Kansas
Travel Blog
Chronicling
changes to KansasTravel.org and Keith's exploration
& photographing Kansas restaurants, attractions, museums, festivals
and art. Contact him.
|
|
Friday
- October 1, 2021: We spent last night at the Best Western Airport
motel in Wichita.
Our
day started with a leisurely drive southwest to Argonia, Kansas to take
some new exterior photos of the Salter
House Museum, which looks much nicer than when I first photographed
it in 2011. While we were in town, we checked on a waterfall, south of
town on the Chikaskia River, but the ground was soft and the trail leading
east from the Argonia RIver RV Park looked poor, starting with a collapsed
bridge near the park.
We
headed north and west back toward K-400, with brief stops for photos in
Danville and Harper.
On
our way into Kingman, Kansas for lunch, we made a pass by Glenn
Stark Park and were stunned to find all of the wonderful folk art statues
missing. During our wait for our food, we managed to learn that they have
been moved to storage, while the park landscaping is significantly changed.
The intend to replace the art in about 8 months.
Lunch
was at Smitty's Carry Out, which is
on our list of Best Kansas Burgers.
It was been 6 years since I last dined there. I finally tried the hand
breaded pork tenderloin and house made potato chips. The house made chips
were quite good, but I wish they had a seasoning option. They do have dips,
which many customers have with their chips or fries.
The
pork tenderloin was fine, but nothing special. Linda had excellent onion
rings and a hickory bacon cheese burger. On our way our, we saw chocolate
chip cookies from Bighorn Bakery, which the young woman at the counter
said were baked by her twin. We got one to split later in the day. The
chocolate was my favorite, but the cookie itself was so good that I would
definitely get one again.
We
continued west to Pratt, Kansas where we toured the Vernon Valley Art Museum.
Most of the museum is taken up by two galleries of rotating exhibits. Presently
they both house an exhibition of the art of Virgil Penner. mostly bright,
colorful acrylic landscapes where many vertical lines swing to the left
as if wind blown.
There
are just a few pieces of other art on display, plus an attractive enclosed
patio and a nice gift shop. We purchased a children's book, but could have
easily selected some art by regional artists.
While
we were in Pratt, we revisited the little changed Pratt Education Center
with its Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks nature exhibits. North
of Pratt, we photographed the All Veterans Museum Complex at the airport.
We haven't managed to get by here on Sunday afternoons when the B-29 Museum
is open, but did photograph the memorial and nearby helicopter and fighter
jets.
We
detoured to drive through Greensburg, but saw nothing new worth stopping
and continued to Mullinville. We would be returning to town tomorrow for
the ribbon cutting for the new Visitors Center at the Kanza Art by M.T.
Liggett, but feared is would be raining and wanted to take some outside
photos. There was a team of volunteers preparing for the next day's event
and Ann Dixon (whose daughter Stacy Barnes we met at the Shoe Tree during
the Big Kansas Road Trip) let us inside for a few quick photos to post
to Facebook this evening.
On
our way into Dodge City, we stopped at the Coronado Cross which is believed
to be in the area where Father Juan de Padilla held a mass of thanksgiving
after Francisco Vasquez de Coronado crossed the Arkansas River in 1541.
There isn't much left of the roadside park these days, but there is a marker
about the people who contributed to the park and the cross on a hill.
We
had supper at Central Station Bar & Grill in Dodge City, an attractive
restaurant in an old train depot. Our dinning room was an old dinning car
and the rest rooms were in a former freight car.
We
had mountain oysters, ribeye and grilled pork chops, with sides of French
fries, green beans, corn, and potato tracks. We finished with Churros con
Chocolate.
The
hand breaded calf fries were over cooked and tough, served with ketchup
rather than cocktail sauce. The less cooked ones were not too bad, but
they were not a treat. The pork chops had been marinated in a whiskey sauce,
a little different than usual, but good. The ribeye was heavily seasoned
with black pepper, I would have preferred garlic.
The
Potato Tracks were our most liked side dish. They were crisp potato skins
topped with mashed potato, cheddar cheese and bacon bits, then oven toasted.
