KANSAS: SUNFLOWER STATE
BY CLAY
LARROY
It
doesn't matter if you take a trip across the state line or the border, being
far from home can be exciting and also a bit stressful. When considering
traveling, it is important to think of the best mode of travel. Traveling by car can offer
many more sights and opportunities for side trips. Traveling by train can offer
a chance to relax and get some work done if they wanted. Planes can cover
ground fast but don't allow much movement and one cannot get off the plane in
flight. Each mode of travel has its own advantages and disadvantages to be
considered. When you want to plan a vacation contact me!
Think Kansas and wicked
witches, yellow-brick roads and ruby slippers may spring to mind. But as well
as being the setting for The Wizard of Oz,
this Midwest gem packs in Wild West history, delicious produce and a
flourishing arts scene.
Kansas is an agricultural powerhouse, with vast areas of land
given to grain, beef cattle and buffalo. You can experience a taste (literally)
of the state's agricultural pedigree by slurping juicy peaches, tucking into
farm-to-fork dinners or testing your cowboy skills on a dude ranch.
Scenic byways lead through a surprising diversity of landscapes:
the last remaining tallgrass prairies, wetlands teeming with birdlife, and
mushroom-shaped hoodoos. Snooze and you'll miss Kansas on Route 66, though –
the state is home to just 21km (13 miles) of the legendary highway.
It was through Kansas that families on the Oregon and Santa Fe
trails drove their wagons west in search of new homesteads, while cowboys on
the Chisholm Trail drove herds of longhorns north in search of the railroads.
Cow towns like Abilene and Dodge City were born, and as whites forced Native
Americans westwards, fierce battles over land erupted. Later, feuds over
Kansas' maintenance of slavery gave rise to the term ‘Bleeding Kansas'. Forts,
trails and monuments scattered across the state bring this history to life.
Craving some culture? Then head to Topeka, the state capital. Home
to the iconic Kansas Statehouse, this gleaming copper-domed capitol offers
regular tours, taking visitors up 296 steps to a balcony where phenomenal views
await. But the hottest ticket in town is the North Topeka Arts District, where
historic buildings have found new life as art studios, galleries and antique
stores. Sadly, though, there are no yellow-brick roads.
Things
to see and do in Kansas
Dodge City Roundup Rodeo
Watch the action at the
Dodge City Roundup Rodeo (www.visitdodgecity.org),
known as the 'Greatest Show on Dirt,' held every August, wrapping up the
ProRodeo Tour.
Dodge City
Step back in time in the
restored cattle town of Dodge City, where lawmen Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp
earned their fame. Visit the Boot Hill Museum, which recreates the Boot Hill
Cemetery and Front Street as they looked in the 1870s.
Eisenhower Center
Tour the Eisenhower Center
(www.dwightdeisenhower.com)
in Abilene, which houses the Eisenhower family home from 1898 to 1946, as well
as a museum and library.
Lebanon
Stand at the geographical
centre point of the entire USA, marked by the stone monument 3km (2 miles)
northwest of Lebanon on the northern border of the state.
Sternberg Museum
of Natural History
See the famous 'fish
within a fish' fossil at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History (www.oceansofkansas.com/sternbrg.html) in Hays.
Kansas was once a huge inland sea, which left vast deposits of limestone.
Significant fossils have been unearthed around Gove County and are on display
at the Sternberg Museum.
Topeka
Visit Kansas's capital,
Topeka (www.visittopeka.travel), boasting the Kansas Museum
of History, the Kansas State Capitol, dating back to 1866, and the Topeka
Zoological Park.
Wichita
Explore the museums of
Wichita, the largest city in Kansas, famed today for aircraft manufacture, and
home to the Museums on the River District, which includes an art museum and
botanical garden. The Old Cowtown Museum introduces visitors to the cattle days
of the 1870s with an open-air history exhibit.
REFERENCE SITES:
I like Kauffman Stadium in
Kansas City. With the waterfall and things like that, I think it's pretty cool.
CC Sabathia
Live life and travel often, the more you
travel, the more memories you create!
No comments:
Post a Comment