A Photographic Tour: Kansas

I had the pleasure of traveling to Kansas two years ago, and really enjoyed my trip.  Three Southern California friends and I converged on Lincoln, Kansas in August of 2008, and we met up with three other friends there – including a friend who actually lives in Lincoln.  We were there to attend an art show that many of us had artwork in, and to see some of the local sights.  Lincoln, Kansas may be a small town, but they’ve got a great art center, and an active arts community.

What a great trip!  We visited, laughed endlessly, saw the sights, shopped, tromped through sunflower fields, and ate some yummy food.  Oh, and attended the art show!  It was a wonderful trip for me – one I’ll always look back on with fondness and a big smile.  Thanks to my two friends who live in Kansas and hosted, we had lovely breakfasts – including a printed menu of what we’d be dining on each day.  Many other special touches – like a surprise guest, scrumptious desserts, and handmade souvenir books – added to the “they thought of everything” glow the weekend took on.

We did a fair amount of rambling around the countryside and surrounding areas in a vehicular caravan, and did some sightseeing in Lincoln proper as well.  Here are some of the photos I took – I hope you enjoy them.

Oh, and I found out well after my trip that my beloved maternal grandmother, Neva, was born in Lincoln.  I was flabbergasted!  Of all the places in Kansas, I ended up staying in the town she was born in?!  I may share more on that in a later post, but in the meantime I’ll say that I think the six degrees of separation just shrank to about three degrees…

On our first morning of sightseeing we came across this field of “spent” sunflowers.  

The blooms were dried, but the sunflowers were still beautiful.

And yep, the field was out in the middle of nowhere…

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Our next stop was the town of Hunter, where I photographed a lovely, worn building.

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This window was “compromised”, but was still beautiful to me…

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We continued on to Cawker City, and saw the World’s Largest Ball of Sisal Twine!

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They let folks add twine to the ball, so here I am – tying some on!

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While on our way back to Lincoln, we hit the motherlode – a blooming field of sunflowers!

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We jumped out of the cars and started wading into the field of flowers, armed with our cameras. 

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This experience was heavenly – pure bliss – for an adventuresome photographer and nature lover like me.  And how wonderful to share it with friends!

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The art show was fantastic, and the Lincoln Art Center is a jewel in Lincoln.

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My submission was a series of collages that combined autobiographical sentiments with vintage images and ephemera. You can see five of the nine collages here, in my gallery.

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Our second day of sightseeing started in Lincoln proper.  I found some great bargains at the local thrift store, as well as some other goodies at one of the stores there on the main strip.

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Another town we visited was Minneapolis, Kansas.

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I found this gorgeous, rusted car in between a few buildings when I was roaming around and taking photos.

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Proof that the post of a simple street sign can be beautiful…

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After lunch and some more shopping in Concordia, we stopped at this INCREDIBLE brick mural.  Look at the surface texture, and the movement of the brick.  It undulates – undulates, for God’s sake!

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A detail shot of the custom mural, that was painstakingly created – brick by brick. AMAZING.

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I only had two days to sightsee in Kansas, and it wasn’t nearly enough. I know there are many things yet to see and do there.  However, I’ll always be thankful for all that I did see and do on this first trip.  Hopefully it won’t be my last.  I hope to visit the state and town that my sweet grandmother was born in again, and soon.

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Warm regards,

Melody

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