The first stop of the trip was in downtown El Dorado, Kansas at the Coutts Art Museum. Although I previously visited the museum, those photos were accidentally lost and no page was made. The museum is in the former Butler County State Bank. The third floor of the building was made into the Coutts Memorial Museum of Art in 1970 and over time came to fill the entire building.

Although portions of the third floor have permanent exhibits, most of the museum is made up of temporary exhibits. My favorite parts of the museum were the French impressionist paintings in the European Gallery and the temporary "Misshaped Clouds" exhibit of conceptual sculpture by Matt Lyczak.

I also like the "Sculpture Plaza" in the alley next to the museum, with sculptures and a tile mosaic titled "Glory of the Hills" by Phil Epp and Terry Corbett.

Lunch was at Prairie House Cafe & Lodge in Leon, Kansas. Jonny, the manager, had invited us to try them out in 2021, but this was the first time I made it there. 

The half chicken fried steak dinner is a salad, choice of potato, vegetable and roll for $11.95. The half is a good size, but you can double the meat for $2 more. The salad was better than many, though the blue cheese dressing was nothing special.

The steak and peppery gravy were quite good. The French fries were average. The fried okra was pretty good, but I think I would have enjoyed the corn more. 

The roll didn't come until near the end of the meal and I wish I had taken a picture. It was warm, soft and served with a good honey butter.

The house made peach cobbler was served cold in a styrofoam box. I still liked it, but believe it could have been special if it had been warmed and served on a plate.

At the end of the dinner, I asked the party at the next table for directions and they were able to point me to the location used for the flaming cattle seen in the opening of the movie Mars Attacks. The buildings look much the way they do in the movie, but the trees have grown a lot since 1996 and the road is paved. It was also paved in '96, but the pavement was hidden by dirt for the movie

Heading toward Wichita, US Highway 400 passed Henry's Sculpture Hill east of Augusta, Kansas. Sculpture Hill is drive by only and displays some of the art of Frank Jensen, who I believe has not been creating new art for several years. With the exception of a "Sculpture Hill" sign, I couldn't spot any additions that weren't there when I first photographed Sculpture Hill in 2007.

I just learned of the Bonavia Foundation PBS Kansas Museum earlier this week. It was added when KPTS moved into its new studio late last year. When I checked in at the entrance, Director of Programing Dagoberto Patlan happened to be standing there and he walked me back to the museum and gave me a short tour. 

He also showed me the adjacent PBS Kansas Cochener-Garvey Children's Education & Discovery Center, which is believed to be the first of its kind at a Public Television station. Lynn Woolf, Director of Education, gave me a tour of the center. Both the museum and Discovery Center have free admission.

Before checking into my hotel, there was a brief stop at the Wichita Art Museum, which recently went from offering free admission on Sundays, to all the time. Making a short visit is much more attractive with no admission charge.

Supper was at B&C BBQ which has been my favorite place for BBQ in Wichita since 2006 and is one of my favorite places for BBQ anywhere. They offer a fabulous buffet lunch on Monday - Saturday and that was the only time they were open for many years, but four years ago they expanded, renovated and added a regular menu at other hours.

I had a $26 two meat combo, selecting ribs and hot links, with French fries and garlic slaw as slides. I wanted to sample the onion rings and added a $4 order of rings. They were large and sweet. I only have onion rings that good 3 or 4 times a year.

The slaw, ribs and hot links were like I remember from the buffet. Both meat were very good. They didn't really need sauce, but the hot BBQ sauce was a nice addition to the sausage. The garlic slaw was good as always.

The fries were slightly above average

In the evening I drove downtown, going by the Riverfest carnival and stopping at River Vista where (mostly) young people were renting paddle boats, kayaks and canoes. Wichita State University normally offers bike and boat rentals at this location, but during Riverfest, a pedal boat rental is free with a Riverfest admission button.

I also briefly visited the famous Keeper of Plains statue a little farther up the Arkansas River.

The final stop of the evening was at the original NuWAY Cafe. Although the 93 year old restaurant is famous for crumbly burgers and homemade Onion Rings, I am an even bigger fan of the root beer, which is made fresh daily and makes a wonderful float.

