Roadside Kansas: Day 2

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Dad and I awoke refreshed and restocked this morning in Manhattan, to set off on another day's adventure and the beginning of our trek North, West, and South.

A picture of our wonderful downtown skyline as we departed about 8:30 AM.
We headed west on K-18 (Fort Riley Boulevard) to K-113 (Seth Child Road), and North on US-24 to US-77, which we followed North to a housing development known as University Park, some 25 miles North of Manhattan.
The development is laid out around the lake, and features a volunteer-run golf course, helipad, lake access, and homes. Dad notes those that live here have a very close knit community.

We got back to US-77 and visited a township cemetery that had been completely relocated after Tuttle Creek Lake was constructed. We then crossed Fancy Creek, noting the lake is still much higher than normal due to heavier than average rains this summer. We arrived in Waterville, turned West on K-9, and headed off for our "brunch."

On a trip to a wedding in Washington, Kansas, dad spotted this little restaurant in Barnes, Kansas. It is called the "Home Town Cafe," and it looked like the perfect place to begin our "off the beaten track" experience. Barnes has a number of businesses, and for a city of ~150, it does very well. The Barnes Mercantile, a general store, has been in business since the 1890s. Additionally, a corner store, "Our Daily Bread" (A bakery), a quilt shop, and a 1940s WPA band shell grace the downtown area, alongside the Cafe.

Welcome to Barnes

I ordered some great Chicken Fingers, and dad had the 2-egg Breakfast. Was very affordable, friendly, and by the time we left, a slew of cars was parked around the cafe for the lunch rush. According to Marci Penner, author of an excellent Kansas explorer's guidebook, the cafe is community owned.

Over brunch, Dad and I reviewed the route to Kearney.

After Breakfast, dad and I decided on a slightly modified route plan. We departed Barnes on K-9 West, and passed "Gree nleaf," according to the passing road sign. We left K-9 for K-148 and went for some real exploring action. We passed Agenda, KS., and then a sign six miles west saying "Historical Marker." We slowed and looked south. There was a gravestone which read, Strawberry, Kansas 186? - 1951. I've never heard of a town having a deathdate before, but a gigantic flood would probably do enough damage to warrant one. After Agenda, we turned north on a county road and headed for Cuba. The sign reads, "Welcome to Cuba, Kansas. Czech us out!"

They aren't kidding.

Downtown Cuba, Kansas. The Cuba Cash Store on the left is a general store. The blue building two doors down is a cafe. The name? "Two Doors Down."

The town is very Bohemian. There is a "Bohemian National Cemetery" nearby, and the community auditorium bears, in Czech, "Bohemian National Auditorium."

"Bohemian National Auditorium"

We drove around Cuba looking for odd things. We found them:

This humble little building in Cuba's city park, which I proposed was a municipal water pump, was actually...

A relic. Thats right, the door reads "First Commercial Bank (of Cuba)."

We left Cuba for the thread that unites all Northern Kansas towns, US-36. Headed West, we passed Bellville, Scandia, and Mankato before turning North for our next destination, Leabanon, Kansas - Or rather, the Geographic Center of the Continental United States of America.

Leabanon didn't seem to offer much in terms of souvenir options, but this sign assures us they do.

This pyramid-shaped monument with a flagpole marks the Geographic center, one mile North and one mile West of Leabanon.

This small prayer chapel was previously mounted on an old trailer, but it has now been put on a permanent foundation. Dad also pointed out new landscaping work had been done.
Someone built an motel at the site. Now, the only guests are a bunch of school desks that are stored in the lobby. You see me, trying to be sleuthy.

We left the US Center, headed north on US-281 to I-80. We also left Kansas. Nebraska is just about the same as Kansas, with worse roads and rotten traffic.

We headed North through Hastings, where my dad's family visited on occasion. Then, we got onto I-80 for the following rewarding view. Although, with I-80 traffic, construction, and odd choice of road materials - I wonder if it was worth it.

Yep, that is a bi-level museum, spanning the Interstate.

We also had difficulty remembering the name of this iconic arch. Would you? Its the: Great Platte River Road Archway Museum (GPRRAM).

