Tonight we had Coconut Shrimp (Hand breaded fried shrimp, sweet Thai chili sauce), Candied Pork Chop (Marinated pork chop, bacon, brown sugar, Parmesan cheese; served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes) and what turned out to be an enormous side of French fries.

Although the coating was falling of the pork chop, it was my favorite part of the meal, tender with a nice flavor.

Across Kansas Avenue, I photographed the life sized statue of Topeka's Harry W. Colmery who authored The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, known as the G. I. Bill. Colmery's statue is flanked by two relief statues. Colmery is saluting a row of veterans in uniform, while the relief behind him has veterans in work apparel for the jobs they achieved after their education which were funded by the G. I. Bill. It can be found on the sidewalk in front of 919 S. Kansas Avenue.

Harry W. Colmery Statue

Continuing west, I took a few photos from the car, but we drove through to Colby, Kansas, to have lunch at J & B Meat Market. We had a bacon cheeseburger, onion rings, sour cream potato wedges and ribeye sandwich. The steak sandwich had great flavor, but I wish I had known that you have to request they grill the onion on it, which would have made it even better.

In Colby we photographed the famous Wheat Jesus billboard on I-70, Colby Visitor's Center made of local limestone surrounding a grain bin, and the Kansas State University Western Kansas Research-Extension Center. The research center isn't really an attraction and doesn't bill itself as one, but several other places had promoted it as one.

At Fike Park we found four very nice chain saw sculptures, a BSA Statue of Liberty replica and a mural covered rest room.

After a short drive east to Rexford, Kansas, we were met at the Judy McCarty Dairy Learning Center by Jessica BugBee and Shelly Macumber. They are the Program & Outreach Coordinator and Communications Coordinator for McCarty Family Farms, LLC.

McCarty Family Farms is a 4th generation dairy farm headquartered in Rexford, with additional facilities in Beaver City, Nebraska and Bird City & Scott City, Kansas. There are 10,000 Hereford cows at this location.

The Judy McCarty was the mother of the four brothers who head the farms today and was a former school teacher who led tours of the facility for many years. The Learning Center opened in June, 2024 and there is no admission charge nor request for donations.

As you arrive at the Learning Center, there is a sign saying "Come See the Cows." The Learning Center has galleries with interactive educational displays, a gift shop, and a glass wall overlooking a 120 stall milking carousel. It is fascinating watching the cows enter the room, board the carousel, and take an 8 minute ride while being milked. When the carousel takes them back around, they back out and walk back to their barn. The carousel operates 22 hours a day and each cow is milked three times a day.

The Learning Center is open Tuesday - Saturday and visitors are welcome to drop in. Free tours are offered to groups of 12 or more by appointment. Sometimes it is possible to be combined with other smaller groups to do a tour, plus there is an annual open house when tours are offered. We were treated to a tour to take photos for this website.

The tour is in a small, modern bus. We were surprised to learn that the entire tour is done in the bus, which drives through 4 tunnel ventilated freestall barns housing 5,000 cows. "Freestall" barns have individual stalls for rest and sleep. The cows select their own stall and move freely between the stalls, eating areas, and milking parlors. There are even cool brushes where cows can get a back rub. The fans cooling the barns are maintained at a speed that keeps away flies. Everything is done to keep the cows calm, contented, healthy and productive.

I mentioned there are 10,000 cows. The enormous dairy has a second set of four enormous barns and another carousel.

The tour also goes through the area where feed is carefully mixed, the sand used for bedding is reclaimed, water is reclaimed, and enough methane is captured to power 12,000 homes. The manure is used as fertilizer at neighboring farms.

The milk produced at this facility and McCarty's three other dairies is condensed at McCarty's own Condensing Plant across the highway. The condensed milk all goes by truck to the Danone plant in Fort Worth, Texas where it becomes Danon and other yogurt products. 

A tour concludes back at the Learning Center with a chance to try one of the many products Danon produces from McCarty milk. We had a Chobani 20g Protein Peach Yogurt Drink and YoCrunch Vanilla Low Fat Yogurt with Mini M&Ms.

Returning to Colby, we photographed the beautiful mural which was completed earlier this year on three grain bins near downtown by Lissa Sexton and Raya Wagoner.

For supper, we went to L&T Family Restaurant in Goodland, Kansas.  We had been told to go here for fried chicken by Roxie on the Road.

The fried chicken was extremely good and an incredible bargain. Two piece mixed (breast & leg) with a great biscuit and two sides for $8.85. We like this chicken more than many places famous for their chicken. The chicken wings, potato wedges and mashed potatoes & gravy were nothing special.

