Trail Days Cafe and Museum in Council Grove, Kansas is located in the 1861 limestone Terwilliger Home. I was unaware of Trail Days until receiving an email from one of the staff. The small complex of old buildings is a combination museum, cafe and bakery. The staff wear period costumes and are friendly and enthusiastic. They take their guests back in time with the music, food, decor, stories told, etc. There are six buildings in the complex and the time period ranges from the 1850's to the 1950's. The Trails Days Bakery Cafe changed its name and menu since we first visited in 2008. They now serve American Indian, Old World, Early American and 20th Century food. We have since returned many times. The food when we visited the Trail Days Bakery Cafe was made from scratch midwest farm fare. The dishes we tried were average, but very reasonably priced. We didn't try any of the dishes recommended by our server, so I might have been more impressed with things we didn't try. The centerpiece of the complex is the Terwilliger Home, which houses the cafe. The building sits beside the Santa Fe Trail and was the last house that wagons on the Santa Fe trail passed as they headed west leaving Council Grove on the way to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The complex also includes a 1858 Log house, a 1902 School house, and Maple Camp cabins form the 1930s and 40s.
Trail Days Cafe &
Museum web site
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