Friends joined us for lunch at Nu Grille. I love this little restaurant which has been open since 1946. One of those in our party, works there three days a week and was able to give me more details about the food. My hamburger was very good and the onion rings were the very best of the weekend. Others had fried chicken and a loaded baked potato which looked great and Linda liked the hand breaded chicken tenders.

I need to remember to request the chili with no beans.

Continuing north, we drove through Pleasenton and to visit the Linn County Museum. The sign on the door said it was supposed to be open, but it was closed. I have since called the number on the Linn County Museum Facebook listing, but it forwarded to a computer or fax machine.

The La Cygne Generating Station is a coal fired power plant near the highway that can be seen for many miles day and night. I had some good night photos of the power plant, but took advantage of the extra time and pretty day to take some daytime photographs of the plant and a large flock of American Coots (Fulica americana) on the adjacent lake.

Nu Grille
 
 
 

La Cygne Generating Station

We drove to Independence, Kansas for Neewollah - which is Halloween spelled backwards. This was the final weekend of the several day event and we left our chairs along the parade route before exploring the crafts displays. The crowd along the route was 5 deep.

The parade ran nearly 2 hours. Since there is also a band competition in the afternoon, marching bands from 3 states participate. I was surprised at how many of the bands were as small or smaller than the band I was in at Mackinaw City when I grew up. My only disappointment in the parade is that the Halloween theme was not used very much.

We got lunch from the many food vendors and I had the best turkey leg I have ever had - moist and flavorful with a crispy skin.

We went on to the football stadium for the marching band competition. I enjoyed the two performances we saw, but when they took a half hour break we decided to go on. 

We stopped to photograph the gorgeous 4 arch March Bridge near US Highway 160, on the east side of Independence on our way out of town.

Mary joined us for supper this evening in Frontenac, just north of Pittsburg. It was a chance to try out another of the fried chicken restaurants which Crawford County is known for - Bartos Idle Hour Steak House & Lounge. It is a bit old and plain, crowded yet comfortable. Bartos is also known for the onion rings and they were better than those at Jim's the night before. Strangely enough, they do not offer mashed potatoes or gravy. Gravy might have made all the difference on the indifferent fried chicken gizzards I had.

These Pittsburg area fried chicken restaurant are a great deal for someone with a family to feed inexpensively, but after trying four of them, none have impressed me with their food. The food is very cheap. Including tax and tip, the huge meal for the three of us came to just $30. 

Neewollah Parade

Coffeyville Band

Marsh Arch Bridge
 

Fried chicken

Friday evening we had supper at Jim's Steak House. It had been about 6 years since I last dined there, but it was little changed.

Linda was turned off when she saw that the menu says they will not take responsibility for a well done steak, but tried the rib tips they are known for, anyway. For tips, they were huge. They were actually medium well, which she could tolerate, but she would not get it again.

Some of the pieces were nearly the size of a fillet. They were OK, but my rib eye was much better. I had ordered grilled mushrooms and onions to go with it and they smothered the steak.

The prices are reasonable, though Jim's takes every opportunity to up charge with fees for the grilled onion, grilled mushrooms, blue cheese crumbles and our cream. They do not offer blue cheese dressing and the house Italian dressing was only so-so. Jim's is known for the huge servings of deep fried mushrooms or onions. We did a small, but still large, order of the onion rings, which were good, but had an unfamiliar flavor in the batter. 

rib eye steak smothered in grilled onions and mushrooms
 

We began with yucca frita, fried yucca served with deep fried pork and shredded cabbage for $6.50. I enjoyed the yucca a lot, but the pork was hard & tough. I've never had the dish before, so I don't know if the pork should be that way or not. 

The pupusas were more familiar, stuffed corn flour tortillas stuffed a variety of items. They come with a crock of Salvadoran spicy pickled cabbage to enjoy with them. The pork pupusas were my favorite. They were $2.25 each and I sampled 3, but when combined with the cabbage I could have been satisfied with two.

