There’s No Place Like Kansas!

May 14-17, 2012

Kansas is known for its frontier history and Wild West legends, but is also home to the only underground salt museum in the western hemisphere and a space museum, second only to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  Kansas has natural geological wonders which will make one stop & wonder if you’re even in Kansas anymore!

Day 1 Monday, May 14:  Our group will depart OKC and head north to the Sunflower State.  Lunch (included) today will be at The Carriage House in Yoder, a small Amish settlement just south of Hutchinson.  The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center turns 50 this year.  A trip to Hutchinson is not complete without visiting this Kansas institution.  “At the cosmosphere, visitors hear the non-biased, definitive story of the Space Race.  With the largest collection of Russian space artifacts outside of Moscow and a huge U.S. space artifact collection, the Hall of Space Museum is known by space enthusiasts worldwide.”   Overnight Hutchinson. (L)

Day 2 Tuesday, May 15: After breakfast at our hotel, our first tour of the day is at The Kansas Underground Salt Museum, one of the 8th Wonders of Kansas.  Here our group will travel 650 feet down where the salt is still being mined. With more than 67 miles of mined out caverns the Hutchinson salt mine produces more than 500,000 tons of salt each year and is the only attraction of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. Our trip in the Sunflower State continues as we head northward.  Following lunch (on own), our first afternoon venue will be in Victoria to tour the Cathedral on the Plains. The Romanesque design church contains German windows & works of art, Austrian hand carved Stations of the Cross, and Italian marble altar. This building has been selected as another one of Kansas’ 8 Wonders.   Our next destination is the Sternburg Museum in Hays. As we tour the fossil gallery, we will discover first hand the abundance of fossils that makes Kansas famous. Hays was founded by Volga Germans in 1876.  Tonight our group will experience our very own German fest. Dinner will be prepared by the German cooks in the area. Their cooking is a combination of German/Russian Old World European recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. After dinner we will be entertained by the sounds of the most authentic Volga German Polka music and stories of how Hays was settled by the Volga Germans.  Want to learn how to polka dance? You just might get your chance!  Overnight Hays. (B,D)

Day 3 Wednesday, May 16:  Following breakfast at our hotel, we will be greeted by a step-on guide who will give us a rousing history lesson of Hays. In the early days, Hays was a wild and lawless town, filled with saloons and dance halls.  Hays was home to many frontier “wild west” characters including Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill Cody, and “Wild Bill” Hickok.  George Custer was encamped near Fort Hays for a time. His wife Elizabeth summed up her impression of Hays by saying, “there was enough desperate history in that little town in one summer to make a whole library of dime novels.”  Hays developed the reputation as one of the most violent town on the Kansas Frontier. The Blue Sky Miniature Horse Farm is our next destination where we can get up close and personal to these adorable small horses. You might even get to ride in style in one of their carriages.  Lunch today (on own) will be at the Gella’s Diner L B Brewing Company.  Liquid Bread Brewing Company pays homage to the bygone days of the settlers where beer and bread sometimes played interchangeable roles.  If the brewmaster is available, group will receive a tour of the brewing company. Touring Fort Hays is next on the agenda. Fort Hays was an important U.S. Army post that was active from 1865 until 1889.  Then onward to Dodge City, our last Kansas destination.  Dodge City was the wildest of the early frontier towns, but law and order was soon established with the help of men such as Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, and Bill Tilghman. Our last evening together will be spent at the Long Branch Saloon for a scrumptious Kansas BBQ and floor show. (B,D)

Day 4 Thursday, May 17:  Breakfast will be at the hotel. Before we say goodbye to Kansas, we will go back to Front Street and tour Boot Hill Museum.  (B)

$472 double occ.  $651 single      4 Days/3 Nights   (6) Meals

Reservations and additional information call 913-667-5215 or toll free 888-689-1488