The most interesting thing, was learning that RJ's is haunted, which I had never heard before. There are loud noises in the basement, the figure of a white haired woman has been seen, and the most common thing is coming into the restaurant nd finding that pictures have come off the wall overnight. So many have come off that many of the photos no longer have glass in the frames.

My smoked chicken wings were good as always, I like them better dry or with the Southern BBQ Sauce, than with the Buffalo sauce which came on the side. The seasoned fries were good as well.

Today we had a half slab of pork ribs, sausage, burnt ends, fries and onion rings. I really liked the ribs, onion rings and fries. The burnt ends had little flavor and were tough. The two meat platter with one side was expensive at $25, but came with a lot of meat. The leftover burnt ends alone were enough for two of us to have for supper.

We saw that they were baking cookies and bought a couple of peanut butter cookies and a chocolate chip. The chocolate chip was very good, but the peanut butter was heavenly.

The come with the choice of a side for $15.99 and we ordered the crab with fries and the shrimp with their new cornbread side. The honey butter really made the cornbread. The sides are large, making the sandwiches look small in the photo, but they are good sized. 

The parking lot was as full as I have ever seen it and the small waiting area was lined with folks waiting for their orders. My chocolate malt was made right away and it took about 18 minutes for the Monday Special pork tenderloin and fries for $14. The malt was good and a bargain at $3.50. The tenderloin was large, crispy on the outside, tender inside and had a good flavor as always. The "new & improved" crinkle cut fries could have used more time in the fryer.

Prices were unchanged since my last visit in May 2025, but there are some new items on handwritten signs at the counter: kids meals for those 10 & younger, breakfast sandwiches, homemade ice cream sandwiches and apple streusel.

They are now open much more hours. 10-6 on Saturday and 10-8 Monday - Friday.

I have recommended Christy's for 17 years and there is no reason to discontinue the recommendation.
 Fox Theatre
 

Pork Tenderloin

They were out of several products, including beef and (as we learned after ordering) chicken. We ended up ordering a We Be Platter with sausage, pork, 2 ribs, French fries and We-Be beans, plus a regular turkey sandwich without bread and half order of onion rings.

The food came out quickly. The turkey (which the served promoted very strongly) was bland. The sausage and ribs were very good, though I added some salt. The "2 ribs" were generous.

All of the sides were generous. The beans had non typical seasoning. Neither of us cared for them. The half order of onion rings and crinkle cut fries were both very good. We took home plenty of meat and fries.

A half mile away, I took new photos of the The Drive-In at MidWay, a half mile away. It has been offered for sale as recently as 2024, but is now listed as off market. The grounds are no longer being maintained, but it appears that everything is still there.

Continuing west, we photographed Carey’s Ford Bridge, which once carried 335th Street Over Marais Des Cygnes River. The 248'  bridge (main span 160') was built in 1909 by Kansas City Bridge Company of Kansas City, Missouri. Although it is closed, it appears to be in better shape than many bridges which are still in use. When we plugged in the address to our next stop, I was amused to see Google want to send us over the bridge, even though it is clear that it has been closed for years.

Our first stop in OSawatomie was the Flint Hills Trail, a rail trail. The have a nice stop at the start of the trail going west out of town, though I didn't understand the Mileseroe on one sign. Here we saw the first of many decorated bicycles which we found through the town. It appears that they are the project of Jeff and Sarah Dorsett, who are also doing bicycle repair and selling used bikes. Other members of the community are also using bicycles as lawn art.

Around town, we bought jerky at Palace Market & Custom Meats, and also photographed murals, interesting buildings and monuments. 

We returned to Paola, where we photographed the Paola United Methodist Church which was one of the first Methodist Episcopal congregations organized in Kansas in 1858. It was built in 1925. The Business Administrator, Shelley Snouffer and Rev. Maria Penrod let us in and turned on lights to help the photography.

The final stop of the day was in the one block long old downtown business district in Spring Hill.
  
  

President Barack Obama

The Drive-In at MidWay
 

Carey’s Ford Bridge
 
 
 
 

Paola United Methodist Church