Kansas
Travel Blog
Chronicling
changes to KansasTravel.org and Keith's exploration
& photographing Kansas restaurants, attractions, museums, festivals
and art. Contact him.
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Thursday
- August 1, 2024: I spent last night at the Best Western Plus Wichita
West Airport Inn. I had a good night's sleep and a decent free breakfast.
My only complaint was that the wifi wasn't working, but I used my phone
as a hot spot and it wasn't really a problem.
Today
began with a drive to Augusta, where I photographed an old silo which has
been painted by Diana Burress. Diana is a real estate agent who does a
lot to increase her visibility in the community. She also plants a field
of sunflowers for the public every summer.
I
headed south toward Douglas, but along the way found myself passing Meadowlark
Farm Orchard and Cidery. I purchased their cider at Old Town Farm &
Art Market a coupe of years ago. I've been wanting to visit the farm, but
they never responded to inquiries about when they are open. Since I was
driving nearby, I drove over and saw a sign that they had opened at 10
AM.
After
parking I walked over to the farm store, where I was warmly welcomed. I
purchased some hard cider to enjoy later at home. The staff saw me taking
photos and encouraged me to visit the cidery and to visit the apple orchard.
I
had lunch at Betty's in Douglas, Kansas. Arriving a little after 11, they
weren't very busy when I arrived, but were pretty full by the time I left.
I ordered a Betty Burger, small French fries and onion straws. The single
burger is a quarter pound and is $5.99. A large selections of extras are
available at no charge and I had grilled onions, raw onions, mustard, onions
and
pickles. Cheese is extra, but only $.36 (that isn't a typo). The fries
and onion straws were good as well, but wanting to retry another nearby
restaurant and had only a few of each.
My
second lunch was at Louis Rose Hill Cafe in Rose Hill, Kansas. I dined
here last summer and was very happy with the Bob's Blaze Burger (sautéed
onion & jalapenos, pepper jack cheese, and cayenne). I really enjoyed
it last year and was considering getting the same burger this year, but
made a small change to the Cajun Blaze (sautéed onions, Swiss cheese
and cayenne). The restaurant was very busy, perhaps too busy, the burger
was dry and not very tasty.
I
had read many good comments about the chicken fried steak sandwich and
tried that as well (no, I didn't have more than a few bites of any of these).
It was dry almost crunchy. I wouldn't try it again.
The
onion rings were the best part of the meal, but I enjoyed the onion straws
at Betty's more.
Before
leaving Rose Hill, I stopped by Jurassic Art,
which has dozens of welded grassroots art creations by Phil Brinkley. I
didn't notice as many new works of art this year, though it is harder to
remember if I have seen a given piece before. Phil came out in the yard
too talk with me and invited me inside to see the two wheel motorcycle
which he turned into a three wheeled dragon in the past year.
He
also showed me some small pieces which he is making to sell and some very
cool trophies which he is making for a car show this fall.
Back
in Wichita, I revisited Cathedral
of the Immaculate Conception, the Catholic cathedral. I was last there
in just 2021, but the remains of Father Emil J. Kapaun, US Medal of Honor
recipient from the Korean War, had since been identified and interred in
the church since then.
There
is a small display devoted to Father Kapaun in the hall, with the interment
in the east transept of the cathedral. The building is open tot he public
during week days, but the doors are kept locked and you enter through the
Parish Office at the rear of the building.
Before
leaving Wichita, I drove over to the Wichita State University campus to
revisit the Pizza Hut Museum, a museum in the building which housed the
first ever Pizza Hut. The museum was unexplainably closed during hours
it is scheduled to be open, the last time I was there and I wanted to make
sure it is open. It was open and I made a brief tour. The museum isn't
very large and it doesn't take long to see all of the exhibits, but I do
find them interesting. The visitor registry shows several people a day
visiting the museum.
I
drove back north to Emporia to check on the extension work which has been
done to the David Traylor Zoo. Unfortunately
they had closed the zoo at 3 PM as part of Zoo keepers Week. Their Facebook
page had given no notice. With it being a very hot day and no other stops
planned in town, I stopped by the Emporia Library to read for a while and
get out of the heat.
I
drove north to Americus to have supper at Rolling Hills Bar and Grill.
I've read a lot of good things about this restaurant. The entry which gets
the most positive comments is the chicken fried steak, but I wasn't in
the mood for that today and went with ribeye. It is was only $36, but I
ordered it with a couple of upgrades, sautéed mushrooms and onion
rings as one of the sides.
