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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Friday
- April 4, 2025: Today we tried out 1981 Korean Chicken, which opened
last summer in Overland Park, Kansas in the space which had been Steve's
Villa Capri for about 9 years.
We
had the shrimp fried rice lunch and the 6 piece wing combo. Not surprisingly
the chicken the restaurant is named for was my favorite. The 6 pieces were
three wings cut in two, so there were three drummies and 3 combination
flaps-tips. I had them with spicy sweet chili sauce on the side and spicy
mayo. The fries were good dipped in the mayo and I requested a second cup.
Across
Kansas many churches have Friday night fish fries during Lent, but tonight
we tried something a little different. Christ the King Parish in Kansas
City, Kansas served fish tacos, chili rellenos or cheese quesadillas. It
was a pleasant change of pace.
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Saturday
- April 5, 2025: For supper, we checked out Sombreros with family.
The family run Mexican restaurant did a nice job of accommodating our party,
which included a three year old and a 6 month old.
I
was quite happy with the combo fajitas which included chicken, asada and
shrimp. I was a little less happy with the salsa though there were others
in our party who enjoyed the salsa mote.
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Tuesday
- April 8, 2025:
I spent a few hours exploring Olathe, Kansas today, I lived and worked
in Olathe for 30 years, but have been away for a while and haven't spent
more than an hour or two here in a while.
Lunch
was a revisit of Romeito Cuban Restaurant, We were impressed with both
the food and service the first time.
The
restaurant has a lunch menu with 6 appetizers (mostly $6.99) and 10 entrees
(mostly for $10.99). The calamari fritos had a nice flavor and I appreciated
their offering a lunch sized portion. At many restaurants if you have a
appetizer at lunch, it may cost more than the rest of the meal.
The
filete de pescasdo was seasoned less than I would have chosen, but wass
good with added salt.
It
must be more than 10 years since I last visited 125 acre Ernie
Miller Park & Nature Center, but the Johnson County Park seemed
unchanged. It still has displays of live birds of pray, amphibians and
reptiles, a nice room for observing wild birds at feeders and a 500 gallon
tank with native fishes. The gift shop stills sells candies containing
ants, crickets and worms.
The
next stop was Calamity Line Park, a 9 acre city park on land which once
had the 1872 St. Louis, Lawrence, Denver and Western Railroad line passing
through. There are markers with the history of the railroad (which locals
affectionately called the "Calamity Line" since the railroad seemed to
operate on a shoestring budget).
The
park opened in 1999, but the centerpiece of the park is the train locomotive
play structure which was installed in 2022. There was one little boy playing
on the locomotive. When I asked his father if it was all right if I took
photos with him in them, the father & son stopped and posed for me.
We had a nice chat.
On
to downtown. With the construction of a much larger County Courthouse across
the street, the old courthouse was torn down and is now a park.
As
a young teen, famed scientist George Washington Carver lived in a Olathe
for about a year in 1879-80. About 15 years ago I tried to learn where
he had lived, worked, worshipped and attended school, but no information
was available and the community did nothing to promote this history.
More
recently there is info that a building on the west side of the public square
in Olathe was "rented for the Colored school" a few years before GW Carver
came to Olathe and may be where he went to school. Also a classmate of
GW Carver said that there was no playground at the school and they would
play marbles on the square. Now there are giant marbles on the square in
his honor.
Also
on the square is an area with some historic markers and three separate
time capsules.
The
highlight of my time in Olathe was a visit to Second Cup Cat Café
at 417 N Rawhide The cat adoption experience offers kitty cuddles and playtime
for $15 per person for an hour, plus a complimentary hot or cold beverage.
Children five and under are free and there is half price entry each Tuesday.
There
were 24 cats there today and just one woman with a toddler spending time
with the kitties. Since the cafe o-pened in September 2022 there have been
713 successful adoptions.
The
final Olathe stop was at Midamerica Nazarene University where there are
at least 3 identical eagle statues mounted on stone monuments. Two of them
flank East College Way at the intersection with South Clairborne Street
and have nothing saying what they are for. The third one is on the mall
in the center of the campus and has a plaque saying it is in Memory of
First MNU President R. Curtis Smith.
For
supper we went to Mr. P'z Bar and Grill at Fireside BBQ in Overland Park,
Kansas. Yes, the name is that long, though the last half is often dropped.
The first Fireside BBQ was opened at this location in 2014 by a fire fighter
who parked an old fire truck in front. It has changed ownership, names
and menu multiple times over the years. The present place is more of a
sports bar which serves BBQ than a BBQ restaurant. They host things like
karaoke, and tonight was poker, with tables of poker players taking up
most of the dinning room.
