The Phoenix

Amanda and me

        One of the reasons I chose Rockhurst University was because of the small number of students in a large city. Most of the time, if you look at small schools, you find yourself in a small town with nothing interesting to do off campus. Fortunately, most Jesuit schools place themselves in the very heart of a city so they are in the middle of all the action.

Erin and Dave

        A few nights ago my sister and her boyfriend came into town to visit his family and me. Both my sister and her boyfriend have small children so we spent most of the evening at his parents' house with them watching Brave and just hanging out. But once the little ones were in bed, my sister, her boyfriend, my friend Amanda, and I all went out to a jazz/ piano bar called The Phoenix. I don't spend any time in bars because, honestly, I hate being around drunk people, but this was a totally different experience. There was live music played by very talented musicians that were improving most of what they were doing. The singers pretty much ordered what they wanted. Even if the musicians didn't know the song, they still tried and it ended up sounding amazing. My favorite part of the night was when a slim, dark-skinned woman (who looked like she could be my niece in 20 years) got up to the microphone and sang a jazz version of the song "Hello, Young Lovers" from "The King and I". It was beautiful and original.

The food was also very impressive. The 4 of us ordered a few appetizers to share and all of them were delicious. There were hand rolled mozzarella sticks that were to die for. I will definitely be going back soon. Amanda also told me about a nearby karaoke bar someone told her about so we made plans to check it out soon. Although both of these places have the word “bar” in them there is really no need to drink. The jazz bar was so fun and it was a great place to sit and chat with a few friends if you are ever just looking for somewhere off campus to go.