The hand breaded pork tenderloin was thin, but twice the size of the bun. But the double cheese burger with grilled onions was better.

Add a new page devoted to Town Topic.

Since Deb's promotes their chicken on the sign outside and the interior walls are decorated with chicken pictures and miniatures, we both had chicken. Linda had pan fried chicken with real mashed potatoes & gravy. I had fried chicken gizzards with Suzie Q's. All of it was good, but Linda made the better choice of potato again at this meal.

Sunday is the only day that Deb's has fresh pies. Only one kind was left - banana split pie made with banana, strawberry, pineapple and chocolate sauce. I thought it was great and would love to have it again.

Heading north, our next stop was in Oswego where I photographed some of the murals in the downtown. We also stopped briefly at the log cabin and pioneer woman carving a couple of blocks north of the county courthouse. The carving has been painted and is now surrounded by a class case - it looked much better without those changes in the photo in The Kansas Guidebook.

In Parsons, we drove the the grounds of the Parsons Arboretum, but the visitor's center was closed and we decided to push on.

The highlight of the day was the waterfall in the spillway at Bourbon State Fishing Lake. There was no water when I checked it out last August, but today it was spectacular. The 30' falls was visible through the trees from the gravel road a quarter mile away.

While there is a path the trucks can use to pull up near the falls, it cannot be used by cars and we parked on the road. After fording a stream that was crossing the path, it was only about a hundred  yards to the falls. It was windy and we could feel the spray from the falls before we had gone half way.

Another couple was viewing the falls and told us that the water flow runs from early April until the end of June.

Supper was at Nigel's Bistro & Bakery in Ottawa, Kansas. The odd, interesting restaurant just opened in January. It was originally going to open as a Smokehouse & Grill, but I don't know the story about the change. Nigel Baynes is the Executive Chef. He and his wife, Cathy are from Brighton, England.

There is a long bar, but no alcohol is served. The only menu is on two huge chalkboards behind the bar and changes are made daily. The down side of this is that the lighting is fairly dark and we had to walk over to the bar and peer at the menu, barely able to read it.

But the food may make it worth the effort. We both had burgers - Linda's came with Dutch smoked gouda and mine with Stilton blue cheese. The burgers were over an inch thick, perhaps a half pound and covered with red onions. They were served without buns, with a side of diced tomato and thick wedge potatoes which were oven roasted with herbs. The beef was organically raised in western Kansas.

I enjoyed the meal. Linda seemed to enjoy it even more than I.

Osage Indian village painted by Joan Allen, Larry Allen & Jerg Frogley
 
 

Bourbon Falls
 
 
 
 
 

Stilton Bistro Burger
 
 
 
 
 

Though better known for its mountain oysters, I think the Prairie Nut Hut has some of the best hamburgers anywhere. Linda ordered the Chopped Sirloin Burger (a thick patty of chopped sirloin, wrapped in bacon and served on Texas Toast) while I had a Rohr Burger (grilled onions, mushrooms & Swiss cheese). Each burger was $5.79, but non specialty burgers start at $2.79. Our burgers were both great, but I made the mistake of ordering the French fries which turned out to be just cooked from frozen. Linda's "home fries" were the fresh cut fries that I was wanting.

The Prairie Nut Hut is one of the finalists for the 8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine.

Next we went to Norman No. 1 Replica Well and Museum in Neodesha. The museum is presently only open by appointment, but it is right behind the Chamber of Commerce Office and they are happy to show it with even the shortest notice. We were the first visitors to the museum this year.

In addition to the many items donated by members of the community that you might find in any local historical museum there are two areas that stood out to me as local to the community. The first is outdoors - the 67' reconstruction of the oil derrick where oil first erupted in Neodesha in 1892. The well was the first commercially successful oil well west of the Mississippi. There is also a miniature reproduction of the well in the museum.

But unique to the museum is a small room of clown memorabilia. Contributed by a local couple who were Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus Brothers clowns, Tammy and Tom Parish

Then on to Independence, Kansas where the 28th Annual William Inge Theatre Festival was being held at Independence Community College. We first visited the room devoted to William Inge at the college library, then watched part of the ceremony dedicating a memorial tree to Robert Anderson, a playwright who was originally honored by the festival in 1985.

Next we took a guided van tour of "Inge's Independence." It wasn't so much Inge's Independence as an interesting tour of many interesting old features of the community. We also noticed that there are still many buildings in Independence to be dismantled after their destruction by the 2007 flood.

Then across town to "Scenes at the Inge House" where high school and college students performed scenes from two other plays and one Inge play. Although the room in the home where William Inge grew up didn't have room for a large audience, I was sorry to see that there were only about 8 other people watching the performances.

