The first stop was a pass through Greely, which I have photographed a couple of times before, but as my emphasis is shifting from attractions worth building a page about, to things worth posting about on Facebook, I am looking at things through new eyes. In addition to some winter shots of St. John the Baptist Catholic church and the downtown, I found an interestingly painted garage and an Air B&B in the former parish hall, called The 1913 Hall.

It was a little early in the day to be able to try the meat loaf or warm cookies, but the day old Snickers cookies were good and a bargain at 3 for a dollar.

Next up was Mildred Store, in the 25 person unincorporated community of Mildred, Kansas. Charlie Brown Grocery served the community from 1915 to 2014. When it closed, Regena and Loren Lance took it over and the building now houses a market, deli, meat market, and event space which hosts live music once a month. They also have the nearby Lazy Daz RV Park and stay Cabins.

Regena took a break from preparing food for later, to give me a tour including today's music venue, which was Brown Brothers Feed Store. The customers were friendly, letting me take photos with them in the shots and talking for sometime after we left the store.

Along US 59, I made passes through Stark, Moran, Elsmore, Savinburg, Parson, Erie, Edna and Altamont, I got some photos of the Erie Dinosaur Park with snow and a Bald Eagle feeding near the highway.

Lunch was at M J's Burger House in Altamont, Kansas and it was a real treat. The half pound Philly burger was hand formed from fresh burger and topped with Philly meat, grilled onions & peppers and Swiss cheese. This one is going on my Kansas Best Burger list and I wouldn't change a thing! The house cut fries were great as well!

Using a credit card added 3.5% to the bill.

Coffeyville was the destination of the drive and several stops were planned, starting with Sunflower Soda Fountain. I came here to have a slice of pie, but when Coney Islands were listed on the menu, ordered one them as well. It wasn't bad, but neither the the dog itself or the chili were particularly what I was hoping for.

There were many dessert offerings and and I settled on the pecan cream pie, something I've never had before. It was very good, including a nice crust. It would be nice see what their version of sour cream and raisin pie is like.

Other stops in Coffeyville included the lowest point in the state of Kansas. There is a small sign there, well actually about a half mile from there, but that is as close as the public can get without a boat. I also revisited Elmwood Cemetery to take updated photos of the graves of the Dalton Gang, their brother Frank, who was a US Marshall. two men who died defending Coffeyville from the Gang and John Cubine who created the first left & right cowboy boots.

Back downtown, I photographed a few buildings, then stopped at the Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center to have a free ICEE. The ICEE was invented in 1958 by Omar Knedlik, who had a Dairy Queen in Coffeyville, Kansas. When his pop machine broke down, he put bottles of soda in the freezer to chill them. The bottle of pop stated turning to slush when opened and they were popular.

The ICEE machine at the Chamber of Commerce hadn't been turned on, but they were to start it up and I spent the time waiting for it to be ready to operate photographing the lovely old bank building and reading some of the local travel information. There was a choice of cherry or orange creme and I was happy with the cherry.

After stops for more photos on the way home, supper was at Chancy's Grill & Shake in Moran, which I last visited in May 2022. After thinking of some of the good burgers and fries that I have had here before, I went with the special, a hot beef sandwich with mashed potatoes, choice of one side and a drink for $11.50. It was a very good sandwich. 

The only side which interested me was the apple sauce, which did not taste homemade.

Mildred Store

Erie Dinosaur Park

M J's Burger House
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Lowest point in the state of Kansas
 
 

Cherry ICEE

The first stop of the day was at Topeka Cemetery at the grave of Julia Ann Beauchemie Stinson, a woman of Chippewa, Shawnee, French and English heritage who who saved the life of antislavery Kansas Territory governor Andrew Reeder in 1855 from a pro slavery mob. Her grave has a view of the state capitol building.

At 10:45, we had an appointment to meet Chris Meinhardt and tour Constitution Hall in downtown Topeka. The two story building was built in 1855 to host the Topeka Constitutional Convention which produced the antislavery Topeka Constitution that fall. The building was also part of the temporary state capitol from 1864 to 1869, during the construction of the permanent state capital building.

Several years of restoration and preservation of the building are nearly complete and the building will be opened to the public later this year, but we were given a chance to preview what is to come. The construction is somewhat crude, because the pro slavery people in the area had driven away many of the community artisans, and the construction was largely done by inexperience young people and using available materials.

Just a few blocks down Kansas Avenue, we stopped at Hazel Hill Chocolate which was out of what we were looking for, when we went there just after Christmas. It was pleasant watching chocolate covered cherries and caramel apples being made, Though they didn't have the cherries available to buy.

