In the summer of 2021, we flew into Kansas City to start a three-state trip, which included Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. It’s part of my goal to visit every state in the United States before I am no longer capable. I always try my best to find interesting things to do in each state we visit. This is our second year in a row to visit three states. Last year it was Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. Next year will probably be New Mexico, North Dakota, and Wyoming. We will do them on two separate trips since they are quite far apart. Other than Alaska, that will finish the western half of the United States for us.
Upon our arrival in Kansas City, we got Kansas City Barbeque for a late lunch and then proceed to the hotel where we would spend the night. I had planned to go to a particular barbeque (Joe’s Barbeque) but was talked into going to the favorite of the person who was at the car rental agency. I’ll never know if the place she recommended was better than the place I was planning to go to, but I wasn’t impressed with the place we went to. It was good, just not as good as I had hoped for. The staff there was great, but I wished I had gone with my first choice. But we can say we had Kansas City Barbeque.
The next day we planned to go to the Cray Castle, in Atchison. I am fond of castles. I checked to make sure it would be open since they were supposed to open in late summer, but they were closed for remodeling.
As a last-minute change of plans, we ended up at the Moon Marble Company, 600 East Front Street, Bonner Springs, Kansas. I found them in the Kansas City Kansas Visitors Guide I picked up at our hotel. This store also has a large supply of toys that were popular when I was young. They had sock monkeys, jack-in-the-box, board games, and more. Our interest was the marbles. The business was making wooden board games when they realized it was hard to find certain sizes of marbles for some games. Owner Bruce began making marbles. He does demonstrations but, at that time, you needed to make an appointment to view them.
We purchased several marbles for our grandkids and for us. We specifically wanted one that he had made. He explained how the different colors were put in the marbles. We bought one of his twisty cane marbles, which are very colorful. They have marbles of many different sizes. A lot of their business is done by mail. If you have an interest in finding a gorgeous marble to display in your home or a few toys, check them out at moonmarble.com. Bruce is very knowledgeable and friendly.
Missouri Winery detour
From there, we made a slight detour into Missouri. We have a friend we knew in California that moved to Missouri and started a winery. So if you are touring Kansas and want to take a slight detour, head to Rayville, Missouri. Their winery is Van Till Family Farm Winery, at 13986 Hwy. C, Rayville, MO. They are open from 11-5 Tuesday through Saturday. There is a beautiful garden area to eat in. They have wine tasting and wood fire-grilled pizza. We ended up buying 4 bottles to take home for the holidays. The flavors we bought were Strawberry Festival Wine, Ranch White Wine, Chai Spice Wine, and Boysenberry Wine. I love their postcard design labels.
Route 66 South East Kansas
I’m trying to see as much of Route 66 as I can while visiting the states. Kansas has about 13 miles of Route 66 in the southeast corner. We stopped n Riverton for lunch at Nielson’s Grocery and Deli. It was formerly Eisler Bros Grocery and Deli, built in 1925. They have an original embossed tin ceiling. (bottom right and middle photos)
In Baxter Springs, on Military Road, there are two old restored gas stations. One looks like it was built into the side of the building. (photo on the left bottom) Across the street is the 1930s Phillips 66 Station, which now houses a Route 66 Visitor Center (top two photos on the right.) The Visitor Center has Route 66 cookies for sale. I wanted a cookie, but they were closed the day we visited.
The Rainbow Bridge is the last remaining of three “Marsh Arch” bridges (named after the designer) that were once on Route 66 in Kansas. It is listed in the National Registry. It is one way. (see top row, first two photos)
Galena was on our list because of its significance to the movie Cars. The Kan-O-Tex Gas Station is at 119 N. Main. It has been beautifully restored. This area is called “Cars on the Route.” There is a “Tow Tater” tow truck that was the inspiration for “Mater” in the movie Cars. Several other cars are located here. Also, if you walk down the road, you will find a nineteen-foot fiberglass muffler man.
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
When I think of Kansas, I think of prairies with long flowing grass. This is one of only three remaining uncut prairies in the Flint Hills. There is a Scenic Overlook Trail where you can view Bison. Binoculars would have been useful to have along since they were far away. I think we could have walked closer, but we have seen Bison before from the safety of our car in Yellowstone National Park.
If you like to hike, there are a lot of marked hiking trails. There is also a visitor center and The Spring Hill Ranch, which is a National Historic Landmark and includes a fully furnished house, a two-story, limestone barn with old equipment (the largest in Kansas at the time it was built,) curing house, outhouse, icehouse, and root cellar. The cost is free. It is open 24 hours a day. It is at 2480B Kansas Highway 177, in Elmdale.