The
Churros con Chocolate were only $3.99! Three deep fried double twisted
donuts filled with Bavarian Creme, sprinkled with powdered sugar and served
with chocolate dipping sauce. The server asked if we wanted chocolate sauce,
caramel, or both. I'm glad I said both, as I didn't care for the chocolate,
but enjoyed the caramel a lot.
We
spent the night at the Confront Suites in Dodge City. We had a large comfortable
room. The price of the room seemed fairly high for a motel in western Kansas,
but was less expensive than the other well reviewed places in Dodge City.
|
Salter House Museum
Pork tenderloin & hickory bacon burger
Vernon Valley Art Museum
All Veterans Museum Complex
Coronado Cross
Dinning Car at Central Station Bar & Grill |
|
|
Saturday
- October 2, 2021: There had been heavy rain overnight and we took
our time getting started. At 10 AM we visited the new Ford County Legacy
Center which opened in Dodge City, Kansas a few months ago. It will have
rotating exhibits and the first one is a collection of vintage race cars
and racing memorabilia. This inaugural display was supposed to run from
June 5th to Labor Day, but it sounds like it will remain on display for
some time. The owner of the collection, Roger Burnett. helped show us around.
In 1934 Dodge City a dirt track for automobile racing was built in Wright
Park at the Ford County Fairgrounds and local automobile enthusiasts embrace
that heritage.
From
there, we went directly to the Dodge City Carnegie Center for the Arts.
The sign on the door said it was open 9:30AM - 2PM, and when I called two
days ago the person said they would be open 9AM - 2PM, but they were closed
and there was no sign. This is the 2nd time we have gone there when the
Center was scheduled to be open, but was not,
With
extra time on our hands, we stopped by the Wright
Park Zoo, for some new photos. The zoo had expanded the last time we
visited, but that appears to be over.
We
had lunch at Kate's, a Dodge City restaurant
and bar which we first visited in 2019 and is on our Kansas Best Burgers
list. We had a catfish plate, calf fry basket and a beef taco. The $4 taco
was huge and had a very good, slightly crispy, fresh made corn tortilla.
The ground beef appeared to be unseasoned.
The
calf fries (mountain oysters) were much better than we had the night before.
Tender, about the texture of a fried real oyster, and served with cocktail
sauce. The catfish had a good, cornmeal coating and came with great fresh
cut fries.
Before
leaving Dodge City, we stopped by Boot
Hill Museum to photograph the new building which open in November and
to shop in the gift shop.
We
needed to be in Mullinville before 2PM, but there was still time to take
a short detour through Bucklin, where we photographed what I assume is
an 1800's mural of Bucklin, a new Veterans Memorial Park in front of the
mural and several attractive older buildings.
There
were many people in Mullinville for the opening of the new Visitors Center
at the Kanza Art by M.T. Liggett.
The first person we met turned out to be MT's nephew, Max Liggett and we
had a nice conversation about his history. We saw old friends Erika Nelson,
WenDee Rowe and Marci Penner.
The
Kohler Foundation has funded the restoration and preservation of the late
M.T, Liggett's art and built a visitor's center to help people understand
MT and what was behind the art. Several members of the foundation were
present as well as Bridgette Jobe (Kansas Tourism Director) and journalist
Larry Hatteberg. We met Larry Melker, who has a collection of MT's art
in Lake Quivira, Kansas and are invited to come see that art sometime.
After
the ribbon cutting ceremony, I photographed the exhibits in the center
and then went on a 45 minute tour of the art led by Erika Nelson and the
lead artist on the restoration.
We
finished our trip with supper at The Breadbasket
in Newton, Kansas on the way home. I enjoy their German buffet on weekend
evenings. In particular the sausage with german mustard and the desserts.
The staff was all masked and they provided plastic gloves to wear while
serving yourself, but few other customers appeared to be making an effort
to not infect others.
|
Ford County Legacy Center
Catfish, calf fries & taco
Kanza Art Tour |
Monday
- October 4, 2021: Lyle & Dean joined me for lunch at Bradley's
Corner Cafe in north Topeka, Kansas. We were delighted to find that
they have added a second dining room in the attached storefront, doubling
the space in the restaurant. Service was quite slow. The server did everything
right, but there were long delays between the times we saw her.
