Heading north in heavy rain, we pulled into Shallow Water, Kansas and photographed the Shallow Water School from our car, then continued to Scott City, to Percival Packing, where we bought some house made bratwurst.

Lunch was at Act II at the Majestic, a fine restaurant in an attractive historic theater. We have dined there several times before, but never at lunch, when there is a different menu. We had a small grilled chicken salad with house made blue cheese dressing and a prime rib sandwich. Both were very good and I was quite happy with our meal.

The combination of heavy rain and oversized loads turned the drives very slow.

In Oakley, the rain started to let up and it wasn't too bad as we stopped by the Oakley Past & Present Murals and the Palace Community Theatre.

Just east of Oakley, we stopped to look for the Beamer Barn at Exit 79. It is listed on the National Historic Register and I had searched for it unsuccessfully on Google Street View. In person, it was possible to identify it, but the roof has collapsed.

A half mile north, we did find a couple of small stone barns at the intersection of Old Highway 40 and Gove 18.

A few miles farther east, we stopped at Grinnell Locker in Grinnell, Kansas, where the retail sales is from some refrigerators in the corner of a busy cutting room where at 6 butchers were hard at work. The prices seemed very reasonable. We purchased a large package of Polish sausage (which we've already cooked an enjoyed) and some sweet beef stix.

We photographed many of the old buildings in Collyer (north of Castle Rocks) and would have loved to have seen the interior of St. Michael Catholic Church, which was built in 1909. On the way back onto the highway, we also photographed the 1917 Lipp Barn, which is on the National Historic Register.

Gibson Health Mart Pharmacy has been serving downtown WaKeeney, Kansas since 1892. At the old style soda fountain we enjoyed a hand dipped chocolate chip shake and a root beer cooler as well as the conversations with other customers, the lady working behind the counter (who is a retired banker), and the president and manager, Bernita Augustine. Bernita began working at the pharmacy in 1975.

The store carries a wide variety of products and before leaving, we purchased greeting cards, snacks, a top and a yard ornament.

We had already visited two meat markets today and might have skipped Moeder's Meats, up the street, but they were recommended at Gibson Pharmacy. Moeder's had the nicest retail presentation of the three and I purchased some brats which we haven't tried yet.

We were ready for some down time and checked checked in to Prairie Rose Inn, which opened in December 2023 in a former nursing home. It is many things and while I bet some people really love it, it fell flat for me. It is a boutique hotel, bar, breakfast cafe, museum and RV park with glamping. 

If you are staying there, they send you codes to open the doors and unless you go to the restaurants you never meet anyone who works there. I miss that contact and welcoming connection to the business. 

The suites are nice sized and I liked being able to get away from the bed when one is up and the other is sleeping. The bathroom door is across from the foot of the bed, with the light switch on the outside, so that if you go to the bathroom in the night, the light faces someone in the bed and must be turned on before you go in. It is also impossible to shower without disturbing someone trying to sleep.

This won't matter to many people, but did to us. There is no ice machine!

Going back out, we went to the new Trego Sky View Drive In Movie Theater, just of I-70. Right now there is just a field with a screen, small projection booth and admission booth, but they are now showing movies on a limited schedule.

The Trego Skyview Foundation is still raising money for a better projector. rest rooms and a fence,  It is great seeing a new drive in come to Kansas! 

After photographing a few historic buildings, we had supper at Western Kansas Saloon & Grill. I've dined here a couple of times before, but it had been about 5 years since the last time. We had steaks before and wanted to change things up, so we had the Southwest Chicken and The Works Burger. The chicken is small bits of grilled chicken with peppers smothered in cheese. 

The chicken was good and the baked potato was cooked well. We did wish that they served it with butter instead of whipped spread. The burger tasted good though it was well done, rather than the medium rare requested. the house cut fries were good.

The burger is loaded with sautéed onions & mushrooms, bacon strips and Swiss & American cheese.

Back at the hotel, we checked out the one room museum called Rosie's Ready Room featuring former F-14 Tomcat pilot and TOPGUN instructor "Heater" Heatley.