We
had P'z Potato Skins and a 2 Meat Smoked Platter. The skins were 3 large
potato boats loaded with queso, fire chief meat mix, freshly shredded cheddar,
chopped bacon, and green onions served with sour cream. Traditional toppings
are also available, but that isn't noted on the menu and if we had known,
we would have liked that more.
We
went with chicken and sausage on the platter. The chicken was described
as "smoked, grilled & fried" on the menu, but was actually pulled.
It was OK. The sausage was three slices of a mild flavored sausage that
did not taste smoked.
The
highlight of the meal for me was the fresh cut French fries.
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Filete de pescasados
Ernie Miller Nature Center
Calamity Line Park
George Washington Carver Marbles
Second Cup Cat Café
Mr. P'z
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Friday
- April 11, 2025: We made a second visit to Burnt End BBQ in De Soto,
Kansas. It is just off K-10 at the main De Soto exit. The restaurant was
in Overland Park for many years, but moved here last summer. They also
have a spot in Crown Center.
We
arrived before noon, but dinning room was nearly full. We had a half rack
of pork ribs and "All the Ends" - Beef burnt ends, pork burnt ends, and
corned beef burnt ends, plus the choice of two sides.
They
brought us complimentary fried cornbread bites, one for each of us. They
tasted good.
The
food came out in nine minutes. The ribs are still my favorite meat at Burnt
End BBQ, but the pork burnt ends are great as well. I liked the corned
beef burnt ends more than the beef, but not as much as some of the other
corned beef burnt ends I've had recently.
I
liked the French fires and onion straws, through the straws are quite salty.
After
lunch we stopped at an individual burial near the intersection of K-7 and
K-10 in Olathe. The 1856 grave is by itself on the K-7 rightaway and is
maintained by Atmos Energy. It is for Asa C. Smith, the infant son of Fountain
and Emily Smith, who had a farm at this location until 1865. I had visited
this site 5 years ago. but one of the settings was off on my camera and
those photos were badly over exposed.
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All the Ends
Asa C. Smith Grave
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Friday
- April 18, 2025: We are off to spend two days exploring southeast
Kansas.
The
first stop was at MM Fiber Mill in unincorporated, New Lancaster, Kansas
northwest of La Cygne. It is in the historic New Lancaster General Store.
When we walked in, there was no one in the general store, but the owner,
Roger Minniear was at work on running mill machinery in the attached store
which was once a creamery.
Roger
and Penny Minniear were raising sheep and found it hard to have their wool
processed in a timely manor, That had them thinking about starting a micro
mill and they learned that the Shepherd's Mill in Phillipsburg, Kansas
was going to close. Roger & Penny trained with the folks at Shepherd's
Mill and then moved all of the equipment to this cool old building.
Roger
patiently showed us how all of the equipment worked and demonstrated almost
every step of the processing of fibers. We left with a much more detailed
understanding of the processes than we had from visiting Shepherd's Mill
in 2020.
There
are just two fiber processing facilities in Kansas and there are fewer
facilities in nearby states then there were five years ago.
After
photographing other historic buildings in New Lancaster, we drove on to
La Cygne, where two docents from the La Cygne Historical Society and Museum
were waiting to show us the museum. They did a good job of pointing out
interesting portions of the museum, including exhibits devoted to the Battle
of Mine Creek, which took place nearby on October 25, 1864.
Much
of the museum is currently being used for a quilt show this month and they
made that more interesting than I would have expected. The front room of
the museum has many sewing machines set up and they have been hosting school
groups which have been creating their own quilt squares.
One
of the other exhibits which stood out for me was devoted to John H. Smith
from La Cygne who was a blind watchmaker and piano tuner who was featured
in Ripley's Believe It or Not.
Moving
on to the Pleasanton area, we stopped at Skyview Farm & Creamery. The
family started raising Jersey cows to supply themselves with fresh raw
milk, but it has grown into a farm, micro dairy and store selling raw milk,
artisanal cave aged cheese, fresh cheese, and other Jersey milk products.
The store is open 10 AM - 5 PM weekdays and 10 AM - 4 PM Saturday.
They
also sell sausage from Castle Farms (nearby), honey and some other products.
They accept credit cards.
We
purchased Garlic Dill cheese spread, Jersey Silk yogurt, and Smoked Gouda,
Mine Creek Cheddar, Gouda, & Caerphilly Cheddar cheeses. As if this
writing, I've tried only the yogurt and Caerphilly Cheddar and enjoyed
them both.
