I also had a new dish on the menu, The BIG Piggy, which is pulled pork, sausage, and ham topped with fried pickles and Helga mustard on a sesame seed hoagie roll for $17 including a standard side. It was a BIG sandwich and I ate half here with the remaining half being almost too much for a meal later in the week. Although the Corned Beef Burnt End Reuben is my favorite sandwich at Hayward's, my next favorite tends to be which ever one I had most recently and I thought this one was great!

The BIG Piggy

Several things were annoying today. They have Coke products, but when I went to the fountain to fill my drink, they only have Coke Zero, not Diet Coke. When I went for my money back (I'm not sure how much, the price isn't on the menu and they don't give a receipt), they gave me a 12 ounce can of Diet Coke, which is a poor substitute for 32 ounce glass and unlimited refills.

The floor of the dining room was very sticky and my shoes stuck to the floor as I walked to and from ny table.

The first stop of the trip was a single grave all by itself beside a rural road west of Allen, Kansas. It is the burial site of Henry Clousing, who was a Colonel in a Voluntary Army during the Civil War. It isn't kept up and a fence at the side of the road kept me from getting close enough to be positive, but it appears there is no memorial stone, just a metal fence surrounding the grave.

Next stop was Dunlap Colored Cemetery, about a half mile from the much larger Dunlap Cemetery, which is a mile away from the near ghost town of Dunlap, Kansas. They may be the largest Exoduster burial site we have found in Kansas. Find-A-Grave lists 135 burials. Few of the graves have modern legible stones. Many have just a small fragment of what may have been a homemade stone, but all of those have CVC pipe crosses to preserve the location of the grave. The graves date from the 1880s to 1993. 

As we were leaving the cemetery a truck pulled, pulling a trailer with a large mower and the man said he has been mowing the cemetery for three years and we were the first people he had ever seen there. He isn't sure who pays for the maintenance of the cemetery.

The cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. 

We took a photos of a few of the remaining buildings in Dunlap and then went on to Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park, southwest of Council Grove, Kansas. We already have a web page devoted to the park, but this was a chance to photograph structures and and signs which have been added and most importantly, the Sacred Red Rock called I‘zhúje‘waxóbe or Grandfather.

The 28 ton stone was once located by the Kansas River near Topeka and was sacred to the Kanza, or Kaw. people, but had been relocated to a park in Lawrence where a 300 pound bronze plaque honoring settlers was attached. The plaque was removed and the rock was repatriated to the Kaw people at this location.

We drove into Council Grove to have lunch at Trail Days Cafe and Museum. The small complex of old buildings is a combination museum, cafe and bakery. We were last there during the height of Covid in 2020 when food was being served at tables placed outside on the porch.

The cafe & bakery are in the 1860-61 Rawlinson-Terwilliger Home where the serving space doubles as museum and looks like it could be your great grandparents' home. The food is representative of what those ancestors might have served, representing multiple nationalities including German, Swedish, English, French, Italian, Native American and frontier dishes.

They were out of several items today and we settled on beef pot roast and bison sloppy Joe. The food was good, but for me the main reason for going here is the history and the stories which server, cook and retired attorney 82 year old Kenneth McClintock is delighted to share. 

Two buildings which were previously closed have been opened since we last visited. The docent had been unable to come in this day and they were locked, but there were no other customers, so Kenneth opened them for us. He showed us their 9 minute movie on the American Bison and the temporary "Bison in The Flint Hills" art exhibit. The exhibit and film will change each year.

They have also recently opened the 1902 Field School District 54 schoolhouse which was moved to this site in 1999.

Back on the road, our next stop was Peabody Sausage House & Locker, which has been serving Peabody, Kansas since 1967. We were wanting to sample their German sausage, but they were closed during their regular hours and there was no sign on the door. Their phone has been disconnected, their Facebook page has not posted in 2 months and they have not responded to my email.

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring Newton, Kansas, starting with Meridian Grocery, it is a mid size market with its own bakery and an active meat market. They are particularly known for their German foods, including bierocks and German sausage.