"Glory of the Hills"
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Peach Cobbler
 

Mars Attacks Location
 
 
 
 
 
 

PBS Kansas Museum
 
 
 
 
 

Two Meat Combo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Boats and Bikes
 
 

Next stop was Gallery Alley at 616 E, Douglas Avenue. The alley was created in 2017, is flanked by art galleries and is lined with interactive art such as giant spiders and a kinetic art installation.

I drove to Rose Hill, first to revisit Jurassic Art, which has dozens of welded grassroots art creations by Phil Brinkley. I first visited Jurassic Art in 2019 and had not been back since. As I approached the years, it first looked like nothing had changed, but I soon discovered that Phil has added many new pieces in the past four years. A woman with several children were discovering and interacting with the sculptures, while Phil followed them with a cup of coffee and I had a nice talk with Phil while wandering through the new art.

Before going to lunch, I stopped by the Rose Hill Historical Society Museum. I had tried to call the day before to see if an appointment could be scheduled to tour the museum today, but there was no answer. While taking a few exterior photos, I found a sign on the door with a different phone number and instruction to text to visit the museum, so I gave that a try and was able to arrange to tour the museum after lunch.

I've been wanting to try Louis Rose Hill Cafe for a couple of years. It is just a block over from the museum. The restaurant is in a small storefront with an attractive dinning area. The menu is on a chalk board which surrounds a three foot window where your order is placed. One side of the menu is tucked behind coolers and difficult to read.

The chili is sweet and mild, not particularly meaty and includes kidney beans.

The Bob's Blaze Burger includes sautéed onion & jalapenos, pepper-jack cheese, and cayenne. I ordered a $6.47 double burger, but the $3.99 single would have been plenty big. It was juicy and tasted very good. It may be added to our list of Kansas Best Burgers, The $2.99 small order of fries was good and also plenty big.

About 45 minutes later, Cindy Bradford met me at the Historical Society Museum. The museum has three buildings and the first one we saw was a small home furnished with period furniture. Only the main floor is used for the museum. Behind the home is a 30 x 42' display building which was built in 2020. It houses the majority of the museum's exhibits in two galleries, split between climate protected exhibits and a garage. The third building is a former one room school house which was moved to a short distance away.

Other than a 1929 delivery truck, the biggest exhibit in the museum is a doll collection which fills one small room.

Then I drove north to the Andover Historical Museum in Andover, Kansas, which I had confirmed would be open from 1-3 today. The gentleman at the front of the museum nodded when I came in and never spoke until replying when I said good bye. The museum is mostly one large gallery with items that aren't particularly well organized or arranged in a way to draw you in. The most interesting item was a Grain King wagon in the center of the room.

There is a small old home which appears to have been moved to a spot behind the museum, with a sign saying 1870's Gilmore House. You can't see into the building and it was locked up. A cement pad next to the house has a custom vehicle from the 1960s or 70s, but no label or sign.

Next, I made a much longer drive to Wellington, Kansas, stopping first briefly to take new exterior photos of the Panhandle Railroad Museum then going on downtown to the National Glass Museum. My interior photos of the museum were all taken in 2018, but in 2019 the museum had to move to a new location after the collapse of the front facade of that building. Although a photo of the new exterior had been added to its page, all of the interior photos have been of the old museum. They have more room in this new structure and among other things, have expanded the gift shop. They no longer invite visitors to select a glass piece to take with them as the National Depression Glass Association's gift. There is no charge to visit the museum, but donations are encouraged.

After a short stop at Slate Creek Dam Falls, I drove back north to Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine, Kansas. I had understood it was open this afternoon, but discovered that was incorrect. Robin Macy saw me taking photos through the fence and asked what was going on. After I explained, she invited me to come in and take a quick 20 minute look around. 

The arboretum was founded in 1910 by Dr. Walter E. Bartlett. The Bartlett operating the Arboretum until 1995. Robin discovered the then neglected garden in 1997 and took it over as an act of love.

I look forward to returning when there is more time.

Continuing to drive north at a leisurely pace, I made a brief stop at Wyldewood Cellars. They weren't offering tasting today (which seemed odd), but I bought a couple of bottles of their "Partridge In a Pear Tree," which turned out to be sweeter than I expected for a semi-sweet white wine.

