Leavenworth, KS-- What's there...?!
 

I have an older sister whose husband has just acquired a job in Leavenworth, KS. Besides the federal pen (or whatever famous prison that is), what IS there in Leavenworth, or the immediate area? I'm just wondering what we will do if I ever go visit her family.

Leavenworth has a number of prisons, in fact. Prisons are the town's industry.

Nearby, however, is Kansas City which has endless charms and the best BBQ in America (as well as one of the niceset small art museums in the country, the Nelson-Atkins). Also not far from Leavenworth is Lawrence, Kansas, an idyllic Midwestern college town with lovely museums, a charming downtown, and a beautiful campus.

To add to the good, right-on previous post, there is also Westin, MO very near Leavenworth. Westin has a charming main street with antebellum homes, quaint shops and restaurants. It might have been as big as Kansas City if the river hadn't changed course and moved its banks farther from the town.

There is also Cabellas, the Speedway and the Rennaisance (sp?) festival (Sept. & Oct.) and the Agricultural Hall of Fame not far from there in Bonner Springs,KS - outlying Kansas City metro area.

*phew* Glad to see there will be something in the area. Kansas City, huh? MO, KS or both (aren't they across a river from each other or something)?

Leavenworth is a blue collar town with a rough edge. It's not Compton by any means (if you're in the LA area, right?), but it's a little like the lower to middle class areas of Fresno or Bakersfield. It's a 20+ minute drive from the more blue collar parts of the Kansas City metro area.

Thanks to all of you for your quick, reassuring responses! I love KC, so this will be better than I had anticipated. Again-- thanks!! :)

Wow, I'm surprised so many people have been to Leavenworth.

The only thing I can add that hasn't been said already is that Leavenworth is also a military town. Fort Leavenworth, and it's prison, are located there.

This is just beating a dead horse, because, having lived in Leavenworth, I can tell you that all the above posters have it right. Leavenworth ain't got much to offer; in fact, it's quite grim. Everyone there is either military, or works in corrections, or is recently sprung from one penal institution or another, or is related to someone doing a long stretch. Thus, many of the residents have little to be happy about, one way or another.
However, there is, thank God, KC! I recall that the Country Club Plaza in KC is about 45 minutes' drive from Leavenworth. So you will find things to do outside Leavenworth itself. Best wishes to your sister!

E-- thanks for the wishes for my sister! I think they will be buying farmland (they have cattle-- don't ask why, we can't digure it out either), so hopefully they'll be somewhere pretty-- just off the highway to Kansas City!!

... "we can't Figure it out..."

Time for new contacts?

We spent a forgettable year in Leavenworth many years ago. Maybe things have gotten better since then.
At the time, the big event in town was the opening of WalMart or some such store. Sometimes, at night, the sirens would go off indicating someone had escaped from one of the prisons.
Other times the sirens went off, warning us of a possibly approaching tornado so we'd rush to the basement.
Week-ends, with nothing to do in town, we escaped to Kansas City or Topeka. Lawrence was also a nice town.

Our first week there, we went for a drive and got lost. We realized we'd come full circle when we found the same dead dog in the road.
I'd wanted to get out of the crowded SF Bay Area so talked my husband into getting a job "in a small town."
We had a year's commitment so were stuck but at the end, hasitly beat it back to the Bay Area with its crowded freeways et al - and wonderful wonderful weather. (The weather there was another whole dismal horrible story.)
My sympathies to your sister & brother-in-law.

Last summer while driving across Kansas I stopped off I-70 in Topeka to get some food.
I took notice of the Topeka newspaper headline: "WalMart Set To Open Today".

This was the main headline of the main newspaper, I kid you not.

They're moving from Ponca City OK-- I can't really say if this will be a step up, down or sideways....

I kinda admire their ability to just move and make the best of it.

Me, I'd go nuts. 8}

Oh my gawd.... gplimpton, you ARE kidding, right?

OK then. She'll just have to bring the kids to visit *me*....

When we lived in Leavenworth, the best restaurant in town was Applebee's. Bums me out just thinking about it.
But the countryside all around is pretty in that midwestern, rolling hills kind of way, so if they're on a farm, it'll be way better than being in town. And other small towns nearby aren't nearly as grim as L'worth. And hey--as the locals told us, you can drive by the Big House at night, because they got it all lit up! Purty!