# Taking a roadtrip in Kansas **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 14, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830 "2014-01-14T23:42:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/1 "2014-01-14T23:42:56Z")
I’m a Kansan who really hasn’t been around much in my own state. This summer my mother wants to take another roadtrip like we did in 2012. This time though we will stay mostly in state. I’ve been to RoadTrip America getting ideas as to where to go. Among them in Hutchinson, which has the Cosmosphere, and the salt mine tour. That latter is odd, but I’ve heard it can be interesting and educational. Does anyone know Hutchinson, Kansas, as in, what’s a good place to eat? I love just about any kind of cuisine. Or if you’ve been around in my state more than I have, what should we see? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/2 "2014-01-15T02:27:15Z")
Liberal has both the [Mid America Air Museum](http://www.kansastravel.org/airmuseum.htm) and [Dorthy’s House](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2815). ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/3 "2014-01-15T02:28:47Z")
World’s Largest Prairie Dog in Oakley. But you probably already knew that. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/4 "2014-01-15T03:06:08Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I’m a Kansan who really hasn’t been around much in my own state. > > This summer my mother wants to take another roadtrip like we did in 2012. This time though we will stay mostly in state. > > I’ve been to RoadTrip America getting ideas as to where to go. > > Among them in Hutchinson, which has the Cosmosphere, and the salt mine tour. That latter is odd, but I’ve heard it can be interesting and educational. > > Does anyone know Hutchinson, Kansas, as in, what’s a good place to eat? I love just about any kind of cuisine. > > Or if you’ve been around in my state more than I have, what should we see? I’m skipping Lawrence and Topeka stuff, guessing you’ve seen it all. The salt mine really is very cool, a must see: [http://underkansas.org/](http://underkansas.org/) Kaw Mission, Council Grove: [Kaw Mission State Historic Site - Kansas Historical Society](http://www.kshs.org/kaw_mission) Tall Grass Prairie Preserve/Z Bar Ranch, Strong City: : > **[Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve - Strong City, Kansas](http://www.kansastravel.org/tallgrassprairie.htm)** > > A new type of nature preserve, the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is mostly owned by the nature conservancy, with just a few acres (including the Z Bar Ranch) under the control of the National Park Service. > **[Virtual Tour - Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)](https://nps.gov/tapr/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtour.htm)** Safari museum, Chanute. This museum’s name is unfortunate and does no do justice to it; it is culturally sensitive and remarkably environmentally aware for the times: [http://www.safarimuseum.com/](http://www.safarimuseum.com/) Grand Centeral Hotel and Grill, Cottenwood Falls. Stay here and eat at the grill. Best steak I’ve ever had: [http://www.grandcentralhotel.com/](http://www.grandcentralhotel.com/) Big Brutas, West Mineral. Astonishingly big and you can tour it and sit in the driver’s seat: [About – Big Brutus, Inc.](http://www.bigbrutus.org/about.html) [Big Brutus - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brutus) Worlds largest hand dug well, Greensburg. This is not a tourist trap; much bigger than expected. [http://www.bigwell.org/](http://www.bigwell.org/) [Big Well (Kansas) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Well_(Kansas)) Clark County state lake. Unexpectedly scenic: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6pfi33mPAg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6pfi33mPAg) Jacobs Well. One of the very few natural, year-round standing-bodies of water in Kansas: [http://naturalkansas.org/bigbasin.htm](http://naturalkansas.org/bigbasin.htm) Cimmeron Grasslands, Elkhart. Beautiful wildflowers in the spring: [Cimarron National Grassland - Elkhart, Kansas](http://www.kansastravel.org/cimarronnationalgrassland.htm) Sternberg Fossil Museum, Fort Hayes: [Fort Hays State University - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sternberg_Museum_of_Natural_History#The_Campus) Fort Hayes University is very pretty. [https://www.fhsu.edu/](https://www.fhsu.edu/) Pawnee Indian Museum, Republic. This place is interesting, and it’s unfortunate it is so remote that no one ever visits. The curator will be very glad to see you: [Pawnee Indian Museum - Kansas Historical Society](http://www.kshs.org/pawnee_indian) Garden