Supper was at Boudreaux Burger Barn, about 3 miles west of I-35 near Peck Kansas. You order at a counter from a short list of 8 items on the wall. I got a $9 chicken fried steak sandwich, which came with fries and a fountain drink, plus an additional order of onion rings. I wasn't really ready for a meal, so this was too much food, but it gave me a chance to taste the items. 

The sandwich and fries weren't a very big serving, but plenty big at that price. The chicken fried steak was thin and had different seasonings than I am used to, but tasted good. The French fries were fresh cut and very good. I would say the onion rings were above average, but paled when compared to the onion rings at B&C BBQ last night.

Reviews of Boudreaux mention homemade ice cream, but it wasn't on the menu. Fortunately, I asked and was told yes they sell cups of vanilla ice cream for $1. Chocolate topping is also available. The woman at the register said the ice cream was very cold and offered to soften it, which took only a few seconds. It had the texture and taste I expect from homemade ice cream.

This restaurant would be a good choice for someone passing through on the Kansas Turnpike, who wants to have a meal while avoiding the congestion around Wichita.

Back in Wichita, I stopped by "The Village," an art environment showcasing the Steampunk Grassroots Art of Gary Pendergrass. I first visited this yard in 2018 and there have been new pieces of art each time. Now there is also a covered area with benches and chairs where you can relax and be surrounded by some of the new pieces of folk art.

The final stop of the night was a light supper at Stroud's Restaurant in Wichita. Although the Stroud's in metro KC don't talk about it, there has long been a Stroud's in this 1930's Wichita barn. At one time there was also one in Topeka. This was my first time back since 2019 and I got a half order gizzards appetizer and cottage fries. I love both of them covered with hot sauce and Stroud's gravy. I finished the gizzards but still had a nice amount of cottage fries and gravy to take home.

Solar-Vkrtes Time Portal at Jurassic Art
 
 

Louis Rose Hill Cafe

Bob's Blaze Burger

Rose Hill Historical Society Museum
 

Andover Historical Museum
 
 
 

National Glass Museum
 
 

Bartlett Arboretum
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Boudreaux Burger Barn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Village

The heavy armored vehicle museum is in a former carpet warehouse in an industrial park and is the personal collection of someone who is not identified and whose contact info is not available. There are about 23 vehicles inside and 4 others (In rough shape) outside. Most are the actual vehicles and are from World War 2 or the Cold War era. There are a couple of replica vehicles, but I found them just as interesting as the original.

I read all of the material available next to the tanks and wanted to more. This subject turned out to interest me a lot. There was little to see or learn beyond the vehicles. My visit still took less than 40 minutes.

The tanks which interested me the most were a M5A1 Stuart light tank from WW2, a Gepard self propelled German anti-aircraft gun from the 1970s, and a replica M4 Sherman Tank which was used in the filming of the 2014 movie Fury which stared Brad Pitt. I've never seen the movie, but will seek it in the future.

I actually returned to look again at the Stuart twice. Although I had forgotten about it over the years, when I was about 12, I read several about the "Haunted Tank," which appeared in G.I. Combat by  DC Comics. They featured a World War 2 M3 Stuart tank which was haunted by the ghost of J.E.B Stuart.

Admission to the museum is by donation, with a recommendation of $5/person.

Lunch was at Buster's Burger Joint on the south side of Wichita. I hadn't been back since first discovering this great lunch place in 2020. The small building has a counter, seating for just a few people and a cooking area with a small grill and 2 deep fat fryers. The restaurant is only open 11AM - 2PM, Monday through Saturday and is cash only.

Buster cooks the burgers slowly on a small grill and if they are busy, there can be an extended wait. I got there at 11:30AM and had only a 15 minute wait, but those arriving a little later were warned that their food would take a half hour. The burgers, French fries and onion rings are all great and are a bargain. For $7.50 (including tax) you get a 1/3 pound burger, choice of side and can of pop! There is an additional $1 if you choose onion rings.

The second museum of the day was the Sewing History Museum in Wichita, which opened just a year ago. If fills the bottom floor of the Chapman-Noble House, a Queen Anne home which was built in the late 1880s. There are several other Queen Anne homes nearby, though not all of them are in as lovely a condition as this one.