The
upgrades were only $1 each and I thought the mushrooms were particularly
tasty and a generous serving. The ribeye was cooked medium, exactly as
ordered. It was tender and had good flavor. The French fries were also
very good. I don't' know if I had ordered onion rings too many times before,
but I didn't care much for these.
I
had seen good things about the pies and tried the sour cream and raisin,
which is one of my favorites. It was pretty good, but I think I will try
a different pie the next time I go here.
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Diana Burress Silo
Path to orchard
Betty's
Louis Rose Hill Cafe
The weeds have grown up around Sir Allen the Knight
Father Kapaun Tomb
Rolling Hills Bar and Grill |
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Friday
- August 2, 2024: We had supper at Brobeck's
BBQ in Overland Park. The food was much like always and we each had
the Brobecks Combo Platter which gives you a lot of meat, three ribs, polish
sausage, and one sliced meat for $17.49. We had a lot of meat to take home,
in particular because I chose the smoked ham salad as one of my two sides.
Brobeck's
has somewhat limited hours and is closed on Sundays and Mondays, but we
learned tonight that this year they are going to be open from 11 AM - 4
PM on Sundays when the Kansas City Chiefs have a game.
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Saturday
- August 3, 2024: We joined families from Lenexa United Methodist Church
to enjoy a morning at Deanna
Rose Children's Farmstead in Overland Park, Kansas.
The
Farmstead began as a petting zoo in 1978, and was renamed in 1985 to honor
Deanna Rose, an Overland Park police officer killed in the line of duty.
It has grown greatly over the years, particularly in the past 15 years,
but the most popular attraction appears to still be feeding the goats.
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Deanna Rose |
Friday
- August 9, 2024: We visited Shively
Farms in Berryton, Kansas. It is the new name of Berry Hill UPick Farm.
This was not an ownership change, just a change to the family name. Their
first sunflower bloom of 2024 is a little past peak, but still nice. A
second field will bloom in October.
The
old truck shown in the photo is new to the field since the last time we
visited.
For
lunch we revisited 7.8.5 Kitchen, LaVale Jackson's soul food restaurant
on Gage Blvd. in Topeka. LaVale is from Topeka, but both of his parents
are from Louisiana. He is still the only person working in the restaurant
when we have been there. He takes orders, cooks, cleans, etc.
We
were the first ones in the restaurant a little after 11 AM, but there was
a steady stream of customers behind us, either dining in or making orders
to go. LaVale tried to convince all of the carry out customers to take
photos of the menu and call in their future orders in advance.
He
warned me that my chicken wings would take longer than many things and
we did have a fairly long wait for our food, but we thought the food was
worth it.
The
catfish was as good as we have had in the past. This time we went with
the sandwich with just one filet, rather than entrees. It came on Texas
toast with two sides for $10. The yams, green beans and greens were all
good. The beans included a slice of sausage.
The
wings were surprisingly reasonably priced with 4 complete wings and two
sides for just $12. The wings were flavored nicely with a dry rub which
included cayenne. The French fries appeared to be fresh cut and were very
good, as was the red beans & rice.
For
supper, we tried the newly relocated Burnt End BBQ in DeSoto, Kansas. They
used to be in Overland Park,
but switched to this location about two weeks ago. The restaurant was busy
when we arrived and all table were full a few minutes later. They have
a bar, inside seating and three outside tables with lawn games.
Our
server had a great personality, but made multiple errors. I'm not going
to hold that against a place which has been open 2 weeks. We would have
ordered some fried cornbread bites, but while we were looking at the menus,
a sample of them was brought to our table. The cornbread fan in our party
says that they are good.
The
menu is long and it will take several visits for us to feel we know their
products. Tonight we had pork ribs, chicken wings and onion rings. The
ribs were good, chicken wings had a very nice, sweet flavor and the onion
rings were average. I want to try their onion straws in a future visit.
The Burnt End Old Fashioned was a nice cocktail and priced at $12.
We
were surprised that after such a short period of being open, the half smoked
chicken listed on the menu has already been dropped.
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Shively Farms
7.8.5 Kitchen
Burnt End BBQ |
Sunday
- August 11, 2024: I wrote a new review of 7.8.5
Kitchen in Topeka and added it to our list of Unique
Kansas Restaurants. |
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Monday
- August 12, 2024: I added a new page about Towanda
Area Historical Museum in Towanda, Kansas. It iis in a building which
was constructed in 1904 and originally housed the Towanda Masonic Lodge.
