Kansas
Travel Blog
Chronicling
changes to KansasTravel.org and Keith's exploration
& photographing Kansas restaurants, attractions, museums, festivals
and art. Contact him.
![Art Prints Art Prints](Blank.jpg)
|
|
Wednesday
- May 1, 2024: We are off to participate in the 2024 Big Kansas Road
Trip, an annual event to encourage people to visit rural Kansas and get
to know local residents and culture. This year's BKRT is in Ellsworth County,
Lincoln County and Lucas, Kansas.
We
wanted to have all of Thursday (the first day of the BKRT) to visit things,
so we left on Wednesday afternoon, driving across I-70 and stopping for
supper in Abilene, Kansas at M&R Grill which has a specialty sandwich
which I wanted to try to see if it measures up to our Best Kansas Burger
List. I ordered the grill signature burger, the M&R PB&B, a burger
topped with creamy peanut butter, Sriracha, bacon and pickles on a brioche
bun.
A
little later the server returned to inform me that they were out of Sriracha.
I tried a chicken fried steak instead, which was fine, though nothing that
stood out.
We
drove on to Wilson, Kansas to stay at the Midland Railroad Hotel &
Restaurant, one of the few places for lodging in the area included in the
Big Kansas Road Trip. The handsome 1899 post rock hotel was one of the
settings used in the 1973 movie, Paper Moon, with Tatum and Ryan O'Neal.
We previously stayed at the hotel in 2012 and our room had been quite small.
I wanted something more comfortable for our four night stay, so we in the
Queen Jacuzzi Suite, the only suite available the dates of our visit. I
was pleased when the clerk checking us in and asked if we were AAA members.
It entitled us to a 10% discount.
|
Chicken fried steak
Separate sitting room
|
|
|
Thursday
- May 2, 2024: Our night at the Midland Hotel was a little less restful
than I hoped for. The bed sagged and train passing through a short distance
away sound their their horns multiple times when passing through Wilson.
Strangely enough the city fire whistle sounds each day at 7 AM, noon and
6 PM. Not necessarily what you want to wake up to when on vacation.
There
was a minimal continental breakfast included until 9 AM, though it was
largely gone by 8:30 when we came down. Still, I will not count that against
them at all, since their website and email room confirmation said nothing
about including breakfast.
The
first stop of the day was at Svaty Ranch, west of Ellsworth, Kansas. The
ranch is one of just four public off range pastures providing a home for
wild horses in the United States. There are many other ranches where wild
horses are boarded for the Bureau of Land Management, but the others are
not open to the public. I had been trying to arrange a tour of the ranch
for 3 years without success and jumped on the opportunity to visit this
day.
The
ranch cares for 225 horses gathered from public range lands throughout
the West. They have a large space to range and were in an area of the ranch
that cannot be seen from the road, but Jake Svaty took us and Marsha, his
new bride of one month, near the horses riding on hay bales sitting on
the flat bed of feed truck. The ground was very irregular and the ride
was a little bit of an adventure. The horses were standoffish today and
we didn't get as close as desired, but it was still fun.
We
did see 7 or 8 young wild horses up close, before going on the tour. They
are gentled wild horses less than two years old which are available for
adoption for $125. There is an incentive program to encourage adoption
where the adopter may receive up to $1,000 when they have kept the horses
for one year.
We
spent more time than I had expected at Svaty Ranch, so I adjusted our schedule
and we went into Ellsworth to do some shopping, first at Ellsworth Packing,
a family owned meat packing plant. We were surprised to learn that we were
the first people doing the BKRT to visit. There was no tour, but the owner,
Kim Schneider, did offer some samples and we purchased sausage and beef
snack sticks. She is at least the third generation of the family to operate
the company.
We
drove to downtown Ellsworth and visited several stores, making purchases
at Raised Rustic & Refine design and photographing two nice murals
across the street. We stopped to visit the Ellsworth Area Arts Council
Gallery, but despite being listed as open at this time for the BKRT, it
was all locked up. Other visitors were trying to go to the gallery at the
same time.
