Certainly one of our targets as a household is to go to all 50 states and probably the greatest methods to discover a state is by way of a street journey. In order that’s precisely what we did for state quantity 19, we took a Kansas street journey! We spent 4 days driving by means of the Japanese area of Kansas studying about historical past, seeing areas that impressed motion pictures and spending time outdoors. It was a terrific journey and actually opened our eyes to the great thing about Kansas and I hope we are able to present you why this state is value a go to on this article.
Kansas Street Journey Day 1
Windfall Hill Farm
After flying into Kansas Metropolis airport the earlier evening we hit the street and drove 45 minutes to Atchison, Kansas to spend the afternoon at Windfall Hill Farm. This was positively considered one of our favourite experiences on this journey so we extremely suggest it. This farm focuses on goats and presents just a few goat experiences. We began the expertise by making recent mozzarella cheese from goat’s milk. It was approach simpler than we thought it could be and didn’t take a very long time in any respect. After we completed we used the cheese to make caprese salads to eat together with the recent bread our host had baked that morning.
Afterwards, we went outdoors to satisfy the goats and perform a little goat yoga. We had been fairly unsuccessful however my daughters had the very best time enjoying with and feeding the goats. I extremely suggest carrying a protracted sleeve shirt and pants that you simply don’t care about together with closed toed sneakers. These goats had been pooping in every single place!
Regardless that we weren’t tremendous profitable at goat yoga we had been very profitable in milking the goats. My youngest tried this just a few years in the past on our journey to Door County, Wisconsin however she was solely 3 and scared. This time she milked the goat like a professional alongside along with her large sister. One of the best half, this milk can be used for our subsequent exercise at Windfall Hill Farm.
So what precisely did we do with the milk? We used it to make our personal cleaning soap. Soaps made with goat’s milk are literally highly regarded so we had been comfortable to make our personal. We every obtained to decide on the scent and colours we needed our cleaning soap to be. There have been tons of molds to select from to present every of ours their very own distinctive form.
Discover Downtown Lawrence
After a really enjoyable afternoon at Windfall Hill Farm we drove an hour to the city of Lawrence. It’s a cute faculty city with plenty of mother and pop eating places. We checked into our lodge after which explored the downtown space. There have been so many eating places with dwell music, we had been dancing as we walked down the road. We ended up consuming dinner at RGP which is an excellent cool restaurant the place they’ve 1000’s of video games you possibly can select from to play whilst you wait in your meals. They’ve all of the classics plus new video games we loved studying. It was positively a good way to spend time as a household and the meals was additionally actually good!
After dinner we stumbled upon Crystal’s Spot, apparently the very best lounge on the town. However we weren’t right here for the lounge, we got here as a result of they’re stated to have a few of the finest dessert. We tried their oreo cheesecake, twix cheesecake, and Key Lime Pie. We took our desert to go and ate at John Taylor Park the place our daughters might concurrently burn off their power from this sugar rush.
Kansas Street Journey Day 2
On the second day of our Kansas street journey we began the day with a hearty breakfast from Milton’s Cafe. They’ve all the normal choices, french toast, omelets and pancakes together with hashes, breakfast sandwiches, and breakfast tacos and burritos.
Kansas stunned us rather a lot, in a great way. Actually being a Black household we didn’t know what to anticipate on this center America state. Nevertheless, one factor we didn’t count on was a complete Kansas African-American historical past path.
Gordon Parks Museum
After breakfast we drove to Fort Scott, Kansas the place we visited one of many stops on this path, the Gordon Parks Museum. Gordon Parks was born in Fort Scott, the place the inhabitants was simply 10,463 on the time. He was truly born lifeless and needed to be revived. He went on to grow to be a photographer, musician, author and movie director, the primary African-American photojournalist employed by LIFE. His work led him to earn 50 honorary doctorate levels and the Nationwide Medal of Arts, the very best authorities award given to artists. We had actually by no means heard of him and it was wonderful to stroll by means of this museum and find out about him
Lowell Milken Middle
Afterwards we headed to the Lowell Milken Middle, a brief 5 minute drive. This museum highlights Unsung Heroes so you possibly can uncover odd individuals who have gone on to do extraordinary issues to vary the world. The museum began thanks to three college students who found the wonderful sacrifices of Irena Sendler. Whereas the museum began as a approach to spotlight her journey the middle takes submissions from individuals all around the world to focus on as unsung heroes. Smaller shows of those individuals are continually added all through the museum. Fort Scott is stuffed with historical past and needs to be added to each Kansas street journey itinerary.
