Day Ten: This Wasn't Dorothy's Kansas

Day Ten: This Wasn't Dorothy's Kansas

Rain. Wind. Kansas.

Toto, I think we’re going to have a problem.

The weather forecast was ominous as we started the ride from Oklahoma to Kansas, so much so that we left in rain gear.  The rain was nothing more than a sprinkle at first, but the skies were growing darker and we raced across the state as quickly as possible, trying to keep ahead of the scowling clouds that seemed determined to drench us.

I fully expected to see Miss Gulch furiously pedaling her bicycle across the sky above us.

The drenching rains never came, but we seemed to be perpetually on the periphery of a storm as we made our way through Oklahoma and into Kansas.

By the time we got to Fort Smith, we felt comfortable enough to swap the rain gear for riding jackets. We took a brief ride through downtown Fort Smith and made our way around the historic old fort (literally…. We never got off the bike) and continued on to Mine Creek Battlefield near Pleasanton, Kansas.

On October 25, 1864, one of the largest and most dramatic cavalry charges of the war took place on the banks of Mine Creek, Kansas. The Union cavalry was outnumbered almost 3 to 1, but through determination and hand-to-hand combat, beat General Sterling Price’s Confederates back into Missouri. The Confederates were retreating from the Battle of Westport when pursuing Union forces under the command of Generals Alfred Pleasanton, Samuel Curtis and James Blunt overtook them. The Confederate rear guard fought desperately, but eventually retreated in confusion toward the swollen, muddy and slippery slopes of Mine Creek.

We arrived at the Visitor’s Center, and to our surprise, found it was closed. But there was the battlefield and the interpretative signs spread out before us. We took our own walking tour, following the cut paths around the field and around Mine Creek. Like that day in October, nearly 150 years ago, the banks were muddy from heavy rains the night before.  The fields were in nearly the same condition as they were during the conflict. Imagine yourself a Confederate soldier, tired and battle weary, witnessing the thundering of thousands of horses, cannonade and hand guns raging across a huge expanse of open land towards you. The Confederates trampled their own men as they fled, and the creek soon filled with dead men and horses. When it was over, the Union cavalry had killed or captured nearly 1,000 Confederate soldiers, including General Marmaduke and Brigader General Cabell, and commandeered most of their artillery.

After our self-tour, we continued on to our next stop, Rawhide Harley Davidson in Olathe. It was the largest dealer I’d ever seen. Two floors, 400 bikes, people everywhere. It was amazing. Requisite tee shirts purchased, we headed on to the hotel.

We dodged the weather bullet, visited a battlefield, added to our Harley tee-shirt collection, and now it was time for dinner. In the hotel, we picked up a Kansas City restaurant guide featuring The Majestic Restaurant on its cover. Dry aged steaks. Jazz nightly. Located in Kansas City’s historic downtown saloon. This was the place for us!

The Majestic is housed in the historic 1911 Fitzpatrick building in downtown Kansas City (Missouri, not Kansas). It has all the charm of its turn of the century design, including a high pressed-tin ceiling, a long, mirrored wooden bar and blue and white porcelain tiled floors. The building has been home to a saloon, a bordello and during Prohibition, its third floor served as a private club and basement as a Speakeasy run by the political machine of Kansas City crime czar, “Boss Tom” Pendergast.

The food was superb. Jason had a Kansas City strip steak and I opted for the double cut pork chop stuffed with apples. Our waiter, Scott, was a true professional and made us feel like regulars, not vacationers who happened to trip over this gem of a restaurant.  And with live jazz on the 1910 piano, this was the best overall experience we’ve had on this road trip.

And as for Boss Tom, well, he died in prison while serving time for tax evasion, but I did learn that the “spirit” of the Speakeasy lives on. The place is said to be haunted.