of Eden, Lucas. He had something to say with his grass-roots art, I’m just not sure what it was: [http://www.garden-of-eden-lucas-kansas.com/](http://www.garden-of-eden-lucas-kansas.com/) Worlds largest ball of twine, Cawker City. This is a sort of tongue-in-cheek tourist trap: [World's Largest Ball of Twine - Cawker City, Kansas](http://www.kansastravel.org/balloftwine.htm) Several good museums at Fort Riley, including Custer’s House. The old officer’s housing is beautiful. Yes, they will let you on the fort. A polite guard at the gate will look at your driver’s license, then help you find the museums. > **[Fort Riley, Kansas information for vistors](http://kansastravel.org/fortriley.htm)** > > Fort Riley has a lot to offer travelers: museums, historic buildings, historical markers, statues and monuments. All in a campus or park like setting. Free! World’s largest atomic cannon is nearby. [http://kansastravel.org/05man20.JPG](http://kansastravel.org/05man20.JPG) Brookville Hotel, Abilene. Eat a chicken dinner here: [http://www.brookvillehotel.com/](http://www.brookvillehotel.com/) Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene. Great museum: [http://kansastravel.org/eisenhower.htm](http://kansastravel.org/eisenhower.htm) Fort Leavenworth has a couple good museums also. [http://kansastravel.org/fortleavenworth.htm](http://kansastravel.org/fortleavenworth.htm) Quiverra NWR an Cheyenne Bottoms NWR: > **[Quivira National Wildlife Refuge](https://www.fws.gov/refuge/quivira)** > > Quivira National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1955 to provide and protect vital habitat for migratory waterfowl in the Central Flyway. Its 22,135 acres feature a unique combination of rare inland salt marsh and sand prairie. Quivira is listed... [http://www.naturalkansas.org/cheyenne.htm](http://www.naturalkansas.org/cheyenne.htm) Lots more here: [kansastravel.org](http://kansastravel.org) PM me if you want. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/5 "2014-01-15T03:59:51Z")
Moved MPSIMS --\> IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/6 "2014-01-15T04:40:55Z")
If you make it to Dodge City you can check out the [Boot Hill Museum](http://boothill.org/) and grab a burger or taco at the iconic [Kate’s](http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g38668-d511852-Reviews-Kate_s-Dodge_City_Kansas.html). ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/7 "2014-01-15T06:43:21Z")
I’m from northeast Kansas and have traveled all over, but the most spectacular sunset I’ve ever seen in my life was in the [Flint Hills](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_Hills) in southeast(ish) Kansas (not that far from Hutchinson). There were dozens of cars pulled over along I-35, and people sitting sitting on their hoods just captivated by it. I joined them. I used to drive for a living (cars and trucks) and went through that area a lot on the way to Texas, or to I-40 or I-10 to go west. You wouldn’t think an area that extends for miles and miles and miles with no particular description other than low, rolling hills, grasslands and no tall trees would be particularly scenic, but [it’s strangely mesmerizing](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0oG7mJpB9ZSrBsAunJXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTBscWN2ZnBjBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkAw--?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-901&va=Kansas+Flint+Hills). I wouldn’t want to live there, but I’m glad I got to go through it fairly often. You may not get up to northeastern Kansas but if you do, if you’re into prison and/or military stuff, [Leavenworth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leavenworth,_Kansas), “First City incorporated in the state of Kansas” (founded in 1854) is the place to go. There’s the [United States Federal Penitentiary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Penitentiary,_Leavenworth) that you always hear mentioned in old gangster movies (“Y’r goin’ to Leavenworth, Lefty!”) and it’s where Robert “Birdman of Alcatraz” Stroud REALLY did all of his work with birds during his 30-year stay before he was transferred. He wasn’t allowed to keep birds in Alcatraz. “Bugsy” Moran and “Machine Gun” Kelly were a couple of other famous [inmates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inmates_of_United_States_Penitentiary,_Leavenworth). My brother got lost when he was a little kid, walked and walked, got to the prison, and started crying because he thought he’d walked all the way to Washington and was at the [Capitol](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0oG7uFGK9ZSPxEAh5RXNyoA?p=united+states+penitentiary+leavenworth&fr=yfp-t-901-s&fr2=piv-web). Unfairly, it