Prairie town vacation

Saturday's post talked about the Tallgrass Prairie hike, this one talks about the rest of that trip.

Several weeks ago I asked Jer to hold a weekend on his calendar. I wanted to surprise him with a mini-vacation and we were both desperately in need of a break from the usual schedule.

My idea was to be away for only one night and to take in some local places we had never explored. We started in Council Grove with a great lunch at the historic Hayes House. The strawberry pie was homemade and really delicious!

We continued on to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve National Park and hiked one of the trails. It was a gorgeous spring day. We loved having nothing scheduled except a 7 p.m. dinner reservation.

Our final destination was Cottonwood Falls for dinner and an overnight at the restored Grand Central Hotel. We arrived early enough to do a little shopping in the few stores that were open. The beautiful county courthouse is the focal point of the downtown.

We found a great cooperative art gallery that had some beautiful antiques and art pieces of all kinds of media. We bought a terra cotta piece and a wooden business cards holder with the gorgeous silver details. And, I had to get a cd of the Tallgrass Express. I heard the cd at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, but did not buy it. I kept thinking about the beautiful music and had to have it. Once I returned home, it was the background music for grading papers.

Our room at the hotel was spacious and comfortable. The dinner was very good - prime rib and great sides. We enjoyed the chance to relax and feel far from home, yet to be just a little over one hour away.

We highly recommend this line up of stops. Local friends can make a short weekend trip and some who live a little further away can just make this a destination or a stop on the way to or from Manhattan. You will love the quaintness and slow pace.