We’ve spent plenty of time in Kansas, mostly driving through. From the road we usually take, this is what Kansas looks like. Kansas is the epitome of plains states, and it produces lots of wheat. Kansas became a state in 1861, as the Civil War was getting started. It was known as “Bleeding Kansas” because of the amount of violent controversy over slavery.
Kansas City
We’ve often been in Kansas City, but that town is partly in Missouri and partly in Kansas, and we have usually been on the Missouri side. Check out our Missouri posts to see that side of Kansas City.
This mural is in the Wyandotte County courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas. It is the work of local artist LeRoy Daniel MacMorris (1893–1981). It honors Native American inhabitants of the region in the Art Deco style popular when the courthouse was built.
Here is the next panel in the mural. The children here symbolize community service and education, with the spirit of Justice looking on. The word “lex” means “law.”
The Kansas City metro area is much larger than Kansas City. We hope you will check out FreshPlans Visits the Powell Gardens to learn about wonderful botanical gardens in Kansas, near Kansas City. We also recommend nearby Mission, Kansas, where our girl Josepha lives and serves on the city council. The Book Club is a cool place in downtown Mission.
Mission also has some very well-planned public spaces, like the accessible charger station in this local park.
Wichita
We have been to Wichita, which is the biggest city in the state of Kansas, but the truth is we just stopped for breakfast and then headed on our way north.
Hutchinson
We next visited Hutchinson, home of the Strataca Salt Mine. Check out the salt mine at FreshPlans Visits a Salt Mine.
It’s remarkable to think of people working in a salt mine, but this was an important job in Kansas at one time.
We kept on heading north after fully enjoying the salt mine. Kansas continued to look mostly like this.
Hays
Hays, Kansas is the home of the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. Check it out at FreshPlans Visits the Sternberg Museum.
This is a wonderful museum.
There are lots of enjoyable hands-on exhibits and plenty of dinosaurs, fossils, and models.
The staff there told us about bierocks, a special dish we had never previously heard of. They are very tasty, and you can make them yourself if you click on that recipe link. Hays, Kansas, had a billboard saying that it was “Better than Your Destination!” I don’t know about that, but it was certainly worth a visit.
Heading north from Hays, Kansas continues to look like a kid’s drawing with a stripe of green at the bottom and blue at the top, but it was enlivened with a wind farm.
Colby
Colby, Kansas, is known as the Oasis of the Prairie. This is Colby’s courthouse.
It is home to this statue, the Spirit of the Prairie.
We got a touristy snapshot with her.
The view of Kansas is rather boring if you’re just driving along the road, but if you get up close, you can see that the prairie is beautiful and full of life. It’s an important ecosystem.
Kansas is also an important part of American history, first as homeland to indigenous peoples, then to immigrants from around the world as pioneers settled on the prairies and transformed them into an agricultural powerhouse feeding the growing population of the United States and its territories.