We went under the arch, then two miles to the Kearney exit where we backtracked along a two mile frontage road to the arch. Not knowing what to expect besides a large arch, we entered. We were greeted by a 1849 mountain man with a perfect accent and presentation. He had us go "do business with the ladies at that there counter" and pointed us to "the outhouses 'r down that trail." This same man, we later found, graces the sides of the archway with his wonderful, foot-long beard.



The museum is about transportation, which I'm pretty cool with. We were given headsets, as the museum is self-guided and the headsets play different looping recordings based on where you are in the exhibit. The first floor was largely about the 49'ers and the trip to California and Oregon, the Pony Express, and the Transcontinental Railroad, while the second floor served as the link to the present, beginning with the Lincoln Highway (now US-30) and ending up with the Superhighway system of today, with two small windows showing visitors the motorists going under you, and how fast they are going.

This ironic sign was just outside the GPRRAM, a pedestrian bridge with a five ton weight limit.

After the Great Platte River Road Archway Museum, we set about finding a place to sleep. Neither of us had ever tried a "Microtel" before, and the good rate pared with a contemporary room was enough to have us make a reservation. Then, we went sightseeing in wonderful Kearney, NE.

We browsed the downtown selection of restaurants, and then went to the Trails and Rails museum, located on the west side of town. It was almost closing time, so we opted to look around for ourselves instead of go on an abbreviated tour of the grounds. I seized the opportunity to try my panoramic shot taking skills. Please click on an image for a larger size.

The 1733 Ranch barn. Located 1733 miles from both Boston and San Francisco.

While TWA was everyone's favorite airline in KC, its no wonder this museum has a favorite, too. Union Pacific's mainline cuts right through town with multiple trains every hour speeding past.

A collection of some historic buildings, trains, and paraphernalia from Buffalo County can be found at this museum.
Me being me, in a train, where I belong.
Complicated analog cockpit. ;)
Beautiful "the Brick," downtown Kearney, where we ate.

We ate at the Thunderhead Brewery. Dad got a Bierock and I got a Calzone. It is known for its Pan Pizzas.
This, the "Fred House" is located on the UN-K campus. It was built in the 1880s and has the largest panes of Tiffany Glass ever installed in a residential home. The building is open for tours, however we arrived outside of hours and took pictures from the outside.

After dinner, we explored Kearney's lakeside homes and neighborhoods. One interesting fact is that, while some streets are named, North-South streets are numbered, as well as the East-West streets. N-S streets are "Avenues" while the others are mere streets. Kearney is the one place I could ask you to meet me at 4th and 33rd streets.

Kearney is a wonderful city and has great hotels, sights & attractions , food, and shopping and is truly an excellent daytrip for someone who needs some place to go. Tomorrow, we're hitting up the Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska, and heading home to Kansas for the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays.

Goodnight until tomorrow!

Roadside Kansas: Day 1

Welcome to the first daily update of Doug and Brennan Walter's Roadside Kansas trip, a week-long adventure across the Sunflower State, with 'significant detours' to see worthy sites in Missouri and Nebraska.

We begin our trip in Missouri on the tail end of the Walter Family Reunion. I will pleasure you with some wonderful pictures of our family. We stayed over this weekend at Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, a shopping & dining area south of KC's downtown. We partook in the local pastime, which is fountain-sitting, as shown here:

Me (Brennan) with my wonderful cousins and their families.

And, of course, the four siblings:

Our family reunion was wonderful and we really enjoyed seeing everybody who was able to come, which was almost everyone, which was fantastic! We ate and swam and relaxed on Saturday at our Embassy Suites hotel, and the remaining Walters visited KC's historic Union Station in the Crown Center Plaza District, visiting the Science City exhibit and the Model Railroad Experience. We also ate on the second floor of the "Harvey House Restaurant" in the rail terminal's restored headhouse. We then ambled around the base of the Liberty Memorial.

After saying goodbye, it was time to begin the 'Roadside Kansas' experience! We designed our Monday itinerary for maximum museum time, and headed for the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum near Independence, Missouri.

Iconic front entryway.

