The first stop of the day was Hired Man's Grocery & Grill in Conway Springs, Kansas. This local grocery store has a meat department with a good reputation for the products they prepare, including a large selection of sausages and burger meat mixed with various items. They also have bull fries, which tempted me, but we ended up with smoky bacon mozzarella brats, Philly cheese brats and roasted garlic burger.

After taking a few photos around town, we continued southwest through Harper, Kansas to the Historical Museum of Anthony which is in a large. handsome Santa Fe railroad depot which was used in Anthony, Kansas from 1928 until 1982. The museum moved the depot in 1984.

The docent on duty gave us a tour of the entire building and played a set of three chimes which were used by the first radio station in Anthony, WBL. The station was licensed from April 5, 1922 - December 15, 1924 and was one of the first radio stations in Kansas

The floors in much of the depot are made of wooden bricks, which I don't recall seeing before. Most seem to be in good condition and the grain is visible in the bricks.

One of the more interesting displays is devoted to Anthony Downs, a horse and dog racing track which operated from 1904 until 2009. There is also a two headed calf which was born nearby in 1998.

We continued into Anthony to the Where Bugs Come Alive Studio across from the County Courthouse. We were greeted by Don Atha and Rebecca Tarnow. Don started welding metal bugs from scrap metal a year and a half ago and has done about 90 pieces so far. Many of them are in the AT Sculpture Garden outside the studio, while many others can be found all over Anthony and a map is available to help you find some of them.

Following a nice chat, the four of us had lunch at Kristy's Kafe on main street. Kristy's is known for their pizza and particularly their baked potato pizza. I had the buffet and salad while trying several types of pizza, while Linda had a turkey club sandwich.

Afterward, we were shown around the Country at Heart store on the corner.

Before leaving town, we photographed some of the other bugs around town and the Anthony 9-11 Memorial, which incorporates 3 pieces of steel from the World Trade Center, limestone from the Pentagon, and dirt from the field of the crash site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

We returned to Harper, first visiting the Thompson-Wohlschlegel Round Barn ruins, east of town, which I photographed from the road. I also photographed some buildings (including one built by aviation pioneer Lloyd Stearman) and we stopped at Petro's Drive-in. 

Famed for its cherry limeade, the straight limeade tasted like Sprite. I was happier with the large crumbly NuWay style hamburger. Cash or check only.

We drove west on US160, stopping for photographs in Sharon, Attica and Medicine Lodge, then heading north through Sawyer to Pratt.

We had supper at Club D'Est in Pratt. It is open for supper, while Uptown Cafe (sharing the kitchen) is open for breakfast and lunch. We had filet mignon and a fried chicken dinner. They took a long time to come out and we started to worry that we would be late for an appointment, but they came in time. The large filet was properly cooked. The fried chicken was a bit overdone.

Just after 7 PM, we were met at the B-29 Museum by Shannon Bergner. I had previously photographed the military aircraft display and the exterior of the World War II era buildings at the airport, but we have not been in Pratt when the museum is open. The museum is located in the restored W.W.II Parachute Building. I was particularly interested in the stories about the people who served and lived at the Pratt Air Force Base during the war.

We spent the night at the Best Western - Pratt.

Historical Museum of Anthony
 
 
 
 
 
 

Don Atha

Kristy's Kafe
 
 
 
 

Petro's Drive-in
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

B-29 Museum

We continued west on US-50, pulling through Mackville, Belpre and Lewis to take photographs before arriving in Kinsley, Kansas. The first place we went in Kinsley is the Carnival Heritage Center. They have no website and our page is the leading source of information about it. For some time I have been unable to contact anyone there.

The main building which the Carnival Heritage Center was in, is now partially vacant and partially a business which was not open this day. The other building still has a sign and a handful of items, but is otherwise empty. There is no information for contacting them. We did eventually learn that one of the buildings was closed because of a roof leak and that all of the exhibits, including the carousel are in storage somewhere in town. The Center may or may not open again.