After diner, we took photos of murals, Mary Seaman Ennis House, Rod Cooper's restored White Eagle Station and Gulick-Cooper House. Rod Cooper's newest project, a three story home which was moved to Goodland from St. Francis, Kansas, about 30 miles away. 

The final stop was Sweet Mom's Treats & Eats, an ice cream parlor which opened in an historic building in June. They don't make their own ice cream, but the scoop of caramel praline I had had was wonderful. They also have rolled ice cream, dirty soda and specialty candies. As the weather gets colder, there will be more food, including chili.

We are spending the night in Colby.

Ribeye Sandwich & Bacon Cheeseburger
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Milking Carousel
 
 
 
 

McCarty Family Farms, LLC
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Grain Bin Mural
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sweet Mom's Treats & Eats

I won a small Kansas Explorers bag during the trivia contest.

The half hour event ended with the announcement that the first BKRT PopUp event of 2026 will be May 2 in Humboldt, Kansas.

After visiting a couple of Hoxie attractions, we drove to PSI to join a tour going to Foote Cattle Company's Hoxie Feedyard, which feeds over 55,000 cattle. For me the most interesting of the operation was the preparation of feed, which began with turning corn into corn flakes, than mixing them with silage and other nutrients using special front end loaders which have scales on the buckets.

It was very windy, and blowing dust lowered the quality of my photos.

For lunch, we drove to Midway Cafe in Selden, Kansas. The little restaurant was busy and food came out slowly. The server brought us a couple of chocolate chip cookies and apologized for the delay.

We had a fish basket and chicken fried steak.

Back in Hoxie, we toured the former County Jail. It had operated nearly 100 years before closing 3 years ago. The county's prisoners are housed in a different county now. It was followed by a visit to the 7 Rhodes Beef Co. and the Sheridan County Amusement Company. The Home Based Business Market had sounded interesting, but it closed at 2 PM, before we could go there. Other people were also disappointed it closed so early.

The next community we visited was Quinter, where we found a cute old railroad depot with adjacent garden, some interesting murals and an old style water tower with a windmill for the letter "I" in Quinter on the side.

In Ellis, Kansas we had a 4 PM appointment to get new photos of the BK&E miniature train ride at the Ellis Railroad Museum. The General Motors Aero Streamliner has been greatly changed since I last photographed it and Brian LeFebvre met us there. It had been even longer since I had last been inside the museum, so I took new photos in it as well.

Before leaving town, we photographed the new mural on the Ellis Public Works building. We also photographed several nice Halloween displays.

Driving to Hays, I was able to replace some photos which I have lost, of the original "Rome" town site that preceded Hays and of the adjacent railroad bridge which replaced an original trestle bridge where lynch mobs hanged at least four persons around 1870 in two incidents. The the historic marker is now gone.

Supper was at Paisley Pear Bar, Bistro and Market in downtown Hays. The menu is somewhat limited and we had a turkey, apple, brie sandwich, a pear club sandwich & lobster bisque. I had read good things about the cheesecake here, but after learning that the cheesecake is not prepared in-house and the pumpkin bars are, we shared one of them.

The rest room was unusual, in that you have to go through the kitchen to get to it. They said that with the old building's plumbing, that was where it had to be.

The night was spent at the Holiday Inn Express.

Hoxie Feedyard
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Quinter depot & water tower

General Motors Aero Streamliner

Getting back to Hays, we headed east of Old US40 instead of I-70.

In Walker, Kansas, we stopped to see if St. Ann Catholic Church was unlocked, but no luck, so I still just have outside photos. Across the street, we found a home with the yard filled with junk lawn mowers. Driving down the alley to take photos, we found that they continued into 2 more yards.

In Gorham, Kansas, we photographed to more Paper Moon locations, plus St. Mary's Catholic Church.

In Russell, Kansas we found a number of interesting old buildings and the old sign which is all that remains of the Sky Vu Drive In, which closed about 40 years ago.

Driving through town, we found a nice Halloween Display. When I stopped to photograph it. the owner (who was mowing in the back) came up to set up one of the figures which had blown over the night before, so it would be in the photo.

We had lunch at Waudby's Sports Bar & Grill in downtown Russell. It is in a neat historic building, which give it, its name. We had a Chicken Ranch sandwich (Think chicken Philly) and a grilled cheeseburger. The food was good, if not outstanding and the prices were quite reasonable. I would give them another try.

Returning to I-70, we headed east straight to Abilene, where we went to Dickinson County Museum for its Farm Toy Museum, Heritage Hall & Mural Open House.