For
lunch we drove a few miles east to Orozco's Portales Cafe in Kanopolis.
The Mexican restaurant is in a neat old storefront and has extremely reasonable
prices. I had a taco burger and French fries, while Linda had a soft taco
and beef enchilada, The fries were so-so, but I enjoyed the large taco
burger. We were surprised at how the taco and enchilada filled a plate.
We had a lot of food for only $17 including one drink.
While
waiting for our meal we talked with another couple doing the Big Kansas
Road Trip. They live in Indianapolis, Indiana and come for the BKRT every
year. They had started there day with a visit to one of the Missile Silos
which was offering tours and thoroughly enjoyed it. They were also staying
at the Midland Hotel and we ran into them several times over the balance
of the weekend.
From
Kanopolis we drove to the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism
Kanopolis Lake office where Ranger, Wendy Bowles led a caravan of vehicles
to Horse Thief Canyon where she led a two hour hike featuring wild plants,
rock formations and canyon walls. The farthest point on the hike was a
buffalo jump where native Americans harvested bison by running them off
a cliff. We also visited a cave across the canyon where they would process
the carcass and skins.
We
headed to Lincoln County to continue the day, with our next stop being
the Wolf Creek Bridge, west of Sylvan Grove. It was described as a four
arch bridge and when we arrived I was surprised it wasn't longer than it
was. Of course you can't see anything but the road surface until you park
and get over to the side.
It
turned out that the arches are not end to end, but lateral arches, two
on each end with a stretch or road running across. It is an interesting
looking bridge!
We
had supper Fly Boy Brewery & Eats in Sylvan Grove. It was early on
a Thursday evening, but the restaurant was already quite busy, with a great
many of the customers being obviously part of the BKRT. A party of Explorers
including our dear friends and great promoters of rural Kansas, Marci Penner
and WenDee Rowe.
We
ordered chicken alfredo and ribeye (with added mushrooms & blue cheese).
All were good though nothing that would lead me to town.
My
favorite parts of the meal were an Old Fashioned (which was only $9) and
a skillet cookie which was a baked to order chocolate chip cookie topped
with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.
Before
returning to Wilson for the night, we drove north a few miles to see Sage
Drive Bridge, an abandoned limestone arch bridge It looked neat, with trees
growing out of the roadway, but both side of the river were marked no trespassing,
so we couldn't shift around for better views and photos.
Since
we were less than a mile from the South Fork Spillman Creek Double-Arch
Bridge, I revisited that bridge as well.
|
Wild horses
Wild horses for adoption
Kim Schneider
Mural by David Alexander
Orozco's Portales
Buffalo Jump
Wolf Creek Bridge
Marci Penner & WenDee Rowe
|
Friday
- May 3, 2024: Off for another early stop, we drove back to Ellsworth
and south to the Bar J Ranch which normally isn't open to the public. As
we pulled in, about a third of the vehicles parked in yard were Model A's
from the Wichita A's Model A Ford Club.
The
family at Bar J Ranch was joined by their neighbors to brand this year's
calves. As soon as we got out of our vehicle we could hear the cattle calling
in the distance. As we approached the corral, a group of men & women
on horse back brought what looked like about two hundred cattle into the
corral, then started separating the calves from their mothers. It was amazing
watching the horses shift and dance, moving the mothers into the next space
and leaving the calves.
Then
the ranch owner and one of his sons started lassoing the calves and bringing
them close to the audience where a team would hold down the calves while
they were branded, tagged and given shots. The branding was done with two
irons, one with the J and one with the bar.
On
our way back to Wilson, we detoured north almost to I-70 to visit Oak Creek
Mini Jerseys. The farm dairy breeds and raises Mini-Jersey cows. After
watching some people playing with the cows, we went to the store where
they sell butter, ice cream, cream, milk, hot fudge sauce, salted
caramel, yogurt plus home made soaps, lotions and other products. They
hadn't started their soft serve ice cream machine for the day and we couldn't
keep hard ice cream frozen for 3 days, so our purchases were limited to
hot fudge sauce, salted caramel, and butter.