Near
by, we stopped to photograph the 1927 Mine Creek Bridge, It is a 110 feet
long reinforced concrete Marsh arch bridge.
Lunch
was at Aunt Toadies in Fort Scott, Kansas. There has been a restaurant
at this location since 1952. It was empty for a couple of years before
being purchased and reopened in 2003. The name came from the nickname of
one of the new owner's parents. The niece of those owners bought the restaurant
in 2022, keeping it much the same.
We
ordered a bacon cheeseburger and chicken fried steak, with fresh cut fries,
mashed potatoes with gravy and fried okra. All were good, even the okra,
which I'm often not a fan of. For dessert we shared a honey bun and got
a peanut butter pie to go. The pie is made in house. The bun is not, but
is heated on the grill and topped with a scoop of ice cream. It is an homage
to the same dessert which was popular at Boone and Dauben's Drive-In which
burned in 2007.
Continuing
south down US-69, our next stop was Schroeder's Custom Butchering in downtown
Arma, Kansas. I drove right past this place last year, but did not know
about it at the time. It is a narrow store front with a small area for
customers at the front.
In
addition to fresh meat, they prepare their own beef jerky, garlic sausage,
salami, smoked sausage, snack sticks and hillbilly bacon. I was looking
forward to trying their garlic sausage, but they were out of everything
but smoked sausage and snack sticks (smoked Polish sausage). We got four
links and a package of sticks.
We
stopped in Girard to photograph the 1906 Carnagie Library. Girard is believed
to have been the smallest community to get one. On the way to the library,
we spotted an interesting store on a downtown corner and returned to investigate
Goings Enterprises, which is five different businesses: Goings Innovations,
Goings Gourmet, Goings Media, Goings Manufacturing, and Goings Investments.
They
sell a wide variety of items, including ice cream, sandwiches, truffles,
fudge, cookies, freeze dried fruit and jellies. We bought a jar of apple
butter and a package of freeze dried chocolate caramel crunch (Milk Duds).
On
our way through Greenbush, we revisited Saint Aloysius Historical Site.
It has a church and a church ruins sitting almost side by side. The 1887
St. Aloysius Church was replaced by a larger building in 1907, but the
newer building was struck by lightning and destroyed in 1982 and the congregation
returned to the older building. The registered Kansas State Historic Site
is very picturesque.
A
grotto was added next to the ruins in 2014, but the only photos I had of
it included some cheesy Christmas decorations which had been setting there
for some time. The church has not been in regular use since 1993, but is
still furnished and is also decorated for Christmas. There are new Stations
of the Cross in front of the church which are new since my 2018 visit.
There
is a contemporary his and hers outhouse.
Passing
through St. Paul, Kansas, a brick classic Conoco Station building across
the street from a contemporary station. While looking for a place to park,
I realized that the multivehicle garage to the west of the classic building
appears to host a private collection of antique tractors and other items.
The
classic looking building has brick matching the home on the other side
and shares a large fenced in outdoor area. I have since learned that it
is patterned off of a real cottage station in Chanute, Kansas. The front
of the building holds a collection of old service station memorabilia and
other collectibles, while the rear is a guest area. It is not open to the
public.
In
Parsons, Kansas we stopped at Tolen Creek Park which was being developed
when I visited it a few years ago. There are two Stan Herd Sculptures,
"Ancient Man" & "Turtle Island." It is a few block walk on a gravel
road to the Stan Herd art.
Four
miles north and five and one half miles east of Parsons, we stopped at
1877 Oak Grove Schoolhouse. It is an attractive building and it was be
nice to better see the inside. A marker outside the building tells its
history, including that its final year as a school was 1960.
The
other side of the marker tells about the Osage Trail, which passed by the
school when it was built. The Ingalls family would have passed by here
and the story of crossing a flooded river in the novel, "Little House on
the Prairie" may have have been set here. Laura Ingalls Wilder's journal
describes their real life experience and it may have been here at Trotter's
Ford.
For
supper, we went to Jack's Place in Liberty, Kansas (population about 99).
the exterior looks plain, but the interior is clean and inviting. Alcohol
is limited to beer and wine coolers.
We
ordered the Pork Chop Dinner ($16.25 with salad toast, vegetable of the
day and choice of mashed, fries or baked potato) and Mountain Oysters ($21.75
with the same). The pork chops were huge and well seasoned. The mountain
oysters were very tender. We enjoyed all of it.