There was a big turn out for the event which included their new Farm Toy Museum and brand new mural. This was one of the rare times when the 1901 C. W. Parker Carousel and 1904 Wurlitzer Band Organ were operated by the original steam engine.

The final attraction visited today was the OZ Museum in Wamego, Kansas which closed in January to March this year for renovations. Although they did some worthwhile changes like adding LED lights and ADA accessibility, the exhibits still look much like they did when I first visited the museum in 2008. There is a little about the Wicked musical near the end now, but I would like to see more about Wicked.

For supper, we revisited Sheridan's Frozen Custard in Topeka, Kansas. Although most of their buisness is walk up or drive through, there is a small dinning room at one side and we had a chicken sandwich, chili dog and hand cut fries. Service was very friendly and helpful. This was actually my favorite food of the trip.

Sky Vu Drive In
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Farm Toy Museum
 

OZ Museum

I tried to order a turkey leg and yams, but the yams weren't ready yet at 1:30 PM. The restaurant is only open 1 - 8 PM Wednesday to Friday and Noon to 8 PM on Saturday & Sunday.

So I went with a leg and fries. $18 + $5. They took about 10 minutes to come out and I took them to a nearby park. The generous serving of crinkle cut fries were good. The very large leg was better. I particularly liked the flavor of the skin. My only issue is that while they supplied many packages of ketchup (which I didn't use) there was just one small container of BBQ sauce. Once I got past the skin, I wanted the sauce to compliment the mild smoky flavor.

For many people the leg would be big enough for two.

After photographing the now empty Quindaro Bank and still active Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church (1924), I drove to an ice cream parlor named Hey Sugar on Strawberry Hill. The lady behind the counter was quick to offer tastes of those ice creams which interested me and after sampling 3 of them I went with a scoop of Peanut Caramel Candy Bar.

The ice cream comes from One More Scoop Kansas City on Vivion Road in Kansas City, Missouri.

This evening I photographed a neat glowing Halloween Display at at home in Lenexa which had a great Patrcik Mahomes and Kansas City Chiefs display last year.

Turkey Leg

Hey Sugar on Strawberry Hill

Bryant's was already sold out of ribs, chicken, brisket & burnt ends and I ordered the last serving of three large chicken wings ($13.50 including a generous order of fresh cut fries). We also had baby back ribs ($13.50 without a side) and we decided that we like them even more than the spare ribs.

Lunch was my final slice of pizza at Buffalo State Pizza Company at the corner of Santa Fe and 79th Street in Overland Park. Sometime before the end of this month, they plan to move a short distance down Santa Fe to a new location next to The Peanut.

$8.57 would sound like a lot for one slice of pizza with four toppings (anchovies, pepperoni, mushroom & onion), but (as you can see), it is basically a personal sized pizza.

Continuing to Meadowbrook Park in Prairie Village, I photographed a new sculpture from 2022: "Gateway" by Amie Jacobsen. The sides of the interior archway of the attractive 12' sunflower have panels depicting the history of Meadowbrook Park and Prairie Village, including Native American history, farming, railroads, Mexican American history, and Jewish history. Artists from each of those communities were chosen to develop illustrations for the panels.

Just a few blocks away, in the main lobby at 5200 W 94th Terrace, there is a nice installation of photos by Debra Gail Fine Art. There are three 60x40" rural Kansas metal prints. As I was leaving a woman who had seen me photographing the work came out to see if I need information about the artist.

On the way home, I drove by some homes in Overland Park and Lenexa which have large Christmas decorations, to see what they look like for Halloween. Two of them looked pretty good during the daytime and I will be returning to photograph one of those and another one by night.

Buffalo State Pizza Company
 

Gateway

I ordered my usual dish from the OP location, the mixed plate which comes with beef, ham, pork ribs and fries. It is $14.99 and there is a very generous quantity of meat for the money. I took home enough meat for two more meals. The brisket is my favorite, very well flavored, tender and slightly fatty. This may be my favorite brisket in Kansas City.

The previously frozen crinkle cut French fries are cooked perfectly. They are golden and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The tomato based sauce includes a spice which is not my favorite and I would have enjoyed the meal even more if I had remembered to order the dish un-sauced.

You serve yourself to Coke fountain drinks for just $1.65 in a plastic 16 ounce cup so you can take one to go.

Mixed Plate

While trying to learn more about Open Petal Farm, I learned that there is also a nearby Stan Herd earthwork which was created in 2013. It is titled, "Kansa" and consists of a petroglyph inside a circle. It was inspired partially by author William Least Heat-Moon's "PrairyErth" drawing of an ancient petroglyph in the book of the same name.

