The Decomposing Mr. Dinsmore

So I thought I'd tell you about some places we went last week. Being a homeschool mom, I'm always on the lookout for a field trip, so when two of my kids needed to go to Phillipsburg (Kansas of course) to the DMV there (we don't have one in our town so we have to travel an hour), I got out my handy-dandy Kansas tourism guide to see what was in the area. After all, I've only lived here in this town for 15 years so I cannot possibly be expected to know what all there is... I should mention that I LOVE tourism guides! Everywhere I go I pick up guides, pamphlets, you name it! You just never know when you are going to find something totally cool to see. Or just plain strange.

Anyway, did you know that Phillipsburg has a museum called Fort Bissell? I've been to this town many times, but apparently have never made it to the west side or I would have seen this museum. It's a stockade with several buildings in it (they have been moved from other places) like 2 log cabins, an old schoolhouse, a train depot and...I don't remember what else. It was probably a very interesting place, but it was 102 degrees that day and the buildings are NOT air conditioned. So we will have to go back sometime when we won't melt looking at the displays.

After leaving Phillipsburgs we headed toward Smith Center because 9 miles from there is...are you ready?...the ACTUAL cabin where Home, Home on the Range was written. Still in its original location on the banks of Beaver Creek. Of course its original location is now someone's backyard, but they've done a good job of preserving it. One of the things inside the cabin is a chair with a sign that reads 'Oldest Chair in Kansas'. I'm not sure if that can be proved or not, so I'll just trust them on that one. I was trying to get my kids to use their imagination and picture Dr. Brewster Higley sitting on his porch looking out at the deer and the antelope playing, but they are boring teenagers who have lost their imaginations and just had to point out to me that there is no porch. Sigh. We weren't there very long.

Then later in the week we had a missionary family come for the weekend. Did I mention my husband is a pastor in a small town? Thus the missionary family. Anyway, Missionary Wife also loves quirky places so of course we had to take them to see THE Big Ball of Twine in Cawker City. Now, in case you are wondering why that is exciting...it is REALLY big. Not just big but BIG! Plus the town's people have made replicas of famous paintings (not all that good but that's beside the point) and put balls of twine in every single one. You've never seen the Mona Lisa portrayed this way before. Or the Statue of Liberty holding a ball of twine instead of a torch. Or... So you follow a ball of twine (it's painted on the sidewalk) up and down Main Street and look at all the pictures. You can even buy Ball of Twine salt and pepper shakers at the little Ball of Twine Souvenir Shop. Be sure and stay at the Ball of Twine Inn. There is no Ball of Twine Restaurant though, so bring a sandwich or something. Did I mention the Twine-a-thon in August? Quirkiness rating = pretty high

Then it was on to The Garden of Eden in Lucas. If you've never visited this place, words cannot even begin to describe it. Well, maybe several words. Old man with a strange passion for making bizarre statues out of cement, starting, of course, with Adam and Eve. Thus the name. Not only do you get to tour Mr. Dinsmore's house and garden (the statues are all outside), but you get to see his decomposing body in a mausoleum he built for himself. Last time we were there, they told us the air-tight box had sprung a leak which was why he was decomposing...and apparently once it started it really happened quickly! Definitely high on the list of Strange Things to See in Kansas! I'm sure our company never thought Kansas would be this exciting!