Before leaving Independence, we had supper at Brothers Railroad Inn, a family run restaurant which opened in 2003. Located less than a block from one of my favorite southeast Kansas Restaurants (Uncle Jack's) Brothers Railroad Inn is in an updated, lovely old building and has walls lined with railroad photos. 

Linda enjoyed her Manicotti (Manicotti noodles stuffed with a mixture of three cheeses and smothered with homemade sauce). I wasn't in the mood for Italian food, but was pleased with my rib eye. It cooked slightly more than I requested, but the large steak tasted great.

clown memorabilia
 
 
 
 

Inge Collection
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Brothers Railroad Inn

Added a new review of Trail Days Bakery Cafe in Council Grove. Kansas.

Added a new page devoted to Topeka's Cider Days Fall Festival.

My supper was at Bates City BBQ in Shawnee. The original Bates City BBQ is in Bates City, Missouri and has been open since the 1970s. This location at 6493 Quivira Road has been open almost 9 years.

The walls of the restaurant are lined with dozens of personalized license plates, sports photos, old signs and pithy sayings by Tom the owner. The prices at Bates City BBQ are quite reasonable. A slab of pork ribs is $10.99 all the time.

I had the Mixed Plus Plus for $10.49: two ribs, choice of two meats, side dish and a beverage. The burnt ends did little for me (all I could taste was smoke) and the beef was average, but the ribs and French fries were both great. The ribs were tender and had great flavor. Next time I need to get more than 2. The shoestring size fresh cut fries looked like the leftovers after taking many servings from a large batch, but their flavor was very good.

I'm surprised that I haven't heard more about Bates City BBQ in the past. It deserves a place among the better Kansas City Barbecue restaurants. But I wish they used real plates and utensils.

Bates City BBQ

Bates City BBQ counter and dinning room

I thought the best items were the prime rib, sausage lasagna, and chocolate fountain. But the prime rib wouldn't have appealed to everyone. It was extremely rare.

I was impressed that my milk was served in a heavy, chilled glass. That is a nice touch that happens far too rarely.

Added a new page devoted to the Great Plains Transportation Museum in Wichita, Kansas.

Great Plains Transportation Museum

In the evening we drove to Louisburg, Kansas when I took some fresh outside photos of Cedar Cove Feline Conservatory & Sanctuary. Cave Cove is now open until 7PM on the first Saturday of the month so visitors can see the tigers and other large cats when they are more active.

Then we met a friend at Timber Creek Bar & Grill. The large restaurant was pretty busy on a Saturday night and the food was slow coming out, but quite good. My fried chicken was very good, as was Linda's unusually thick chicken fried steak. Timber Creek has an enormous outside deck and I would like to return some evening this summer.

As we left, a band was starting to play in the bar.

\ Timber Creek Bar & Grill

I had Bobs' Favorite Special #4 - 4 hickory smoked pork ribs, brisket, sausage and 1/4 of a small smoked chicken with BBQ baked beans, fresh tatter curl fries, cole slaw, pickles and a homemade fritter. All for only $13.29. An enormous amount food. We each had plenty of leftovers to take home.

The ribs were good, but my favorite part was the fries which were mounded atop the smoked meat.

I had the fried quail, which at lunch is only $8.99 for 2 butterflied 6 ounce birds. For me, the quail was more about the size of the birds, than a distinctive flavor. There was a sweetness, but I'm not sure if that was in the meat or the coating. Every bit of the birds was less than a half inch from the outer surface. The most noticeable flavor in the coating was black pepper.

This evening, I added several new photos to the review of Jumpin' Catfish.

The 5 year old restaurant across from the Johnson County Courthouse is operated by Californian brothers, whose family originally came from the Veracruz region of south Mexico.

There are many inexpensive meals. I tried a combination that included a chile relleno, enchilada, rice and beans for $6.99. Also two tacos at $1.50 each: cabeza & lengua (beef head & tongue). I thought the soft tacos were the best parts of the meal. The meat was tender and the flavors were subtle. I preferred the cabeza, though my server thinks the lengua is their best. 

I also liked the warm chips which came with red and green salsa. The green salsa was my favorite.

Added a new page reviewing the Double Nickel Diner.

Added a new page with photos and details of the Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle which is held in the same Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park in late June. The Battle is the Kansas State BBQ Championship.

I now only get back here about once a year but the product at Bryant's is little changed since my first visit in 1985. My usual order is a huge sandwich, with a lot of pork and beef on a double deck sandwich made with a third slice of white bread between the two meats. It would easily be enough for three sandwiches. That is a good thing - at $9.35 it feels like you are paying for three. I also got the fresh cut french fries which are cooked in lard.

