Friday is Kansas Day, and the National Parks Foundation suggests a great way to celebrate the Sunflower State’s 155th birthday is by visiting one of our National Parks. They are a reminder of why we call this area of the country the heartland.
Kansas has the Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve in the Flint Hills, the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, the Nicodemus National Historic Site and the Fort Larned National Historic Site.

One might also visit a Kansas Historic Site or a museum, or celebrate the day by brushing up on a bit of Kansas history.
Historian Carl L. Becker wrote, “The Kansas spirit is the American spirit double distilled. It is a new grafted product of American individualism, American idealism, American intolerance. Kansas is America in microcosm.”
William Allen White wrote, “Kansas is all right. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Kansas,” but the famous editorial that contains those words suggests otherwise as a whole. The state was losing population and losing money, which he blamed on the trend of electing Populist leaders.

The Kansas Department of  Parks and Tourism has a sunnier view, unclouded by political differences. It has an online “Bucket List” of Kansas sites and events everyone should experience (www.travelks.com/ksbucketlistinfo/). Some that are nearby: Cathedral of the Plains, Victoria; Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira; and the Garden of Eden and Grassroots Arts Center in Lucas. The list includes activities such as camping at a state park, cruising the back roads, stargazing, deer hunting and fishing. Our own list might include more special events, such as the McLouth Threshing Bee and the Biblesta Parade in Humboldt. It’s no more than a few hours drive to anything on the list.