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
- May 1, 2025: This is day two of a five day exploration of Kansas.
Last night was spent in Wichita.
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.
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Hired Man's Grocery & Grill
Historical Museum of Anthony
Don Atha
Kristy's Kafe
Petro's Drive-in
B-29 Museum
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Friday
- May 2, 2025: The trip continued the next morning, with the first
stop of the day being at Martin Cemetery, south of St. John, Kansas. The
small roadside cemetery is a family cemetery for the Joseph Martin family,
who were exodusters (African American settlers from the southern US during
the exoduster Movement or Exodus of 1879). This family was not typical,
in that they were from Illinois, and many had been born free prior to the
Civil War.
We
continued west on US-50, pulling through Mackville, Belpre and Lewis to
take photographs before arriving in Kinsley. 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.
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Martin Cemetery
Toms Kountry Kitchen
Santa Fe Trail Ruts
Stauth Memorial Museum
Bonnie & Clyde Grill & Sports Bar
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Saturday
- May 3, 2025: We are on the road early so we can visit Eight
Mile Corner, eight miles west of Elkhart, Kansas, before the Explorer's
Meeting. It is the Tristate Point for Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado.
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 sigining 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 City 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.
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Eight Mile Corner
Marci Penner leads the meeting on the Stump
Calf Fry Basket
Kerney County Agriculture Mural
Churro Cake
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Sunday
- May 4, 2025:
The first stop of our day was at the Western Vista Historic Byway scenic
lookout and kiosk, half way between Scott City and Oakley, Kansas. It appears
to have been here for sometime, but I have no memory of it. The views were
nice, but I particularly liked the painting by Scott City Artist, Jerry
Thomas.
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.
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Western Vista Historic Byway scenic lookout & kiosk
Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park Pay Station
Chocolate Lasagna
The Other One
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Wednesday
- May 7, 2025:
I added a new page devoted to Bugs Come
Alive Studio & the AT Sculpture Garden located across the street
from the handsome Harper County Courthouse in Anthony, Kansas.
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