Arthur Bryant's has three sauces original (which can still be seen aging in large bottles in the window) sweet, and rich & spicy. I can't see a lot of difference between the later two. They are both sweeter and less peppery than the original. 

I will be adding a more detail review with more photos, soon.

Driving back to to south Overland Park, Kansas, I stopped at the Overland Park Arboretum on 179th Street. This beautiful, large park isn't as well known as it deserves, but there were plenty of people there today. Almost every party had someone with a camera who was photographing, flowers, landscapes or other people in their parties.

This early in the spring, the blooming plants were mostly hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, narcissus, and obvallaris. Although it has seemed like an early spring, I don't think the flowers and buds are along as far as other years at this time.

In the evening I added a new page reviewing the Lyon County Historical Museum in Emporia, Kansas.

Medicine Wheel
 

Mallard duck and turtles basking in the sun

Linda had a the turkey club panini (roasted turkey, bacon, white cheddar cheese, tomato, garlic, and aioli on crisp country bread) for $8.95, while I had the Nicoise salad with salmon (organic baby greens, romaine lettuce, herb roasted salmon, french green beans, kalamata olives, petite tomatoes, red onion, potatoes, egg capers, and dijon balsamic vinaigrette) for $10.50. The deserts looked very good, but the lunch was already expensive enough.

Both of our meals were good, but probably not worth entering the mall to get. The best part of my salad was the crusted salmon. 

For supper, I visited Wyandot Bar-B-Q #2 on 75th Street in Overland Park Kansas. 20 some years ago, I lived a couple of miles away and stopped in fairly often, but it had been many years since the last time and I think my palate has changed over the years.

I had a chili dog and the mixed plate. The chili dog ($3.75) was sliced lengthwise, grilled, and served on a hamburger bun with the chili. It was impossible to eat without making a mess. The chili was much like that at Quick's BBQ a week ago - almost lose meat with no beans and little sauce. It was spicier than I expected. I don't think they sell a lot of these, it was served without the offer of cheese or onion, and when I requested mustard, they had to put a little in a dish for me.

The mixed plate and several pork ribs, ham, brisket and French fries for $8.50. A lot of food for the price. The ham and brisket had little flavor from the smoking, but were still tasty and sweet. The ribs had a little more smoking flavor. The French fries were precut and average at best.

Wyandot Bar-B-Q would probably appeal most to those that do not eat a lot of BBQ. I would return for the chili dog, but probably not the que.

Wyandot Bar-B-Q #2 chili dog

Supper was at Sam's Tastee Treat in Olathe, Kansas. I had a double cheeseburger, onion rings, crab rangoon & strawberry malt. Sam's has a large menu, but for the most part, I like the place for tradition and atmosphere more than the food. But there were two exceptions tonight. The crab rangoon had lots of sweet cream cheese filling and were very good. 

The strawberry malt was the real stand out with bits of real strawberries through out. Sam's may be a better place for malts and sundaes than for the other food.

I'm concerned that (at least at lunch) they are not doing enough business, though there were a few people getting the buffet to go.

The small park doesn't have a lot to offer, but does provide a great view of Topeka. It was very windy and cold atop the mound and we didn't stay very long.

From their, we drove about a mile and a half west to visit the grave of Chief Abram B. Burnett, who owned the land that included Burnett's Mound. The grave site is on private land and the public is invited to visit the site, ignoring a sign on the private drive that says "Private Drive, No Trespassing."

The ground was pretty wet and we had to pick our way carefully through the field leading the the memorial. A small fenced area has the cement covered grave with a 7' marble obelisk and a small foot stone.

Burnett was a hereditary chief of the Pottawatomie tribe of Indians. He born along the Tippecanoe River neat Muncie, Indiana in 1812 and moved to Kansas in 1840. He was well known in Topeka and a memorable figure. His obituary from 1870 reported that "he was the largest male in Kansas, weighing 496 pounds at the time of his death."

His Native American name was Nan-Wesh-Mah (He Who Prays with Plants).

We then headed west of Topeka about 12 miles to the 80 person community of Willard to look for the remains of the ghost town Union Town. The information that had about its location was sketchy, but we discovered that it is associated the The Green Memorial Wildlife Area southeast of town.

When the Potawatomi Nation was moved to this area in 1847, Uniontown was the headquarters where the US government maintains stores and a mill. Traders also had shops here. Uniontown grew briefly into the the largest community in the Kansas Territory (which only took a few hundred people). The town was intentionally burned and abandoned twice. The first time was after a pair of cholera outbreaks had killed hundreds of people. The second time was in 1859 when the residents of the rebuilt town moved on.