We also stopped by the bar before it closed at 9 PM. They had an interesting drink menu and we ordered a couple o house specialty drinks. I don't know if the bartender was new, but she was totally baffled by the drinks, spending a lot of time on her phone trying to figure them out. The Prairie Sunset is described on the menu as Golden tequila layered with citrus and a deep red sunset finish, while the American Airstrike is described as layered crisp apple vodka, tart lemonade and electric blue curacao. I had to point out that she hadn't put any vodka in the drink.

We sat at the bar hoping to talk to one or more of the employees, which we had zero contact with otherwise, but the bartender wasn't interested in talking.

Act II at the Majestic
 

Beamer Barn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gibson Health Mart Pharmacy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Trego Sky View Drive In

We chose bacon for the sandwich. Alternately, "The Sow" has two of the meats and "The Whole Hog" has all three. The sandwich was fine, but the bacon was overdone.

We chose apple compote for the pancakes. They were out of whipped cream and apologized for substituting powdered sugar.

After a few more photos of old buildings and murals in WaKeeney, we photographed more historic buildings in Ellis, before moving along to Hays, Kansas.

At Fort Hays State Historic Site, we photographed the statue of the "Blue Light Lady," which has been relocated to the Fort from 26th Street and Indian Trail, and was officially rededicated on September 26. The Pete Felten statue depicts the spirit of Elizabeth Polly, the young wife of Fort Hays hospital steward Ephraim Polly, who while caring for sick soldiers during the 1867 cholera epidemic, contracted cholera, and died.

Legend is that she wished to be buried on a limestone bluff now known as Sentinel Hill, and her ghost can be seen walking there either as a blue light, carrying a blue light, or wearing a blue dress. The actual location of her grave has been lost to time.

After photographing some buildings from the National Historic Register and public art, we had lunch at Professors Classic Sandwich Shop in Hays. They grow a variety of gourmet mushrooms and I was excited to have the Mushroom Stir Fry they show and and talk about on their website, but they said they don't make that dish anymore. 

We ordered a Matt's Consumption Cure ( hot ham & cheddar with mayo & a touch of garlic on sliced French bread) and a Full Stomach Motivator (hot roast beef and Swiss on a hoagie bun or Texas toast) and I asked for the "try a Philly" option adding peppers and onions for $1). The roast beef came without the peppers & onions and was uninteresting. The receipt for the meal was not itemized, so I don't know if I was charged for it and it would have been hard to prove I had ordered it. The potato chips looked and tasted like generic bulk chips. The sandwiches each came with a honey cookie, which was all right.

After photographing three more properties from the National Register, we stopped Oktoberfest Hays at Municipal Park (1st St. and Main St.) in downtown Hays. The annual festival  celebrates Volga German heritage during Fort Hays State University's homecoming weekend. It was busy and we were hopping to find some local arts and crafts, but it was pretty much just, beer, food and event T-shits.

We stopped by near an historic site farm in Victoria, Kansas, but could not see it well from the road. Then, about 5 miles south of Walker, Kansas, we were impressed with the Fort Fletcher Stone Arch Bridge. It was constructed from native limestone quarried from an adjacent pasture between 1935 and 1936 in a joint project of Ellis County and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and has four arches.

In Wilson, Kansas we we stopped at Kansas Originals Market & Gallery. They have moved from their larger location next to I-70 to a downtown building. They have less space now, but it is still a well curated selection of products from Kansas artists, writers, wineries and food companies. The following day they were going to celebrate a year at their new location.

Driving through Sylvan Grove, we saw a rare hexagonal barn at the county fairgrounds and downtown, saw 4-H'ers having fun painting hay bales for fall.

In Lincoln, we saw a flag flying at Crispin's Drug Store Museum and stopped in to say hi. I have known him casually for about 20 years and since the Kansas Sampler Festival was discontinued had not seen him. We caught up on each other's lives and I photographed some changes in his museum and his wife's Post Rock Scout Museum.