The pinchos were the least exotic dish, Latin shish kabobs. Two kabobs in the choice of beef, chicken or shrimp came with rice, salad and refried beans for $12. They may be the best choice for the less adventurous eaters.

Overall, this incarnation of the Snack Shack may not merit driving across town, but it is a good local burger place.

We did have to wait 10 minutes for Linda's chicken souvlaki (Marinated tenderloin, seasoned and grilled with onions and tomatoes served with our house Made Tzatziki sauce), but it was very good.

Linda had the Filet Oscar. The filet was perfectly cooked well done without being dry or tough. That is Linda's test of a good steakhouse. The crab was on the side instead of on top and was more of a crab cake than crab meat. She didn't care much for the crab until she added the béarnaise sauce. I still found the crab tasteless.

My bone in rib eye was medium rare, rather than the medium I had ordered. The $5 roasted mushrooms I added were generous and added a lot to the steak.

The food was still very good, though I wish Danny Edwards include smoked sausage in the mix. The fresh made onion rings and seasoned French fries are both good. My Combo Plate had beef, ham, chicken, ribs, and
1 Side Dish for $14.75. The chicken was very good and it may be some of the best ham I have had.

Saturday is the only day that customers order at their table instead of the counter, so I wouldn't have been surprised if the service wasn't that good, but the service was exemplary.

By 10:30 AM there was a line waiting to get a table.

On my way out of town I discovered a museum which I hadn't heard of before, the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame & Museum. It is closed on Sunday, but I will check it out during my next trip to Wichita.

Driving north, my next stop was in Goessel, Kansas at the Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum. It is closed on Sunday's, but this was a prettier day than when I last visited the museum and I walked the open grounds to photograph the outside of some of the buildings which have been moved to this site. I particularly liked this photo of a Woodmanse steel windmill which I added to the gallery at Fine Art America.

As I passed through Canton, Kansas I also saw this interesting collection of oil well equipment.

At Maxwell Wildlife Refuge, I was hoping I might see some elk, the are rarely seen in the middle of the day. I did find a herd of about 25 buffalo.

For lunch I stopped at County Lakes Cafe in Marion, Kansas, which had been closed when we stayed in Marion in July. The restaurant has booths along the walls and two long communal tables along the walls. On Sunday, they offer just one meal, fried chicken plus one other meat, roll, salad, vegetables, dessert and choice of potato for $8.95. Today's second meat was pork chop with stuffing. I selected a baked sweet potato and it was served with butter and brown sugar on the side.

The pork chop did little for me, but the fried chicken was very good. If I was there on another Sunday, I would ask if I could have a second piece of the chicken instead of the other meat. My server was young and seemed inexperienced.

Country Lakes Cafe does not accept credit card. It closes at 2 PM on Sundays.

As I was passing through Strong City, Kansas, I decided to detour a couple of miles to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve where construction of a new Visitor Center has just started. The point of stopping today was to tour the Lower Fox Creek School. The one room schoolhouse on the hill is only open for a couple of months each Spring and Fall.

Back in metropolitan Kansas City, Linda joined me for supper at BRGR Kitchen & Bar in Prairie Village. I continue to be impressed with this two year old restaurant. My hamburger was good (as always) but I was more impressed with Linda's Chopped Cobb salad of blackened chicken, pancetta, hard boiled eggs, white cheddar, mixed greens, and house made buttermilk ranch dressing for $9.75.

Mennonite Heritage & Agricultural Museum 

Buffalo

County Lakes Cafe
 

Lower Fox Creek School

Chopped Cobb salad

As I was making my way back to Highway 75, I noticed an interesting tableaux with a Broad-winged Hawk perched on an oil well with several horses feeding nearby. 

Traveling west I turned south to the small town of Chautauqua, Kansas near the Oklahoma state line. It was filled with photo opportunities like the spring on the edge of town, numerous old buildings and the old trucks in the photo on the right. That is an International  truck on the left and a GMC on the right.

Sedan, Kansas was just a few miles north. I revisited the Hollow Park, where there was no water flowing in this dry falls and checked on the Red Buffalo Gift Shop on Main Street. A nearby restaurant - Tom McCann's. It was an interesting place and the people were very friendly, but the menu is quite limited and the service was very slow.

