Kansas info
 

WE will be visitng in Kansas from PA at holiday time. STaying near Ft. Leavenworth. What would be some interesting day trips from there? walking, touring, driving, sightseeing???

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
[email protected]

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