It is big. Very small little town, decided it was worth driving an hour out of my way. Once.read more

We have always heard about people traveling to see the quirky things that are out there. So while…read morein Kansas we decided we wanted to visit the city of Cawker to see the Worlds Largest Ball of Twine. We signed the registry and we were amazed how many people from different countries and throughout the US had visited this iconic work of love. The ball is impressive but so is the story behind it. There is an old time gas station across the street. We highly recommend a visit, if not to see the ball of twine, then to learn its story.

One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to visit different museums but I am especially…read morefond of presidential libraries and museums. Since childhood I have been fascinated with the presidency. As of today, there are 13 presidential libraries in the country with number 14 slated to open very soon. It is a goal of mine to see all of them. What makes it even more fun is that they sell a passport in the giftshop which each library and museum will stamp on your visit. Once you get all the stamps, you will get a commemorative gift. The staff here was amazing. Everyone I encountered loved their job and was ready to give information about the grounds as well as about the president. On a recent trip to Kansas City, I decided to hit all the libraries and museums around the area. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum was my first stop and library number four for me. It is located in the small town of Abilene, Kansas which is President Eisenhower's hometown and his actual childhood home is on the property. The town itself gets alot of praise for being one of the best small towns to visit. The museum and library recently got awarded as the #1 presidential attraction. At first glance, one may think the visitor center is the museum. In reality, everything sits on 22 acres of beautifully landscaped land. There are multiple buildings to visit to get the full experience. The first building you walk in is the gift shop and also where you can purchase tickets in person. This is also where you watch an introductory film on President Eisenhower. I'd be lying if I said I remember what I learned growing up, so the film helped jog my memory and prepare for the museum. You can walk the grounds in any manner you find fit. I chose to start with the chapel. This is where President Eisenhower, their son Doud, and Mamie Eisenhower are buried. Next, I made my way to the library. Some libraries have many items from the president's time in office. This library was small, but had some pretty cool items. Next, I went to the museum. This gave a glimpse of his life from childhood, West Point, military service, presidency, and life after his presidency. This museum was actually more interactive than some of the more current presidential museums I have been too. They also have films throughout which also gives you a reprieve from walking. Currently, all the libraries are celebrating America's 250th birthday and each have special exhibits. This one had actual documents from the vaults of American history. Very cool. Before making my way to the gift shop to get my stamp and mandatory magnet souvenir, the last stop was President Eisenhower's actual childhood home on the property. They do tours, but it was closed on the day I went. It's a small, modest home built in 1898. That to me is amazing that they preserved this. I think my expectations were a little low coming in because it was a museum for an older president. I was wrong in assuming that because this was probably one of the better museums I have been to. I learned alot and spent way more time than I allotted myself because there was so much to see. I highly recommend coming here if you appreciate history like me.

If you are looking for a day-long adventure in the middle of nowhere in Kansas, this is your place!…read more There's plenty of free parking by the visitor center. Start in the visitor center / gift shop to buy tickets. Highly recommend the combo ticket (house tour & library) to save some money. The staff was super helpful in orienting us and making recommendations for how to spend the day. Try to arrive at 15 or 45 minutes after the hour because that's when the 24 minute video begins playing in the visitor center. The video was mostly just hype for Eisenhower and not super educational, but it's a good way to start the experience. The grounds includes the boyhood home, library, museum, place of meditation, and visitor center with gift shop. It's so convenient to have all of this history in one place! Make sure to take a picture with the Eisenhower statue in the middle of the lawn! When you buy your tickets, you are assigned a tour time. I recommend getting there earlier in the day because the tour times will fill up. The boyhood home is very small. You can only enter a few of the rooms, but you can look into all the rooms on the first floor. You cannot go upstairs. So the tour only takes about 20 mins, depending on questions. The tour guide told some good stories about Eisenhower's parents. Eisenhower, his wife Mamie, and one of their sons are buried in the place of meditation. There is only one small exhibit upstairs in the library. Currently it's about women voting for Ike. Don't budget much time for the library because it's quick to breeze through. The museum on the other hand is extensive, so budget several hours! There's a lot to look at and read. You can come and go if you need to take a break for a home tour or lunch. They currently also have a special exhibit on the Cold War. You could spend a whole day in there! There are picnic tables for resting and eating throughout the day. The gift shop has lots of gift options for browsing. Overall, this is a great historical place to spend the day! You will leave exhausted and full of information. Highly recommend checking out the World's Largest Belt Buckle on your way out of town!