I have driven within 50 feet of the earthwork many times without noticing it. From ground level, it doesn't look much like it did when new.

Before leaving the JCCC campus, I photographed a number of the outdoor art installations and revisited the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art for the first time in many years. Most of the museum us filled with a temporary exhibit titled, "a Match Made in Heaven" by Katherine Bernhardt and Jeremy Scott. It began in early February and ends October 26.

For supper, we went to Woodyard Bar-B-Que in Kansas City, Kansas. There have been some recent changes at Woodyard, which is one of the less well known BBQ restaurants locally. It has had attention nationally for many years. 

Part of the two level dining "boathouse" has been turned into a beer & wine bar from 7-11 PM. The kitchen still closes at 9 PM.

We were surprised that the menu lists only baby back ribs (not spare). This is new and we ordered a a half slab of baby back ribs and a Smothered Sausage (sausage sandwich with chili & cheddar). What they served was spare ribs. They had good flavor from the rub & smoking, and we thought they were better without sauce.

The chili sausage sandwich was served on a very good bun and messy to eat. Metal utensils would have been helpful. The fries are thin shoestrings.

Beer & Wine Bar

I was planning to have breakfast, but saw that their new Monday special is a loose meat sandwich. With Heather Beez NuWay having closed early this year, Homer's offering a loose meat burger was intriguing. 

The special was a small sandwich, fries and a drink for $9.99. A large is $10.99, but the small sandwich was plenty large. The burger didn't have noticeable seasoning. I think it was the ame product that the old Heather Beez NuWay in Leavenworth had. It is fine, but I like the NuWAY Burgers in Wichita, Kansas much more.

Although the sign by the door says that the outside car hop service doesn't start until 10:30 AM, they were taking orders at 9:30.

Driving back south a few miles to the University of Saint Mary, where I recently learned that Keleher Learning Commons shares the LeBeau Special Collections with the public during the library's regular hours. Special Collections is on the second floor and items from several of the collections are displayed in rotation.

The Bernard H. Hall Abraham Lincoln Collection is arguably the most interesting to the public. It includes more than 10,000 items including one of the 14 known original copies of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, one of two known letters written by Mrs. Lincoln & co-signed by the President and a lock of hair purportedly taken from Lincoln's head at the time of his death.

Other items were displayed from the John & Mary Craig Scripture Collection and many Madonna figurines. I was interested to learn that they have a Steve Capps Oz Collections which includes, the entire Baum first edition series, but none of them are on display at this time.

The original copy of the 13th Amendment is kept in a vault and only a facsimile is on display.

After photographing some of the nearby buildings, I stopped at the Mount Olivet Cemetery (AKA Saint Mary's College Cemetery) on the Mother House Grounds for the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. I could quickly see that there are hundreds of burials here. Simple markers for the sisters and more elaborate markers for the dozen or so priests buried there.

Researching since then, Find A Grave says there are 977 memorials. I noticed that many of the sisters buried in the 1800s were only in their 20s. 

The cemetery includes a small natural burial site.

Driving across Leavenworth, there were brief stops to photograph Centennial Bridge, National Votes for Women Trail plaque, Cathay Williams bust, Explore Leavenworth Mural, The Tune Shop and Melissa Etheridge Childhood Home.

After a brief stop to photograph Round Prairie Christian Church, it was time for lunch at Willie's Sports Pub in Atchison, Kansas. I ordered the two most mentioned dishes from the Google and TripAdvisor reviews, pork tenderloins and onion rings. Both were good. I wasn't as sure with the first bite of the tenderloin, but it grew on me with each bite. It was huge and I ate it open faced, eating most of the tenderloin and only a few onion rings.

Just up the street, I photographed the Fox Theatre and visited Bargain Books and More. It has a wonderful selection of books about the region, including more than 20 different Amelia Earhart books for all ages.

I bought two books I had never heard of. "Kansas Forts & Bases: Sentinels on the Prairie" and "Chasing Lincoln's Killer." I'm looking forward to seeing what the 2nd book says about "Boston" Corbett who shot & killed John Wilkes Booth and latter lived near Concordia, Kansas.

After photographing the castle like US Post Office, I had dessert at Jerry's Again, where I had a good meal last fall. Today they had chocolate, coconut cream and peach pie. The coconut looked really good in the display case and I particularly enjoyed the cream.

More to come...
   
   

Loose Meat Sandwich
 
 
 
 
 

LeBeau Special Collections
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Mount Olivet Cemetery
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bargain Books and More