This time, they did have the chocolate covered bacon which brought me there to begin with. I got one each of the milk chocolate and the dark chocolate. The bacon was much different in the two pieces. The bacon that was in dark chocolate was tough & stringy and I ended up just eating the chocolate. I put off eating the other one for about a week. It was much better.

We also got chocolate hearts for Valentine gifts for grandchildren.

We headed west out of town on US24, stopping to photograph a mural in Silver Lake and two old bridges in Rossville. Lunch was at Pilgrim's Keep in downtown St. Mary's, Kansas. The restaurant opened just over a year ago and it was probably sooner than I would have tried this one, but other locally owned restaurants I wasting to first try were closed on Mondays. I'm glad we did.

The owner, Giuesseppe Vanderputton, did serious decorating before opening, going for his image of a European pub. He went to great lengths, even doing the rest rooms and the basement, which was closed at the time, but which diners were still encouraged to look at.

The menu is quite short, 3 burgers, 3 steaks, 3 chicken sandwiches and salads with steak or chicken.

We went with a Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwich, Jalapeño Popper Burger, Onion RIngs, Pilgrims Chips and Apple Crisp & Ice Cream. The onion rings were above average and the fries were quite good, but very salty. I recommend ordering them without salt. The burger had a half pound patty with cream cheese, grilled jalapenos, cheddar cheese and bacon. It was a great burger. The chicken sandwich was also good, though I think onion would be a good option.

We enjoyed the crisp and I ate too much of it. Heating it would be nice touch.

My Diet Coke was some other flavor. The server apologized and brought out another, which tasted different, but still off. I switched the order to Cinder Block Hard Cider, which was on tap, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Across the street, we checked out Sugar Creek Country Store, an 1885 store with bulk food and a New York Style Deli.

Other stops were made around St. Mary's to photograph Railroad Park, Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, The Immaculate SSPX Mass Center and an old Standard Oil service station which is being restored.

Back in Topeka, we stopped at the corner of Huntoon and Clay where in May 1913, a plaque was mounted at an old locust tree identifying it as Topeka's oldest tree (probably not accurate). The marker was placed by the 8-A-Class of Central Park School. The tree has seen better days and (at least in winter) is not very attractive. The trunk has interesting growths on it and it has extremely large thorns.

Across town, we stopped at the southwest end of Lake Shawnee to photograph an attractive stone arch bridge on Berryton Road just north of 45th Street. It was 75 degrees & sunny. A beautiful day!

We headed east on 45th Street, taking a back route to Lawrence. There were very brief stops to photograph the Albert Neese Masonic Lodge, a gorgeous, decrepit barn, and the Kanwak Township Hall. A sign for Lone Pink Farm caught our eye as we went near Lecompton, Kansas and seeing that it was open, we stopped at their retail store and bought brats, bacon, & pork jerky. Also Perry's Pork Rinds & Country Store in Bronson, Kansas. 

Our supper was at Concept 23 Sushi and Cajun Seafood in Lawrence, Kansas, which opened almost 2 years ago on 23rd Street in a building which was once a Pizza Hut. It began as a collaboration between Sushi Station and Louisiana Seafood, which each closed. We had their highly recommended crab Rangoon, Eel Sushi Pizza and a Fried Combo
of shrimp, chicken, and calamari with fries.

I'm not sorry we tried it, but there are are so man other restaurants in Lawrence, that it will probably be our only visit.

The Sushi Pizza had particularly intrigued me. It was a lightly fried sushi rice cake topped with eel sauce, spicy mayo, masago, & sesame seeds (avocado with no masago). I would have enjoyed it more if there had been more eel.

Constitution Hall
 
 
 
 
 

Chocolate covered bacon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Pilgrim's Keep
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Standard Oil service station

Locust tree

Lone Pink Farm
 

Concept 23 Sushi and Cajun Seafood

We had a Polish sausage with grilled onions and a Grandstand Philly (Swiss Cheeseburger, grilled onions & Philly meat) plus fries and tater tots. The sausage was good and the burger was great. The fries are still limp and disappointing, but the tots were good.

Other then prices creeping up, the only change I notice is that they are wrapping the sandwiches and sides in fries rather than styrofoam.

Grandstand Philly

The first thing we noticed was that the pennies on the floor are gone and we learned that they were removed about 4 years ago (perhaps when they were closed for Covid?). The menu is still fairly short, which makes sense, since the kitchen is quite small. The vibe is more bar than grill, but they are still putting out good food.

Today we ordered the Reuben rolls, potato skins, a BLT with fries, and pork tenderloin with tater tots. The prices are all reasonable, but the BLT with side is only $7.95! All the other sandwiches are $9.95 with tots or fries.

