Kansas Travel Blog

Chronicling changes to KansasTravel.org and Keith's exploration & photographing Kansas restaurants, attractions, museums, festivals and art. Contact him.

Bison Stampede - Big Basin Prairie Preserve Wildlife Area
This page was accidentally deleted. This is just a partial restoration for our records.

 

Saturday, November 1, 2025: After spending the night in Greensburg, Kansas, we went on to Meade, where we visited Meade Locker and Processing. We almost didn't find it, as the processing building is the most visible and was closed, but we finally found the retail store, sharing a sign and entrance with a liquor store. They have a selection of about 30 brats. 

We got German Bratwurst with Sauerkraut, Teriyaki Beef Jerky, and several specialty protein items.

Driving east we drove to Big Basin Prairie Preserve Wildlife Area. I've been there several time, but have never seen the bison herd. There were none as we entered the preserve and we drove on to St. Jacob's Well, a natural sinkhole with a permanent, spring fed pool of water which has never been known to go dry. It has attracted visitors for many centuries, beginning with prehistoric people and continuing until European settlement.

On the way back to the highway, we spotted the bison herd across the Big Basin. I was photographing the bison at a distance, when another vehicle pulled up to see what I was photographing. The driver of the vehicle honked his horn and the bison thought that meant we had food for them. They immediately started racing across the basin and up to the ridge where we were parked. They can move fast!

A third vehicle arrived as I was returning to our car and I warned the passenger who got out to take photos, not to get far from their car.

Continuing east we stopped at the Fromme-Birney Round Barn in Mullenville. The 70 feet diameter, 16 sided barn was built in 1912 to hold draft horses, which were eventually replaced by tractors. The barn went on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It had several been several years since the last time we went here. The main changes were a new roof and a growing selection of flea market type items offered for sale on the honor system in the barn.

Before leaving Mullenville, we took new photos of Kanza Art Museum, which displays the grassroots art of work of M. T. Liggett, who passed away in 2017.

Continuing east along US400, we photographed the huge old John Rice barn, cotton fields, and a cotton gin.

Supper was at Chapeau in Pratt, Kansas, which opened as The Brunswick Bar in 1969. Immediately prior to the current owner taking over in 1988, it was an Italian Restaurant. The menu is somewhat limited, but the Pizza Taco and Burgers came heavily recommended

The Pizza Taco was inspired partially by the former Italian restaurant and is served on a crispy pizza crust shaped like a taco and filled with your choice of beef, sausage or chicken, and mozzarella cheese, shredded lettuce and a choice of 5 spice levels of sauce. Even the $10.55 small version is large. I liked it, but not as much as the burger.

The Rat Burger has jalapenos, bacon, cheese and grilled onions and is named for a customer who always ordered it. The menu doesn't say what size it is, but it looked like a half pound.

We spent the night at the Flag Point Inn & Suites in Pratt.
  
  

Meade Locker and Processing - Meade, Kansas Meade Locker

St. Jacob's Well - Big Basin Prairie Preserve Wildlife Area St. Jacob's Well

Bison Stampede - Big Basin Prairie Preserve Wildlife Area Bison Stampede
 

Fromme-Birney Round Barn - Mullenville, Kansas Fromme-Birney Round Barn
 
 
 
 
 

Chapeau - Pratt, Kansas Pizza Taco

Tuesday, November 11, 2025: For lunch today we revisited the Little Russia Chili Parlor in the Little Russia district of Topeka, Kansas. We had a BLT with about a pound of bacon, Chili Burger, chili dog and a cup of chili. The burger was my favorite part of the meal, though it was thoroughly messy.

In the evening, we photographed the Aurora Borealis from Shawnee Mission Park in Lenexa, Kansas. The park was officially closed but Johnson County Park Police opened up a parking lot at the front and let people come to take photos.
 

 

Friday, November 21, 2025: Lunch was a revisit of Abigal's Grill & Bar in Topeka. It had been many years since I last dined here and Linda enjoyed the food so much that she asked why I hadn't brought her here before. Dishes sampled included the very popular open face roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes, catfish, fried chicken sandwich, tater tots and French fries. 

Much as I loved the flavor of the roast beef sandwich, I thought there was too much potato and not enough meat.

Prices were reasonable. The rest of the details of this meal were lost when this page was deleted.

 

Abigal's Grill and Bar - Topeka, Kansas
 
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