Replica Oval Office, with narration given by Truman himself! Such office replicas are fairly common in Presidential museums. On a recent trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, we entered Gerald R. Ford's office from the opposite side, so this provided a chance to view the other wall, if nothing else.

I'm almost as tall as Mr. Truman.

Truman's Eternal Peace Flame. The library and museum encircles this courtyard where Truman is buried alongside his wife, daughter, and son-in-law.

President Truman's final resting place, next to his wife, Bess.

Overall, we really enjoyed the Truman library. Dad and I have visited multiple libraries around the country and have agreed that this one certainly meets par. Little had we realized how many influential decisions Mr. Truman had to make during his administration. The museum was well planned, and had many unique artifacts from his administration, including his famous "The Buck Stops Here" / "I'm from Missouri" desk sign, the one thing missing from the Oval Office replica.

Museum Number two was a drive back down US 24 downtown to the former Kansas City International Airport, where, on occasion, a large intercontinental airliner may just grace the skies at the Airline TWA History Museum at Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport.

After a roundabout way around the southern edge of the airport, we finally found the hangar which houses some of the most historic flying artifacts in the country, including one of five airworthy Lockheed Constellations in the world. Being an airline enthusiast, I was certainly excited for this museum, and I was not disappointed. However, we were quick to find out just who the favorite airline was around these parts, and it isn't American Airlines.

But first, let me tell you this bird sitting just outside the museum was a great forshadowing of the great things inside! This is a 1970s vintage Lockheed L-1011-100 Tri-Star, originally operated by TWA (of course). It was sold to World Airways where it worked Charters and was then auctioned to the Museum for $50,000 sans engines. The museum has a quick 6 minute video of the bird landing in good time in January, direct from the desert where she was stored.

Standing under N700TS' gigantic wing. The spar along the wing is where an engine is supposed to be. The museum will purchase old engines off L1011s' in the desert for asthetic purposes, and for balancing. It is not on the tour currently because no suitable stairs can be found, nor is the bird properly balanced.

The third nacelle, where an engine should be but is missing. Looks like it fell off during a strong storm by how the end just gapes open.

Inside, the museum features a three-room, self guided exhibit on the history of (95% TWA) airlines. Specifics were the rise and fall of propeller-driven transcontinental & transoceanic airline service, and the many absurd ways that airlines worked their flight attendants. One, where a flight attendant serving Asian food was to wear Asian-style paper clothing. One passenger, lighting up to smoke a cigarette, lit the dress on fire and brought an end to that rather odd practice. We were told that attendants often brought tape and staples to work to keep their clothing together on those flights.

Over Forty(!) 'Connies' in the desert, awaiting the wrecking ball.

A 'Connie' model, painted in SAC ("Save a Connie!") Titles

Cutaway of a TWA (who else?) 747-100 "Jumbo Jet."

And of course, my favorite airliner of all time, the L-1011 Tri-Star!

We were met by a retired TWA mechanic, who was very eager to show us the collection of aircraft in the hanger: A Douglas DC-3, a Martin 4-0-4, and the "Queen" of the showroom, the only flightworthy Lockheed L-1049H "Super Constellation" in the United States.

The Douglas DC-3. The engines are currently away under restoration. Our personal museum guide assured us it will fly "soon." The engines should be back within the year. A word about the DC-3 is legroom! Even though the cabin seats more than a typical DC-3 at the time sat, there was very gracious legroom for each seat, which were arranged 1-2 on either side of the isle. The taildragger design made a hefty climb through the cabin, but it was well worth it.

The museum's flightworthy Martin 4-0-4. The type never flew with TWA, but that didn't stop them from painting it in *remarkably* similar colors, did it? Named "Skyliner Kansas City."

We entered the plane as paying passengers would have done only thirty years ago, through the airstair, when this plane flew for Eastern Air Lines.

The 36? Seat cabin. Again, gratious cabin comforts, and plenty of cabin space up front. Entering passengers through the front door with a jetway was an unheard of notion in the time of this airliner.

Cockpit of the 4-0-4, with a view of the 'Connie', ahem, 800 ton gorilla in the room.