The
gentlemen at the next table let me take a photo of the Strip Steak special.
Regularly $26.95, but $21.95 on Friday night.
The
service was good.
We
drove the back roads from Liberty to the William Inge Center for the Arts,
south of Independence, Kansas on the campus of Independence Community College.
The 42nd William Inge Theatre Festival
is being held this weekend and all events are free and open to the public.
We went to the evening performance of "Helens of Troy New York" by 2024
Playwright in Residence Emma Horwitz.
It
was followed by talk back session with the audience asking questions of
the cast and crew. It added a lot to my appreciation of the art and of
the festival.
The
night was spent at the Comfort Inn in Independence.
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MM Fiber Mill
Spinning Machines
La Cygne Historical Museum
Skyview Farm & Creamery
Aunt Toadies
Schroeder's Custom Butchering
Conoco Station
"Turtle Island" & "Ancient Man"
Pork Chop Dinner
Helens of Troy New York
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Saturday
- April 19, 2025: It rained in the night and rained off and on through
the day, changing some of the plans which I had for the day.
Our
first stop of the day was at Howard's Toys For Big Boys in Chanute, Kansas.
We were met by Rusty Alger, who was enjoying coffee with a couple of friends.
Rusty's wife, Jamie, joined us shortly and the two of them showed us the
28 antique cars currently on display. Many of them were collected by Rusty's
late father, who is the Howard the museum is named for.
In
addition to the antique autos, the second floor houses that Rusty's late
mother, Donna, collected
There
are also a number of old motorcycles, some pedal cars and a variety of
antique automotive signs and tools.
Continuing
north to Humboldt, we had lunch at Honeybee Bruncherie, which opened in
2022. There isn't much to show it is there on the outside, but the inside
is bright and welcoming. There was a line waiting for tables, but we were
able to be seated at the counter right away.
It
feels Honeybee strives to put its own twist on all of the menu, starting
with the drinks. The orange juice is squeezed by a large machine with a
hopper of oranges on the top and their fountain drinks are all from Boylan
Bottling Company from New York, which was founded in 1891. I can't say
that I am fond of their diet cola.
We
ordered Steak & Eggs and a Grilled Chicken Sandwich. The sandwich came
with salt & vinegar kettle chips and I selected their Crispy Breakfast
Potatoes to go with the breakfast. The food was all good, with the fried
new potatoes my favorite part of the meal.
There
were no desserts listed on the menu and they did not suggest any.
We
stopped by Orcutt Backyard Museum, which is just a few blocks away. There
was a list four people and 6 phone numbers on a sign on the museum, to
arrange a tour and we called all of them seeing if something could be arranged
while we were in town. The first person we managed to reach, now lives
in Georgia and the other two were both out of town, so that will need to
happen another day.
After
taking a few photos around Humboldt, we went to the new Whitetails &
Wildlife Museum which opened in January. The large taxidermy collection
is very nicely displayed in a purpose built building on the square. It
is well worth a visit, but I think many visitors will be satisfied with
15-20 minutes.
The
largest display reminds me of the Panorama of North American Plants and
Animals at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, though on a
smaller scale.
We
drove on to Iola to photograph the largest downtown square in the United
States, as determined by the local Chamber of Commerce, as well as the
clock from the 1904 courthouse and a mural just off the square. We were
going to tour and photograph the Allen County Historical Society Museum,
but there was a sign on the the door that it was closed for the day.
We
have never done a page about the museum, because when I went there before,
they did not permit photograph in the museum.
Between
the rain and being unable to visit the two closed museums, we had extra
time on our hands. We called Crooner's Lounge in Fort Scott and were able
to move our reservation from 6 PM to 5 PM, and then slowly traveled in
that direction, driving through every small community along the way photographing
whatever caught my fancy.
The
most interesting stop on the way was Perry's Pork Rinds & Country Store
in Bronson, Kansas. The woman working at the counter said that the couple
who own Perry's started making pork rinds to pay off their honeymoon, selling
them at special events. In time they built this store and expanded into
a commercial kitchen so they could sell wholesale (they are at all the
Pete's Phillips 66 stations)
They
did not offer any samples and I haven't been a big pork rind fan, so we
got just a couple of small packages, one BBQ Pork Rinds and the other was
Cinnamon Sugar Pork Rinds. I've only tried the BBQ so far, but really liked
it. If there had been samples, we would have bought much more. We also
got some warm cinnamon almonds which are also made in house.
We
also found a neat mural on the side of the Banera Stone office in Uniontown,
Kansas.