We
have been in Wilson, Kansas many times, but today we were mainly checking
out things that are new or normally not open to the public, but first we
had lunch at The Snack Shack. The Snack Shack opened in May 1962, but the
present owners took over in June 2022.
We
ordered a scalloped potatoes with ham dinner and fried chicken gizzards
with French fries. The gizzards were rather tough, with a batter which
reminded me of deep fried mushrooms. The fries were frozen crinkle cut.
The scalloped potatoes and my hot fudge shake were both quite good and
I will be back to try them again. Unfortunately the scalloped potatoes
was a daily special and not often on the menu.
Then
we visited a 1904 stone building which the Wilson Tourism Hub purchased
and has a variety of functions. There as a co-working area, the Midland
Mercantile and Art Gallery, the Betty Kepka Gallery and Museum, and Native
American artifacts gallery. With it being so many things (perhaps an incubator)
it is a little hard to define and promote.
I
found the Betty Kepka Gallery the most interesting. It showcases the works
of the late Betty Kepka featuring original artwork in multiple media and
hand painted Czech Eggs.
Leaving
our vehicle where it was, we walked over to Wilson Family Foods, a small
market and hardware that has its own specialty smoked meats. We had shopped
here before and purchased a few items to take home.
Next
we visited the First Presbyterian Church and Wilson United Methodist Church,
which share together in mission and ministry, worshiping alternate months
in each church.
They
were followed by a visit to Wilson Heritage Museum, a small museum which
is preserving Czech artifacts including dishes, kroje, kraslice-painted
eggs, and Czech inspired artwork. Also an eclectic selection of other things
which have been donated by members of the community. I don't believe it
will interest most people who don't have a strong tie to the community,
until there is a significant curating of the collection.
Our
final stop in Wilson was at the Immanuel Lutheran Church, which decorates
its sanctuary with wheat weaving each year during harvest and had the weaving
up for the benefit of people participating in the Big Kansas Road Trip.
After
a brief stop at Kansas Originals, we returned to Sylvan Grove and visited
the Yesterday House Museum. I had been there once years ago, but as soon
as I entered, the docent had said that they were closing early. The museum
is a single room and largely photographs. With my not having a connection
to Sylvan Grove, it didn't take very long to tour.
A
few doors south, we visited the interesting 1887 Union Pacific Railroad
Depot. It has a museum of railroad memorabilia and a model train. There
was antique farm equipment displayed on the grounds.
Our
final stop in Sylvan Grove was at the 1913 Evangelical Lutheran School.
The former school is slowly being restored by the members of the adjacent
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, who also use the facility. Many of the former
classrooms are still set up as they were when it was in use as a school
through 1981, including the 7th & 8th grade room which has a time out
chair shielded from the rest of the room.
The
highlight of visiting the school was some great peach cobbler served with
ice cream.
At
4 PM we went a few miles northwest of Sylvan Grove to the Vonada Post Rock
Quarry, which is part of the Vonada family farm. An attentive crowd enjoyed
a demonstration of how settlers split the limestone using feathers and
wedges to make fence posts and building blocks. They also showed a progression
of methods and power tools eventually were used. I was particularly fascinated
by petrified driftwood and fossil shells found in the stone.
We
returned to the Midland Railroad Hotel in Wilson where I got to finally,
briefly meet one of the people who is active on the TripAdvisor forums
who lives nearby.
We
had 6:30 reservation for dinner at the The Sample Room Tavern in the basement
of the hotel and were joined by friends from our church who are also members
of the Kansas Explorers. We all went with the Fried chicken special, which
is usually only available on Thursdays. For $13.99 you get a quarter chicken
(you choice of white or dark) plus mashed potatoes, coleslaw, creamed corn
and the dessert of the day. The chicken, corn and potatoes were all good.