We
had Hot Meat loaf Sandwich, Phily Steak & Cheese, and Turkey Delight
(Slices of smoked turkey served on grilled sourdough bread with Swiss cheese,
bacon and tomato. My Phily had an excellent bun and was so much better
than a much more expensive cheese steak which I had the day before at a
chain restaurant. The fresh cut fries were also much better.
The
meat loaf was serves open faces with mashed potatoes and covered by a good,
rich brown gravy. Two of us had too much to finish and all of us decided
to get Bradley's wonderful pies to go. I got sour cream and raisin.
Before
leaving the NOTO neighborhood, I photographed some new public art, including
a giraffe statue which is on load, but will eventually be at the Topeka
Zoo and a magnificent mural with three large elephants.
We
stopped at Porubsky's Deli &
Market in the nearby Little Russia neighborhood, getting ham salad
and hot pimento cheese spread to take home. We also explored some west
Topeka neighborhoods and discovering statues of three wonderful dinosaurs
in the front yard of a home on Pembroke Lane.
|
New dinning room at Bradley's Corner Cafe |
Wednesday
- October 13, 2021: I had lunch at The Social Bar & Grill, which
opened earlier this year in Shawnee, Kansas. The owners previously had
Garrett’s Bar and Grill at another location in Shawnee. There is a single
large two level dining and bar area. The stools at the bar were packed
closely and mostly full, but I almost at the low tables in the dining area
to my self.
I
ordered two appetizers, onion rings and chicken wings. The bone in wings
were ordered hot, but had very little seasoning. The onion rings were a
little better, but there was little to bring back quickly.
|
Rings & wings |
Thursday
- October 14, 2021: I had another lunch at a Shawnee, Kansas restaurant.
This time Lyle joined me at Dos Reales Authentic Mexican Restaurant, about
a mile from The Social where I dined yesterday.
We
ordered enchiladas mole and ground beef nachos. Lyle thouroughly enjoyed
the enchiladas. The nachos had lots of ground beef.
|
Nachos |
Friday
- October 15, 2021: I drove to De Soto, Kansas to check on the status
of Grandpa's Ford Garage, a
1918 Model A Ford garage which housed Dean Weller's shop and antique car
collection. Dean passed away this summer and most of the collection has
been sold or at least moved. It looked like there were still 6-8 restored
vehicles in the cool old building. Another man cam to look in the windows
as I was leaving.
I
also checked out Steve's Meat Market,
a few blocks away. Steve's isn't just a full service meat market and deer
processor, they prepare many specialty meats, including bratwurst, sausage,
slim Jims, pickled pig's feet, and pickled polish sausage. The market is
still going strong and there was no sign of the fire they had a few years
ago.
Before
leaving town, I took a video of the Kansas River from Riverfest Park and
photos of Kill Creek.
|
Grandpa's Ford Garage |
|
|
Saturday
- October 16, 2021: It had been a few years since we last visited Rees
Fruit Farm in Topeka, Kansas, so we took advantage of the beautiful
weather to stop by there this afternoon. It was by far the busiest we have
ever seen it and almost every parking spot was taken. There was a DJ playing
music and lots of people shopping or eating indoors and out. We got Apple
Slush, which were cold and delicious. We were surprised and pleased to
discover that Rees was also selling apple cider without preservatives.
We
found a nice Halloween display in the 1800 block of SW McAlister Avenue
in Topeka.
|
Rees Fruit Farm |
Monday
- October 18, 2021: It was time to update our review of Gate's
Bar-B-Q in Leawood, Kansas. Other than the prices, this restaurant
is little changed since my first time there in the 1980s and there was
even less change from my most recent visit in 2019.
Even
with the leftovers I would bring home, I feel like the combo plate has
grown too expensive at $26.50, so I ordered two items I don't remember
having before - the burn end sandwich and yammer pie. With fries the meal
was still over $20.
Gate's
burnt ends are only available as a sandwich on a hoagie bun. They are mostly
chopped up, not the cubes popular in Kansas City, but have a great flavor
from the rub and smoking. They really don't need sauce and I wished I had
ordered it unsauced.