Next we visited the Edwards County Historical Society Museum which is also in Kinsley. I had previously photographed the grounds, but they had not been open. They just opened for this year's season the day before.

The main feature of the museum is a sod house which was recreated in 1958. It took a lot of work to maintain and in 2001, the museum was built around it. The rest of the museum is largely display cases with various collections of items and one wall has spaces recreating household rooms.

The grounds has a 1917 church which was moved to this site, a 1919 Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe locomotive #3424 and the rest rooms. The rest rooms are unusual in that there are dead bolts on the outside of the doors as well as the inside.

Before leaving town, we had lunch at Toms Kountry Kitchen. The 15 year old restaurant is known for chicken fried steak, pie and cinnamon rolls. We had chicken fried steak with fries, a grilled chicken sandwich, pecan pie and red velvet cake.

Passing through Dodge City, Kansas, I photographed the 4 story downtown Stan Herd Stagecoach Mural which Stan recently redid, the closed for renovations Wright Park Zoo (construction has not started yet) and Santa Fe Trail ruts in a park surrounded by Burr Parkway. Unlike many of the places in Kansas where we kind of wonder where exactly the ruts are, these we could easily identify.

We visited the Stauth Memorial Museum in Montezuma, Kansas. The distinctive building was purpose built as a museum in 1996 to house the collection of Claude and Donnie Stauth. They assembled the collection during their travels to 95 countries on 23 international trips including 2 tours around the world. 

In addition to their collection of souvenirs from around the world, the museum also displays the Fry Wildlife Collection of taxidermy wild game hunted by Ralph Fry and the Wall Western Collection of western bronze art collected by Howard Wall. A Special Exhibitions Gallery is reserved for temporary exhibits and it currently has "Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Quiché through Illustration," an exhibit which is touring the US through the summer of 2030.

We continued on to Sublette, to revisit the Haskell County Historical Society & Museum, then on to Hugoton, Kansas to check in at the Best Western Stevens County Inn.

Supper was at Bonnie & Clyde Grill & Sports Bar in Hugoton, Kansas which gets its name from the local legend that Bonnie & Clyde lived briefly in Hugoton in 1927. Although several online reviews say that you enter the main dining room through a sliding bookcase, that has been discontinued. They do have a page of the menu devoted to the legend, more info on the wall between the two dinning rooms and some dishes on the menu are named for the outlaw theme. The menu is printed like a small newspaper and includes a photo of the infamous outlaw couple.

A 20 ounce ribeye was only $24 and I selected fresh cut fries and cheesy corn for my sides. The ribeye was seasoned with garlic butter and all was good. We also had "The Campfire," a 1/2 pound burger smothered with hickory BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, bacon & a beer battered onion ring. It came with onion rings for $17.

While we were waiting for our food, a different server stopped by the table to tell us how good the pies were. We said that we were actually interested ay the skillet cookie a la mode, but hadn't decided yet. Our server said nothing about dessert. At the end of the meal when we ordered the skillet cookie, we were told it would take 15 minutes, so we skipped it. If we had known (the menu says nothing about that), we would have ordered it when our meals were brought out.

We finished the day by driving to the Rolla Roller Rink in Rolla, Kansas. This was our first activity associated with the Big Kansas Road Trip and tomorrow's Kansas Explorer's Meeting. We were greeted shortly after walking in by a young man who asked if we were Kansas Explorers. We had a nice chat and he told us about the things his family of 7 (the Schreibers) had done so far. There was a last one other family from the BKRT there and we also ahd a long talk with a woman who recently returned to Rolla from Florida and is working with the Rolla Chamber of Commerce.

Toms Kountry Kitchen

Santa Fe Trail Ruts

Stauth Memorial Museum
 
 
 
 
 

Bonnie & Clyde Grill & Sports Bar

The 1903 windmill like marker next to the tripoint with "Kans." "Okla." and "Colo." blades pointing toward each state collapsed a few years ago, but has been recently replaced. It a cool location and almost everyone who comes here gets their photo taken while standing on the corner of the three states.