Service was very slow, but I enjoyed the meal much more than the last meal
which I had at the Midland Hotel several years ago.
|
Separating the cattle
Holding a calf
Mini Jerseys
The Snack Shack
Betty Kepka Gallery
Wilson United Methodist Church
Union Pacific Railroad Depot
Evangelical Lutheran School
Vonada Post Rock Quarry
Sample Room Tavern
|
Saturday
- May 4, 2024: Our third full day of the Big Kansas Road Trip began
in Sylvan Grove where The Stump was to be held on the grounds of the Union
Pacific Railroad Depot. It was a cool, windy morning and The Stump was
moved into the nearby Warehouse/Farmers Elevator Co where the Senior Center
was hosting a burrito breakfast.
The
Stump is a series of Kansas travel trivia contests where Marci Penner asks
the questions and the first person with the correct answer gets a ticket.
Several small gifts were awarded at the end and I won a cosmetic bag with
the Big Kansas Road Trip logo on it.
We
drove north to Denmark, Kansas, stopping on the way into town to photograph
the Indian Raid Monument. Our first stop in Denmark was the Denmark Lutheran
Church and adjacent Denmark Hall. Other than three specific events, this
is the busiest place which we have visited so far during the BKRT. The
most unusual (to me) thing about the church is the model of a sailing ship
hanging above the organ. I've learned that they are called votive ships
and are common in churches in Scandinavia. They are a carry over from a
middle ages tradition of offerings for the protection of loved ones or
in memory of ones lost at sea.
Denmark
Lutheran Cemetery is behind the church.
Next
door at the 1911 Denmark Hall, they were demonstrating cooking Aebelskiver
(Danish pancakes) and giving out samples.
A
couple of blocks west is the post rock Anderson Building, which once housed
4 businesses. Two of the store fronts are being restored for use as a museum/cultural
center by the Denmark Preservation Foundation. They intend to convert the
remaining units into an incubator space for artists & artisans and
a coffee shop.
Near
the Anderson building is the Trail Creek Limestone Bridge, a single arch
limestone bridge over Trail Creek which was built in 1941 as a WPA project.
Lunch
was in Lincoln, Kansas at the Post Rock Restaurant. The Himalayan restaurant
opened in 2021 and I had a good meal there in 2022. Much as I wanted to
try more of their Asian dishes, if I'm going to make a page about the restaurant,
I felt I needed to try one of their cheeseburgers as well. Linda ordered
the butter chicken (which was highly recommended by friends who ate there
the day before). The server snorted when I ordered a cheeseburger and fries.
I
wouldn't get the burger again, but the butter chicken was quite good. When
I dined there the first time, there was a nice assortment of hot sauces
scattered among the tables. This time there was only ketchup, mustard,
salt & pepper.
Hot
sauces (if desired) must be requested. The dishes I have sampled in the
two visits so far have had no heat whatsoever.
Before
leaving, I asked to look at one of the motel rooms. It looked clean and
in good repair. The couple who own the motel and restaurant, Dil &
Bimla Darjee, are originally from Bhutan and found the motel for sale while
looking for a business when they were living in St. George, Utah.
After
lunch, we drove a short distance east of Lincoln to the "Lincoln's Free
House" which went viral on social media a couple of years ago with people
from all over the country wanting to save the house. The story of the moving
and restoration of the home was told on the TV Show "In with the Old" in
an episode titled "The Big Green Monster."
The
house (which is still a work in progress) is now the home of Eddie and
Julie Flores and their family. It isn't normally open to visitors, but
was open as part of the BKRT. We squeezed into the house full of people
to hear the Flores tell their story. Julie was so fun and enthusiastic!
Next
it was a 45 minute drive to the far end of the two counties, to Holyrood.
Our first stop was the historic Santa Fe Depot, which was built in 1887
and restored in 2014-2020. The community was hosting "Pickin' and Pie at
the Depot" with a selection of pies for a donation and an acoustic folk
music jam circle featuring area musicians. This was similar to fundraising
events held to support the depot which have been conducted twice before.
I hope they will become an annual event!
After
photographing a few of the older buildings in Holyrood, we toured St. Mary's
Catholic Church. It is a classic wooden frame church appearing to be from
the late 1800s.
