Kansas Travel Blog

Chronicling changes to KansasTravel.org and Keith's exploration & photographing Kansas restaurants, attractions, museums, festivals and art. Contact him.
Art Prints

Wreaths Across America - Leavenworth National Cemetery
Friday - January 1, 2021: Updated our page devoted to the Scandia Museum in Scandia, Kansas. The does not have a web site of its own and does not have a Facebook page.

 

 
 
Saturday - January 2, 2021: We added a new page devoted to the Railroad & Mining Museum in Osage City, which we visited in October. The museum has not had regular hours for years, but Cathryn Houghton and Richard Youngers had agreed to meet us and showed us around. The highlights of the museum are the beautiful mission Spanish revival style depot, a large model railroad created by Richard Youngers and Santa Fe Park located across the railroad tracks just west of the depot.

 

Railroad and Mining Museum - Osage City, Kansas Railroad & Mining Museum
Monday - January 4, 2021: With 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and a sunny day, I drove to Leavenworth National Cemetery in Leavenworth, Kansas to photograph the graves with Wreaths Across America in place. When I pulled in I saw no wreaths at first, then saw 3 or four. Continuing into the cemetery, it was obvious that Leavenworth had received less snow.

Near the Rest House I found a group of 13 graves with wreaths, but continued on until I finally found some areas with a hundred or a few hundred graves. It seemed like they were all in the areas with the least snow, but they were placed weeks before the snowfall, so that was only coincidence.

laid 3,924 wreaths this year and is down from almost 7,000 wreaths last year. There are over 36,000 graves in the cemetery.

I also visited nearby Mount Muncie Cemetery, in Lansing, just a few hundred feet away.

 

Wreaths Across America - Leavenworth, Kansas Wreaths Across America 
 

Mount Muncie Cemetery - Lansing, Kansas Mount Muncie Cemetery

Thursday - January 7, 2021: The combination of few eagles and COVID19 have resulted in the canceling of Milford Eagle Day, which was scheduled for this Saturday. The warm winter has kept the rivers and lakes farther north from freezing and there is less reason for the eagles to come this far south. Justice, the Bald Eagle, and Kamali, the Golden Eagle can still be seen in the Milford Nature Center when it is open.

 

Milford Eagle Days Eagles at Milford Lake
Saturday - January 9, 2021: We visited d'Bronx, a pizza and deli restaurant, to update its listing on our Overland Park Restaurant Guide. Due to COVID-19, food is only available by carry out. There are signs saying no more than two customers inside at one time, but some customers were ignoring that.

We had calzones and Reuben sandwich. The calzones traveled well, but the sandwich was a poorer choice for carry out. We are glad to see d'Bronx stay open and it appeared that business was steady.

 

calzones at d'Bronx in Overland Park, Kansas calzones
Sunday - January 10, 2021: We continue to update KC area restaurant information at this time of year when travel is less appealing, today we had curbside pickup from Blind Box BBQ in Lenexa which is included in our Kansas City BBQ Guide

As expected, barbeque travels better than many cuisines and it was still quite good when we got it home. We had a smoked wing appetizer and a half chicken dinner with fries and street corn. Even the fires were still good after the 10 minute drive.

 

Blind Box BBQ - Lenexa, Kansas Half chicken dinner
Thursday - January 14, 2021: Updating our Overland Park Restaurant Guide, I started with curbside take out from Q39, the BBQ restaurant which moved into the old Hayward's BBQ location in 2017. Q39's original location is still on 39th Street in Kansas City, Missouri.

I went with a couple of my old favorites, the $10 "Best Wings on the Planet" is 6 large wing thirds with good smoked meat flavor, though a bit tough. The fries are a little expensive at $5.

From Q39, I drove about a mile away to get curbside "take and bake" Dinner for 2 - $28 from Garozzo's, the popular Overland Park Italian restaurant. At supper time I baked chicken Spiedeni and topped it with amogio sauce. The meal also included pasta house salad and sliced Italian bread which went well with excess amogio sauce. The salad was the only part of the meal which didn't impress. I wish they offered an inexpensive upgrade to Caesar salad.

 

Q39 - Overland Park, Kansas "Best Wings on the Planet"

Garozzo's restaurant - Overland Park, Kansas Garozzo's

Friday - January 22, 2021: We continue to visit restaurants on our Kansas City BBQ Guide and got carry out at Wyandot Barbeque 2 in Overland Park. This restaurant is timeless, which is better about the food than about the facility. It is still much as I remember from my first visit in the 1980s and I can go back to blog entries from years ago and everything I said about the food is still true.

This isn't my favorite BBQ restaurant, but the meats are all above average and a true bargain. The generous mixed plate of beef, ham, ribs and fries is still only $11!

 

Wyandot Barbeque - Overland Park
Mixed plate
Saturday - January 23, 2021: I added some photos to our page devoted to the folk art environment Hubble's Rubble in Howard, Kansas. They were taken when I drove through Howard in November.

I added Plowboys Barbeque in Overland Park, Kansas and Zarda in Lenexa, Kansas to our Kansas City BBQ Guide.

 

Hubble's Rubble - Howard, Kansas Hubble's Rubble
Sunday - January 24, 2021: We added a new page devoted to the grave of Benjamin F. Hobbs, 2 1/2 miles north of Howard, Kansas. He was the first teacher in Elk County and passed away at the age of 23, in 1871.

 

 
Monday - January 25, 2021: I revisited Plowboys Barbeque in Overland Park, Kansas. I had not been there since shortly after this location opened in 2019. 

Plowboys mainly gets high marks for Covid precautions. The only failure was that tables had not been closed or moved to allow for 6' distance between people at different tables. 