Arriving
in Fort Scott, Kansas a little before Fort
Scott National Historic Site closed for the day, we took a few photos
of the grounds and the Visitors Center.
Driving
through town, we saw that Museum of Creativity appeared to be open. I have
been wanting to visit it for several years, but their web site says they
are still working on it and have not opened. It turns out they have two
different domains and two different websites. The one which was built first
is the one which has never been updated though it is still active.
The
the Bowman family purchased the Beaux-Arts Centre in 2020. One generation
of the family lives in the basement, while the other two generations live
upstairs, and their Museum of Creativity is on the main floor. They have
a children's interactive play area, a Barbie collection and some model
train set ups. They offer some crafts projects and host birthday parties.
We
had a great server at Crooner's Lounge. Rob was personable, fun and very
knowledgeable. When we asked for a recommendation, he gave a thought out
answer, rather than just everything is great.
We
started with baked oysters, then went on to have lasagna and crab cakes.
They were the best crab cakes I have ever had. The remoulade had some kick
and really completed the crab when it was dipped in the sauce. The twice
baked mashed potatoes were great as well.
There
were several desserts available. We went with the cake of the day. The
rich, flavorful cake's description was several sentences long, but I can
only remember that it was chocolate and a large serving. Even whttps://www.holygoatcreamery.net/contactith
two of us sharing it, we took half home.
Their
Old Fashioned was only $10, but all of the meal was quite reasonable for
fine dining. The entire meal was under $70 before tax and tip.
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Howard's Toys For Big Boys
Honeybee Bruncherie
Whitetails & Wildlife Museum
Perry's Pork Rinds & Country Store
Thomas The Tank Engine
Lasagna & Crab Cakes
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Friday
- April 25, 2025:
I added a new page devoted to the Museum of the Great Plains in Leoti,
Kansas.
For
lunch, we dined at J’s BBQ Smokehouse & Catering, which opened in Olathe,
Kansas in the old Johnny's BBQ location in March. The Olathe Johnny's was
originally owned by Eric White, whose father started the first Johnny's
BBQ in Mission, Kansas in 1977. Johnny retired in 2020m but Eric kept this
location open until 2023. The new owners kept the name and menu, but closed
several months ago.
J's
is now owned by Josh Deal, who was a manager at the original Johnny's.
He has several old Johnny's employees at the restaurant and the food appears
to be prepared much as it was in the past. They still have a Friday rib
special much like before and the smoked chicken is still finished in the
fryer. I felt that today's ribs were over cooked, but Linda liked them.
The fries were under cooked and so-so. The chicken looked and tasted as
good as always.
I
got chili today, which had been only a seasonal product in the past, and
I had never tried. This chili was very good. My favorite part of the meal.
Josh
saw me taking photos and asked about it. I explained that I blog. He gave
us a sample of their beef burnt ends, which we both enjoyed and also his
card with a request that I send him some of the photos.
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Half chicken & chili
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Saturday
- April 26, 2025:
We are off to Meade, Kansas for a family event, but are getting a little
exploring in along the way.
We
stopped at Ty's Diner in Wichita, Kansas for lunch. It has been two and
a half years since I was last there. We ordered q Chicken Strip Basket.
a BLT and an Ultimate Burger along with French Fries and Onion Rings. At
first glance the Chicken Fingers looks small, but for $8.29 including hand
cut fries it is a great buy.
The
BLT was good. The bacon was larger than than the bread and the shredded
lettuce was a bit of a surprise. The Burger is their standard cheeseburger
with all of the usual toppings plus grilled onion, grilled mushrooms, grilled
jalapenos and bacon. I wish the burger had been cooked a little less.
The
service was great and we all left with drinks to go. While we were waiting
for our food, the food came out for a nearby table where someone was having
a birthday and a candle had been placed on top of their burger.
Arriving
in Meade a little early. We revisited the Meade County Historical Museum.
The docent mentioned that they had made a lot of changes in the years since
our previous visit, but most of them were too subtle to be obvious to us.
We
also visited Graceland Cemetery, which is named for the daughter of Hoo-Doo
Brown, a frontiersman who once lived here and was responsible for the deaths
of many men. When he sold the land for use as a cemetery. it was with a
stipulation that it be named for her. Her brother, Parley, and aunt are
also buried there.
New
exterior photos were also taken at the Dalton Gang Hideout & Heritage
House, particularly of the Wild West town facade has been built for historical
reenactments and gunfight competitions. I don't remember it being there
when I visited the Hideout before.
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Birthday Hamburger
Grace Brown Memorial
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