Kansas Travel
Blog
Chronicling changes
to KansasTravel.org and Keith's exploration
& photographing Kansas restaurants, attractions, museums, festivals
and art. Contact him.
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Friday - May 3,
2013: We drove to Altoona, Kansas in the early, where I photographed
the waterfall going over an old mill dam over the Verdigris River. Very
little of the flour mill, which was built in the early 1870s, remains.
We returned to the van to discover a flat tire and found that the spare
tire had problems as well. A call to a relative in Fredonia saved the day,
with Linda's Uncle picking us up and loaning us a vehicle to get the tires
repaired the next morning.
As we waited for our
Uncle, we had supper at the Prairie Nut Hut in Altoona. Three large parties
had gone into the small (40 seat) restaurant just ahead of us and supper
was slow, but as good as always. I had the Rohr burger (with grilled onions,
mushrooms and Swiss cheese), which was as good as always. Linda had the
pork tenderloin, which looked good, but was less impressive.
We found little changed
at the Prairie Nut Hut since our last
visit, but did find that the photos of their customers from around the
world have expanded from a couple of panels to lining the walls of the
restaurant.
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Altoona Mill Dam
Photos on the walls of the Prairie Nut Hut |
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Saturday - May
04, 2013: Having the tires repaired cut into our explorations, but
eventually we made our way to Longton, Kansas to photograph the Longton
Dam Falls located on the south side of town on the Elk River. It was lightly
raining and the two rut road leading down to the river was extremely muddy!
Between the wet and the steep river bank, we couldn't get very close to
the falls and I just took a few photos from above.
We had lunch at the
one year old The Elk River Drive-In on US Highway 160 in Longton. There
is no indoor seating, but one of the booths is under the overhang at the
front of the drive in, so we sat out in the cold to dine al fresco. The
burgers were very good! The onion rings were nothing special, but the potato
wedges were also good.
The chef told us how
to find a waterfall that is just northwest of town. We followed his directions
with just a couple of miss turns and found a lovely natural falls located
on Hitchen Creek just north of Flint Road (County 366 Road).
Both of these waterfalls
and the one from Altoona have now been added to the Kansas
Waterfalls page, bringing the total number of falls listed to 39.
We drove on east stopping
to take photos at a couple of interesting small towns. We intended to visit
one more waterfall in Independence, Kansas, but as we drove near, the rain
really started falling and we decided to save it for another day.
Our final stop of the
day was in Pittsburg, Kansas. where we first tried to have Jim's Steak
House. But we were on a bit of a tight schedule and even rarity early in
the evening, there was a long wait for a table. Instead, we had supper
at Yummy Chinese Buffet & Sushi. It wasn't spectacular, but I went
in with low expectations and was pleased with the large selection and the
quality of the food. I wouldn't go out of my way to go there, but I would
be willing to eat there again.
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Longton Dam Falls
Elk River Drive-In
Flint Road Falls
Yummy Chinese Buffet & Sushi |
Friday - May 10,
2013: I revisited two of my favorite Wichita restaurants. Lunch was
at the 61 year old Bomber Burger,
a small bar (seating for about 15) serving 2/3 pound hamburgers and hand
cut French fries. I really like this little place, but it is only open
for lunch and it had been a couple of years since my last meal. The food
is cooked on a grill behind the bar by the owner and served with a real
attitude.
Supper was at a much
larger place, Stroud's Restaurant & Bar. It is in a 1930s barn that
was once part of a working ranch. It has the same feel as its distant cousins
with the same name in Kansas City. The menu, logo and food is quite similar
to the Stroud's in Fairway, Kansas. They have a common origin, but are
owned by different parties. Although I enjoy the Kansas City restaurant
more, this one is also good and has what I think are much better cinnamon
rolls.
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Bomber Burger
Stroud's Wichita |
Saturday - May
11, 2013: The first stop of the day was in Halstead, where Brenda Sooter,
Executive Director of the Kansas Learning Center for Health, met me to
give me to tour and allow me to photograph the Center on a day it is closed.
It has been a resource for health education since 1965. In addition to
presentations, there is a hands on museum which is scheduled to get much
larger in the coming year.
The Center is most
famous for Valeda: The Transparent Talking Woman. She was manufactured
in Germany in the 1960s. Although about 20 of these transparent anatomical
mannequin came to the United States, only three are still in operation.
After visiting the
learning center, I photographed the historic downtown and stumbled across
Riverside Park, just north of town. There are an overflow dam and a swinging
bridge over the Little Arkansas River. The park and river were the primary
location for the 1955 movie, Picnic.
Returning to Wichita,
I had lunch at B & C Barbeque. B
& C has a very good barbeque buffet in an old garage - some of the
best barbeque in Kansas or Missouri. Only open for lunch Monday through
Saturday. The charge is $11.50 including beverage and tax.
This evening I added
a page devoted to Riverside Park.
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Valeda
Riverside Park
B & C Barbeque |
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