With little to choose from that wasn't fairly high in carbohydrates, I settled on the $5.95 sirloin & cheddar wrap. It came with a few potato chips. It was OK, but really could have used some kind of sauce or dressing.

Moving on, I drove to Ozro Falls, 5 miles southeast of Cedar Vale. I first visited this low water crossing and falls in May of 2008 when there was so much water flowing over the falls that it was hard to see. I thought this time of year the water flow in the Caney River would be lower. I hadn't anticipated that there would be no water flow at all!

During the previous visit, Road 6 which crosses the river, was just a muddy two rut through a wheat field. While 6 is still unimproved, there has been enough traffic that the path has widened and it was fine to drive at this time.

US Highway 166, pass by the north side of Cedar Vale, but I decided to turn off and explore the community. The first route which I tried led to an old iron bridge. The only sign on the bridge said "Jump Bridge," but I don't know what that means.

The bridge was closed. There was a spot just below the bridge which some people have used as a low water crossing, but even with the draught, there was more standing water than I wanted to risk driving through. I believe the water was because of a dam a little farther downstream.

I did find my way into town by another road and photographed several old buildings and farm equipment. Before leaving the area, I drove south of town to the Wee Kirk of the Valley, a tiny church with seating for just 12 people. The church is on private property and I could only look at it from the road a few hundred yards away. I didn't think it was worth the drive.

Continuing west, I stopped to check on another water fall which I had photographed in 2008, but Cowley Lake Waterfall south of Dexter was also dry.

I didn't have plans for where to travel next, so I pulled out my notebook computer did a scan of Kansas leads which people have emailed to me. I found an email from Terry Craft telling me about the Tunnel Mill Dam in Winfield. I followed his directions to the southwest corner of town where there was a community park and a broad overflow dam on the Walnut River. It was quite attractive, with a steady flow over the falls and little rapids about 50 yards below the dam.

On the way out of Winfield, I saw a sign for the Cowley County Historical Society Museum, and drove up the street to find that it was open until 4 PM. The museum is in an attractive old school building. The exhibits were largely what I have come to expect at local historical museums across the state, but I very much enjoyed the Crayola Crayon Exhibit. Crayola had a manufacturing facility in Winfield from 1952 to 1997.

I also liked the large room devoted to musical instruments, uniforms and the history of music in Cowley County since the 1870s.

Before getting on the Kansas Turnpike, I also drove through Wellington, Kansas where I photographed the outside of the Chisholm Trail Museum and Sumner County Courthouse. I would have toured the inside, I didn't have enough time to justify the $5 admission.

It was now time to head to metropolitan Wichita. I drove though town to Park City to check into my hotel and then took some more photos of the nearby Chisholm Trail Park & Sculpture by Frank Jensen. Driving up the street, I discovered another Jensen steel plate sculpture, "Morning Sun's First Pony."

Several friends joined me for supper at Bella Luna Cafe in Wichita. We started with humus and humus & steak. They were served with pita bread and pita chips. The $8.95 humus topped with angus beef, onions, mushrooms & pine nuts was a big hit.

My $14.95 Seafood Trio had shrimp, scallops, crab, onion, mushroom and spinach in a lobster sauce over rice. Very nice!

I will be returning to Bella Luna.

After supper, we went on to the Kechi Playhouse in Kechi, right across the street from Karg Art Glass, where I parked. Tonight's production was The Woman in Black. There were just two actors in this thriller. They are Delno Ebie as The Actor and Gilbert Pearce as Kipps. I saw The Woman in lack in London's West End where it has been running for 20 years. I actually enjoyed this performance in this intimate setting more than I did the one in London.

