Explorery things help you "Get Wetmore!"

This blog serves as an example of what exploring is all about. Warning: If you prefer obvious commercial attractions, this isn't for you.

Explorers need to keep their eyes open and look for nuances that might be about architecture, art, commerce, cuisine, customs, geography, history or people. Interacting with the locals will help you find Explorery places or get your questions answered. Remember, don't judge a small town! If you do, you'll miss out on outstanding things behind the facade.

#1 What is this?
This 1925 service station is a clue.

The answer is that it was an outdoor oil pan! Drive your vehicle into the wheel troughs (my words) and the mechanic can drain the oil from there. (By the way, Robert Carson has a restored 1940s, 1950s mechanic garage available for tour. Many spit-and-polished antique autos and trucks are also on the showroom floor of the former car dealership that houses it all. It's located next to this restored filling station).

#2 This garage door is on main street in Wetmore. An Explorer would notice the door and would ask questions until they found out that Katie is a nurse in the clinic. She must be pretty important. Some people get their names written on the curb or a sign. Katie gets a whole garage door!

#3 Have you ever sign an 18-box hopscotch board? This one is permanently-etched onto the middle school sidewalk!


Look closely at this bar and grill. Notice the two doors? Above one it says "Dining" and above the other it says "Bar". Go in, have a beer, and ask the owner of Retingers why they did this. By the way, the food is great!

The last "big" nuance to notice near Wetmore is the Shoe Tree. Click here for directions and more information. The Shoe Tree was a finalist for the 8 Wonders of Kansas Customs.

Well, those are just a few Explorery things to see and do in Wetmore. There are more, like the calaboose, the Pony Express rider's grave, and the giant stone art northeast of town.

The point of this blog is that almost every town has something unusual to see if you open your eyes and your mind. Do that and you'll Get Kansas!

KE #2 Marci Penner