More specifically, I’m requesting suggestions concerning one particular item on my list. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I am a Kansan by birth, and have lived in this state all my life, but there are a number of counties in Kansas that I have never been to at all, or have only passed through on my way elsewhere. One thing I hope to do while I’m still above ground is to visit all 105 counties in the state of Kansas, to spend at least some money in each county (whether for lodging, a meal, gasoline, or even just a cup of coffee or a soft drink), to take a photograph of the county’s courthouse, and to visit and photograph at least one other site of some significance in the county. That significance might be scenic, historical, personal, or something else, but this is the portion of the bucket list item that I would be happy to receive suggestions about.
Before continuing, I feel the need to digress briefly. I now live in Topeka, and a few years ago, the local newspaper, the Topeka Capital-Journal, published a story about a local couple who had done something similar to what I have described above. As I recall, however, that couple had approached the matter differently, primarily limiting their endeavor to visiting each county’s courthouse and photographing it; they had completed the task in a fairly short time because they had not made it a point to visit other sites in each county. For some reason, I feel the need to mention that I had actually had the idea for my project before the article I am referring to here was published; I have an admittedly absurd need to identify my idea as being my own, rather than being copied from that of the couple in question. This almost certainly matters to no one but me, so having mentioned it, I will return to my request for assistance. For some counties, I have a fairly clear idea about what site in the county, if I must limit myself to one, should be the one site I choose to visit, but for others, I would be happy to receive suggestions, particularly from people who live or have lived in or near that county: what is the one place in your county you would suggest that a visitor should not miss.
Kansas has 105 counties, so I won’t list all them here, but I will list a few, and the sites I would consider, at least for now, to be the must-visit locations:
|
County |
Site |
|
Barton |
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Chase |
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Cherokee |
|
|
Ellis |
|
|
Graham |
|
|
Mitchell |
|
|
Reno |
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Russell |
|
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Saline |
|
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Shawnee |
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Smith |
|
|
Wallace |
Additionally, in order not to be overly restrictive, I would also be happy to receive suggestions about “must see” places in other states, particularly from people who live or have lived in those states, again with the same basic idea: if you knew that someone would be visiting your state, and you were going to suggest one place that the visitor really should make it a point to visit, what one place would you suggest? In this regard, I will only add that there’s a place in Michigan that I really hope to be able to get to, because people have been suggesting for decades that I should visit it, or even take up residence there.