Ellsworth
From the winery, we headed to Oklahoma. When we left Oklahoma, we ended up visiting Ellsworth, Kansas, on our way north to Nebraska. In Ellsworth County, we visited Mushroom State Park, at 200 Horsethief Road. It was interesting to see the rock formations that looked like giant mushrooms. At one time, this area was underwater and moved the flat rocks on top of the other rocks. One thing that would have been nice to have would have been a pamphlet explaining the area, but we never saw a place to get one. There were a few locals that explained the water movement of the rocks to us.
We stopped for lunch at Paden’s Place (120 N Douglas Ave.) We had delicious food and great conversation there. I had a pulled pork sandwich and my husband a fish sandwich. We both had a large portion of sweet potato fries. The waitress was friendly and so was the couple sitting kiddie corner from us. We ended up talking to the couple for a large part of our lunch. I was ready to hire her (a real estate agent) to find us a house and move into Ellsworth. They had suggested places for us to visit. Had we seen the Salt Mine? No. They strongly suggested we drive back and visit it. Thanks to our lunch, we met some really nice people and made a detour on our trip, that we really enjoyed.
Ellsworth, the city, has the Ellsworth Historical Plaza Walking Tour, at 104 S. W. Main, Ellsworth. This was a guided tour. The cost was $8 per person, which might have been a senior price. We could go inside the Hodgden House, the schoolhouse, Second Baptist Church, Caboose, and the Morton Building.
The Hodgden House was built in 1873. They added a few additions, finalizing it in 1878. However, a fire that destroyed 23 businesses in town ended up destroying the house and it was rebuilt with native stone. The house is furnished, and a flyer is available with descriptions of the rooms and furnishings. The schoolhouse was built in 1912. Second Baptist Church was built by black residents in 1886. Sadly, it was moved in 1985 to the Historical Plaza. Our guide said that most of the black members moved away. The Caboose was built in 1909 and later donated by Union Pacific Railroad. It is one of only 23 wooden cabooses in the nation and the only one remaining in Kansas. It’s worth the stop to see everything that has been moved to this location.
Backtracking to Hutchinson
After sleeping for the night, we backtracked to Hutchinson, as suggested by the friendly people in Paden’s Place. It was worth going an hour backward on our journey, but did result in us having to remove some items from our list.
Strataca: Kansas Underground Salt Mine is at 3650 East Ave G in Hutchinson, Kansas. Our cost with our senior discount and tax was $41.25 for two. Children under 4 are not allowed.
The tour takes you down an elevator shaft 650 feet below the ground. Most of the salt that is mined is used for road deicing and agriculture. This is a very educational tour. Parts of it are self-guided. There are a lot of signs explaining what you are looking at, whether it be old equipment or types of salt. There is one section where you ride a tram. In that section is a dark area, where they turn the lights out and you are in total darkness.
Another part of the tour is on a small train on tracks, like ones that have been used in the mine. As the salt is removed, there are big empty areas left behind. They rent some of the storage space to companies that appreciate that the temperature remains 68 degrees at all times, with 45% relative humidity. The city of Hutchinson rents out an area for file storage. A movie company rents out a space for the storage of props, costumes, and other items. There is a display on the tour, but the genuine items are stored in a different location in the mine. The items are very secure since the only way in is the elevator. Also, being underground, everything is protected from hurricanes, tornados, or any other natural disaster.
This is one of the world’s largest deposits of rock salt. There are 14 other salt mines, but none of them allow tourists. Originally, the mine started in 1923 as Carey Salt Company. The mine covers about 980 acres. Hard hats are required by anyone in the mine. Each year, around 500,000 tons of salt are mined.
Things on our list that we didn’t have time to visit
If you have more time than we did, I’ve included some places I planned to visit but ran out of time.
- Ellsworth: Military, Native American and Western Museum
- Lindsborg: Coronado Heights Castle
- Junction City: Geary Lake Falls and the Atomic Cannon in Freedom Park (1 of 8 atomic cannons remaining in U.S.)
- Lebanon: Geographic center of the 48 contiguous states.
- Atchison: Cray Castle – being remodeled when we were in the area.
I hope you found this information helpful for planning your own trip to Kansas. Even if you live in Kansas, I may have mentioned a place you have never been to before. Have you ever been to Kansas? What was your favorite thing to do there? I think mine was the Salt Mine. Let me know in the comment section below.
