I always wanted to write that.
We started out with a visit to Mark Twain’s house, which was closed because it was 8:15 a.m. We had breakfast at the VFW in Monroe, Missouri, the only breakfast place in town on a Sunday morning. We learned from a guy at our table that President Obama had stopped by Peggy Sue’s cafe for a hamburger when he visited a factory in the area, and Peggy Sue still has his picture on her wall.
We drove through St. Joseph, Missouri, the starting place for the Pony Express. Those were the days when the government was willing to subsidize mail delivery.
If you look at a map of Kansas, we drove across (well, almost across) the state on Route 36. We saw two commemorations of 9/11, one in Marysville with bagpipes and a huge event at the courthouse square in Phillipsburg.
I really like Kansas, but all along Route 36 are billboards that say things like “Choose life” and “Abortion kills a beating heart.” Thomas Frank discussed this in a book entitled “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” He pointed out that cynical politicians divert poor people from their own interests by emphasizing social issues that will not be changed anyway.
Note: I hardly ever reply to comments, but I like to get them, I always read them, and I welcome more. I want to thank all of you who do comment.
I was only in Kansas one time. All that I remember from looking out the Bus was Wheat fields as far I could see. It was quite flat country side.
ReplyDeleteThat was in 1956 on my way to Texas while in the US Air Force.