International & GMC

Tom McCann's restaurant

Ozro Falls with no water

Cedar Vale bridge
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tunnel Mill Dam
 

Cowley County Historical Society Museum
 
 
 

Morning Sun's First Pony
 

Bella Luna Cafe

Kechi Playhouse

In Iola, I discovered that Madison Avenue Steaks and Chops has closed. A sign outside the restaurant says, "Closed due to constant health reasons." I did find King's Sandwich Shop open. The 52 year old burger joint just wasn't as good as I remembered. It is still a rather neat little dive with the walls covered with photos of the people who have eaten the triple burgers.

My next stop was much better. I liked Beef Burger Bob's when it was in Fredonia, Kansas, but this was my first chance to check out the new location a few miles away in Neodesha. The new location is in the heart of town.

Beef Burger Bob's is small - just one large table in the center of the dining room and three or four small tables around the edge of the room. Tonight I had a beefburger and Suzzy Qs - the only fresh cut fries they offer. Both were good. The burger is a loose meat hamburger, but moist and slightly sticky, not crumbly like Maid-Rite or NuWAY.

Later in the evening, I reworked the review of Beef Burger Bob's with new photos and details.

Beef Burger Bob's

They still have not fresh made fries or onion rings, but have added a second choice for onion rings. The new breaded rings are made by Bichelmeyer Meats and are an improvement over the battered ones they were already offering..

As an appetizer, I enjoyed the Blue Hill Bay mussels with white wine and garlic. the Bristol is also known for steak and I had the 18 ounce bone in ribeye with with grilled asparagus and grilled artichoke with parmesan aioli. I usually order steak medium rare to get the medium I want, but I ordered medium and it came perfectly.

The fresh warm biscuits were very good as always. The toasted garlic bread which came with the mussels was even better.

The service was also excellent. The server timed things perfectly and was quick to provide suggestions or to steer us away from something that might not be as good.

Dinner for four of us came to just under $200 without alcohol.

I've had the burgers several times, so we tried other items today. Linda had "Friday's Fish." Served every day for $4.39, it is breaded catfish on a deli bun with homemade tartar sauce garnished with lettuce and tomato. I had the liver and onions and the fried chicken gizzards. The liver & onions was pretty good, but I wasn't impressed with the heavy breading on the gizzards. They were served with the same cocktail sauce they serve with their mountain oysters. The house made onion rings were good, but also too heavily breaded and not as good as I remember from the past.

On our way back to KC, we stopped at the Prairie Park Nature Center in Lawrence. I hadn't been there since 2007 and it seems little changed. The main difference which I saw is in the small gift area which now has their own postcards and sells nice fossils and rock specimens.

Prairie Park Nature Center

I stopped at Bill's Diner on Topeka's north side, which is located in an old Valentine Diner building. When I ordered, I learned that the French fries and onion rings were just frozen, so I ordered chili and a cheese burger. I was encouraged when I was given a choice of three kinds of cheese (pepper jack, cheddar & Swiss). But the burgers were not made to order and my food order came out in just a couple of minutes. The toasted bun was the best part of the Swiss cheeseburger. The chili was meaty and better. It had some jalapeno slivers in it and there was hot sauce on the table to pep it up.

Next I revisited the Great Overland Station, a couple of miles south. The restored 1927 beautiful passenger station was newly reopened when I visited it the first time. I had expected there would be quite a few changes and additions, but other than the All Veterans Memorial (in the photo at the top of this page), things were much the same. The staff were very gracious and I left with leads on some new Topeka restaurants to investigate.

Next up was the Kansas History Museum. It had been about four years since the last time I was there, but other than the temporary exhibits, the displays looked pretty much the same. The current special exhibit is 150 Things I Love About Kansas, which celebrates this years 150th anniversary of Kansas Statehood. In addition to the displays, there are several interactive stations and some videos.

My second meal of the day was at Bobo's Drive-In, a classic old drive-in that has been operating in Topeka, Kansas since 1948. Most people use the car side service, but I went into the small dining room with its counter and about 5 tables. Although I have eaten at Bobo's a couple of times in the past, I have never had one of the best known dishes - the Spanish Burger.

Sadly, they were out of the Spanish sauce today. Instead I got a pork tenderloin, chili and onion rings. The pork tenderloin didn't appear to be hand breaded, but was still well prepared. The onion rings were fresh made and great. The chili was good (particularly after I asked for Tabasco sauce), but if I was getting it again, I would order the chili without beans.