The rolls are still good and now come with sauerkraut on the side. I liked mine with sauerkraut and some of the dressing, which also comes on the side.

The potato skins were obviously made from scratch and very good as well.

I liked the pork tenderloin & tots and would get it again. The bacon on the BLT was very nice and we liked the thick slice of tomato. It had a lot of filling. We hardly touched the fries.

The bartender waited on us and provided friendly, good service. The regular customers at the bar were friendly as well.

Reuben rolls, potato skins
 

The first stop of the trip was a 10 AM appointment with Susan Evans Atchison to visit Arvonia School, Calvinistic Methodist Church, and the former Arvonia Township Hall, a few miles north of Lebo, Kansas. Susan purchased a nearby home in 2009 and two of the buildings were on the property. Her aunt and uncle had owned the home, and the third building belongs to her mother & sister. 

Susan began working to preserve and restore the buildings, and five years later founded the Arvonia Historic Preservation Society to assist and help direct the work. The Society is also preserving and educating about the community's Welsh heritage.

Doyle Jones from Manhattan, Kansas was also touring the buildings as well as the nearby cemetery where some of his Welsh ancestors are buried. 

The 1872 stone school was designed by John Haskell (who designed many Kansas buildings, including the Chase County Courthouse) and built by Welsh craftsman James Rice. The second story was removed around 1900, and the school closed in 1949. 

The smaller wooden church was built in 1883 by Susan's great-great-grandfather, Ellis Evans. It was active until 1968. I enjoyed learning the history and hear about the ongoing work being done.

After photographing some abandoned buildings on the road back to I35 and some interesting buildings in Emporia, I stopped for lunch at J's Carryout, which has had many recommendations. The small restaurant is in a former Texaco Station which was repurposed as the Duchess drive-in in the 1960s, than became Stagecoach Deli, before being condemned and sold at auction in the early 1980s. The new owner took several years to restore the building and assemble kitchen equipment before opening in 1987.

There are about 20 seats in J's, plus 4 tables outside, which were being used on this unseasonably warm day. Fortunately much of their business is carry out or drive through and I was able to secure one of the 5 stools at the counter. The staff were all friendly and helpful.

I ordered a mushroom Swiss burger, Coney Island, and small fries. All were good, with the burger, made with fresh local beef and grilled onions, being the highlight for me. The fries are shoestring sized and not fresh cut, but still good.

Any purchase at J's comes with a small free soft serve ice cream in your choice of a cup or cone. 

The rest rooms date from the gas station days, are tiny, at the back with outside doors, and not accessible. 

I made other stops to tour the Lyon County History Center and Emporia Presbyterian Church, as well photographing Fremont Park, the outside of The Regal Plumb & Cross House, Granada Theatre, and the childhood home of legendary North Carolina basketball coach, Dean Smith. I would have had some ice cream at Sweet Granada, but was told they only make that in summer.

The final stop in town was the National Memorial to Fallen Educators at Emporia State University. The original panels listing the educators who perished in the line of duty from accidents, violence or from the global corona virus pandemic are all full, with the final listing being from March 2023 in Tennessee. More panels are needed.

Heading southwest on the Kansas Turnpike, I pulled off to make a pass through Cassoday and take a few current photos, before continuing on to El Dorado and heading west. North of Towonda, I didn't find the waterfall on Hunter Road, but looking again at a map, realize that it is about a mile farther north.

After photographing the haunted water tower in Bel Aire, Kansas, took photos of the Humane Alliance Fountain, AF-1 (the very first airplane in the United States Air Force), Douglas Underpass Hobo Code Railings by Jeff Best, Gallery Alley, and the street which was recently renamed Joe Walsh Way in front of INTRUST Bank Arena.

Supper was at Lotte, a fine dining, Chef driven restaurant which opened in the fall of 2023 in Fidelity Bank's mixed use RISE Car Park development. I had reserved one of the 12 seats at the Chef's Counter, a wide counter facing the kitchen. Chef Josh Rathbun directed the kitchen from the other side of the counter. calling out the orders, which were called back in unison by a team of chefs. He inspected and did final plating of the orders before directing the dishes to the tables.

I began with "Against All Odds," which was made with rye whiskey, brandy, egg white, sweet potato, cinnamon, and cayenne. The flavors were delicate and very nice, with an interesting finish as the last sip had the egg white (homemade marshmallow) and the cayenne.

Chef Josh introduced himself and the other chefs, while bringing an amuse-bouche, a small gift of pork terrine with dates and other items I can't remember.

