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
- April 6, 2018: At lunch, I visited Other
Place American Sports Grill & Pizzeria in Olathe, Kansas to update
its review in our Olathe Restaurant Guide. The
Other Place has some great lunch specials like unlimited slices of one
topping pizza and your choice of soup or salad for $7.99. The hand breaded
country fried pork tenderloin is no longer offered at a discounted price
a lunch, so I went with a 1/4 lb mushroom Swiss burger for $7.95, upgraded
to onion rings for $2. The rings were very good, but the burger was well
done, not the medium that was ordered and not a standout. I wouldn't go
there for a burger.
We
added a new page devoted to Memorial
Park Cemetery in Hutchinson, Kansas, which has many chain-saw carved
tree trunks and a Petland pet graveyard.
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Saturday
- April 7, 2018: Linda and I drove to Aladdin Cafe in Lawrence, Kansas
for lunch. Aladdin Cafe has a review on our site, but the last time we
dined there was in 2015 and a review may be completely wrong after that
period of time. Really, Sunday lunch with its Mediterranean buffet is my
favorite time to dine there, but that hasn't been working out.
We
split a grilled shrimp & feta appetizer, which was described as selected
feta cheeses, rosemary seasoned shrimp and grilled vegetables, but were
a little taken aback when it arrived and had only a few small bits of feta,
not what the description implied. Still, the shrimp was quite good.
We
also split a meat kabob combo featuring lamb, kifta, beef, gyro and chicken
kabobs with cucumber and potato garlic sauces, Again we were surprised
with its appearance, the meat had been removed from the skewers. Most of
the meat was good, but several individual pieces were badly overcooked.
The cucumber sauce was good, but the potato garlic sauce was a potato puree
with little flavor.
We
went with two desserts - Baklava and Kunafa. The baklava with its layers
of phyllo dough, honey and crushed walnuts not as sweet as some, which
was fine with me. The serving was generous for $2.99. I have never had
kunafa before, so I can't compare the sweet Arabian cheese topped with
shredded phyllo. crushed pistachios and sweet sauce with others, but it
was not very sweet. The $3.99 serving also seemed generous.
Our
next stop was at The Museum of Odd, which is in a private residence a few
blocks away, but there were no signs on the building and we decided to
save it for another visit.
The
next stop was the Murphy - Bromelsick House, which was constructed in stages
from 1866-869 and moved 300 yards to this location in Hobb's Park in 2000.
The back of the house has 4 or 5 doors of different sizes and at different
elevations, all without steps. The main floor of the building is empty,
but it appears that the basement may be used for storage.
We
stopped at the Lawrence Visitor Center in the historic Union Pacific Depot
to pick up research material for future trips to Lawrence, then went to
the Kansas Riverkings Museum in the bottom floor of the Spring Hill Suites
hotel on the Kansas River. "Museum" is a little misleading. There are just
a few photos, a couple of tiny exhibits and a few small paintings which
are offered for sale.
Our
final stop was at the small children's cemetery at Haskell Indian Nations
University. There are 103 Native American children buried in the cemetery
from the years they were forced to attend the American Indian boarding
school at this location. We prepared a page about the cemetery a few weeks
back, but while researching the material for the page, learned that an
8' fence has been erected around the cemetery to prevent vandalism since
the last time we had been there.
With
the additional photos a new page devoted to the Haskell
Indian Nations University Cemetery was added tonight.
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Baklava
& Kunafa
Murphy - Bromelsick House
Haskell Indian Nations University Cemetery |
Sunday
- April 8, 2018: Mary & Nicholas joined us in a revisit of El
Pulgarcito Restaurant in Merriam, Kansas. We have had a review of the
Salvadoran restaurant since 2009, but it had been several years since our
last visit. My cheese papusa was even better than I remembered, with a
crispy outer edge and the curtido (spicy cabbage slaw), which I added from
a small bowl. Papusas are the quintessential Salvadorean dish, made from
thick corn tortilla stuffed with a savory filling.
My
pollo guisado (chicken in a season sauce) was less flavorful than I remembered
and good have benefited from some salt, but there is no slat on the tables
and I didn't ask for any. The platano frito (fried plantain) was very good.
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El Pulgarcito Restaurant |
Saturday
- April 14, 2018: We spent the middle of the day in Kansas City, Kansas,
starting with a revisit of Christy's
Tasty Queen in the Turner district. The walk in restaurant has no seating,
just a few picnic tables and customers sitting their cars and eat in poor
weather. My pork tenderloin tasted as good as it has in the past, though
there was some gristle and some of the mouthfuls were pretty chewy.
Christy's
still uses the same recipe the original owners used in 1932. Many people
feel the tenderloin sandwich is the best in the Kansas City metro area,
though I rank it second to the pork tenderloin at Susy
Q's, 3 miles away.
Our
next stop was on a dead end in a nearby residential area in Argentine where
there is a marker for White Feather Spring, which is in a nearby ravine
and about this land being the burial spot for the Native American spiritual
leader Tenskwatawa, The Shawnee Prophet.
While
we were photographing the marker, a neighbor (Ernesto Arvizu) introduced
himself and asked if we would like to see the mural. He walked us around
the fence and back to the ravine. Along the way, Ernesto told us about
his wife Lupe Arvizu and him moving into the house next door over 20 years
earlier, that he had started mowing the grass, was contacted by the Shawnee
who own the land and that the couple are now its caretakers.
After
showing us the spring and the relatively new mural on the wall where the
creek passes out of the property Ernesto invited us to come back whenever
we wish. He said the fence would soon limit access, except though their
house, but to just knock on their door to gain access.
