THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2002
JAYPLAY
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 3B
Kansas has many wacky attractions
By Mandalee Meisner Jayplay writer
Jen Harms — for one — knows the lure of the open road, the thrill of, as she said, "going out without any specific plan and doing whatever catches your interest."
This spring break the Shawnee freshman plans to head into the wilderness of Kansas' backyard.
"Everyone thinks Kansas is so boring, that there's nothing to do," she said.
"But they just don't try to find out what's out there."
While others may choose more exotic destinations for their mid-semester travels, small town Kansas offers something just as interesting to the adventuresome student: a nearly dizzying array of off-beat museums, roadside "attractions" and historical anomalies immortalized for generations of curious tourists.
Here's just a sampling of what Kansas has to offer for the not-so average college road-trip:
Barbed Wire Museum in La Crosse.
Call 785-222-9900 for tours.
In the early days of the West, any renegade cowboy would be ill-advised to leave home without his wire cutters.
While a pistol was certainly useful in settling disagreements, a good pair of cutters was needed to successfully — and illegally — get across the land freshly speckled with barbed wire fences.
The Barbed Wire Museum attempts to preserve the rich and varied history of barbed wire use and misuse over the decades since its invention in the 1800s.
The museum — kept in a one-room metal building near the edge of town — contains more than 2,000 varieties of barbed wire samples, along with the various tools used in farm and fence-maintenance. Ultra-menacing, thorny models used in prisons and wars are displayed next to standard, two-stranded farm wire.
Garden of Eden in Lucas, open 1 to 4 p.m. daily.
You could safely say that S.P. Dinsmoor was eccentric.
The adamant Populist and Lucas resident built a log cabin out of stone, then filled his yard with concrete versions of
Old Testament characters.
He also rigged a megaphone up to a pole and used to spend hours professing his beliefs to passers-by, and he constructed a large mausoleum for himself — charging visitors a quarter to gaze at him through a glass window, resting in his future coffin — and at age 81 married his 20-year-old housekeeper.
The mysterious "elephant ears," also in Lucas.
Now, years after Dinsmoor was forever intered into his beloved tomb, his sculptural version of earthly paradise continues to enthrall visitors to the Garden of Eden.
Jarvis Cocker, lead singer of Pulp, was reportedly very moved when he roamed the grounds of the Garden of Eden a few years ago during the filming of a British documentary on outsider art.
The rock star, looking quite "scrawny and stringy-haired," according to sometimes-groundskeeper Connie Daugherty. visited a local bake sale to help with the town's fund-raising efforts.
"He bought some elephant ears, which are sort of flat, fried sweet bread," Daugherty said. "For the rest of the day, he couldn't stop talking about them."
A gigantic version of one of Vincent van Gogh's sunflower paintings in Goddard.
The recently erected van Gogh painting, which sits on an 80-foot-tall easel, is one of only seven such works throughout the world. Goddard was chosen as a site by project originator Cameron Crosse because it's — what else — the "sunflower capital" of Kansas
World's Largest Hand-Dug Well in Greensburg, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Greensburg uses its own water tow as a promotional tool for the town's resident tourist attraction.
From miles away, curious visitors can see two words — "big well" — and a green arrow pointing down. But it's only upon arrival that one finds that the structure below isn't just any deep hole, but the "World's Largest Hand Dug Well."
Dug in the 1940s by crews working
only with the barest equipment hands, shovels and one miserable "halfa-barrel"—the well served for years as Greensburg's water supply until retiring as a just a "marvel of pioneer engineering" in 1932.
Thrill seckers can descend the 105 steps to the well's bottom for a paltry $1.50. In return for throwing caution — and a few good-luck coins — to the wind, each adventuresome tourist receives a souvenir from the nearby museum.
"World's Largest Ball of Twine" in Cawker City.
The huge bundle was started by industrious farmer Frank Stoeber, who had previously used the roping to bind hay-bales. There's some disagreement if Stoeber did indeed construct the largest ball because another nearly identical one rests in Darwin, Minn. Both balls get increasingly bigger during their respective communities' annual twine binding festivals.
jaayplap@kansan.com. This story was edited by Sarah Warren.
Contact Meisner at
Honors class to go overseas for spring break
By Becky McClelland Jayplay writer
Getting away from school, going someplace warm and not thinking for nine days straight might sound like the perfect spring break trip, but 14 University of Kansas students think differently. The members of Honors 492: The London Review will travel to London during spring break where a professor plans to keep them thinking.
The group plans to do many things in London, including taking a Beatles' tour, going to a Druid festival and seeing the British Museum.
J. Burkhart, Omaha, Neb., junior, is taking the opportunity to research possible job openings at English-teaching schools while in London.
"It's not the cheesy, drunken college student activity." Mandy Michlin, Eden Prairie, Minn., freshman, said. "There's a little more to it than that."
Andy Marso, St. Cloud, Minn., sophomore, is the only male student going on the trip.
"Do I need any other motivation?"
Marso joked.
Aside from spending spring break with 14 women, he looks forward to visiting the Sherlock Holmes' museum and experiencing other cultures. This will be Marso's first trip outside of North America.
London Review sponsor and English professor Mary Klayer, who has taken students to London for four years, thinks the timing and the trip length have unique advantages.
"It's definitely just a taste of the city ... but it's not as crowded now," Klayder said.
This year she's bringing along her 11-year-old son, Anthony, which she said would add a new perspective to the group
Burkhart said gaining perspective was the best reason to study abroad.
"Different cultures offer different perspectives of the world," she said, "and I want to try and see as many perspectives as possible."
Contact McClelland at
Contact McClelland at bmccclelland@kaansan.com. This story was edited by Kyle Ramsey.
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