In downtown Wellsville
A Casey’s Store.
The Big Boppers Cafe and Main Street Video are in this building.
Simple Simon’s pizza place is in a former gas station building.
Broken Truck
At the edge of LeLoup (Franklin County), I came across a road sign I’d never seen before, the our-railroad-crossing-will-break-your-semi sign.
The railroad tracks didn’t have a major hump or look all that treacherous to me, but there must have been a reason for the sign.
Grandma Layton
A portion of a Grandma Layton drawing. “Grandma” Elizabeth Layton is one of Wellsville’s more famous residents. When she was 68 she took a drawing class, which helped cure a long bout with depression.
Several of her paintings are on display at the Wellsville City Library.
Wellsville is in Franklin County and has about 1,600 people.
Country music singer Chely Wright is another famous product of Wellsville.
Smokey’s BBQ
The plan was to meet Amy in Baldwin City. On my way to Baldwin, I had plenty of time, so I swooped around through Wellsville to check out that town. While walking up and down Main Street, the aroma of BBQ was strong and tempting.
Amy and I had made our meeting plans over the Internet and we picked a restaurant in Baldwin City from an online list. When we met at that place - it was closed on Saturday. So, I mentioned this place I had just walked by and off we went, 7 miles to Wellsville.
I checked out Wellsville in the Guidebook for Kansas Explorers and in the book, friend Rex Buchanan mentioned his liking of the burnt ends and fried dill pickles here at Smokey’s. Rex and I had previously discussed food options in Kansas, so I trusted his opinion. And I wanted the fried pickles! It had been way too long.
But, the only way fried pickles come is as a huge appetizer.
“We can split it,” Amy said. She knows fried pickles. We used to eat them at Sonic- pickleos, they called them. In Larned and/or Great Bend. A hundred years ago. Or maybe 30.
Frickles with ranch dressing. They were as good as I remembered.
I had the rib ends and the sweet potato fries, because I never pass up sweet potato fries. Here they served them with a great dipping sauce. I should’ve asked what was in the sauce. Dill was the primary flavor that came through. Yum.
People came and went. We stayed here a couple hours, talking, and eventually went outside where it was warm and sunny and we walked around downtown Wellsville.
On my way home…
…I stopped by Toad Hollow and found Roger Heineken, Jane Russell (the dog), Gaylord West, some Cheez-Its, cheese chunks, and Schlitz, the beer that made Milwaukee famous.
“She’s had three Cheez-Its,” Gaylord said of Jane, “And now she’s addicted to them.”
It was late afternoon when I arrived and the garden visitors had quit visiting for the day. Roger and Gaylord were relaxing in the shade.
May is the best weather month and we’ve had some beautiful days this week. Yesterday was perfect, could not have been better. No wind! 70s, sunshine. Today was a bit warmer, but still absolutely perfect.
A Toad Hollow peony.
iris beds
a visiting peacock
The Schlitz cans are starting to accumulate on the ground.
But first…
Amy and me
Amy and me.
Road trip!
I drove east. Amy drove west. We met along the Santa Fe Trail today and had lunch in Wellsville.
Amy and me, we’re Pawnee Rock girls. I’ve known this funny, delightful, incredible person since she was 1 and I was 2.
So.
Lots of photos I took today, before, during and after our visit.
567 photos to be exact. Yeah, I’m crazy. But film is free, you know.
I have so many photos, I don’t know where to start, what to show you first.
There’s one thing I didn’t get a picture of, a sign in the Homewood rest stop along I-35. I didn’t take my camera inside, darnit, but when you entered the women’s restroom, there was a sign posted:
“Caution. Slippery when wet. Due to weather.”
Yes, that’s weather on the floor. Not, um, you know….
Memorial Hall
Memorial Hall in Fort Scott is downtown, across the street from the county courthouse.
I was a little puzzled as to why the columns hid some of the carved artwork.
Take me there
This evening on the front porch, Yellow Cat looks at the map with me. Tomorrow, I’m going to meet a childhood friend for lunch in a small Kansas town! It’s a belated birthday lunch - we both celebrated birthdays in April.
Yellow Cat helped me choose a route.
And she wants to go, too! As she looked up at me, part of an old Seals and Crofts song , “Advance Guards,” ran through my head:
Take me there, take me there, I don’t care where we go.
Take me there, take me I just want to go.
It’s a mournful song, but the refrain has a burst of energy in it.
“Please take me there, take me there. I won’t be no trouble.”
“Take me with you. … Or I’ll bite you and then you’ll have the rabies.”
“Hahahaha, just kidding. I don’t have the rabies. Take me?”