Ian, the server at the counter, had memorized a long script about the preparation of all the seafood specials, which I heard three times, as he told me, then the couple who were seated shortly thereafter on my left, and again to the woman who was finally seated on my right. I almost felt guilty ordering off the menu.

My meal began with Anchovy Toast, made with white Spanish anchovy, roasted garlic, lemon, on focaccia. I enjoyed it and found the flavors much more subtle than expected.

Then there was a very long wait. The parties to both sides of me were nearly finished with their meals before my entree came. It was Grilled Octopus with fennel sausage stuffed calamari, fregola, smoked tomato broth, olives, parsley, extra virgin olive oil and capers. The octopus was very tender and picked up the smoky flavor from the broth. The sausage overwhelmed the squid it was stuffed in and the calamari might as well have not been there. The fregola turned out to be a small, bead like pasta from Sardinia, which filled out the dish and provided another texture.

The meal concluded with Dulce de Leche Semifreddo, a mildly cool cross between mousse & ice cream plus tiny bits of toasted brownie, marcona almond, and sorrel. Champurrado (a Mexican chocolate beverage) was poured over the dish when it was served. It was very complex in the mouth and I enjoyed it.

J's Carryout
 

J's Carryout Dining Room
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Lotte
 
 

Chef Josh Rathbun directing the kitchen

The servers are casual and friendly, talking with all the customers and even sitting at my booth when taking my order. That didn't keep her from seeing that I had everything I wanted and a drink to take away with me at the end of my meal.

When I saw that they have a take off on the Horseshoe Sandwich from Springfield, Illinois, I had to try the Breakfast Shoe. It is an open faced sandwich on Texas toast, topped with hash browns, choice of meat, two eggs, and cheese smothered with sausage gravy. I went with bacon and it was great.

I really like this place and will definitely be coming back. The only problem is that I want to have this sandwich again, but need to try more of the menu.

I spent the next part of the day visiting some communities east and south of Wichita, but on the way out of town, finally stopped at Hall Industrial on East Murdock, Their fenced in yard has some amazing antique tractors & bulldozers and I photographed them from the sidewalk. I need to return and see what antiques are in their buildings sometime.

Across the street, I also photographed St. Matthew Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church was founded in December 16, 1870 by 41 ex-slaves in Jackson, Tennessee. This congregation began in 1916 and the church was built in 1926.

Heading east, I stopped in downtown Augusta, Kansas where I photographed many buildings including the Augusta Historic Frisco Train Depot, City Hall, Millers Drive-In, 1922 Cooper Drug Store, and the 1935 Augusta Theater. I also found a marker imbedded in the downtown sidewalk mentioning a 1924 tornado. Research shows that there was at least one death in the July 13, 1924 tornado (as reported in a Colorado newspaper) and that there was reportedly a million dollars in damage.

Heading south toward the Little Walnut River Pratt Truss Bridge, near Douglass, Kansas, I passed Cumberland Bible Church and cotton fields including a huge rough bail of cotton. The one lane bridge was built in 1885 by the Kansas City Bridge & Iron Co and is closed to all but foot traffic. There is an interesting abandoned stone building past the far end of the bridge, but it is on private property.

Continuing into Douglass, I was excited to try Sweet Thangz, which I have heard great things about. Arriving at the former nursing home, now apartment building, where it is located, there were two signs near the road saying that Sweet Thangz is "around back," but there was no sign around the back and no vehicles. When another vehicle pulled up, I asked where the restaurant was and the lady told me that is closed 2 months ago.

Fortunately Douglass also has Betty's Restaurant, which I enjoyed a couple of years ago, so I stopped there. Not planning to have lunch at Betty's I didn't recall what I had there before and went with a 1/4 pound burger ($6.79) with cheese ($.35), and mustard, pickle & grilled onion (no charge) and onion straws ($4.42). Both were very good. The peanut butter malt was great!

I learned that the team who spent 3 years renovating the former Craig's restaurant building and opened Betty's in 2022, also flipped houses and had brought this restaurant back to life to sell it and so the community would have a restaurant again. It sold to new owners last April and is still going strong, with no obvious changes from my previous visit.

Now heading back towards Wichita, I made a pass through Douglass to photograph some of the old downtown buildings and [ass through Rose Hill, where I took a few quick update photos of the wonderful Jurassic Art grassroots art environment.

Back in Wichita, the first stop was at Corbin Center on the campus of Wichita State University, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. In addition to photographing the exterior, I toured some of the classrooms and found a display about Wright's buildings in the hallway outside the College of Education Advising Center.

