Today is July 4, US Independence Day! We celebrated it by first visiting the World's Largest Belt Buckle in the town of Abilene, Kansas. It was unveiled at the end of 2022, with the aim of drawing more tourists to stop and visit. Clearly it worked--we went to check it out! The area was already starting to fill with people, decked out in their blue, white, and red outfits and accessories, as it looked like there was some kind of performance going to start to kick off Independence Day celebrations.
Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum
Because it was a national holiday, we weren't sure if the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum would be open, but it was actually free admission today for the holiday. While we both know of Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th President of the US, we didn't know much about him. While he was born in Texas, his family returned to Abilene when he was very young, so he considers this to be his hometown. It cost us $15 to visit the Museum, but it cost extra to also check out his childhood home onsite, and it's only via a guided tour that was at 1pm.
The Museum is extensive, with recently renovated and extensive exhibits that detail his life, from growing up poor, to becoming a five-star general that served in WWI and WII, Supreme Allied Commander to eventually the President. The Museum starts with a brief documentary in the theatre that gave a solid introduction before seeing everything, from the various presidential campaigning memorabilia with "I Like Ike" on them, to even the Emmy award he received for his use and encouragement of television. He continues to have a positive reputation and legacy and is viewed as one of the best US presidents, for things like his role in the Civil Rights movement (including supporting desegregation and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957), as well as overseeing the end of the Korean War and advocating for a balanced budget.
Within the Museum there's also a special exhibition, called "We The People", by the watercolor artist Mary Whyte, who had traveled the country for 7 years to meet and paint one veteran from each of the 50 states in the US. Her work is incredible! Her portraits capture each veteran's expressions so perfectly. We could feel the full extent of their expressions in each painting, and the depth and detail of their environment--whether it was a veteran sitting among fields in Iowa, or a window washer in action in Michigan. Each painting details which state the person is from, and when they served in the military.
At the Library, a separate building, we expected to see more, but perhaps it's still under renovation, as there was not a book or document in sight--simply another room to watch a short film and an empty meeting area. The final place we checked out was the Place of Meditation, a chapel marking his burial site alongside his wife and their firstborn son.
Lindsborg: Little Sweden
After Abilene, it was driving past more cornfields through the heartland, before we arrived at Lindsborg, known as "Little Sweden", in Kansas. It's known for its Swedish and Scandinavian heritage, with 30% of its residents having Swedish descent. It's a quaint and charming little town, with one main street that has Scandinavian shops, restaurants, and cafes. Dotted along the street are Dala horses (traditional Swedish wooden statues of horses, hand-carved and hand-painted), with various designs and colors.
We went to Hemslojd, a cute gift store filled with Scandinavian trinkets, where Lisette restocked on Icelandic chocolate (Noi Sirius brand ftw!). There's also a workshop at the back where the Dala horses are made and made to order, although since it was a holiday nobody was working on any designs.
Before we left, Michael got some delicious ice cream from Indigo Moo'd, and we checked out Stenhuset (Stone House), the oldest house in Lindsborg, built in 1877, and still standing strong with its sturdy sandstone.
Cornfields and Blue Sky
Then it was back to cornfields, cornfields and cornfields, until we reached the Blue Sky Sculpture for a photo op. There's not much around it either except a small nearby park, and to get to the sculpture we had to cross the road and walk along some pretty overgrown grass. It's a lovely sculpture though, and while there had been a bit of rain from Lindsborg to get here, we did have blue sky around us once we arrived at this spot!
Wichita State University: Murals and the OG Pizza Hut
Despite the rain, it was stinking hot again when we arrived at Wichita State University (WSU), seeing a couple of murals including Joan Miró’s "Personnages Oiseaux" (Bird People) is a vibrant glass-and-marble mosaic that features colorful, whimsical bird-like figures. It's the only glass mosaic in the US by the Spanish artist. Sheila and Lisette walked briefly around the empty campus while Michael stayed in the RV. There was a bit of a breeze, but it did little to let up on the heat, with Michael basically sitting inside like it was his own private sauna, but without the cold pool to jump into afterwards!
WSU is also home to the Original Pizza Hut, which was created by two brothers, who both studied at the university. The first building was moved to the university to highlight their entrepreneurial spirit, and it's now a museum. We wouldn't have recognized that it was a Pizza Hut building though, because it's a simple building that doesn't have the recognizable "hut" roof and red/black logo!
Wichita Highlights
We spent the rest of the day seeing the highlights of Wichita, starting with El Sueno Original (translated from Spanish: The Original Dream), the world's largest mural by a single artist, the Colombian street artist GLeo. Her work is of people of color in different sizes and positions, looking toward the horizon, painted on a stretch of grain elevators. GLeo used more than 650 gallons of acrylic paint to cover 50,000 square feet! We wanted to find a place to stop and take photos, but it's by railroad tracks in an industrial area that had a few dead-end or no access roads.
A couple of murals we were able to stop at, however, included one that says "Immigration is Beautiful" that speaks to the obstacles that undocumented immigrants face, as well as one of the Wichita city flag.
Further along, we stopped at Keeper of the Plains, a 13 meter (44 foot) sculpture of Native American whose hands are reaching up towards the sky, standing at the point where the Big and Little Arkansas rivers join together in downtown Wichita. There's a pretty bridge connecting the two rivers, and we even saw a couple kayaking down it. While we didn't stay for long, each evening there's people can see the Keeper and the lit fire pots that surround it, known as the Ring of Fire.
At Central Riverside Park in Wichita, there's a structured called Stonehenge Jr., which has a number of tall limestones facing inward, inlaid with mosaics. Each stone has its own distinct shape and different celestial-style designs. There were a ton of Canadian geese hanging around there, and the grass was a bit overgrown to get to Stonehenge Jr. in the middle of the park, so we simply hoped we wouldn't inadvertently step on goose poop going there and back! If the grass was mowed and the area cleaned up a bit, Stonehenge Jr. could be an even more peaceful place to sit, meditate, and hang out.
Before leaving Wichita, we drove through the Old Town, full of 19th century warehouses, which seems to be a popular entertainment area, with lots of bars, restaurants, and live music venues. We didn't go out to eat or drink, but there are lots of pretty historical buildings around there, including Union Station.
Oh, Oklahoma!
We left Wichita (and passed more more more cornfields--these fields are even taller than us now)! We were thrilled to see the "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign on the side of the road: state #20 on this trip! We got off to take a few photos to commemorate the milestone, because we could actually stop at this one.
Oklahoma has quite a few casinos, and just over the border we stopped at 7 Clans Casino, so we could have a flat spot to park, and have a bit of respite from the heat by heading into an air-conditioned building! We appreciated having some cool temperatures, but the downside was that it stank inside of cigarette smoke. It would be nice if casinos would phase out smoking!
Route Map
