We had supper at Snack Shack on Santa Fe in downtown Overland Park. We try to get by there for the burgers, every month or so. The neighborhood has been changing a lot in the past couple of years. In some ways, the changes seem negative, as the character is changing and it is getting more crowded and congested.

A positive change is the recent addition of several murals. The one pictured to the right is by JT Daniels and features women from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. It is on the Ten Thousand Villages store in Overland Park, which sells fair trade crafts and house wares made by women around the world.

Ten Thousand Villages mural

There is a small area at the back of the restaurant (guarded by the Wicked Witch of the West, with a nice selection of canned (in glass jars) fruits and vegetables from Ohio.

Our next stop was to get more photos of the waterfall in the spillway leading from Clinton Lake, but because of flooding in Missouri, no water was being released from the dam.

We were headed to the Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum, on the far side of Clinton Lake and were a little surprised to see highway sign after highway sign directing us to "Clinton Lake Museum." It hasn't been called that since 2008!

The museum is at the tip of a peninsula which juts into Clinton Lake from the southwest. The museum normally sits above a beach and park, but high water covers all of that and only the roofs were visible of shelters which are normally 200 yards from the shore. We watched someone kayak through what is normally a playground.

The 35 year old Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum is in an old cow shed, which was part of a farm, before the building of the lake. The museum. primarily about the 10 communities which once or now populate the Wakarusa River Valley. 

A large portion of the modest museum, and the Freedom Rings" sculpture outside the museum, are devoted to the relationship of the Underground Railroad and the 10 communities which are or have been in the valley (Bloomington, Clinton, Kanwaka, Lone Star, New Belvoir, Old Belvoir, Richland, Sigel, Stull and Twin Mound). The adjacent museum has several exhibits devoted to the communities, the Underground Railroad and the people or were aided or helped aid them. The museum

We took advantage of being in the unincorporated community of Clinton, to stop at The Clinton Store, a convenience store and former gas station which was established in 1931. We knew that The Clinton Store occasionally serves food, but there is phone and we couldn't find the exact details online.

We now know that the "Poor farm pub" serves meals at The Clinton Store on Friday and Saturday evenings. There are different menus each night, but the menus stay the same each week. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, they serve biscuits and gravy.

We completed our circle of Clinton Lake and took some photos in Stull, Kansas before returning home.

Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum
 

Freedom Rings

The Clinton Store

I wish the food had been a little warmer. They both have full time jobs, so I'm guessing that they have little time to set up and heat the food Friday evening, something which shouldn't be an issue on Saturdays & Sundays.

The exterior is almost identical, even keeping the old sign with "Drink Coca-Cola" and "Tasty Treat." The inside changes are dramatic. It as gone from cramped and old to spacious and modern.

The old Sam's had a large, diverse menu which included over 40 flavors of shakes, plus items as diverse as chili dogs, ice cream sundaes, country fried steak, shrimp, pork tenderloin, Italian steak sandwich, burgers, burritos, crab rangoon, and egg rolls. The new Tasty Foodz has a much smaller menu. Pretty much just burgers, hot dogs and ice cream. They did keep crab rangoon, and egg rolls.

The cheeseburger and crinkle cut fries are good, solid drive-in fare. Actually a touch better than I remember from before. The fries are crispy and and about as good as frozen fries get. The all beef, chili cheese dog is very good.

New interior

Little had changed in the past year. I confirmed that the skillet fries, which I learned about last year, are my favorite side dish, crispy on the outside in a way that the thick battered fries (wedges) are not. 

The brisket, chicken, Italian sausage and pork ribs were all very good. The only item I did not enjoy was the baked beans, which contained a spice which I did not like, and I ate only a couple of bites.

Because of the weather this summer. the blooms are not as plentiful and attractive as the past few years and they ask visitors to not pick flowers this year.

We drove on into Tonganoxie, to 1866 Bar & Grill, which has been getting some good online ratings. We had shrimp scampi ($13) and a midwest skillet ($12), both of which were fine, but not outstanding. If the skillet had been served with tortillas, I would have called it fajitas.

The downtown area was full of painters participating in Plein Air Art Fest. The public is invited to come watch them work and the fest continues at other locations in town, tomorrow & Friday mornings and Saturday afternoon. Everyone is welcome to come and watch the artists as they paint the town.

Plein Air Art Fest

After picking up my father-in-law, we visited the Topeka Zoo. It had been several years since the last time I was there and its listing needs updating and some new photos. The giraffes and the 4 ten month Sumatran tiger cubs appeared to be the most popular attractions. They can both be viewed on live cams at the zoo's Youtube channel. 

Signs all over the park boasted that the zoo has a "Saving Sharks" exhibit, but it turned out to be a modest touch pool, with a few rays and small sharks.

We attended the Highland Park High School 40 year class reunion at The Pennant on Kansas Avenue. On the way there, we found several interesting displays on the sidewalk, including the Burlington North Santa Fe sponsored pocket park in the photo to the right. It is train themed and includes a statue of Topeka founder Cyrus K. Holliday, a 1,500 pound replica of a BNSF locomotive engine, a locomotive bell, a railroad crossing sign with lights and two train-wheel park benches weighing more than 2,500 pounds each.

Topeka Zoo

Cyrus K. Holliday pocket park