop with our curling irons. It’s been a bit of an adventure. 

Luckily the weather hasn’t been too hot so we’ve managed without the air conditioning. The house is big but with eleven people we need to use almost every room for sleeping accommodations.We eat breakfast out on the deck, since the diningroom is someone’s bedroom. 

Being without power hasn’t been ideal but what has been ideal is having plenty of time to spend with old friends and catch up on one another’s lives. 

Other posts……….

Going for Barbeque in Kansas City