The museum is owned and operated by Katrina Stockton, who ran The Alteration Shoppe in Wichita for 45 years. She started the collection in just 2020 and hundreds of sewing machines are shoehorned into the home. There are many more machines and she plans to expand the museum into the 4 car garage behind the home. At the time of this visit, her oldest machine was manufactured by Wheeler & Wilson in 1854, but there will probably be older sewing machines in the collection by the time that you visit.

Katrina is enthusiastic about the collection and happy to show you through the museum and tell you more about the sewing machines and toys.

While parking on a side street near the museum, I spotted a monument in a small vacant lot at the corner of 12th Street & Jackson. Checking it out, I learned that in 1869 an abandoned dugout at this location was used as both the first school in Wichita and a Sunday School which led to the formation of First Presbyterian Church in 1870. William Finn led both groups.

Then on to Augusta, Kansas to see the third of four museums today.

Kelly Modlin opened the Twisted Oz Motorcycle Museum in an old body shop in 2016. Today there are over 100 vintage motorcycles displayed in side by side buildings, many of the cycles are over 100 years old. The museum's web page says that admission is free, but it strongly felt like a generous donation was expected. 

The owner's brother took a half hour showing me around the collection. I could tell that many of the bikes are special, but in all honesty they aren't really my thing. I actually was more interested in the old Valentine Diner sitting in the main gallery and many items from the old Joyland Amusement Park which operated in Wichita from 1949 to 2004. The Joyland artifacts are courtesy of Jerry Ottaway, a motorcycle fan from the family which owned Joyland.

The next stop was at Paradise Doll Hospital & Museum in Towanda, Kansas. The collection of approximately 7,000 dolls fills a row of attached sheds. There are few labels or information about the dolls. One room has about 500 Barbie dolls. The museum is not a good place for people who are sensitive to cigarette smoke. The museum is owned by Barbra Bush and has been open since 1989.

I started a leisurely trip back across Kansas, with the first stop in Cassoday, The long closed Cassoday Cafe has a banner proclaiming that Sundance Saloon is coming soon. but their was no evidence that any work is being done.

Before leaving the area, I drove east 4 miles on NE 150th Street to a field where there have been wild horses every time I checked. They weren't near the road today, but there were about 23 horses in the field a few hundred yards away.

After driving back to Cassoday, I headed north on K-177 stopping wherever there was something which looked interesting. The first stop was a Scenic Overlook with markers about Pioneer Bluffs Ranch. 

Next up was the PrairyArt Path at Matfield Station. There is four miles of walking paths through prairie with cattle pens, sculptures and vistas. I walked a fairly short stretch between K-177 and active railroad tracks. Freight trains passed every 10-15 minutes. I like all the wildflowers along the paths!

The next brief stop was at Pioneer Bluffs, a historic ranch and wedding venue next to K-177. The buildings are closed, but visitors are welcome to walk the grounds and hike during daylight hours. 

The final stop on the highway was where a sign denotes a "scenic view" about 3 miles south of Cottonwood Falls. There isn't enough elevation for Schrumpf Hill Scenic Overlook to offer a view better than many places on the highway, but there is a paved walkway with signs with photos and descriptions next to several of the native plants at the Overlook. Many were in bloom today.

In Cottonwood Falls I took fresh photos of the beautiful Chase County Courthouse and the Cottonwood River Dam and Bridge.

We had learned that after over a year of being closed, Ad Astra Food & Drink in Strong City reopened last week under the new ownership of Jared Roberts of Jim Roberts & Son Western apparel store in Cottonwood Falls and with chef Stan Lerner of Chef Stan’s Place in Strong City. 

The restaurant had closed over a year ago due to staffing shortages and the new restaurant is dealing with the same issue. The inaugural menu had 7 items and just 3 of those (denoted by check marks) were available tonight. They were an 18 ounce ribeye with French fries for $65, bison burger with fries for $18 or hamburger with fries for $13.

There were no other side dishes or options, just the frozen crinkle cut fries. The server did not ask how the bison burger should be cooked and it came well done. It was a bit dry, but otherwise fine. Grilled onions was a welcome option.