Working
with the schedule of events across the Big Kansas Road Trip, we now found
ourselves driving 50 miles northwest to Lucas, Kansas. Our first stop in
Lucas,
Kansas (The Grassroots Art Capital of Kansas) was at Dew Dat Den, which
is the new studio of Rob Lindsay. The building was originally an art deco
service station in the 1930s. Although primarily it is just a drive by
of some sculptures, Rob was present and showed us the interior, including
some of his art projects and the press he uses for making some of his prints.
We ran into Rob several more times while we were in Lincoln later in the
day.
On
Main street we were in and out of several businesses, including 102 year
old Brant's meats, where we bought some sausage. At the library there was
a display of art made by folding the pages of books (called concertina,
accordions or leporellos). Library users had made them and some were offered
for sale. The ones I might have purchased were already sold.
The
library's community room had a display of Victorian Geckos. They are High-End
Leopard and Crested Geckos which are raised locally and shipped to purchasers
around the country.
Other
main street highlights included revisiting Switchgrass (art co-op with
the work of largely self taught Lucas artists, Erika Nelson's fabulous
World's Largest Things Roadside Sideshow Expo and a wonderful chat and
tour with Rita Sharp, the owner and publisher of Lucas-Sylvan News and
the Lucas Publishing Company.
We
had an early supper at K-18 Cafe, which I have been meaning to revisit
for several years. We had chicken fried steak with fries, ham and mashed
potatoes and peanut butter pie.
We
had timed our visit to Lucas to coincide with an after hours open house
with Friends of S.P. Dinsmoor's Garden of
Eden board of directors. I haven't toured the Garden since the restoration
done by the Kohler Foundation. Aside from the preservation of the site,
the restoration was mostly not obvious to me, which I guess is a good thing.
One thing which has changed since my previous visits, is that the pagoda
stone and concrete mausoleum is now kept locked and you need to request
that it be opened, so they can monitor visitors and enforce the no photos
rule.
Back
at the Midland Hotel in Wilson, we changed and went out to the Barn to
enjoy big band music and a swing dancing exhibition. It was a lot of fun
and enjoyed by the small crowd. The dancers were going on to another location
for another style of dancing later in the evening.
|
The Stump
Denmark Lutheran Church
Eddie & Julie Flores
Pickin' at the Depot
Rita Sharp
Big Band
|
Sunday
- May 4, 2024: For us, the final day of the Big Kansas Road Trip is
about the annual meeting of the Kansas Explorer's Club, followed by the
drive home. This year's meeting was scheduled to be on the grounds of the
Lincoln Court House at 10 AM. The meeting was moved into the nearby Finch
Theatre, and an enthusiastic crowd squeezed into the narrow room.
For
several years the highlight of the meeting has been the announcement of
the location of the next year's BKRT. Today we learned that the road trip
format is changing from a four day multi county event to four one day pop
up adventures, with each one limited to just one town.
The
first of the new Pop Up Road Trips is coming August 24 in Blue Rapids.
None of the others were announced, but one of them will be on the first
Saturday in May.
I
will be sad to see the existing format ended, but understand that it will
require a lot less work. We will do whatever we can to support and promote
the new format.
As
we started out of Lincoln, we stopped by Lincoln Cemetery to photograph
the suitcase shaped tombstone which marks the grave of traveling salesman
J. S. Jacobs who passed away in 1891. I've known about the tombstone for
many years, but somehow never made it there before.
For
lunch, we stopped at Sam's Southern Eatery in Salina, Kansas. I learned
that the one year old restaurant is part of a modest chain with about 40
restaurants including Kansas locations in Wichita and Hutchinson.
The
fried fish was my favorite dish, followed by the red beans and rice. The
shrimp were large and the fried oysters were huge. That is just six oysters
cover the basket of fries on the right. I liked the hush puppies, but ate
only a couple of the battered French fries.
|
Kansas Explorer's Club Annual Meeting
Suitcase Headstone
|
|
|
Monday
- May 5, 2024: I'm off for a quick three night trip to northern Michigan
to the Straits of Mackinac to do updates for our MightyMac.org website
and Facebook pages. I took a nonstop flight to Milwaukee and then it was
about a 6 hour drive each way. I spent two nights in Mackinaw City and
one on Mackinac Island. The region is having a very early spring after
an unusually mild winter.
|
Mackinac Bridge |
Friday
- May 10, 2024: We had a nice supper at The Peanut on Sante Fe in downtown
Overland Park. This is one of my favorite places for chicken wings and
I enjoyed the three large whole wings and fries. Linda had a grilled chicken
sandwich. The large, meaty wings have a flavorful, black peppery sauce
and are among the most popular chicken wings in the Kansas City metropolitan
area. The wings and fries are a good value at $13.