The
Yammer (sweet potato) Pie tastes much like pumpkin. Not bad, but I'm not
sure the small tart is worth $5.50.
|
Combo - fries, yammer pie and burnt ends |
Friday
- October 29, 2021: I drove to Kansas City, Kansas to have lunch at
Poi-o a wood fired chicken and Mexican BBQ restaurant which opened a few
months ago. They had previously been located near Southwest Boulevard,
but that location had closed last year. They have quickly built a good
reputation and had their visibility increased a few weeks ago when the
First lady, Jill Biden and her entourage stopped to pick up food on the
way to the airport after an appearance in Kansas City.
When
I arrived, I realized that I did not have a face mask with me, so I picked
up the food in the drive through to take home.
I
got a half chicken with a side of elotes (Mexican street corn) and 3 pork
ribs with kimchi fried rice. Each came with tortillas, house pickles,
choice of salsa. The chicken looked and tasted great, though the pieces
of chicken were rather small. The ribs neither looked or tasted as good,
but were OK. The serving of pork was more generous. Both sides were quite
good, particularly the corn, which was cut off the cob.
There
are several salsa available with the meals and I selected charred habanero
and Thai chili. Both were as hot as they sound. The Thai chili was good
with the chicken, but I didn't care as much for the flavor of the habanero
and enjoyed the ribs more with some Arthur Bryant's BBQ sauce.
This
restaurant is worth another try, which may take a while, since two Mexican
restaurants which I love are within a few blocks away: Jarocho
and El Pollo Rey.
|
Poi-o
Ribs and chicken
|
Saturday
- October 30, 2021: We drove to Jess & Jim's in the Martin City
neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri for lunch. The fourth generation
family steakhouse has been in operation since 1938.
The
last time we dined at Jess & Jim's the server pushed us to eat beets,
so much that I don't remember anything else about that menu. Thankfully
there are no complimentary beets at lunch.
We
liked the lunch menu, which has some nice sized steaks. Linda was also
pleased to see the menu describe well done as brown through out, rather
than some joke which says that the restaurant doesn't know how to cook
meat well done without ruining it.
I
had a medium sized ribeye for $19.99 and Linda had a 5 ounce fillet for
only $14.99! They came with salad and choice of potato. They were served
sizzling on metal plates and both were cooked as ordered. The fries and
large twice baked potatoes were also good.
We
had supper at Hayward's Pit Bar B Que in Shawnee, Kansas, which is listed
on our Kansas City BBQ Guide. Though we had carryout from Hayward's last
year, it was the first time we have dined there in about 3 years. Linda
had a smoked half chicken, while I had my two favorite appetizers: smoked
& fried wings cooked "Wade's Wild Style" and onion rings. The 9 wing
thirds were $15.49.
Neither
appetizer was as good as I remember. The flavor of the wings was still
good, but they were overcooked, almost charred. The coating on the wings
was not as tasty as I remember and the coating was so hard they were difficult
to bite into.
The
smoked chicken was also disappointing, almost tasteless.
|
1/2 chicken, Wade's Wild Side Wings & onion rings |
|
|
Current
Month Kansas Travel Home
2024:
January
February March
April May June
July August
2023:
January February March
April May June
July August
September
October
November
December
2022:
January
February March
April May June
July August
September
October November
December
2021:
January
February March
April May June
July August
September
October
November
December
2020:
January
February March
April May June
July August
September
October
November
December
2019:
January
February March
April May June
July August
September
October
November
December
2018:
January
February March
April May June
July August
September
October
November
December
2017:
January
February March April
May June July August
September October
November December
2016:
January
February March
April May June July
August September October November
December
2015:
January
February March
April May June
July August
September
October November December
2014:
January
February March
April May June
July August
September
October
November
December
2013:
January
February March April
May June July
August September October November
December
2012:
January
February March
April May June
July August September
October November
December
2011:
January
February March
April May June
July August
September
October
November
December
2010:
January
February March
April May June
July August
September
October
November
December
2009:
January
February March
April May June
July August
September
October
November
December
2008:
May
June July August
September October
November December
|
|
|