If you know me you know I'm a sucker for a small town museum, and the Dickinson County Heritage…read moreCenter does not disappoint. We came here because of the vintage carousel that they still operate, and ended up exploring the whole building and outside structures which really made it worth the small entrance fee to see. Let's start with the main building. When you walk in, it's an old small town museum, and it feels like it. I do think this place could benefit from some TLC in terms of updating it and breathing in some new life, but I will also say from working in the museum industry, that funding can be hard, and I felt like they did a really great job of keeping it running, clean, and accessible with what I can imagine are some limited resources. Once you pay, you can meander through the galleries which cover the history of Dickinson County, and feature some really interesting artifacts. Our favorite part of the main exhibits was the section on the introduction of the telephone and how it evolved over the years. For our four year old this was especially cool because they have some switch boards that are interactive, and you can even place a call to another phone in the museum. For a kid that has never seen a rotary phone before it was pretty magical, and honestly even for us adults who remember those days, it was cool to see how it worked and we spent a good amount of time in that area. Once you've had your fill of the inside museum you can venture outdoors and experience the old school carousel, and some historical buildings. The carousel was really cool. First of all it's the oldest known carousel to still be operational in existence. I mean, this may be a fact hard to track down and verify, but that's pretty impressive. Being built in 1901, it's crazy to be able to ride something so old and get a full experience that someone else would have had over 100 years ago. The old buildings were also pretty neat to explore and we enjoyed walking around and seeing what each one had to offer. Overall, this is a pretty cool stop for anyone who enjoys history.

Abilene is one of those old west towns. But this place is a joke. There's a couple streets of…read morebuildings. However outside the train, there is NOTHING open!! In fact they only open on weekends for about four hours. So here I am wanting to learn more about the town and the whole town is shut down. This was a complete waste of time.

Well, I wanted to check out the old Abilene museum, bit it appears it is closed, and we leave…read moreSaturday morning, so they can go whistle!

If you're in the area, this museum is well-worth a visit. Very extensive history of the Salina…read morearea. I learned a lot.

Great museum right off the main downtown strip. It's free (request donations) which is always a…read moreplus. Lots of historical information with a replica of a cabin from the settlement days. I enjoyed the industrial section related to flour mills. There are old stone grinding wheels and sacks from the different manufacturers. The gift shop is full of made in Kansas items, soap, honey, candles, marbles (news to me that marbles are made in Kansas) BBQ sauce and lots of books about Kansas. If you find yourself in Salina, Kansas definitely check out this museum.

The Abilene and Snoky Valley Railroad is a tourist attraction in Abilene, Kansas. It is located…read morenext door to the Eisenhower homestead, library and museum. The train runs on tracks built in 1886 by the Rock Island Railroad. The railroad runs a variety of tours and helps show how the railroads helped Kansas to grow and expand. The steam engine is a piece of living history.

My husband and I booked this for our anniversary. Overall it was a disappointment. First the…read moredinner... we did the bbq night. Honestly I have bought better frozen bbq from Sam's Club. The pulled chicken was flavorless. The pulled pork and brisket were a little better but equally unremarkable, and we were offered no bbq sauce, which would have helped the taste. And the baked beans tasted like they came from a can. I don't eat coleslaw but my husband was unimpressed. The corn bread tasted more like cake, which is probably good because they served bread pudding, which I don't care for. As for the ride... it was ok... but all they did was take us through farm fields to Enterprise, which had little to offer. Most rides like this would at least offer some tourist information on the area over an intercom but we got none of that. The trip was overpriced and unremarkable. I would not recommend it.