As we travel around the country, we thought we would share some of the cooler, but lesser known places, that you might want to visit.
Coffee
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When my wife and I are traveling and are ready for a coffee break, we Google “Coffee Near Me.” No matter the size of the next town, there is almost always a cool place to stop for great coffee, usually a small, individually-owned business. This was not the case just a few years ago.
I really started drinking coffee when I was in college in the 1960’s. In those days, there were only five coffee roasters in the United States, and they were in a race to the bottom, competing with each other on the basis low price. Coffee was mainly sold pre-ground and in cans, the worst possible situation for quality coffee. Our favorite college hangout in 1967 sold coffee for a dime a cup, but it was virtually undrinkable by today’s standards, needing lots of cream and sugar to be palatable.
Today there are thousands of coffee roasters, competing against each other on the basis of quality and service. The coffee business is interesting because there is one huge market leader. Starbucks pretty much sets the prices and the quality bar. All the independents or smaller chains have to do is match their price and exceed them with quality and service. That was our basic plan when we opened Homer’s Coffee House in Downtown Overland Park in 2001; many other places around the country are now doing the same.
Many small towns now have a coffeehouse which is a meeting place, allowing people to get together to have coffee and discuss the affairs of the day. A coffee shop is a place to buy coffee, often with a drive-thru. This distinction is often missed, and may not be important, when we just want a good cup of coffee. However, we always look for a coffeehouse that has indoor seating so we can mix with a few locals of the town we’re passing through.
A guiding principle in the coffee industry is that green coffee beans will keep for several years before they start to deteriorate. Once the beans are roasted, they will be fresh for about two weeks. Ground coffee will be stale within a few minutes of being ground. When we walk into a coffeehouse or coffee shop, we first look for a coffee grinder to make sure they are grinding the beans immediately before use. Many newer expresso machines or coffee brewers have built-in grinders, so the coffee is brewed within seconds of grinding. Many independents roast their own beans or buy from a local roaster that ensures that the roasted beans are only a few days old. This all greatly improves the quality of the coffee and coffee drinks they sell.
The quality of the coffee beans from the farmers is also critical. Some coffee companies buy the cheapest beans they can find, while some look for the best beans grown in optimum conditions and locations. Spending a little more for the beans and then careful roasting, grinding, and brewing makes a big difference in the taste.
Finding a great cup of coffee or latte is becoming easier; the interesting conversations with new friends is up to us!
Kansas
Maxwell Wildlife Refuge - Canton, Kansas
Buffalo or is it Bison?
I first became infatuated with the American Buffalo, or more correctly “Bison”, when I was a child and first visited the Woolaroc Wildlife Preserve near Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Some of the first photographs I ever made were of that remarkable herd of amazing animals. We now have several carvings and sculptures of buffalo in our home. I just enjoy looking at them and thinking about the impact of North America’s largest mammal on our nation’s history.
Woolaroc | Museum & Wildlife Preserve | woolaroc.org
I really enjoyed the Ken Burns documentary “The American Buffalo” on PBS and have seen it several times. I highly recommend watching it to begin to understand what happened, both the tragedy and the survival story it tells.
Before 1870 gigantic herds of millions of buffalo roamed the Great Plains and were a primary source of food, clothing, shelter, and tools for the Plains Indians that lived and thrived here for thousands of years. In a very short period of ten years, the buffalo were hunted to near extinction by white hunters so that by 1880 there were fewer than a hundred left. Buffalo are now making a comeback through the efforts of wildlife preserves, national parks, and a few important private herds.
In July we visited both the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Yellowstone National Park. Both parks have substantial herds and are doing a great job of maintaining and increasing the buffalo herds under their care. We got caught in a few “Buffalo Jams.” This is when traffic is backed up because of buffaloes standing in the middle or moving slowly across the road. The last time we were in a buffalo jam in Yellowstone was about 25 years ago and we were on snowmobiles. It was in sub-zero temps in January, and as it was this summer, the buffaloes absolutely have the right of way.
