Kansas info

Kansas City is not far from there. There is an area called Country Club Plaza that is lit up beautifully for the Holidays! It has nice shops/restaurants/etc...

My husband mentioned a new Museum that opened in KC - we dont live there but he wants to go there.. I will find out what it is....
Lawrence is a very cute town - Home of KU.

The new museum mentioned is actually a new addition to the old Nelson-Atkins museum in KC. Both the old and new sections are worth seeing if you like art museums. Then if you are a history buff, the new World War I Museum in KC has gotten great reviews although I haven't been there yet. If you like a lively bar/music/restaurant scene, you could check out the new downtown Power and Light entertainment district in KC on Friday or Sat. nite.
I agree with previous posters that Lawrence is a fun college town to wander about and for high end shopping fans the Country Club Plaza in KC is great.
Prepare for cold weather!

Any national parks anywhere near there?

No ... some national historic sites, but no national parks within driving distance. Even the Harry S Truman National Historic Site will be closed during the holidays (it's in Independence, a KC suburb).

The Steamboat Arabia Museum is pretty interesting:
http://www.1856.com/

Second the tip to visit Country Club Plaza, the holiday lights are beautiful.

Probably not a good trip in December, but we enjoyed a day-trip to Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve:
http://www.nps.gov/tapr/index.htm


~Liz
(another Pennsylvanian who travels to Leavenworth on occasion)

Not really that much there. Steaks, ribs and lots of other great food though.

the hallmark tour??

Hallmark tour----I've been there. It's kinda boring.

monterybob - Indeed, that was the museum I was referring to. DH wants to go there some weekend soon to see the WWI Museum.

He also mentioned it has received great reviews.

Yes, WWI museum will be worth the drive.

Weston and Atchison are both fairly close by, historic small towns with some cute shops.

Atchison is Amelia Erhart's hometown and you can tour her childhood home (getting some extra press now due to the movie coming out starring Hilary Swank). Also, there is Nell Hill's, a famous home decor/gift store downtown.

Weston is small but has some nice restaurants and shops (my sister in law owns one of them!) and there is a nice state park nearby...Weston Bend, tho' not sure about that time of year.

St. Joseph has some history too---Pony Express and Jesse James.

WWI Museum is definitely worth the drive! And the holiday lights on the Plaza are something to see.

What about other states on the way? anything interesting there?

are you going through ST Louis?

we could

The Arch & museum at the Arch are definitely worth a stop on the way to KC.

Topeka is less than 1.5 hours from Leavenworth, and the state capitol is worth a visit for the art, architecture, and history. More than that, it is the only capitol in the US that allows visitors to ascend the dome. BUT -- the dome will be closed from January 1 until June 2012 for renovation work. So go now if you want to climb it!

You might want to call first to see when there will be tours (both historic tours and dome tours) during your visit, and to make reservations.

http://www.kshs.org/places/capitol/dome_tour.htm

Unfortunately, not sure what else Topeka has to offer, but I visited friends in Leavenworth a few years ago and we went to Topeka just for the capitol, and all agreed it was well worth the drive.

Let's face it...Kansas isn't a scenic destination. BTW, came trhough a snow storm yesterday coming back to Spfld MO from Wichita. Yes, some sites in St. L. & K.C. worth seeing for sure in terms of museums, zoo, etc., some mentioned above. Ditto for Pony Express Museum, Truman Museum, Weston. As for passing through Illinois where we used to live, sure would mention the Lincoln Presidential Library/Museum in my home town of Springfield.

Gosh, there are lots of places from PA to KS though. All depends on your route. Are you driving the whole way? Better have some interestintg CDs to listen to.

Ozarksbill
walongman@yahoo.com

taking 2-3 days to drive, so we want to do some intersting sight seeing, if possible. seems like no one here is too excited about the trip.

Well, frankly, that's lots of "fine place to live, but not interesting to visit" territory! We no longer even try to drive this...we fly.

Good luck!
~Liz

I highly recommend visiting the Country Club Plaza to see the Christmas lights. There are several great restaurants on the Plaza - it would be a fun place for dinner and an after dinner stroll around to see the lights. Visit the Oak Room across the street at the Intercontinental hotel for an after dinner drink and a great view.

Other ideas include visiting the Steamship Arabia, the College Basketball Experience at the new Sprint Center and the WW1 museum. Are you into shopping? We have lots of wonderful shopping areas (Plaza, Crestwood, Briarcliff. . .) If you are into home decor, you must visit Nell Hill's. She has two stores - one in Atchison and one in Briarcliff near the KCI airport.

Another idea is to take the KC Gangster Tour - "a 90 minute interactive tour into KC's old mob past" (www.kctg.com). Kansas City has a pretty rich history of gangsters and mob activity (the Union Station Massacre was a catalyst for the modern day FBI). I haven't done this tour but I think I'm going to book it for my husband as a Christmas present. We both read and enjoyed "Public Enemies" and this tour will tie in nicely.

Lawrence is another fun day trip. Mass Street is a wonderful stretch of funky shops and restaurants with a great college vibe.

Have a wonderful trip!

I would love to fly, but one guy going along is scared. can you imagine that? he is 73 and an old navy guy.

attymom, thanks for the nice specifics. someone told us to drive either route 50 or 70 and we will see signs for places that might interest us???

70 is the interstate while 50 is more of a highway, at least in this part of the country.

If you are looking for the "off the beaten path" experience, then take 50 as it would likely go through more small towns, etc. but it would not be fast.

70 is the efficient, get you where you are going as efficiently as possible, route.

St. Louis has the arch, the Missouri History Museum, a good (and free) zoo, great Italian food (The Hill), the Anheuser-Busch brewery (you can take a tour-free beer!), Grant's Farm, National Transportation Museum.

There are some cute towns along I-70 in Missouri...in Fulton there is an English church (brought over in pieces and reconstructed) that is quite charming. Fulton is where Winston Churchill gave his famous iron curtain speech.

Just outside St. Louis you can visit Daniel Boone's farm

Hermann has some cute shops, wineries, etc.

Arrow Rock is a very old town; for years they have had a famous theater there, but I'm not sure of its current status.