We ran into one other party at the Tristate Point and as is typical during the Big Kansas Road Trip, we would talk to them again at other attractions during the day.

Back in Elkhart, we went to Whistle Stop Park for the annual meeting of the Kansas Explorers Club. I didn't see as many familiar faces this year, but it was good getting a hug and a brief chance to talk to Kansas Sampler Foundation Director Marci Penner. She lead the program which talked about the weekend's events, asked Kansas trivia questions, awarded prizes and talked about coming events. We had a chance to make some new friends.

We went to lunch at Big C's Cafe in Elkhart. It appeared that about half of their customers were doing the Big Kansas Road Trip event. We had a chicken philly with fresh potato chips, calf fries (mountain oysters), homemade French fries and house made banana bread cake. The calf fries came with gravy, which was disappointing. I missed that you have to request cocktail sauce instead. The chips came out so warm that they were kind of limp, but got crisper as they cooled. They were very good.

The prices seemed reasonable and I didn't notice until now that they did not charge for the iced tea.

After photograph around town, we went to the Morton County Historical Museum to get info to update its review and to attend the Thane Baker & Catherine Baker Nicholson signing of copies of "Running in Borrowed Shoes." The book is devoted to Thane, the oldest living American Track & Field Olympic gold medial winner.

Out final BKRT stopwas in Richfield, where the Methodist Church was hosting an ice cream social. We enjoyed the homemade ice cream while getting to know the Schreiber family whe we had encountered the night before. The children are charming. Marci Penner joined us as well. The kids adore her.

There were also tours of the church, which was built with handmade bricks.

We drove north to Hamilton County Museum in Syracuse, Kansas. The fairly large museum is crammed with many items, though there are few explanations of what is exhibited or while it is important.

We continued on, stopping briefly in most communities along the way. In downtown Lakin, Kansas we found a downtown pocket park and Kearny County Agriculture mural which is in progress. I've since learned that is was started in 2021. That is a long term project!

At Charlie's Ruts we were going to walk along the ruts, but a flock of sheep and friendly appearing dog made us reconsider. In Deerfield, Kansas we photographed the Great Eastern Ditch which was dug in 1879, irrigated sugar beat farms in the 1880s, and carried water from the Arkansas River to the long gone Lake McKinney from 1907 to 1952.

For supper, we paid our third visit to Majestic Theater Restaurant in Scott City, Kansas. The restaurant name has changed since our last visit and it is now known as Act II at the Majestic. I started with an Old Fashioned.

The salads with delicious blue cheese dressing and fresh bread were as good as always.

Wanting to sample more of the menu, we had grilled salmon with mashed potatoes and prime rib with German Fries. The prime rib was cooked exactly as ordered and was only $27. The mashed potatoes were homemade and the crispy house made fries with onions were good as well.

We finished the meal with a churro cake. The cake had a strong cinnamon flavor and was so good that I finished it instead of taking half with us.

We spent the night at Best Western El-Quartelejo Inn in Scott City.

Marci Penner leads the meeting on the Stump

Calf Fry Basket 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Kerney County Agriculture Mural
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Churro Cake

About a half mile farther north is Keystone Gallery, where we were greeted on the way in by Barbara Shelton, who I first met here in 2005. She and Chuck Bonner have the combination art gallery, fossil museum and souvenir shop in the stone former 1916 Pilgrim Holiness Church near Monument Rocks. It is one of my favorite little out of the way places in Kansas.

We caught up in each others lives and purchased a necklace and t-shirt.

Next, we drove to Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park. The only thing that looked changed is that there is now a machine where in theory you can pay the $5 daily vehicle fee by credit card. I say in theory because the screen can not be read in the bright sunlight. There are still envelopes so the fee can be paid by putting cash or a check in an envelope.

We only had a little time, so we just hiked the 1/4 mile to the closest lookout. It was a beautiful day for photos and video!

We headed on to go to lunch, but paused in Russell Springs for some photos of the Butterfield Trail Museum and some other buildings.

