Kansas Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff

U.S. State Curiosities

by Pam Grout

Discover over 200 of the wildest, wackiest, most outrageous people, places, and things Kansas has to offer.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Pam Grout is the author of 16 books, three plays, a television series, and two iPhone apps. She writes for People magazine, Cnngo.com, Huffington Post, and her travel blog, www.georgeclooneyslepthere.com. Find out more about Pam and her out-of-the-box take on life on her website: www.pamgrout.com.

Reviews

[Kevin]

A wide ranging collection of "interesting" things all over Kansas, our current home state. Going to be looking several of these up!

[J]

I was born and raised in good old Kansan while the author has hit the nail on the head. The state itself has a bad rep for the most part while so many think there is nothing to do, which in some senses can be absolutely true for the most part, or that we are all stuck in a few colors of shade. But the state that I was born and raised in isn't the same as these "outsider" judgments.

So as for the book it was interesting - covering both the things I had heard about and a few things that I hadn't heard about plus a few that I had wanted to see. Being a child in Kansas I had the pleasure of being able to visit a few but there were definitely some places and cities lacking altogether (could this be since as she said she isn't a Kansan?). A big few major misses would have been The National Agricultural Center & Hall of Fame (come on the state is based on agriculture why isn't this included?), the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum, and/or the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home(our one president you couldn't make any mention of?).

Furthermore within the state itself we pride ourselves on our summer fairs so I would have maybe included a section on those alone. Some of the big ones are Skunk Run (Ottawa), Power of the Past Antique Engine and Tractor Show (Ottawa), the Baldwin Maple Festival (Baldwin), Kansas City Renaissance Festival (Bonner Springs), Neewollah Festival (Independence), the various County Fairs and Dodge City Days (Dodge City) just to name a few. Many Kansans work hard and we know how to play hard too while the love of arts and crafts just doesn't come home until you see what we have for sale.

My other complaint with this book was that it was partially organized. Yep the author did split the sections up for Kansas but after that it was a mess. What I would have suggested is instead of stating the name of the attraction with the name of the town I would have split each chapter so one part would read the town and then all the places you can check out there then onto the next town instead of reading the same name once or twice.

Meanwhile the author did have a great selection of places otherwise even though the majority just focused around individuals. It was thoughtful for her to include addresses and/or phone numbers, especially in the cases of living people since that could eventually end up being awkward. And the history that was offered for her places was good although I frowned upon the usage of buffalo and Indians (a pet peeve).

So altogether this book was mediocre - if you want a good real tour of a small town just find someone from there. They can tell you the best hole-in-the-spots to eat, sights to visit, local history and if you are lucky drag you off to a county fair or festival. And if you carry this book with you can also throw in a few extra things to round out your trip.

[Jess]

I really enjoyed reading this book. Being a native Kansas and have been living here all of my life, I found out some very interesting things that I never knew. Although, I do admit I had skimmed parts of the book because I've traveled a lot of Kansas several of the things in this book I had already knew or had been to. I would definitely recommend this book if you're in Kansas and want something fun and different to do, and even if your from Kansas, you can still learn a lot.

[Chris]

Delightful romp through Kansas. A fun filled and fascinating collection of Kansan eccentricities. I've driven by many of the signs for some of them. Will have to stop on my next trip there. Lots of new ones I'd never heard of too. Will have to pick up her book of the same for Colorado. I'll be driving through there as well.

[Heidi]

I enjoyed this guide to my home state. I now have travel destinations all over the state, should I ever want to road trip with my young kids. I liked that there was contact information for each attraction, as well as the witty write-up on each "curiosity."

[Monica]

This compendium of unique and "Quirky" places dotting the Kansas landscape is a delightful way to learn more about many things particularly Kansas! While some of the entries are dated because it was published nearly two decades ago, all of the stories are still engaging. Gives me many more destinations for day and weekend trips in my adopted state.

[Tom Shrimplin]

A lot of the places mentioned in it I have either heard of or been too, or both, but there were a LOT I had not known about. Road trip!

[Rachel Smalter Hall]

This weekend I got to play tour guide to my good friends Cory and Karen, who were visiting from Iowa and looking for a Kansas adventure. Although they probably would have enjoyed the local Lawrence scene — Sylas & Maddys Ice Cream, the William Burroughs House, Free State Brewery — I thought their visit would be a great excuse to get out and see some of the sights I’ve been wanting to see since moving to Kansas about a year ago. You know, Council Grove, Holy-Field Winery, The Garden of Eden…

Instead? I checked out this crazy book from the Library and we wound up 2 1/2 hours north in Marysville, KS, to see some black squirrels. Sometimes the library will lead you astray.

To be fair, the book makes it sound like a great bet:

Drive in any entrance to this prosperous river town and you’ll see big signs proclaiming it “The Black Squirrel City.” Indeed, coal black squirrels have the run of the town, with a city-proclaimed right-of-way on any street, alley, or railroad track. Anyone who dares hurt one is fined $25. In 1972, city commissioners made black squirrels the official town mascot, granting them immunity from all traffic regulations, freedom to trespass on all county property, and the first pickings of the town’s black walnuts.

No one knows for sure where the huge population of black squirrels came from, but the most persistent legend claims a local hooligan unlocked a cage of the dark rodents from a carnival of Gypsies who camped in City Park for three nights in the 1920s.

But did black squirrels overrun our vehicle when we crossed the city line? Of course not. After (creepily) trolling the streets from our car for half an hour, we finally spotted our first black squirrel. Which ran away. And then we took some afternoon refreshment at the local taqueria. At least the salsa was spicy and the company was great!

[Roxanne]

I am new to Kansas and I think we are a great and diverse state. We have things to do and see if you pay attention. We have great parks and lakes and the red bluffs and the wetlands. We have a bunch of good zoos, and Dodge City, Fort Larned, The Sante Fe Trail and many places to see.