was a go-to reason to razz him mercilessly for years. The [Kansas State Penitentiary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_State_Penitentiary) in nearby Lansing is where the [In Cold Blood](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Cold_Blood) killers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock met and, after the murders, were executed. I lived a mile away from there and went to junior high and high school just down the street from it. It’s a [creepy looking](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0oG7jyzKtZSNGUA4CBXNyoA?p=kansas+state+penitentiary&fr=yfp-t-901-s&fr2=piv-web) place, but when I was a kid I used to think it was an English castle. I was a stupid kid. There are several other correctional facilities in the area, including the [United States Disciplinary Barracks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Disciplinary_Barracks), (the “U.S. military’s only maximum-security facility”) at [Fort Leavenworth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Leavenworth), “the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C.” (founded in 1827). For a Fort, the land it’s on is actually quite beautiful, and you can drive all around it on winding roads flanked by trees. Particularly beautiful and moving is the [Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Leavenworth_National_Cemetery). There have been burials there since 1844 (the first person buried there was a woman, Clarinda Dale, according to [this site](http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/ftleavenworth.asp)), and it’s on the [National Register of Historic Places](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Leavenworth_County,_Kansas). My mom is buried there and my WWII and Korean War veteran dad will be buried on top of her casket when he goes. The [Frontier Army Museum](http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/csi/FrontierArmyMuseum.asp) is at Fort Leavenworth too. Melissa Etheridge was born in Leavenworth, if you’re a fan. I was born there too, but I can’t sing. Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickock both lived in Leavenworth, as did [Fred Harvey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Harvey_%28entrepreneur%29), “credited with creating the first restaurant chain in the United States” in 1873, and making [“The Harvey Girls”](http://paradise7.hubpages.com/hub/The-Harvey-Girls) famous. The [C. W. Parker Carousel Museum](http://www.kansastravel.org/caroselmuseum.htm) is there. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/8 "2014-01-15T13:46:54Z")
Last summer, my wife, child, and I ate at [Jillian’s Italian Grill](http://jilliansitaliangrill.com/) in Hutchinson, an excellent restaurant right next to the railroad. If you are really interested in the history of space exploration, be sure to leave plenty of time to enjoy the Cosmosphere. The exhibit does a great job of putting each advance in its historical-political context. And, they simply have a bunch of amazing objects (lots of real Soviet stuff!), well displayed (like that Gemini rocket, which you can see from below as if at the base of the launchpad). When we visited, we happened to walk in on a session of primary school kids having a conversation with astronauts (projected on a big screen) who were on the International Space Station! In real time! ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/9 "2014-01-15T13:57:16Z")
Wow, there’s a lot of good suggestions here, i’ll need to remember these for my next roadtrip through Kansas. I only went through there once, in 1997, and my route was controlled by a need to be in Denver for my brother-in-law’s graduation, so we pretty much stuck to towns along or close to the I-70. There are cute local history museums in Goodland and Colby, we enjoyed those. I’d recommend skipping the Barbed Wire Museum in LaCrosse. We thought it sounded off-beat and quirky, but it really did nothing to make the subject interesting. It’s pretty much for people who are into barbed wire already. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/10 "2014-01-15T14:13:00Z")
The Little House on the Prairie Museum? [http://www.littlehouseontheprairiemuseum.com/Little\_House\_on\_the\_Prairie\_Museum/Little\_House\_on\_the\_Prairie\_Museum.html](http://www.littlehouseontheprairiemuseum.com/Little_House_on_the_Prairie_Museum/Little_House_on_the_Prairie_Museum.html) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/11 "2014-01-15T14:28:31Z")
My brother went out to the Flint Hills a few years ago to watch a controlled prairie fire. Said it was absolutely beautiful, and a definite must-do for anyone with the opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/12 "2014-01-16T00:07:07Z")