Lunch was at Cafe in Winona in Winona, Kansas. We had really enjoyed it in 2019 and were anxious to go there again. We had Fried catfish with French fries & chili, and a 7 ounce ribeye sandwich with Texas fries (topped with chili, cheese and jalapenos).

The char broiled hand cut steak looked rather barren on the bun, but that was because I had missed that the menu said garnished by request. Both the steak and the bun were very good, so I ended up eating it open face with a knife & fork. There was enough left over for a meal at home, though that was because I ate most of the Texas fries. The chili was sweet and tasty.

We asked for boxes for extra food and ordered apple pie & chocolate lasagna, both of which are on the menu every day. Unfortunately the server misunderstood and brought the desserts to go. That was handy, since we didn't finish either one, but meant that we don't know if the pie was as wonderful as we remembered, since it wasn't heated or served with ice cream like we had in 2019. I enjoyed the chocolate lasagna no bake dessert a lot.

The service was better when we went there the first time.

We headed back across Kansas and took just a few other photos on our way through Page City, Monument, and Wamego, Kansas where we had supper at 4th & Elm Bar & Grill. We had Chicken Bacon Ranch Flat Bread (Fajita chicken, bacon, onions, ranch dressing, cheddar and mozzarella cheese) and The Other One burger (Hamburger laid over a bed of curly fries, queso, pastrami burnt ends tossed in our habanero bacon jam BBQ sauce, topped with parsley flakes). We also got the Cinnamon Sugar Cream Cheese Pretzel Bites (12 Pretzel Bites filled with cream cheese & cinnamon sugar. Served with Birds Creamery salted vanilla bean ice cream), but got it to go. I enjoyed the burger and liked all of its elements including the pastrami burnt ends, but my favorite part was the queso & curly fries.

Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park Pay Station
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  Chocolate Lasagna
 
 
 

The Other One

The menu is fairly short, but we both found dishes which sounded good. I got the El Reno which is described as an "Oklahoma style smash burger" (1/3 lb. of Hertzog beef, sharp American cheese, grilled onions, pickle, and mustard on a brioche-potato roll). Linda got the Blackened Shrimp Po’ Boy (Cajun spiced shrimp, tomato, lettuce, remoulade on a hoagie roll). They each came with the choice of a side and we both went with fries.

The burger had two smashed patties and other than having no mustard (which they brought at my request) was just the type of burger which I often get. I enjoyed it and the crispy, wide, flat fries. Linda was pleased with her po' boy, though I thought there should be a little more shrimp for the size of the bun.

Before leaving the area, we went across to the Moonlight Market where we ran into several friends.
 

We stopped today at the newer location at 10460 W 103rd Street, Overland Park, and received a friendly greeting as soon as we entered. There were 10 flavors of made-from-scratch ice cream available and we were welcome to try small samples. We got $5.45 cups of Cookies n Cream and Mint Chocolate Chip, plus a package of protein balls.

It was good ice cream and a nice dinning area. For those with children to entertain, there are large black boards, toys and games.

Ice cream & protein balls

It was a nice sandwich and I liked all the elements including the bread. It didn't need sauce and I started out not using any, but after finding that the fresh cut fries were even better dipped in the Meat Mitch Char Bar Table sauce, I tried a little on the sandwich. For me, it raised the sandwich to the next level.

I was seated at the far end of the dinning room and the service was inattentive. My beverage was empty before the food came and was not refilled until the end of the meal.

Tonight we had Fish Fillet (grilled. topped with a shrimp, octopus & crab cream sauce) and Grilled Live Lobster
served with elote, Mexican slaw & garlic butter. The fillet was similar to a dish we have had before and is still very good.

This is the first time I have sampled the grilled lobster. Its market price was $55 including a wonderful clam chowder with perfect garlic toast. The elote (Mexican corn on the cob) was some of the best that I have had. The slaw did little for me, though I felt that the part on which some of the spiced butter from the corn had dripped was worth eating.