We
continued east, to the 20 foot tall, 220 yard long Anthology of Argentine
Mural. I had no idea it was so large! It was the work of 7 artists, 3 from
the neighborhood, 2 from Kansas City, Missouri and two from Mexico. It
tells the history of the Argentine community from the Native Americans,
to the generations of immigration, to development, to racism, to the 1951
flood, to the people who live in Argentine today.
Our
final stop was farther east, on Southwest Boulevard in the Rosedale district
of Kansas City, Kansas. Original Juan Specialty Foods began production
in 1997, creating specialty sauces, salsas, snacks and dips for wholesale,
retail and private label customers. There is a factory outlet store and
parts of the factory can be viewed through windows near the store. Original
Juan produces 150 of their own products under 13 brands and over 1500 private
label products for companies throughout the world.
We
got lucky. A BBQ crawl group was being led on a tour of the facility and
we got to tag along. There was the opportunity to taste just a handful
of items at the conclusion of the tour and then a bachelors party who were
part of the crawl tried the tiniest drop of "The Source." It is rated at
7.1 MM Scoville Units, one of the hottest sauces in the world!
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Christy's Tasty Queen
White Feather Spring & Ernesto
Arvizu
Argentine Mural
Original Juan Specialty Foods |
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Friday
- April 20, 2018: Linda and I had supper at Bangkok
Pavilion Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas. I really love their lunch
buffet and stop in for it at least 2 or 3 times a year, but I have only
been in to order off the menu once or twice in many years.
We
started with Thai style crab rangoon. They are folded differently than
any crab rangoon which I have had elsewhere. They have a lot more filling,
though the filling is a little bland compared to others. Still. it was
enjoyable. Linda had the Basil Fish, flounder in a garlic basil sauce for
$14.95. She ordered her dish "mild," but it still had a lot of flavor.
I
had the $13.95 Pad Thai Seafood with shrimp, squid, imitation crab, scallops,
eggs, cabbage, bean sprouts, scallions and finely chopped peanuts, stir
fried with rice noodles. I asked for my dish to be a 4 on a 1-5 scale for
heat. I could have stood hotter, but that was about perfect to be the most
flavorful
for me.
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Bangkok Pavilion Restaurant |
Sunday
- April 22, 2018: I drove to Kansas City, Kansas to have lunch at Mad
Jack's Fresh Fish in Kansas City, Kansas. It had been nearly 3 years
since the last time I had been there.
I
was going to have fried oysters and frog legs, but there were out of the
frog legs and I went with red snapper instead. The lady at the counter
asked me if I wanted the oysters soft or hard, something I had never been
asked before. After a few second's thought I said soft. That was a good
choice! I really liked the oysters, ore than some that I have paid three
times as much for.
The
red snapper was tough and I wouldn't get it again.
Lunch
was followed by a visit to some nearby sites associated with Charlie Parker,
the great jazz saxophonist who was born in Kansas City, Kansas. I photographed
the now vacant lot where the house he was born in was located, the memorial
at Big 11 Lake, and Douglas Elementary School. Actually, I only photographed
the memorial from a distance. A homeless person was sleeping next to it
and I decided to leave it for another visit.
Linda
and I had supper at Burnt End BBQ in Overland Park. I had not dined there
since before they moved to this 119th Street location from 135th Street,
years ago. At that time, they were OK, but not one of the top places, and
I quit going there after a bad service experience (the person bringing
our food to our table dropped a rib on me and neither replaced it or gave
much of an apology.)
I
really wasn't prepared to cut them a lot of slack this time and was unimpressed
with the sauces, beans, burnt ends and fries. However, the chicken really
was quite good. The skin was crispy and slightly sweet. I would like to
have their chicken again.
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Mad Jack's Fresh Fish
Charlie Parker Memorial
Half chicken & 2 sides for $11.99 |
Wednesday
- April 25, 2018: I revisited Taste Of Africa in Overland Park, Kansas,
to update its listing on our Overland
Park Restaurant Guide. It opened in 2014 and it had been nearly that
long since our last visit. The restaurant has grown more polished in the
intervening time, more professional in many tiny ways. The prices have
also gone up over 20%.
I
had the the Ng'ombe (beef stew), which came with Corn Meal Mush (Ugali),
sautéed cabbage and fried plantain. The food a little bland, compared
to what I remembered from before, but there was a huge bottle of hot sauce
on the table and a little of that made all the difference. My favorite
part of the meal was the plantain.
At
supper time, I revisited another Overland Park restaurant, Wyandot
Barbeque 2. This isn't one of my most favorite restaurants, but I do
enjoy there food, which comes in large servings at a low price. I had my
usual, a generous mixed plate of beef, ham, ribs and fries for $11. It
is more meat than I like to eat in a sitting, but the ribs reheat well
later. The fries are just frozen crinkle cut, are crispy and golden, about
as good as you can make with cutting fresh.
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Taste Of Africa
Wyandot Barbeque 2 mixed plate |
Friday
- April 27, 2018: I finally made it to the Clendening History of Medicine
Museum at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.
I've known about it for several years, but it is only open 9-5, Monday
to Friday.
Actually,
it is open less than that. Although the current exhibit, devoted to realities
of science and medicine in Frankenstein's lab is very well done, there
wasn't much else to see. There are more displays in the Clendening History
of Medicine Library (which is accessed through the museum), but it is only
open Monday & Wednesday from 9-1 and Tuesday & Thursday from 12
- 4. I recommend only visiting the museum during those timex.
Following
the visit to the museum, I revisited the fairly nearby Danny
Edward's BLVD BBQ. It had been over a year since my last visit. I had
a quarter chicken with fresh cut French fries and fresh cut sweet potato
fries.
Although
I prefer the French fries, there may be the best sweet potato fries I have
ever had!
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Clendening History of Medicine Museum
Smoked chicken and sweet potato fries |
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