"As Big As A Plate!"

Kansas Explorer #1287 Margo Yates says "anyone searching for the best darn chicken fried steak in Kansas needs to come to Marion." She says the chicken fried steak at the Stone City Cafe (211 E. Main, 620.382.2656) is the best in the state and "as big as your plate!"

To be on the official Explorer Chicken Fried Steak list the CFS needs to be fresh meat, hand breaded AND pan or grill fried. The Stone City Cafe CFS meets the first two criteria but is deep-fat fried. It doesn't get on our list but that doesn't mean it isn't terrific and I'd never doubt a Margo recommendation!

Speaking of "as big as your plate..."

This is a pork tenderloin sandwich that I had at Cherokee's Grill in Stark. It's true! You're looking at a regular size bun and a very irregular size pork tenderloin! Not only was it big but it was terrific!

A number of Explorers ate there when we had the "Bring Your Own Lawn Chair" event in Stark, 20 miles east of Chanute.

This is a prime example of the size of the servings of most items on the menu. Wow!

Cherokee's Grill is at 105 W. Main. 620.754.3995.

The Art of Appreciating Barns

The Kansas Barn Alliance held their third annual Barn Fest this past weekend at the Mennonite Heritage Museum in Goessel. The passion of this group is symbolized by Roger Hubert's sign: Stop Barnicide.

President Sally Hatcher did a great job of organizing the event which included tours of four area barns.

If you're interested in joining the Kansas Barn Alliance go to www.kansasbarnalliance.org.

It's A Keeper

Have you seen the Keeper of the Plains in its new surroundings? It's located at 650 N. Seneca in Wichita and now stands on a 30-foot pedestal. Blackbear Bosin designed this 44-foot scuplture and in 1974 it was dedicated. It has become the symbol of Wichita. Keeper of the Plains is just one of the 24 finalists for the 8 Wonders of Kansas Art.

Have you voted yet? If not, go to http://www.8wonders.org. Click on each picture and you'll find more photos and information about each finalist. Kansas has much art of which to be proud!

KE #2 Marci

A Road Trip in Kansas

It was a perfect day in August -- except for the constant rain.

We went anyway. The family (plus cousins) left early for our every-other-year Kansas day trip. The rain just added to the fun.

This year's itinerary included the Anton Pearson Studio, Lindsborg; Coronado Heights, near Lindsborg; old, old Highway 81 from near Bennington to Minneapolis; Rock City, near Minneapolis; Blackberry Mercantile, Oak Hill; the stone buffalo, near Longford; and the Renaissance Cafe, Assaria.

Even, and especially, my nieces know how to see Kansas through Explorer eyes. Spending money in small towns not only feels good but becomes a must. We not only dared to do dirt but we did mud. I made up a Rural Culture Element auto bingo game and each car had fun playing. Enjoying the journey is the big thing. What a great day we had exploring.

Testifying for Tourism

I had the opportunity yesterday to testify at two legislative committee meetings for the Travel Industry Association of Kansas (TIAK). TIAK is leading the charge to support a change in structure for the state tourism office. If the state tourism office was a quasi-independent organization it would have more flexibility and stability, potentially more funding, and the ability to partner better with all those that have a stake in tourism. The new structure, if adopted, would still require legislative oversight and it would receive funding from the state. There is much work to do for this to get through both the Senate and House.

My role is to represent rural communities in these hearings -- and what a pleasure that is! I describe what various towns have to offer and elaborate that we'd sure like more people to know about these places. Now, don't worry. We don't want the essence of these towns to change but believe that a few more visitors a day would sure help the sustainability of rural communities. I'm confident the state tourism office would be more able to market rural communities if the flexibility and funding was available. Currently, Kansas is 46th (I think) in the ranking of state tourism marketing budgets.

Budget Committee Chair Dwayne Umbarger (from Thayer) asked what we did in Stark recently. He said "everybody's talking about it." His comment allowed me to briefly explain the "Bring Your Own Lawn Chair" events and specifically the success in Stark.

For everyone that visits small towns, writes about them, or sees their value, just know that this is appreciated and helping making a shift. Gradually, that cogwheel is turning and with legislative approval we are hoping to change the structure of tourism in this state and be able to work with the state tourism office to better market the explorer type places in Kansas.

MUD RUNS, BADLANDS, PIE & PANCAKES

What an exciting few days it's been doing our "Explorer" thing. I've been hardly able to catch my breath! M. has done most of the catching up on our adventures so I'll add just a few of my personal activities - mostly eating of course! But I must tell you, this job definitely has some perks and one of them is sampling the cuisine. There are some talented cooks out there in the prairie hamlets.

One highlight that stands out occured following the B.Y.O.L.C. in Morland this past Saturday at the Prairie Junction where I enjoyed scrumptious and moist fried chicken (cooking MOIST fried chicken is an art by the way); the pasta salad and ewww, I almost get quivery inside remembering it...the homemade pumpkin pie accompanied by a side of homemade Black Walnut ice cream.

The other happened in Manhattan thanks to our cat Phoebe who was being treated at K-State Vet School and was scheduled to be picked up on Sunday. We timed our trip so we could try out a place downtown referred to us by Angie Fryer, KE#2048, called "The Chef Cafe." They serve up an amazing array of breakfast items including Smoked Salmon Benedict enjoyed by Explorer #2 and I drooled over the Pancakes Bananas Foster served with pecan dark rum syrup. I've never had such succulent pancakes! In fact, I could have eaten just the pancakes without all the other yummy stuff. Even tried to talk the chef out of his recipe but he's keeping it a secret! Darn! Log onto their website to find out more info: http://thechefcafe.com/menu.html

M has already updated you earlier on our experiences at Collyer and Castle Rock so I'll just supply the photos. You know what they say about pictures - it's worth a thousand words! Enjoy!

Great Time in Lincoln!

Last night the Lincoln County Historical Society had their annual meeting in the Kyne House Museum in Lincoln. It was so fun to set up our "Go Kansas!" game show and be the game show host. My Mom and her sisters made a quilt with 40 question pockets to be our game show board. Dad devised a PVC pipe frame that can be disassembled and hauled in my car. We have chaser lights, buzzers, scoring, and 40 questions about what there is to see and do in Kansas. This was a really fun group and we had a rowdy good time learning about Kansas.

I stopped in to visit with Marilyn Helmer at Village Lines before I went to the museum. We had a quick but excellent talk about a really great core of people in Lincoln working together to make things happen. Marilyn has spent many years working in and for Lincoln. She's been a stalwart and is one of those community folks that, to me, is a Kansas hero.

The drive up to Lincoln from Inman was so beautiful -- especially K-14 between I-70 and Lincoln. Stunning beauty. The rolling hills and the roadside grasses were exquisite. It was a sunny day and Kansas just shone, all the way to Lincoln.