The biggest thrill was more recently when we visited the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge near Canton, Kansas. Canton is in the Flint Hills near McPherson, south of Salina. There we took a tour in a tram right through the middle of a large herd out on the prairie. The guide had all sorts of information about the habits and history of the buffalo.
We learned that the dominant leader of the herd is always a female. Not a queen as much as matriarch. She decides when to move and where the best grass is. The females are very protective of their calves and only have one per year. Twins are very rare. It is important not to get between a female buffalo and her calf. The males or bulls, tend to be loners, are not social and generally stay away from the rest of the herd which is mainly females and their calves. If you see a buffalo out by itself, it is invariably a bull.
The song, “Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play,” was written in and about Kansas in the 1870’s and is now the official state song. If someone wants to see a large herd of buffalo in their original natural habitat, it is only a 165-mile drive southwest of Kansas City. The Maxwell Wildlife Refuge is owned and operated by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and offers year-round tours; Maxwell Wildlife Refuge is an amazing resource for Kansas.
Home – Maxwell Wildlife Refugehttps://maxwellwildliferefuge.com/
The Garage in Downtown Salina Kansas is a beautiful automobile museum. The interesting thing about this auto museum is the rotating exhibits with several themes changing throughout the year.
When we were there in August 2022 one exhibit area was muscle cars and the other side was customs. There is also plenty of automobilia throughout.
Old school hot rodders would stick the biggest engine they could find in the smallest cars and then strip them down to make them lighter so they would go faster. For example, they might put a Lincoln engine in a Ford Model A and then take off the fenders and bumpers to lighten it.
In the early 1960’s U.S. automakers added smaller compact cars to their lines and saw the chance to build factory hot rods using the same formula. For example, they would put a big V8 from a Chevrolet Impala into their smallest compact Nova. Pontiac dropped the big 389 V8 from the Bonneville into the small Tempest and rebranded it as a GTO and the muscle car was born. Between 1964 and 1971, every U.S. auto brand had some sort of muscle car.
Emissions standards and high fuel costs ended the muscle car era. Many new cars today are faster than the 1960’s muscle cars, handle and stop better, have near zero emissions and use half as much gas, but the old muscle cars have an appeal and are highly collectible.
Custom cars are unique. Each one is created by an individual with an emphasis on style. Some are modified production cars, and some are built from the ground up. Almost all have very high-end paint schemes and are truly works of art.
The Garage changes the displays on a quarterly schedule so regular visits should bring new surprises.
We have traveled i-70 from Kansas City to the Colorado Rockies many times, but never taken the detour to see the Monument Rocks National Monument. The chalk formations were formed as the inland sea receded about 80 million years ago, so I guess there has been plenty of time to visit. They are about 30 miles south of I-70, about a third of that on gravel roads, so a visit adds about an hour and half to a Colorado trip.
Unlike, the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs which seem quite natural in their surroundings, the Gove County Rocks are startling in that they rise straight out of the prairie floor.
If you haven’t visited them yet, allow a few hours on your next trip across Kansas. If you are a Kansan, it is a required stop.
Colorado
The Flying W is a Chuck Wagon Supper with a Western Music show. Don’t confuse Western Music with Country Music. As described by the owner of the Flying W, “Country Music is usually one person singing about coveting his neighbor’s wife. Western Music is 4 or 5 people singing in harmony about coveting their neighbor’s horse.” Country music came out of churches and beer joints and met on the radio. Western music came out of 1930’s Hollywood “B” movies and landed in 1950’s television. Completely different.
The Flying W Wranglers are the second oldest Western singing group after the Sons of the Pioneers. They have been singing at the ranch since 1953. The whole placed burned down in a wildfire in 2012 but has been rebuilt better than ever. Whether or not you like cowboy music, The Flying W Ranch is a “kick”. Wear your boots and hat if you want to feel at home. We saw people with Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops, so they don’t have a dress code. The dinner provides generous servings and it is fun for the whole family.
