My very own fireworks stand.
We discovered a fun bridge over the Saline River
Damar was decorated to make the French feel at home.
Jen resisted the tempation to ring the bell at Pfeifer, but maybe they want us to ring it. Look at it. We should have rung the bell. (we did accidentally in Damar)
Jen with the lion in front of Holy Cross.
Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church was also nominated as an archetectural wonder. Perhaps a bird's eye view would capture the parabala shape of the structure. It's defineitely hip 1960's design. If you're a traditionalist, this may not suit your tastes, but it is an amazing structure.
Once inside the structure I ceased to be overwhelmed by sixtiesness of the building. I thought it was beautiful.
The light that comes in from the stain glass must spill into the room at all hours of the day because there doesn't seem to be a time of daylight when some sunbeam wouldn't be reaching through those windows. It was lovely.
The stained glass is done in squares and rectangles-- symbolically the four gospels?
Triangles-- a symbol for the trinity?
Another post-voting 8 architectural wonders of Kansas nominee, Wichita's John Mack Bridge.
It is a lovely bridge. As a bridge it was way too easy to find. We had an address, we drove there. Actually, I think that my navigator knew exactly where it was located without the address.
The voting for the 8 architectural wonders of Kansas is over, but I still have some places that I haven't posted. One of the nominees was the Carthalite concrete work in Wichita. It's interesting and pretty though from the pictures it looks like the bridge is the coolest of the offerings. It is being repaired at this time and is inaccessible. Above (and below) is the Dockum drugstore building.
Allen's Market Building
Griffin Architectural Office Building.
I didn't go and see all of the buildings and there are several more. It is amazing work. Truth be told however, I prefer exploring in the middle of nowhere. I had a good time especially using a local navigator.
The description tries to capture it's wonder, but I'm pretty sure you need to see this place to really understand.
The best thing about not knowing what to expect is the delight of discovering something truly wonderful.
A stall this nice makes you kind of wish you were a horse.
A quiet spot for watching the wind blow.
The barn is a little self-guided tour. You let yourself in, sign the guest book, look around, buy a memento and leave your money in the metal pot.
Exploring again. This weekend it was to Samson of the Cimarron in Seward County. (I recommend clicking on the link. It has some great historical photos and an explanation of what led to its construction.)
The bridge is just off of Highway 54. If you turn off at the rest area west of Kismet and drive north you'll find the bridge. However, I would strongly urge you to approach from the north. You take the paved road off of 160 which is west of Kismet by a mile or two. I'm not sure the name of the road, but since you can see Kismet in the distance, just turn on the paved that appears to be west of the town. The benefit of that road is that you'll get this surprising view of the bridge that is hidden until you come over a rise. It's a shock to come upon this monster. The picture is taken just over the rise.
This is the bridge over the Cimarron going on Highway 54. I'm on the north side of the bridge. Yes, there were ducks.
From the rest area there are stairs that lead to the river. I was pleasantly surprised by this. I sort of envisioned myself having to climb over no-trespassing signs to get to the bridge. There was evidence that someone was using the land for grazing, but I never climbed over a single fence on my walk to the bridge.
Me and Samson. 
There's a train on the bridge in this photo. Not much to see, but you should have heard it. I think that I took pictures to keep myself from running away. I nearly started crying because it was so loud and there was a train directly over my head.
"Barn Ceiling"
