More September...

After Kansas, but before we headed out for our big adventure of 2011, we had a couple of weekends. The first one was a quiet one. Joe was MOD, so I spent a day with my good friend, Janet, who I worked with at McAfee. We had lunch at Chuy's, then went to see Sarah's Key at the movie theater. I LOVED that movie!! So much, in fact, that I ended up later reading the book. The book had actually been on my list, but I hadn't gotten around to it. On the way back from our big adventure at the end of September, I ran out of reading material on the way home and bought Sarah's Key at the airport.

The next weekend was anything but quiet. On Saturday, we headed to Chicago for a Cubs Game. But this time we did not watch the game INSIDE Wrigley Field, we watched it from one of the rooftops. Our friend, Al, had seen a deal on Groupon and we had always wanted to see a game from one of the rooftops. It was a very cool experience!!! First, it was an all-you-can buffet with brats, pizza, salads, hot dogs, etc., and even included free drinks - soda, beer, and wine. After eats and drinks, it was up to the rooftop for the game!! It is no problem seeing the field, and they have the local broadcast playing on TV's so you can hear the commentary. I have to admit, though, it's a little more difficult to actually focus on the game.

New Ron Santo Statue at Wrigley Field:


Wrigley Rooftops:




Cubs WIN!!!


After the game, we had to head back home, but first we made a stop at Foley's Bar & Grill. There was a time when we searched and found every Foley's Bar in every city we visited, but somehow we had always missed the one in Chicago!!


On Sunday, we drove to Oklahoma for my sister-in-law's, Rebel, surprise birthday party. In spite of the fact that she just had a baby the month before, my niece Jessica, insisted on having a surprise birthday party for her mom because she had never had one. They decided to have it at Swadley's BBQ, so we drove up, yelled "SURPRISE," had lunch, and then drove home (flights were not cooperative - AT ALL!!). It was a long day, but well worth it to spend time with family.

She would hate this picture, but it's the only one I have of her! Happy Birthday, Rebel!!!

Kansas

For Labor Day, Joe and I decided to head up to Kansas. Now, I know that Kansas doesn't sound too exciting, but we had our reasons. First (and foremost), it is fairly close and the holiday fell right in the middle of my month-end close schedule. We figured if something happened with the flights, we could drive back and I wouldn't miss work. Plus, there were a few National Park Service sites for us to visit, not to mention our 8th Presidential Library, and a ball of twine!!!

We just happened to catch these funny water towers on our way through Pratt, Kansas.


Our first stop was Great Bend, Kansas and Joe happened to see that there was a B-29 Memorial Plaza just outside of town. The memorial honors the men and women of the Great Bend Army Airfield where crews trained as 11-man combat teams to fly the B-29 bombers. The B-29 is most famous for being the bomber that dropped the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II. In fact, we have seen the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the history of warfare, at the Udvar-Hazy extension of the National Air & Space Museum.


Our next stop was Fort Larned National Historic Site. Fort Larned was a military post that was established to protect the Santa Fe Trail. "Here, the U.S. sought both war and peace with Plains Indians as each grappled for control of the vast Kansas prairies." (from the NPS website) As an added bonus, since it was a holiday weekend, there were lots of volunteers dressed in period costumes and giving us added information about the fort. It was pretty interesting!!




From the Commanding Officers' Quarters:


The apothecary:


Fixing Lunch:


After a stop in WaKeene for an excellent Hunger Buster and a mini-blizzard at the Dairy Queen, we headed to Nicodemus National Historic Site. I'll plagiarize from the NPS website again - "Former enslaved African Americans left Kentucky in organized colonies at the end of post-Civil War Reconstruction period to experience freedom on the free soils of Kansas. Nicodemus represents the involvement of African Americans in the western expansion and settlement of the Great Plains. It is the oldest and only remaining all Black Town west of the Mississippi River."


The park has 5 historic buildings, representing the five pillars of the African American community. This is the township hall. It served the needs of the local government.


In 2009 when Joe and I went to South Dakota, we had the best time finding the geographic center of the United States. So, when Joe pin-pointed another geographic center - this time of the lower 48 - we knew we couldn't pass it up. This one wasn't nearly as hard to find, and it was a real monument as opposed to just a flag stuck in the ground.


Just down the road from the geographic center of the conterminous U.S., we went just down the road to the World's Biggest Ball of Sisal Twine in Cawker City. It reminded me of the movie, "National Lampoon's Vacation"!

"Hey, hey, easy kids! Everybody in the car. Boat leaves in two minutes... or perhaps you don't want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth, which is only four short hours away?"


We ended Day 1 in Salida, KS. The next morning, we drove the short distance over to Abilene to visit the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. First, was a tour of his boyhood home, where we learned that Dwight was the 3rd of 7 boys. Although born in Texas, Eisenhower's family moved to Abilene, KS in 1892 and DDE considered it his home. Two years after graduating from high school, he applied to the Naval Academy. Even though he passed the entrance exam, he was beyond the age of eligibility for admission, so he went to West Point. Of course, Eisenhower would go on to become the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II, charged with the planning and execution of "Operation Overload" which came to be known as D-Day. After VE-Day, the press asked Eisenhower's mother if she was proud of her son and her response, was an exuberant, "YES!!" Then she asked, "Which one?" (I love that story!!)




Next was the Presidential Library. I'm pretty sure that Eisenhower was elected because his military career and popularity following the WWII victory. A great man, to be sure, but a quiet President. The library was more about his service in the war than his Presidency. Notable accomplishments were the launching of the interstate highway system, admitting Alaska and Hawaii to the union as states, and ending the Korean War.


Our final stop would be the Place of Meditation where the President, his wife Mamie, and their first-born son are buried.


From Abilene, we headed back south and made at stop at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. We checked out a Ranch House and hiked the Southwind Nature Trail out to a schoolhouse. It was a beautiful day and we quite enjoyed a couple of hours outdoors.




Tallgrass Prairie was our fifth and final National Park Service Site to visit in Kansas. With that, we checked Kansas off the list and headed back to Wichita for our flight home, which by the way, we had absolutely no problem with! It wasn't glamorous, but we still enjoyed our weekend in The Sunflower State.