Vehicles of the Route 66
In the event you didn’t know the Disney Pixar film Vehicles was impressed by an space alongside Route 66 in Kansas now often known as Vehicles on the Route. It’s a small however cute spot for anybody who loves the film. They’ve some “Vehicles” out entrance which you can take footage with.
Fried Rooster Wars
By now we labored up an urge for food so we needed to take part in our personal Fried Rooster Wars. The 2 opponents had been Rooster Annie’s and Rooster Mary’s. It was positively exhausting to decide on a winner, you’ll should style them each to determine for your self!
Kansas Street Journey Day 3
It was our final full day in Kansas however we nonetheless had rather a lot to see. We awakened in Topeka to go to one other cease on the Kansas African-American Historical past Path. There are literally two stops right here however sadly one wasn’t open because it was the weekend.
Brown vs. Board of Training
Monroe Elementary is the place the historic Brown v Board of Training case obtained its identify when the varsity refused to confess Linda Brown. Now the varsity is a Nationwide Historic Landmark open to the general public the place you possibly can study a lot about this case and different vital moments within the desegregation of faculties within the US.
Upon strolling into the varsity you’re instantly confronted with the indicators white and coloured, the place college students beforehand had been subjected to totally different requirements of schooling/residing solely primarily based on their race. The museum is stuffed with actions and simulations that will help you study precisely what it was like for Black college students throughout this time.
My daughters had been 5 and seven once we visited the museum and whereas there are some very graphic and emotionally draining eventualities we now have to recollect 5 and seven 12 months outdated Black youngsters truly lived by means of this so it’s our accountability to show this historical past right now so future generations don’t repeat it. Don’t overlook to get a Junior Ranger exercise guide earlier than exploring so your youngsters can earn a Jr. Ranger badge. My youngsters completely love amassing since they earned their first one at Grand Canyon Nationwide park on our Southwest street journey.
Prairie Spirit Path
After an emotional go to we drove 45 minutes to the Prairie Spirit Path. It extends for 52 miles and you may stroll or bike it. There’s a bike rental store on the town however take into account they don’t provide bikes with coaching wheels, at the very least they didn’t throughout our go to.
BBQ Tour in Kansas Metropolis
We ended our Kansas street journey attempting out one of many issues Kansas Metropolis is known for, BBQ! There are such a lot of BBQ spots and naturally we couldn’t attempt all of them so we obtained suggestions from locals and visited Gates Bar-B-Q, Jack Stack Barbeque and Joe’s KC. All of those have a number of areas and except you wish to go to the unique Joe’s KC on the gasoline station you possibly can actually go to the one that’s most handy to you. In the event you do select to go to the unique Joe’s, get there early, once we arrived the wait was almost 3 hours.
The place to Keep on Your Kansas Street Journey
Like most street journeys we stayed at a number of inns as we made our approach across the Japanese area of Kansas. Listed here are the inns we personally stayed at.
Springhill Suites Kansas Metropolis Northwest
In the event you’re flying into Kansas Metropolis within the night like we did and simply want a spot to crash earlier than kicking off your Kansas street journey it is a nice lodge to remain in. We truly stayed there the primary evening they opened so it’s a more recent lodge (July 2021) not too removed from the airport. Your nightly price consists of complimentary breakfast and there’s no parking charge. It’s not a 5 star lodge nevertheless it was clear and new, all that we would have liked for our in a single day keep.
Cyrus Lodge Topeka, KS
The evening earlier than visiting Monroe Elementary we stayed at The Cyrus Lodge which is a part of the Marriott household beneath their Tribute Portfolio. It’s a very cute lodge and the nicest one we stayed in on our Kansas street journey.
Springhill Suites Lawrence Downtown
We stayed with the Springhill Suites theme once we had been in Lawrence though this one was not new. Actually, there will not be many decisions on this city so if you happen to plan on staying right here and don’t need an older lodge an Airbnb may be the higher alternative. The room was clear with a more recent sofa however the toilet was very dated.
We had a good time on our Kansas Street Journey, we had been pleasantly stunned. Since we solely obtained to go to the Japanese area we hope to return and discover extra of the state. Did you discover this text useful? If that’s the case please share it!