The next stop was downtown at the Harvey County Historical Museum, which we last visited in 2016. The main gallery is used for temporary exhibits and the current exhibit is devoted to the Hispanic history of Harvey County. The docent was not sure how long the exhibit will remain.

We drove by and photographed a number of the 19th century homes in town, and briefly crossed into North Newton to see swales left by cattle and wagons on the Chisholm Trail, but our directions were inadequate and we will need to try again.

Back in Newton, we visited 28 year old Gillispie Meats, which in addition to fresh, ready to cook meats is known for house made ham loaf, sausage and baked goods such as cookies, scones and cream puffs. We bought some of ll three catagories.

Driving through downtown, we noticed a sign saying, "Anderson Book & Office Supply - Since 1892" and decided to stop and check it out. The business has been on Main Street since 1892, and moved into this particular building in 1938. It was built by the Odd Fellows in 1880 and was once a J. C. Penny store.

Entering the store is like stepping back several generations. In addition to office supplies it has a few museum like exhibits of local history and a wide variety of things such as Kansas regional, children's, Kansas State University & University of Kansas books, plus gifts, greeting cards, toys & puzzles and even Newton High School letter jackets & related apparel.

The neatest thing was meeting the owner, 93 year old Phillip Anderson, III who is the 4th generation in the 5 generation business. Although he is a Wichita State University grad, he went to the University of Kansas for 3 semesters before being drafted and near the register there are pictures of KU basketball players and of Phillip with head coach Bill Self.

We had parked farther up Main Street near a toy store which had caught our eyes, so we stopped in there as well. It turns out that Prairie Toy Store is only 5 months old and is part of much larger business which fills 4 store fronts with openings between them. The others are a Market & Deli, Health & Wellness, and Home & Outdoor Store. They are all very nice shops.

There is even a manufacturing facility in the rear of the market which produces Prairie brand snack mixes, cookies, spices and other items. We found ourselves making multiple purchases in the deli and toy store including dark chocolate covered almonds and pfeffernusse (German spice cookies).

Supper was at Genova Italian Restaurant on the south side of Newton. We arrived about 6 PM and they were filling up fast. The bread and dipping sauce they bring was the highlight of the meal. The Pasta Sampler (Meat lasagna, spinach ravioli and manicotti with marinara sauce and mozzarella) was a smaller serving than many, but only $14.99. 

The $15.99 Stromboli (Pepperoni, sausage, Canadian bacon, beef, onions green peppers, black olives, mushrooms, & mozzarella wrapped in pizza crust & side of marinara) was enormous, but did come together as we expected. The ingredients did blend for a combined flavor we were expecting. Perhaps there was too little sauce or cheese?

We stayed the night at Winds Hotel in Park City, which during the Kansas State Fair was far less expensive than the places in Hutchinson and Newton where I searched first.

Dunlap Colored Cemetery
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sacred Red Rock
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bison in The Flint Hills
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gillispie Meats
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Philip Anderson, III

Prairie Toy Store
 
 
 
 
 
 

Stromboli

We followed the Stump event with shopping a block and a half away in the downtown, starting with Troy's True Value Hardware with its surprising selection of things you might no longer expect to find in a hardware.

Across the street we purchased house made summer sausage, bratwurst & Mark's jerky at 41 year old Champ's Market. At the Halstead Market (grocery store) next door we bought their German rope sausage.

For lunch, we drove a few miles away to Cy's Hoof and Horn Supper Club in Sedgwick, Kansas which I had been wanting to try for some time. The steakhouse is very dark, which made my photography more difficult. The service was extremely good.

We had catfish & chicken fried steak. All was good and we were particularly impressed with the country fried potatoes and green beans.

The star of the meal was the chicken fried steak. The steak, coating and gravy combine for a wonderful flavor and mouth feel. And the size! It looks big in this photo, but is is even bigger than it looks. The platter it is served on is bigger than the one the catfish came on and was the size of that platter!

While we were downtown, I took new photos of the nearby home devoted to the Kansas City Chiefs with a miniature GEHS Field in the front yard. Also there was a new mural on the side of the police station.

On our way back to Halstead, we stopped on the outskirts of town to drive by and photograph the Hertsler Barns which are having an open house later in the day which doesn't fit our schedule. Unfortunately they are too obscured by trees to photograph from the road.