NOT my picture, but since she is rather large, an overview shot was out of the question. This, if you didn't know, is what the Constellation looks like: The 1950s and 60s epitome of transoceanic travel, and matched only by the similar Douglas DC-7, and eclipsed after a short production run by big jets like the Boeing 707.
The TWA "Star of America" Constellation in the hangar.
A rather classy plastic lady enjoys the First Class "Lounge" seating, where two seats face a coffee table. On the Connies, first class was in the back, where it was quieter.
Coach. I'm pretty sure TWA in its later years would have been happy to put six-abreast seating in this cabin. Typical seating for a transoceanic flight was for 97 passengers. By comparison, TWA's first 747-100s would seat over 300.
Yes, for the price of two first class tickets, an elite traveller could have his/ her very own bed. the beds can be stowed if they weren't booked for a particular flight.

View of the right wing. What a fantastic view to have on a long flight! A word on the engines, they leak oil, and a lot of it. This particular airframe has not flown (but it still can) for five years. The engines still have wet oil stains on the hanger floor where they have dripped oil. According to our retired-mechanic tour guide, they were a pilot's dream and a mechanic's nightmare.

Complicated, Analog cockpit. The hardest part about flying any aircraft in the collection, according to the guide, is finding qualified and certified pilots.

Speaking with the tourguide adjacent to the Navigator's station. A typical flight crew of four would have piloted the aircraft across the aircraft by way of the stars until modern navigation made the navigator's position redundant. Modern airliners require only two flightcrew.

We departed the Airline museum to the third and final museum of the day in Kansas City, the Steamboat Arabia Museum. We visited here on recommendation of our Aunt Ronda and were surprised at the breadth of the discovery of the Arabia's treasure. The collection, a priceless collection of millions of pieces - all in new and unused condition, was recovered by an expeditious team of five treasure hunting, steamboat enthusiasts who found the boat in a cornfield using a gigantic metal detector.

Perhaps the most amazing fact was the fact the entire excavation happened the winter of 1988-89- In four months. The ship was located, excavated, and mostly removed in time for spring planting in 89 as per the excavation agreement with the landowner. The entire collection is intact, save 25 items given to the landowner as part of the stipulation for digging on his land, a jar of sweet pickles which tasted "Great!" and "Fresh!" according to the excavators, a bottle of 136 year old Champagne which blew its cork, and 8 barrels of "Kentucky's Finest Bourbon" which was the subject of most folklore surrounding the sunken steamboat.

The preserved stern section from the Packet Steamboat Arabia.

Our tourguide illustrates the location of the find.
Over twenty, 1,000 gallon-per-minute pumps were required to keep the site dry from the aquifer at the site.
Greg pointing out the jurry-rigged rudder arm which was made out of a "straight tree" when the original was broken in a previous accident, before the Arabia was sunk.
Dishes, hundreds of sets of unused, prefect imported china with priceless value.

The $0.26 total found on board the ship, surrounded by the 3+ million beads that were recovered. The cotton threads on which they were strung rotted away, but the beads remained.

Cutlery, sawblades, everything! They bill the ship as carrying the "Wal-Mart of the 1850s."
Priceless set of Davenport China.
Forks, knives, and spoons.
Vintage muskets, picture quality compromised, because:

The display glass is original to the Arabia.

2/3 of the collection is on display. Most of the 2/3 that isn't on display are two prefabricated wood homes that never reached their owners. The reason? They're just too large to assemble, but our tourguide described them as "a bit like 'Lincoln Logs' with notches at either end for assembly." He noted prefab homes were built in Europe as early as the 1500s.

Building materials for homes unbuilt.

A "working" paddlewheel in the museum atrium. We're still unsure if this is original or merely a replica. Probably a replica, methinks.

Blades and and handles for axes, oxen, wagons unpulled.

The symbol of any ship, the Arabia's anchor.

And finally, the original boilers, along with Mr. 1850s who is supposed to tell you how a steam engine works, but is currently out of order.

After a bite of food at the museum cafe, we traveled home to Manhattan for the night. Tomorrow, its off to Kearney Nebraska (by way of Kansas attractions) to see what the Cornhusker State has to offer. For now, its just nice to see that some of those annoying summer street repair jobs are finally finishing up.

Until tomorrow, goodnight followers!