The Angad Arts Hotel in St Louis, Missouri
Part art gallery and part hotel, this place is cool. This is a boutique hotel with a full-time arts curator. We arranged for a personal tour of the collection, some of which is changed out regularly. All of the public spaces have artwork made by artists who live within 200 miles of St Louis. The rooms are colorful and unique as well. Included in the price of the tour, the guest receives two free beverages from their rooftop bar and the overnight parking.
The hotel is in the Grand Center Arts District which means there are plenty of galleries, cafes, and shops nearby. We stayed there because it is directly across the street from the ornately decorated Fabulous Fox Theater. Yes, that’s the name, “The Fabulous Fox Theater.” It is a 5,000-seat theater built in 1928. The ballet and opera are nearby as well.
If you are ready for something different on your St Louis visit, this is it. You will know you are there when you see the silhouettes climbing the fire escape and the big stack of suitcases sculpture at the street level entrance.
Historic St Charles, Missouri
St Charles is the old river town just west of St Louis. If you haven’t done so yet, get off of I-70 and follow the signs to the Historic Main Street. There you will find blocks of pre-civil war buildings housing shops and restaurants of all kinds along the narrow brick streets along the Missouri River.
It is a step back in time to a beautifully preserved part of an old city. We had lunch at Salt and Smoke BBQ, but there are lots of good choices of places to eat and shop for unusual items.
Historic St Charles will be one of our primary stops on every trip to St Louis.
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Oklahoma
The Bob Dylan Center in the Tulsa Arts District
The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa is a museum and archive dedicated to one of the most prolific and influential songwriters of the 29th century.In 2016 Bob Dylan sold his archive and collection to the Kaiser Foundation and the University of Tulsa. The museum opened in 2022. The foundation also operates the nearby Wood y Guthrie Center. Dylan considered Guthrie his mentor.
The Church Studio - Tulsa
The Church Studio is a hundred-year-old church that was converted to a recording studio by Leon Russell. It was later purchased by Steve Ripley of The Tractors. It is still a commercial recording studio which is open to the public for tours.
Tennessee
Awaken Old City Church & Coffee Shop- Knoxville, Tennessee
We were driving through Knoxville, Tennessee looking for a good cup of coffee and came across Awaken Coffee in the old part of downtown called “Old City.” Awaken is actually a church and coffeehouse founded by Adam and Sarah Lutts who are former youth pastors. They were concerned about the number of young people who were active in the church youth group but failed to make the transition to becoming members of an adult church community.
Awaken Old City Church was formed to address this issue and appeal to this demographic. This is a common concern among church leaders and is the reason that many older congregations are losing members. It is also the reason that churches that are designed to appeal to young adults are the fastest growing churches in the United States.
We weren’t there on a Sunday, so we can’t speak about the congregation, but the atmosphere was great, and the coffee was outstanding. If you are in Knoxville, Sunday morning or any other time, check out Awaken Old City Church and Coffee Shop at 125 W Jackson.
Texas
The Continental Club - Austin, Texas
Austin is the live music capital of the world with hundreds of clubs and theaters playing all genres of music, seemingly around the clock. But if you want a true taste of Texas music, head down South Congress to The Continental Club.
It doesn’t look like much from the street, but many nationally known bands call it home and play there whenever they are in town. You might pay $40 for a ticket to see a band in Kansas City or Tulsa on a Friday or Saturday, and then see that the same band is playing all afternoon on Sunday at The Continental with no cover charge and inexpensive beer.
An added bonus is the great swing dancers that regularly fill the dance floor.
When in Austin, don’t miss the Continental Club. And while you are at it, you might as well stay at the Austin Motel across the street. This is a funky throwback to the 1950’s motels. As the sign says, “So close in, yet so far out.”