With
it being a Friday evening the bar and grill was busy and particularly loud.
The service was great.
On
our way out of the neighborhood, I spotted a new mural on the side of hOMe
holistic. In recent years there have been many murals painted in and around
downtown Overland Park.
|
Chicken sandwich & wings
![hOMe holistic mural - Overland Park, Kansas](blog240510al.JPG)
|
Saturday
- May 18, 2024: I returned to Vader's Bar & Deli in Olathe, Kansas.
This time I tried the hand breaded pork tenderloin. It is $14.99 and comes
with a bag of potato chips. Not bad! I also got the homemade fried onion
straw appetizer, which was my favorite part of the meal. It is a bit too
salty, but still very good.
Then
I drove south to Gardner to visit the Gardner Historical Museum. It consists
of two buildings. The Foster House was built in 1893 and the rooms serve
as the main museum. On the adjacent lot, the 1852 Bray House provides an
administrative area. It also displays some items from the 1950s and 1960s,
but they are not particularly labeled or organized into exhibits.
The
museum is free.
|
Foster House
|
Wednesday
- May 29, 2024: I still haven't figured out what I want to say in a
new page devoted to Buck Tui, the Thai BBQ restaurant which opened in Overland
Park, Kansas during Covid in February 2022. I like the concept of this
restaurant and believe it has a genuine place in the Kansas City BBQ scene,
but haven't found a dish that I loved so much that is what I want to tie
a review to.
When
I walked in today for lunch, it was smoky inside. I found it fairly pleasant
and didn't notice it where I sat by the time my food came, but I think
it was enough to bother some people.
I
ordered the X Man sandwich, Coke product, and Salted Caramel Brownie Sundae.
The
X Man is described as brisket, heavenly pork, Thai sausage, pickle, papaya
slaw, and creamy tiger cry sauce. The sandwich is fairly thick to bite
into and the serrated knife the sandwich came with makes it easier if you
choose to cut it. The brisket was a little tougher than I like. I would
go with a little more slaw and a little less meat. on the sandwich, but
I may be an outlier there.
I
asked about the tiger cry sauce (which is quite popular and a reason many
people order this sandwich). Unlike many BBQ restaurants that refuse to
describe what goes into the sauce, I was told it was a salsa verde with
mayo and sour cream ranch with horseradish. I liked the sauce better than
ketchup with the fries, but liked the sandwich more with a touch more of
the mild bbq sauce.
Part
of the reason I ordered a sandwich is that is the only way the menu says
that French fries are available and the restaurant stresses that, *We
politely refuse any modifications or substitutions to our dishes. Thank
you! If you are a fan of battered fries you will probably like these.
I'm not a fan of battered fries and found them OK.
My
server was Anthony, who I learned is one of the managers. He gave very
good service! He brought 4 refills for my drink in a timely manner and
never made me feel like that was an inconvenience. He offered me a box
for my leftovers without without my having to ask. Better yet, he gave
good info about the dishes and offered an opinion when I asked him to help
me choose between the Thai bread pudding or warm brownie with chocolate
ice cream.
The
brownie was a little chewy, which sounds bad, but I liked it because it
released more flavor in my mouth with each chew. I thought it a little
pricey at $12 (versus $17 for the meal), but I would get it again. It was
a nice size, not so big that I ate too much on top of the meal.
|
X Man sandwich
tiger cry & BBQ sauce
Salted Caramel Brownie Sundae
|
|
|
Current
Month Kansas Travel Home
2024:
January
February March
April May June
July
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
|
|
|