On the way headed east out of town, we took a distant photo of "Lincoln's Free House." The house went viral on social media with people from all over the country wanting to save the house, about four years ago . 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."

In 2024, we toured the house during the Big Kansas Road Trip. At least at that time, it was still a work in progress and Eddie & Julie Flores enjoyed telling their story.

We found a number of interesting things in Trescott, Kansas including public art, an attractive church and the town water tower covered with many turkey vultures.

As we approached Minneapolis, we made a brief stop at Rock City to take a few fresh photos, than went into town to have supper at Papa's Burger Mill. I've been reading good things about it online and we had a Smoke'n Mill Burger (smoked sharp cheddar, bacon, onion ring & house BBQ sauce) and a Rusty Roller (1/4 lb. hot dog stuffed with cheese, bacon wrapped and topped with banana peppers, diced pickle, jalapeño & sauerkraut) with onion rings and fries.

The burger was quite good, but I found myself pulling all the banana peppers & sauerkraut off the dog. In all fairness, they ask which of those things you want on the dog.

We spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express in Concordia.

Blue Light Lady
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Oktoberfest Hays
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

AC Crispin
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Rock City

Then we went to Broadway Plaza where the BKRT Kickoff Celebration was a 10 AM. It was great seeing old friends who we see only once or twice a year. There was a good turnout for the Kickoff. It concluded with the announcement that the next BKRT Pop Up will be in Norton, Kansas the weekend of May 1, 2027.

While we were in the neighborhood, we also toured the Cloud County Historical Museum and 1888 Bankers Loan and Trust Building. Lunch was at Easy G Sports Grill. We had a Catfish Platter and Mushroom Swiss Burger with grilled onions. It was good and I enjoyed the thick house cut fries.

We had a nice tour of the Nazareth Motherhouse, Lourdes Park & Grotto. It is the home of the Sisters of St. Joseph - Concordia. I had toured it about 20 years ago, but this included the third floor which is normally closed to visitors. It was also nice meeting some of the sisters. Although the public was also welcome to to visit the Lourdes Park & Grounds, nothing was said about it and we had the lovely garden entirely to ourselves. We also visited the cemetery, which I had missed before. It has about 700 burials

Other stops in Concordia included the Brown Grand Hotel, which seemed unchanged from my visit years ago and the National Orphan Train Museum which added a new building housing a restored train car, which was never part of an orphan train.

Leaving town, we first stopped at the location of Boston Corbett's Dugout home, southeast of town. He was the soldier who kill John WIles Booth. It has been improved since I visited before, but I was disappointed that you are no longer permitted to approach the former dugout.

As we approached Clyde, Kansas along Highway K-9, there were 7 miles of railroad cars, breaking for roads, but otherwise a continuous line. They were also there the last time we were in the area.

We had only a little time to stop in Clyde, but photographed a classic old service station which is still in operation, the exterior of the buildings at the Clyde Historical Museum, a campground, mural and other old buildings.

We had visited the former St. Joseph Church in St. Joseph, Kansas in 2016 and were looking forward to seeing the changes since then. I'm sure they have done things to better preserve the building, but I really didn't see a difference. Part of that maybe because the lights were not on today.

Supper was at Bourbon & Baker in Manhattan, Kansas. It had been 4 years since I dined there and things are just as good as I remembered. We started with a Spiced Apple Mule (dark rum, spiced apple syrup, ginger beer & soda) and Southern Smoke (Woodford B&B single barrel, mescal, fresh lemon, fire peach syrup & soda). Both were very good.

We shared asparagus fries, herb chicken kebab, shrimp etouffee & chorizo hushpuppies. I enjoyed it all, particularly the asparagus. I didn't care for the sauce which was on the side with the asparagus, but it was great without it. We finished with a bourbon caramel chocolate custard. I wish I could eat at this restaurant more often, but need to keep checking out other Manhattan restaurants.
  
  

Monica Frye & Simone Elder of the Sampler Foundation

Nazareth Convent Cemetery
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Railroad Cars
 
 
 
 

Bourbon & Baker