St. George Orthodox Cathedral is nearby and the janitor told me that I was welcome to photograph the church temple interior. The church was built in 1990 and the temple is patterned after Hagia Sophia, which was built in sixth Century Constantinople. There are four large outdoor mosaics and the interior walls, ceiling and dome are filled with art. 

The Icons which cvover much of the interior are different style of religous art than I am used to and I feel like I need to know more about the style to truely appreciate them. They are two dimensional highly stylized, intentionally non-realistic, and symbolic.

A handome carved oak Iconostais separates the Nave from the Altar. It is painted in egg tempera with gold leaf background.

Heading downtown I stopped at Veterans Memorial Park, to photograph the Arkansas River, The "Keeper of The Plains," various Veteran's monuments and the U.S. Bicentennial Flag Pavilion, which was dedicated in 1977. It displays 15 flags representing America's evolution, with  plaques about their historical significance.

The afternoon was rounded out with a stop to photograph "Avian Migrations" by Lisa Rundstrom in the Wichita Public Library Advanced Learning Library, and Rayer's Bearden Stained Glass Supply & Gallery.

Supper was at Oasis Lounge, which is known for fresh cut fries and specialty burgers. The thick cut fries were good, but could have used a little more time in the fryer. The Widowmaker is a hamburger patty topped with Polish sausage, bacon, fried egg, ketchup, mustard, pickle onion, lettuce and choice of cheese (I went with cheddar). It is properly messy and I really couldn't hold it together on the bun enough to bite into it as a whole. It was good, but not one of my favorite Wichita burgers. The mixture of flavors and textures didn't really work for me. Your mileage may vary.

The final stop of the day was Cocoa Dolce Chocolates in Old Town, Wichita. Years ago I had been to their Rock Road location, and the shop which was briefly in Overland Park. Cocoa Dolce moved its headquarters and factory into this historic Coleman Factory building in 2018. 

I already knew that I liked their chocolates and gelato, so I went with something completely different. A white wine +slushie, blended with mango gelato. I have to do this again!

Breakfast Shoe
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Little Walnut River Pratt Truss Bridge
 
 
 

St. George Orthodox Cathedral
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Widowmaker

Wine Slushie

Having tossed away most of the donut, I still had room for breakfast and went to Livingston's Cafe, which is owned by a family which has had restaurants in Wichita since 1910. There was a line out the door, but most of the line was one large party and I was able to be seated after a few minutes when a stool opened up at the counter.

Not planning to eat here, I hadn't researched the menu, so I went with the signature Livingston's Special, which is 2 hot cakes or French toast, with 2 eggs, 1 bacon and 1 sausage. The bacon and eggs were good. The large pancakes were heavy and didn't have a lot of flavor even with whipped spread and warm syrup.

While heading downtown, I photographed "Seven Pillars of Kwanzaa" by Janice Thacker.

There were three things I wanted to see in the 200 block of South Main. There is an unusually shaped cement lion sculpture by behind the former Carnegie Library titled, "Righteousness Restored." which was completed in 1981.

Just a few feet away, in the Fidelity Bank Courtyard, there is a cool statue called, "Journeys of the Imagination." It features a child with a cape surfing the sky on a large paper airplane. The pedestal has smaller paper airplanes and a boy with an open book. leaning back and imagining the journey.

The Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Society is at the other corner of the block and I was here to locate and photograph the five gargoyle heads on the former City Hall Building. I located them fairly easily and had a nice chat with a postman who was delivering a letter and asked what I was doing. He enjoys history as well.

Other stops were made to photograph "River Notes" (an encouragement mailbox along the river on River Blvd.), more gargoyles on Campbell Castle, and the three piece sculpture titled Wind Organ by Chris Brunner & Bart Ewonus. There was also a stop at Riverside Park to photograph the Spanish-American Memorial. Either the cannon was missing, or I failed to notice it.

On the way out of Wichita, there was one more stop, to check on rumors that Brint's Diner had reopened. It has not, but it is still a neat "Valentine Diner" and appears to still have all of its furnishings.

I next visited Buffalo Road Outcrop, south of Towanda, Kansas, which is a popular place to search for Permian age sea life fossils. About 15 minutes looking for fossils, found some but none were identifiable.

Lunch was at Thunderbird Grill in Towanda. The restaurant opened in 2017 and is known for its burgers and the small arcade, which includes a Skee-Ball machine. My mushroom Swiss burger, onion rings and house made cherry turnover were all good, but none stood out.

The final stop of the afternoon was a drive through of downtown Lebo, to photograph the repainted mural, Humphrey Hall in the 1898 I.O.O.F bank building and other buildings.

Livingston's Special
 
 
 

Journeys of the Imagination
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Buffalo Road Outcrop