In general, there is little to recommend Plowboys above the other restaurants on our Kansas City BBQ Guide. The menu is short and with the exception of one plate which has both ribs & pork, there are no options to sample multiple meats with out purchasing the meats a la carte.

I ordered the Whole Hog which has 4oz of pulled pork and 4 small ribs served on toast with the choice of 2 regular sides. The ribs were average, but the pork was better, The generous portion of seasoned fries were pretty good. The cheesy corn was watery and bland. It took 20 minutes for the order to be ready, which seems like a long time for a counter service BBQ Restaurant/

The meat was served dry and they included two small containers of sauce. The "Hot Head" sauce had a good, sweet flavor. It went well with both the meat and fries. I wish there has been more sauce.

Following dining in the car, I drove across the adjoining parking lot to get a hot fudge concrete at Sheridan's Frozen Custard. This was the first location for the chain which now has 9 locations in 4 states. I once was a regular, but it had been several years since I last had their frozen desert. This location is walk up only.

We added Roscoe's BBQ in Edwardsville, Kansas to our Kansas City BBQ Restaurant Guide.

 

Plowboys Barbeque - Overland Park, Kansas Plowboys Barbeque
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sheridan's Frozen Custard - Overland Park, Kansas Sheridan's Frozen Custard

Wednesday - January 27, 2021: I drove to the south side of Overland Park, Kansas, where I photographed the future home of the first Whataburger in this part of the country.

Lunch was carry out from kokoDAK, which specializes in Korean fried chicken. They presently have no inside dining. I got a small order of wings, which is 10 very small wing thirds for $10. I selected the "Volcano" sauce which has hot pepper paste, garlic and Thai pepper. The wings had a very nice flavor from the the sticky, sweet and spicy sauce. I found them more sweet than hot, but there should be enough heat to please most hot spice lovers.

The generous serving of onion rings was only $4. They appeared to have been previously frozen and were a little limp. I actually liked them better cold, when they were a little firmer.

The final stop of the day was at Jewish Community Center on 115th Street in Overland Park, Kansas. Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 

The Memorial to the Six Million at the Center is believed to have been the first art work in the US dedicated to those who lost their lives during the Holocaust. The memorial was dedicated by Harry S. Truman on June 9, 1963 at the Center's original home on Holmes Road in Kansas City, Missouri. The monument was moved to Overland Park in 1988. 

I added a new page devoted to Clearfield School near Baldwin City, Kansas, which we visited during the Kaw Valley Farm Tour in October. The one room school was built in 1900 and operated until 1946. The Santa Fe Trail passes just a a few miles south of the school and today it is owned by the Douglas County Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association and they host programs for children in the school.

 


 
 

kokoDAK Korean restaurant - Overland Park. Kansas Volcano wings & onion rings
 
 
 

Memorial to the Six Million - Jewish Community Center Memorial to the Six Million

Thursday - January 28, 2021: I added a new page devoted to the Mennonite Heritage Museum in Hillsboro, Kansas, which we visited in October.

 

 
Friday - January 29, 2021: I updated and restored an archive page devoted to Muleskinner Lodge, a unique lodging which was once in Dennison, Kansas. It was located in a renovated 70 year old barn and had a spectacular porch which wraped around two sides. The bathroom had a woodland pool shower stall with a natural rock waterfall, a hollow log sink, and a stone floor which looked as if a creek is flowing between the stones.

The lodge had many other nice features, including a 4 person hot tub and an intercom which could bring the sounds of the outdoors into the room.

 

Muleskinner Lodge - Dennison, Kansas Muleskinner Lodge
Saturday - January 30, 2021: I finally had a chance to try Harley's Hideaway Bar & Grill, which opened a few months ago in Shawnee, Kansas. It takes a lot of courage to open a restaurant right now. I ordered carryout for lunch and was the only customer in the restaurant during the 10 minute wait to pickup the food.

The onion rings were the best part of the meal by far. Nice crispy texture, average flavor. The Howling Wolverine sandwich (sliced smoked ham and turkey, cheddar cheese, bacon, garlic aioli, lettuce & tomato) was served cold rather than the hot which we expected, but was still a good sandwich.

The waffle fries were made from frozen and the chicken wings were much like I pull out of the freezer and put in the oven at home. The Queso Fiesta Burger (topped with grilled pickled jalapeños and drizzled with Queso) was fine, apparently pre formed and much like a high quality fast food burger.

 

Harley's Hideaway Bar and Grill - Shawnee, Kansas Harley's Hideaway
Sunday - January 31, 2021: We got carry out from ABC Café in Overland Park. It is my favorite restaurant for Chinese food, though more cramped than I like during non-covid times. They have removed a few tables, but it is still more crowded than I like.

The authentic Cantonese food is so good! It had been over a year since I last had there food, but I enjoy it more every time we go. We had the shrimp fried wanton, Peking style pork chop, XO chicken wings, and salt & pepper soft shell crab. All of the dishes traveled well during the 10 minutes it took to take them home. 

The salt & pepper soft shell crab is salty a little spicy, but not overly so. All of ABC Café salt & pepper dishes are similar and very good.

The XO chicken wings appetizer is one of the most popular dishes. If you eat just the chicken and coating, it isn't that hot, but it has a nice zing if you eat the sliced peppers and crumples which come with it. I am a fan of these wings but would enjoy them even more if they were a little crispy.

The shrimp fried wantons are tiny, but quite flavorful. I liked them even better with a bit of Sriracha sauce. The Peking style pork chop was sweet. I would be tempted to compare it to sweet and sour pork, but the texture and flavor are better than any sweet and sour dish I have ever had.

 

ABC Café - Overland Park, Kansas ABC Café

salt and pepper soft shell crab - ABC Café soft shell crab

XO chicken wings - ABC Café XO chicken wings

 
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