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Saturday
- August 24, 2024: We had lunch at Dunn Deal BBQ, which opened in downtown
Grandview, Missouri on March 30 of this year. The Chef owner, Gerald Dunn,
is a jazz saxaphone player and director of music at the American Jazz Museum
in Kansas City, Missouri. He grew up in south Texas where he had a food
truck. Following a food truck event in front of Grandview city hall a few
years ago, he was looking to move here and he was contacted following the
death of the owner of Lueck’s Barbecue & General Store (at this same
location) passed away last year.
Presently
the restaurant is open only Fridays and Saturdays and is carry out only.
The
restaurant has a small counter with all the food preparation out of site.
There is also a display of rub, sauce & BBQ competition trophies and
a nice large, comfortable place to wait for your food order.
Another
jazz muscician came in to order food while we were waiting and Gerald came
out to see him when our food was ready. He also made a point of meeting
us, asking our names and being very welcoming. When he learned that we
do not live nearby, he invited us to eat in the waiting area, but there
is only one tall surface and it would mean holding things in out laps.
He said that the city is supposed to be getting him some picnic tables
to go in the lot next door. Next year he plans on having live jazz (other
artists) in that space outside.
I
had searched nearby parks online and the closest place I could find picnic
tables was in the Red Bridge neighborhood about 9 miles away. As we drove
there, I had the bag of food on my lap and the smell reminded my of Wyandot
BBQ in Kansas City Kansas.
We
got a two meat, 2 side special, selecting beef brisket, pork ribs, baked
beans and and French fries $25, with a sausage link added for $6. The meats
were all served in the same styrofoam box and garnished with pickles, onions
and a roasted, whole jalapeno pepper.
When
I ordered the sausage, I learned there was a choice of beef, andoule, or
jalapeno and chedder. When I asked the man at the counter which one he
thought was the best choice, he said that people asked that question a
lot, but he didn't know because he didn't eat any of them. I ordered the
beef and it was my favorite of the the meats which we tried. Nicely seasoned
and smoked.
The
pork ribs were also quite good, had a nice flavor from a rub and did not
need any sauce. The brisket was fine, but my least favorite of the three.
The fries suffered a bit from the delay as we drove to the park to eat
them, but were still fairly good. The beans had two types of beans, not
much seasoning and neither of us cared that much for them.
The
sauce was similar to many of the newer BBQ restaurants, thin and not very
tomatoey. The only thing I used them for was to dip the fries, but the
sauce pretty much all slid off the fries.
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Dunn Deal BBQ
Gerald Dunn
brisket, ribs, sausage |
Friday
- August 30, 2024: I revisited Hawg
Jaw Que & Brew in North Kansas City, Missouri. I had not been there
since December 2021. Today I ordered two of my favorite meats, smoked chicken
and smoked corned beef. The corned beef was great as always and needed
no sauce.
The
chicken, which is finished in a deep fryer, was pretty dry and I added
some of the Boss Man's sauce. ''The smoked ketchup is still good on the
fries.
I
also stopped by the Rock Island Bridge, a former railroad bridge over the
Kansas River in Kansas City, Kansas, near Hy-Vee Arena in KCMO. It is being
repurposed as a performance and event space and is scheduled to open in
the spring of 2025, but it appears that there is a lot remaining to be
done and it doesn't look like work is being done at this time.
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1/4 chicken combo & corned beef
Rock Island Bridge |
Saturday
- August 31, 2024: We visited Grinter's
Sunflower Farm in Lawrence, Kansas which is the best known public sunflower
farm in Kansas. In recent years they try to target Labor Day for the blooms
being open and they will be very course. They are just short of opening
today.
There
are two fields again this year, One is to the east, where they have grown
sunflowers many times. The second is close to their Sunflower General store.
The sunflowers there appear to be several days slower, which is nice, as
that will mean there will probably be nice fields to visit for a longer
time.
There
were many people visiting the fields already.
At
lunch we tried The Weather Room in downtown Topeka. In May of this year,
People Magazine called this restaurant the most beautiful in Kansas. (Actually,
the list said the 50 most beautiful in the country, but it listed one per
state). It is attractive, but I will let you be the judge from the photo
at the right. That is actually the most attractive of the three rooms and
isn't actually used at lunch.
We
had a grilled chicken sandwich with house made chips and Cyrus Smash Burger
with house made French fries. Both meals were good. I preferred the fries
to the chips.
The
sandwich had marinated grilled chicken, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato,
and red pepper aioli on a brioche bun. The chicken was much bigger than
the bun.
The
burger had two thick beef patties. I wouldn't call it a smash burger, but
that is good for me. I prefer a thick juicy burger.
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Grinter's Sunflower Farm
The Weather Room |
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