In the evening, several people joined me in trying Kiku Steakhouse of Japan in Topeka. The Japanese restaurant had sushi only as side item, I wouldn't recommend Kiku for someone just coming for sushi.

However, I would recommend it for those looking for a Japanese Steakhouse. The food was very good, including huge servings of the best fried rice I have ever had. The teppanyaki cooking presentation was the most minimal I have seen, but the prices were very reasonable. Complete meals (including dessert) started at $10.95! My steak and lobster tail was only $21.95.

Considering price, food quality and food quantity, it was a very good meal.

Bill's Diner
 

Great Overland Station
 

Wild West Kansas
 

Bobo's Drive-In kitchen
 

Kiku Steakhouse

I wanted something spicy and ordered the black pepper beef. It had a lot of flavor from the black pepper, but that was pretty much the only spice I could detect. The zucchini in the dish was rather bland and boring.

This evening I added Master Wok, Downtown Diner, and Dodge City Distillery to the Guide to Olathe Restaurants. Also added a separate review of Downtown Diner.

I had chili chicken that was good, but not as spicy as I expected. There were some whole cayenne peppers and they were pretty hot if you bit into them. The meal came with steamed rice, two small crab Rangoon and a choice of soup for $8.95.

The Schmiedelers are a lovely couple and first invited us to tour their home. The house is filled with displays of outsider art and various types of collections, in particular Ed's collection of Gillette Safety Razors. He no longer collects new ones, because he "has them all!"

Ed and Bonnie created some of the art which decorates their home, such as the "bot" which he is holding in the photograph at your right. Other pieces have been given to them or purchased, such as "rebarbs" by Mri-Pilar. The walls are so full of things that they remind me of Mri-Pilar's Garden of Isis. Ed and Bonnie gave me several leads on other outsider artists which I want to investigate.

The yard is decorated with many features, decks a waterfall & fountain, plantings & walkways and even an old Volkswagen Microbus. Some of the recycled art sculptures were created by Ed's son, Nick who has his own grassroots environment in Lawrence.

For supper, we made a second visit to Elsa's Ethiopian Restaurant. I had wanted to try the Asa Tibs (fried whole fish served with a cup of spicy awaze sauce and combined with garlic, onion and brebere), but they were out of the fish and I settled for the Meat Combo I had on my previous visit.

Communication was a real issue tonight. Our server had very little English and another woman had to come from the kitchen to help several times, including correcting the charge for the meal, which had been $26 too high. At times our server wandered away with no apparent idea what we had asked.

The food was still good, including the Veggie Sambosas (lentils mixed with hot green pepper, onion and garlic in a thin pastry shell).

Razor Collection

VW Microbus
 

Veggie Sambosa

I was looking forward to seeing what new things had been done in the make over of the Chiefs stadium, but was disappointed to discover that the change was much less dramatic than the changes which had been made to the Royals Kauffman Stadium. I did take advantage of Jack Stack BBQ being one of the new food vendors.

Pitt is having a good season and was ranked #15 in the county for NCAA Division 2 going into the game. Northwest was #1 in the country and had won 49 straight games in conference play. Northwest is located closer and as we walked into the stadium there were many more of their fans than ours.

Northwest got off to a quick start and was up 21 - 0 in less than 8 minutes. Pitt responded, but could only manage a couple of field goals. We were down 28 - 6 at the half.

In the second half Pitt scored 29 straight points. NW tied it back up with 4 minutes remaining, but Pitt came down the field and managed the clock so they scored a field goal with no time remaining. 

In the evening we joined a group of friends for supper at Genghis Khan Mongolian Grill in Kansas City, Missouri. Just barely in Missouri. It is across the street from the University of Kansas Medical Center and 50 yards from the state line.

Genghis Khan is still the Mongolian restaurant which I measure others and still my favorite. Good ingredients, a large selection of oil & spices which they encourage people to generously use, and and superior grilling.