Staying outside town, we went to Bobbi's Cutters. Bobbie Barton gave an interesting tour of the operation which creates custom cookie cutters on 3D printers and demonstrated how they are built. This is a major operation and quite interesting. 

A couple of other creators were doing demos at Bobbi's Cutters. Isaac Shue from Gallery Mostaza in Newton spun a case while talking about their business and Andrea of Andy Kay's Cookies demonstrated cookie decorating.

Back in Newton, we toured the Halstead Historical Museum & Depot, which I hadn't been to for several years and enjoyed a slice of watermelon outside.

Our last stop around Halstead was touring two barns at the Myrla & Kent Haury farm, which was homesteaded in 1874.

As we drove back across Kansas, we turned off at Cedar Point, first stopping to take current photographs of the 1867 Drinkwater & Schriver Flour Mill on the Cottonwood River. It looks like the structure is deteriorating and for the second straight year it appears that the restoration has been halted. Researching after we got home, I learned that yes, work is no longer being done on the historic building and it is listed for sale.

Passing south out of town we passed and interesting mulit room school which was built in 1918 and abandoned about 50 years ago when the school district consolidated with Cottonwood Falls.

We were driving to Homestead Cemetery, about 10 miles south of Cedar Point and Clements, Kansas, where Maud and Gus Wagner are buried. Maud Stevens was born in Emporia, Kansas and was an acrobat who met Gus at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in St. Louis. Gus was promoted as the world's most tattooed man. They eventually married and traveled with circuses together and she became the first known professional female tattoo artist in the United States. Their daughter started tattooing at age 9

Their original stones are tiny and Maud's says only "M W" while Gus' appears to have no writing at all. The newer flat stones were placed in 2016 by fans of tattoos. The graves were pretty much hidden by plants, but we cleared them enough to photograph and they will be easier for the next visitors to find. 

There is just one driveway in the cemetery and these graves are near the drive, 1/2 way back on the right side, just past the Mercer family.

Driving back toward US-50 on G Road, we passed a herd of bison, which looked photogenic with the wild sunflowers which lined the roadside.

Supper was at Rolling Hills Bar and Grill in Americus, Kansas, where I had first dined in January. We had a pork chop and chicken fried steak. The large chop tasted quite good. Though I preferred these mashed potatoes, I preferred the green beans at lunch and enjoyed the chicken fried steak at lunch much more. The CFS at lunch was more than twice the size of this one (and a few dollars more expensive).

My favorite part of supper was what they call Dutch apple pie and I would call apple crisp pie. 

Hoof and Horn Supper Club
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bobbi's Cutters
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cedar Point School
 
 

Gus & Maud Wagner Graves
 

Bison & Sunflowers
 

Rolling Hills Bar & Grill

Because Lonnie Q's was a BBQ restaurant, some people are assuming this is as well, but while Alex is honoring some of that tradition with Cheesy Taters, pulled pork, smoked turkey, and the original coleslaw, He is creating a new restaurant with a focus on other items. 

Just three people total are staffing Deano's, and Alec is the kitchen staff, manager, and other roles. Monday's & Tuesdays he is prepping the food and they are open 7 - 10 AM and 11 AM - 2 PM Wednesday - Saturday. Everything is made from scratch.

The menu is limited and we had most of their lunch menu with a pulled pork/Tom's turkey sandwich, smashburger, Cheesy Taters, and fresh cut fries. The Stampede Smashburger is unique - a quarter pound patty with pickled jalapenos, American cheese and smoky slaw on a brioche bun. The combination of flavors worked well for me and I really enjoyed this burger!

The staff saw me taking photos and asked what they were for. When I explained that I blog about my meals I was invited to also try the Cozy Rolls which are cinnamon rolls made with biscuit dough and a lot of butter. I thought of it almost as a cinnamon cake. It was served warm and it was very good.

Deano's has a slightly larger menu for breakfast than for lunch and I am hearing great things about their house cured bacon.
  
Look for the menu to expand, but not necessarily the BBQ options. There will be chili available as the weather turns cooler.
  
  

Stampede Smashburger
 

Alec Weaver