Touring Kansas
The day started out in the low 50's and got into the low 70's. We had a little wind all day.
Our plan for the day was to visit a couple of small towns: Coffeyville and Baxter Springs.
We were on the road by 8:00. On the way out of Elk City State Park we stopped by the dump station and dumped the tanks. They didn't need to be dumped but it was there and we don't know where the next dump station is going to be. It was a nice station except it didn't have a garbage can for your disposable gloves.
Coffeyville was about 30 miles down the road. On the way we stopped at Walmart to pick up items we were getting low on. The Walmart was in Independence and was a Super Walmart, it had everything we needed. Once I put everything away we were back on the road.
A few months ago Larry bought a book written by Seth Varner called Wandermore in Kansas. Seth visited every city and town in Kansas, on his journey he wrote descriptions of the towns and took pictures of each one. He put them all in this book and Larry thought it would be interesting while we're in Kansas to try to visit some of the towns and do some of the recommendations.
We arrived in Coffeyville around 10:00. We found a spot to park with no problem. It's a small town with the population of 8,826 and continues to decline. We stopped in at the Dalton Defenders Museum. The museum was about how this small town defended itself from the Dalton Gang in 1892 when the gang tried to rob two banks at the same time. We watched a 40 minute movie made by the History Channel about Coffeyville and the Dalton Gang. It was very good. A interesting thing about the Dalton Gang was the Daltons were from Coffeyville. They started their careers as lawmen and then they turned to being outlaws. The gang was caught off guard and didn't realize how the town had changed in two years. Four of the five members of the gang were killed by citizens of the town, the fifth was shot 23 times but survived and spent 17 years in prison. Four citizens including the town marshal also died.
The museum also had exhibits about the history of Coffeyville. There was a display about Omar Knedik, who invented the Icee. It was a cute little museum. While there we talked to the guy who was running the museum. He was very nice. We had a nice time at the museum.
Dalton Defenders Museum
A poster representing the main defenders
Early industry in Coffeyville display
One of the displays about the Cherokee Nation
An old hearse on display
A bank from the 1871 now the Chamber of Commerce
Old City Jail (Dalton Gang on display inside)
The Dalton Gang on display after they were killed
Icee display
Next, we went to lunch at the Sunflower Soda Fountain. It was a cute cafe around the corner from the museum. It was setup like an old diner with tables and chairs, bakery, soda fountain and decorated with small trees with lights on them. We ordered the Alamo Sandwich, which was roast beef on a onion roll topped with French-fried onions and horseradish sauce. We had the sauce on the side. For dessert we had Sizzlin' Apple Pie, which was a slice of pie caramelized in a cast iron skillet with butter & brown sugar topped with vanilla ice cream & whipped cream. They didn't have apple pie so they substituted it with an apple turnover. The food was good, service was quick and the help was friendly. It was a little confusing because we didn't know how to pay for the meal. One of the waitresses told us to walk up to the bakery case and they would have our bill. We had a great meal.
Alamo Sandwich
Sizzlin' Apple Pie dessert
Sunflower Soda Fountain entrance
After lunch we headed to Baxter Springs, which was about 50 miles away. It has a Route 66 Visitor Center and a Baxter Springs Heritage Museum. The route 66 museum wasn't open but the other one was. When we got to the Baxter Springs Heritage Museum we were greeted at the door by a very nice gentleman. The lady who runs the museum came out of her office to also greet us. She said the other museum wasn't open because the gift shop wasn't ready. She explained the Baxter Springs Heritage Museum. It has two floors with three rooms on each floor. It shows displays about the history of Baxter Springs. The displays are outstanding and are in great shape. The format of the museum flows very well. On the grounds there are a few displays. It has a cannon, log cabin, a sign about the brewery that was once there and another sign about the Native Americans who lived there. They would come into town and perform for the townspeople. If you want to know the history of Baxter Springs you could spend a lot of time in the museum. We liked it.
Route 66 Visitor Center
Baxter Springs Heritage Center & Museum
A painting in the Civil War in the war section
Display of the 1872 Lincoln School classroom
Glass display of the early 1800's
What a 1930 kitchen looked like
Old fire truck
World's Longest Hand-Carved Chain (1,145 feet) by James Porter
One of the mining displays
Log cabin in the late 1800's east of Lowell Cemetery
After touring the Baxter Springs museum we drove another 10 miles to Downstream Casino Resort. It's located in between Kansas and Missouri. I'm not sure what state it's in. We were there about six years ago and had a great time. It has two places for RV's, about a block away is their normal RV park and at the casino they have RV parking with power. As we were driving to the casino we saw a herd of bison. The herd was right across the road from the casino so we had bison as our neighbors. We decided to park the Minnie in the RV parking lot by the casino, that way I can walk over to the casino and play their machines. The sites are $35 a night but if you sign up for their club you get to park for free. So that's what we did. We walked over to the gift shop in the casino to register for the night. The young man who helped us was outstanding. He was friendly and very helpful. He told us we just needed to go to the machine and sign up for the club. The machine takes your driver's license and prints out a club card with your name on it and a number. Then we went back to the gift shop and he took care of us. We bought a couple of Cherry Mash candy bars. Before leaving he asked if we liked magic tricks. We said we did. He did a card trick and was very good. He found our card in multiple ways. It was a pleasure doing business with him. Larry went back to the Minnie and I stayed and played for an hour and a half. I lost $15.00 but had fun. Then I went back to the Minnie.
Downstream Casino Resort
A herd of bison by the casino
When I got back I made burritos for dinner. After dinner I went back to the casino for another two hours. I ended up giving them another $5.00. Three and a half hours of playing and only giving them $20.00 isn't too bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I would love to hear friendly comments on anything at all. Ruth