Thanks to all who have responded. I really appreciate people taking the time to post all those links. My mother has seen Big Brutus but I haven’t. I’ve heard of the Safari Museum but have never been there. Thanks to Kansas Beekeeper for the hotel and grill recommendation. I’ve never seen the Garden of Eden but it sounds fun. I’m a Kansan who is NOT into Oz though. All the time I was in the military and mentioned my home state, I’d get comments like “How’s Dorothy?” I wanted to choke people who all thought they were being funny and original. I was checking places to eat and in Salina there was a Korean food place. If we go through there I’d like to look it over, I haven’t had good Korean food since I left Michigan in 1989. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/13 "2014-01-16T00:24:06Z")
One thing I can recommend, if you ever get to Kansas, is viewing some of the glasswork of Mitsugi Ohno, on display at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. > **[Mitsugi Ohno](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsugi_Ohno)** > > Mitsugi Ohno (大野 貢, Ōno Mitsugi, June 28, 1926 – October 22, 1999) was a Japanese glassblower who worked at the University of Tokyo (1947–1960) and Kansas State University (1961–1996). He was known for blowing a glass Klein bottle and glass models of historic buildings and ships. He told people "Anything that can be made with glass I can make it." > Mitsugi Ohno was born June 28, 1926 in Bato-machi, Tochigi-ken, Japan. His parents were Shigeo Ohno and Tsuya Ohgane Ohno, heads of the family rice f... The man was a genius. If you read the article, he was the first person, maybe the only, to blow a representation in glass of a Klein Bottle. My sister owns one of the Klein bottles he blew, and I don’t want to think of what it cost her. Her only regret is that when he made it for her, he came to her house to deliver it personally and she wasn’t home. So other arrangements had to be made. I own one very small and simple piece he made, a lovely statuette of two cranes. It was a gift When I last moved it was the final thing I transported. It is so thin and delicate I didn’t even want to wrap it, so a friend drove me home while I held it in my hands. This is a guy who was so good that when the Emperor of Japan visited the United States, he made our government’s official gift, a replica in glass of a Japanese castle. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/14 "2014-01-16T01:13:49Z")
You can visit Coronado’s give-up/turnaround spot in his search for the cities of gold at [Coronado Heights](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronado_Heights). It’s just south of the Swedish stronghold of Lindsborg. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/15 "2014-01-16T14:18:20Z")
Thank YOU, **Baker** , for suggesting, a few years ago when someone asked about local eateries in Topeka, [Bradley’s Corner Café](https://plus.google.com/114485521663487664287/about?gl=us&hl=en) (including their pies to go). We’ve eaten with family and friends a few times since then (we’re in Lawrence – we’ll get that Dopefest going this spring, I swear!) And I have a friend who works in Manhattan who will love the Klein bottle thing, so thanks for that, too! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/16 "2014-01-16T17:41:30Z")
[Cowley Lake Waterfall](http://www.aarp.org/travel/destinations/info-05-2012/waterfalls-fountains-nature-landscape.html#slide8) is just off U.S. 166, about halfway between Arkansas\* City and the turnoff for Dexter. ETA: The drive on 166 between Ark City and the Dexter turnoff is proof that there are parts of Kansas that are far from flat. - Pronunciation note: the last two syllables are pronounced “kansas,” not “kansaw.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/17 "2014-01-16T17:48:13Z")
Too bad Winfield doesn’t have a fictional childhood home of [Mary Ann Summers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Summers). It should. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/18 "2014-01-16T23:22:12Z")
I liked the [zoo](http://leerichardsonzoo.org/) in Garden City. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/19 "2014-01-17T00:08:04Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I liked the [zoo](http://leerichardsonzoo.org/) in Garden City. I like zoos! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830/20 "2014-01-17T23:57:36Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I like zoos! You mean the Death Pool thread isn’t enough of a zoo for you? 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-roadtrip-in-kansas/678830.md?page=2)