Jared has big plans for the restaurant, including expanding the dining room into the storefront on the left and eventually reopening the market on the other side of that store. I wish them luck and look forward to trying them again when they have their feet under them.

Gepard 1A1
 
 
 
 
 
 

M5A1 Stuart Tank
 

Buster at the grill
 
 
 

Katrina Stockton
 
 
 
 
 

First School Monument
 
 
 

Joyland Artifacts
 

  Paradise Doll Hospital & Museum

Wild Horses
 

PrairyArt Path
 
 
 

Compass Plant
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ad Astra Food & Drink

The rest of the zoo was a disappointment today, with few animals on exhibit. We went by habitat after habitat with no animals visible and other than a male lion, I never got photographs of other animals after Giraffe & Friends.

Across the street we also enjoyed the children's play area and saw the new electric Gage Park Mini Train in use.

You order at a counter just inside the door and the menu is on a large board above the counter. We ordered a 4 meat plate, selecting brisket, house made jalapeño cheddar sausage, bacon burnt ends and pork ribs. with bacon & blue potato salad. and smoked elotes as our choice of sides for $32.

The meats are very good, with the pork ribs having some of the best flavor of any ribs I have had. On our first  the meat literally fell onto the plate off the bones and had to picked up with a fork, but the the ribs were firmer on this visit. They were still tender, but held together until you bit into them.

The brisket is as good as the ribs. The meat is nicely seasoned and if you like fat, the fatty parts of the brisket are heavenly as they melt in your month. You also need to be a fan of fatty meat to appreciate the bacon burnt ends.

My favorite thing about the jalapeño cheddar sausage is dipping it in the house made mustard BBQ sauce.

The smoked elotes (Mexican street corn) is the best side I have tried, but still only average. The bacon & blue potato salad is OK, but overall I am unimpressed with the side dishes. 

Diners also come with house made pickled vegetables. They make a nice garnish, but I didn't notice many people eating them.

4 Meat Plate

It turns out that the farm is also an event space and the more I looked, the less it looked like the sunflower field was open to the public. I took a few photos, but did not enter the field.

Returning home, I contacted the slef pick strawberry farm and was informed that the public is not welcome. The sunflowers are just there for the enjoyment of people attending events.

We are off to explore southeast Kansas. I have been in that region about 3 times a year for 16 years, but still found enough to fill the weekend.

First stop of the trip was at White Tail Run Winery and Vineyard northeast of Edgerton, Kansas. We just learned that they have sunflowers for the public. They are only available when the winery tasting room is open. There were fewer sunflowers than we expected. The owner's son grows them, they have small flowers and the patch is only about 400 square feet. The winery is doing a "Sunflowers & Sangria" event this weekend, though near as I can tell the only thing being done special is the sunflowers have started blooming.

We were told that he is also growing sunflowers with larger flowers, which should bloom sometime this fall.

In the tasting room, we did a tasting of 6 wines for $8. We liked the slushies and probably would have purchased  some to take with us, but they wouldn't stay cold in our ice chest for 3 hot days. We did get a couple of bottles of their semi sweet Seyval.

Supper was at Troyers 1883 in Garnett, Kansas. We had the best table in the upstairs dining room (up a long, steep flight of stairs), with a view of courthouse square. The actual courthouse was completely hidden by trees.

We ordered rib eye with chessy (sic) potatoes and a half order of lasagna. They don't ever offer blue cheese dressing for the salads, but they were very good, served on chilled plates and the dressings they did have were still good.

The steak was well done, rather than the medium ordered. The meat was marbled less than rib eye usually is and had little seasoning. The potatoes were cut like hash browns and served au gratin. I didn't finish them or take them with us. The lasagna was fine, but not a treat.

Other than the salads, the highlight of the meal was the peanut butter cream pie.

In Chanute, we checked that the street mural in the center of downtown at the intersection at Main and Lincoln still proclaims that when Google Earth starts up on Apple products, the default position is this intersection.

We had a good night's rest at the Holiday Inn Express, which is new since the last time we stayed in Chanute. My only complaint was they assigned us an accessible room without asking and it wasn't quite as comfortable. I would definitely stay hear again.

Sunflowers & grape vines

Garnett Square
 

Rib eye & cheesy potatoes
 

Main & Lincoln