July 2019, Kansas, Day 3

This morning for breakfast we decided to sink our teeth into some Civil War history. When you have a history teacher for a neighbor who hears you’ll be passing through Lawrence, Kansas, you really don’t have a choice (fist bump, Derek!). Lawrence was the back drop for quite a bloodbath during the early years of the Civil War. A team of pro-slavery goons with vengeance in their hearts snuck up on this abolitionist strong hold. They started by shooting a poor unarmed preacher who was just milking his cow and it went downhill from there.  The Lawrence Massacre (Quantrill's Raid) continued until 400 men and boys had been murdered. Just fostering a love of learning in the wee hours of the morning on an empty stomach….The teen and tweens were really grateful. #lying

Site of the first Casuality of Quantrill's raid on Lawrence

Yawn

Mile 899- Topeka! State Capitol

Mile 990- Dwight D Eisenhower Presidential Library- A Presidential library a day keeps the doctor away! Or, makes your kids petition a stranger to kidnap them! This was an unplanned stop so we had to be brief. The museum portion was under construction, so the collection had been culled to one small exhibit in the library. The grounds were beautiful and we got to stretch our legs for a bit.

We like Ike! or..We can smile on command!

Bring back the novelty bloomer! 

Ike's Augusta National jacket, shout out to my Georgia homies!

Mile 994- Thomas says, “Next year can we just go to the beach?”

Don't squat with your spurs on!

Mile 1072-Lucas, Kansas

Well, that fateful day had arrived. I’d been in communication with my new friend Erika Nelson over the last several weeks. She is the gifted artist behind the "World's Largest Collection of the Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things" and we share an affinity for World's Largests. John learned about her collection from a co-worker who’d heard of our road trip exploits. We literally have been planning our Kansas/Nebraska/Dakotas trip around Erika and her collection.  She has amassed a menagerie of miniature versions of world’s largest things, many of which she’s created herself, and her collection is the largest in the World! However, her emporium of merriment isn’t always open and given the “Albino Squirrel Debacle” of 2013 (from which I’ve not yet recovered) I wanted to be certain that she would be open on Sunday when we arrived in Lucas, Kansas (aka, a long way from Georgia). I sent an email about a month prior to our visit and didn’t get a response, but I mean, who really checks email anymore? I am sure it wasn’t because she thought I was a looney-bird. Then I called and left her a voicemail…Finally, a text response! She used words like “probably” and “chances are good” in regards to being open when we arrived. Still not 100%, but we threw caution to the wind and drove 3.5 hours from Kansas City to see her handiwork. And y’all,  let me tell you, she is a national treasure! She has such a passion for roadside stops and their preservation. We started diving deep into the controversies including the burning of the W.L. Cedar Bucket and the W.L. Michigan Cherry Pie feud between Traverse City and Charlevoix.  She gets me. I could’ve spent all day, but The Garden of Eden awaits!

That, my friends, is a petrified ham

World's Largest Pickled Egg

Kindred spirits

Hey Wigwam Village! We know you!

The Garden of Eden is the creation of Mr. Samuel Dinsmoor. Sammy was a retired civil war veteran who came to Kansas to gain wealth and was a smidge disappointed when he arrived. Instead of turning back, he set his mind to creating an elaborate work of art surrounding his house depicting scenes from the bible and symbolic middle-fingers to “the man”. He started his work in 1907 at 64 when he constructed the cabin and continued to work on the outside sculptures and additional buildings until he was 82. His wife died in 1917. In 1924, when he was 81, he married Emily Brozek who was 20! #ew. He and Emily then had TWO CHILDREN #ewew After viewing the garden it was time to meet Samuel. "But, Sarah", you might say.  "Hasn't Mr. Dinsmoor been dead for 87 years?"….You are correct, fair reader.  But, prior to his death he fashioned himself a concrete coffin with a glass lid for viewing. He has been lying in state since 1937 for anyone who wants a glimpse of how time can ravage a body. Um, you had me at hello.

Herein lies Mr. Dinsmoor. He dead. 

We then headed to the only watering hole in town. A little diner that shares a parking lot with the only gas station. The food was great and our waiter was also the guy who’d been our tour guide at The Garden of Eden! And there was pie!

Lucas, Kansas is this little hub for folk art and although we found ourselves to be some of the few visitors that day, we could tell that this town was something special. For example, we learned that the towns people realized that they needed some public bathroom facilities for their visitors. Instead of just hauling in some portoilets, they fashioned the his/her community restrooms into the shape of a toilet and added a sculpture of a toilet paper roll. They adorned the interior with mosaic tiles and objects. When they could have been complacent they weren't.  I got the feeling that the folks of Lucas just come together to get things done for the sake of art and beautifiying their town. Reminds me of another town that I know and love…

Boy's Bathroom

Mile 1123- Cawker City, Kansas

This is the big leagues for crazy people like me. We’d finally reached the Holy Grail of roadside attractions! Hello Beautiful!

 

Mile 1209- We’re not in Kansas anymore! We’re in Nebraska!!

Mile 1212- Hebron, Nebraska- This little town has designated itself at the “Porch Swing Capitol of the World”. I do love a good porch swing and this little town is home to the World’s Largest!

So tired...

This is no time to sleep! Large swing awaits!

1319- Lincoln! State Capitol

1378- Omaha-Somewhere in middle America. We rolled into Omaha waaaay later than planned. We got very behind schedule with history, and art, and corpses as one does. We weren’t really that hungry, but knew that we HAD to get a Runza for dinner. It is a regional phenomenon that many of our mid-western friends had told us about.  For someone who wasn’t hungry, I inhaled that sucker like I hadn’t eaten in a week. Delicious!