There are two tiny cemeteries a couple of dozen yards apart. The Uniontown cemetery began with a mass grave of about 30 cholera victims. It has other unmarked graves and two markers that date to the 1860s and 70s. 

There are several other nearby marked burials plus the second Green Cemetery where several generations of the family that homesteaded the area across the road from these cemeteries until the late 1900s. The Green family left 60 acres which is now administered by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. There are nature trails, old farm equipment and more old burial markers near the site of the homestead.

We returned to Topeka for lunch at the Celtic Fox, an Irish pub at 118 SW 8th Avenue. The Celtic Fox was opened by two families with Irish heritage. The Bar/dinning room is dark but attractive with several handsome murals and an arch that incorporates some stones from Blarney, Ireland.

We split an order of ale battered onion rings, which I was disappointed to discover were not hand made. They were still OK. Linda had banger (sausage sandwich) & chips, while I had fish & chips. The bites size pieces of cod were delicate and tasty. The chips were waffle fries. My favorite item was linda's sausage.

We made one more stop on our way home, in Lecompton, Kansas to buy sausage. But making a short drive through town before stopping, we discovered a new attraction listed on the museum signs. We drove down by the river to the "1st Kansas Democratic Headquarters," which is a recently restored stone cabin that served as the headquarters of the Democratic Party from 1854-1861. The building was closed, but we could view all of the furnishings through the windows. The park has a nice view of the Kansas River this time of the year, but the river will probably be mostly hidden when the leaves come out on trees and bushes between the park and the river.

Back on highway K-1029 we stopped at Kroeger's Country Meats & Deli, which I first visited last September. We purchased several varieties of Kroeger's homemade sausage and a couple of varieties of beef jerky. I will update things when we try them.

Abram B. Burnett grave
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Uniontown Cemetery
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Celtic Fox
 
 

1st Kansas Democratic Headquarters

Kroeger's Country Meats & Deli

Lunched at One Bite at 8602 W 133rd Street in Overland Park, Kansas, which I heard about on yesterday's Walt Bodine Show. Good Japanese food in a trendy little restaurant that is in its 3rd year. One Bite is only about 15 feet wide, with a row of 6 booths on one side and a counter with 10 stools where all of the cooking can be watched.

My entree would have plenty of food, but since I was investigating the restaurant, I started with a harumaki appetizer (2 house signature Japanese spring rolls) for $4.25. Though the fried rolls were more like egg rolls, they tasted good. They seemed to include more different ingredients than I am used to in either a spring roll or egg roll.

One Bite has 19 lunch specials from $9 - $12. I had teriyaki chicken with steamed rice, two gyoza (pot stickers), vegetables and house salad. I liked the house dressing on the salad a lot. My server said it was mayonnaise base. She described it has Japanese ranch dressing. The chicken was good, not as flavorful as I wanted.. The vegetables, which weren't even mentioned on the listing in the menu, were much like you get at a hibachi restaurant and a nice addition to the meal.

KC Strings' factory is just a half block away. They manufacture all of their high end instruments, while importing some of the less expensive instruments. The shop includes a recently added conservatory and private music rooms for lessons and instrument sound testing. The shop is open seven days a week. Group tours can be arranged with advance notice.

Supper was at Sakura Japanese Restaurant at 7474 Nieman Road in Shawnee, Kansas. It was my first time there in several years. Sakura is best known for the train which runs around the sushi bar carrying small servings of sushi for $1.99 or $2.50 each.

I took only a few photos before being asked to stop. This is the first time that has happened in four years of photographing restaurants. I enjoyed all this dishes I tried and ended up spending $28 on sushi.

Added a new page devoted to Gates & Sons Bar-B-Q in Leawood, Kansas.

Sushi Train

This time I had the spicy smoked Buffalo wings. Five of them came on a platter along with the choice of one side dish, pickle and bread for $6.99. I chose onion rings for the side, and although they were not hand made, they were fairly good. And the serving was generous.

The wings were the first item that has stood out for me at Adam's Rib. The BBQ chicken wings were smoked and very spicy on their own. They reminded me of the flavor that the wings had at Winslow's Smoke House in Kansas City, years ago when Winslow was still arrive. Better yet, it wasn't 5 1/3 wing pieces, it was 5 large meaty wings. Probably a little too spicy for many people, I could feel the warmth on my lips and tongue at the end of the meal.

This was a generous meal for $6.99.