The grilled lobster was great and between the grilling and final dressing in the kitchen it was easy to get at the meat. The meat was good straight out of the shell and even better dipped in the garlic butter. I would definitely consider getting this again, but Jarocho has many dishes which I enjoy.

Service was very good.

Clam Chowder

Grilled Lobster

This was the first time that we ordered off the lunch menu, which has sandwiched and platters for $10-15 including one side. We ordered the $13.50 Pick 2 Combo, selecting 1/4 chicken, 2 spare ribs and street corn, and the $14 Lil' Juicy (smoked, shaved steak topped with Swiss cheese & caramelized onions served with horseradish cream sauce) with fries. Although the sandwich was generous, the Pick 2 seemed like a much better deal with so much more meat for 50 cents less.

We enjoyed both meats and the sandwich, but were less pleased with the sides. The corn was not as much of a treat as we remembered and the fries didn't benefit from the light coating of batter and sugar. I enjoyed the fresh cut fries they used to serve much more.

Lil' Juicy

Over the years I have never tried the grilled option for the tenderloin and I tried it today. The Tenderloin is usually $10.50, but today's special was a tenderloin plus fries for $10. I upgraded to Suzy Qs for 50 cents more.

There is no seating in Christy's, but it was a nice day and I had lunch at one of the three picnic tables on the grass at the back of the lot. I liked both the tenderloin and Suzy Q fries, but will return to the fried tender in the future because I really enjoy its coating.

We added a new page devoted to the McCormick School Museum in Wichita, Kansas.

Pork Tenderloin &
Suzy Qs

There was a fairly long line at 11:28 AM when I arrived, but I expected that  and didn't mind. It was nice weather and people in line were friendly and happy to talk about Paul's. My order was taken at 11:53 and the food was ready at 12:30.

There is no seating inside, so I took my food to nearby Bill Clem Park. I had a chili dog, fries and pork tenderloin. The food was not up to what I experienced at the old Paul's, but they have been open only 2 weeks and have been slammed with customers. I recommend waiting a little longer before checking out this new drive-in.

I didn't eat all of the chili dog, had only a couple of the fries and took only two bites of the pork tenderloin, so I was able to try a second Kansas City, Kansas restaurant and went to Fritz's Railroad Restaurant. It has been on our list of Unique Kansas Restaurants since 2009, but although I dined at their Kansas City, Missouri location a year & a half ago, I was last here in 2019.

Orders at Fritz's Railroad Restaurant are called in from the booths on a telephone. A server brings the drinks, but the food is delivered by "Skat Cat" on the overhead track. A mechanical arm stops your order at the platform above your table, which then lowers to deliver your food. This rig is a bit noisy and everyone watches when a meal is delivered.

The chili, chili dogs & shakes are my favorite items here, but it seemed like a good time to try something new, so I ordered a pork tenderloin and root beer float. The float was good and I would get one again. The tenderloin was small and not hand made, but I didn't expect a lot from a $6 tenderloin. Still it was better than the one from Paul's Jr.

The last stop in Kansas City, Kansas was Sauer Castle. After decades of neglect, it is thrilling to see the preservation work being conducted by the new owner in the past year. It doesn't appear that any work is being done right now, but it already looks much better.
 
 

chili dog & fries

Fritz's Railroad Restaurant

Sauer Castle

The service was outstanding. Brooke did the best job of waiting on us of any restaurant in the past two or three months. 

We had "Best Wings on the Planet" and Wood fired Canadian Salmon, with Fries and Fire Roasted Mexican Street Corn. For me, the wings do not live up to the name. I kept going back and forth between thinking I wanted to add sauce or not add it. I finally decided that it need sauce, but not their sauce.

The salmon was heavily sauced, but the sauce paired well with that. The street corn was not on the cob and the flavor did not compare well with the Mexican street corn I had at Jarocho and Blind Box BBQ last week. The fries were my favorite item of the meal. The chipotle ketchup made them special and I asked for a second little cup.
  
  

Salmon