Topeka, KS

Deer Creek Valley RV Campground

(8-10 Aug)

Our stay in Topeka was short, but action packed!  Originally only planned as an opportunity to visit another state capital, it turned out to be much more!  As a result of our blog, friends and camping buddies, Gary and Randi Fox found us and let us know they were visiting family in Manhattan, KS while we were in Topeka.  Them being from Florida and us from Tennessee, it was only natural that we meet in Kansas!  Be that as it may, we did have a great dinner at “Tallgrass Brewing Company” and met their daughter-in-law and granddaughter!  The beer and food were good, and the company was great!  

In addition to Tallgrass, we managed to squeeze in a couple of other recommendations from our friend and Topeka native, Curt.  We started with the “Blind Tiger Brewery and Restaurant.”  The name has a great link to the prohibition days and their appetizer menu has at least one jewel – the Idaho Nachos.  When you think of Idaho Nachos think of all the nacho goodness mixed with cubed potato chunks instead of chips.  Delicious!  Of course, the beer was good, and the pairing was perfect!  We moved on to the “Happy Basset Brewing Company” where we continued to sample the plentiful offerings.  Another great little place, I favored the Yellow Brick Blond and Tina liked the Gracie Strawberry Blonde. 

Speaking of Yellow Brick . . .Road, did you know there was an “Oz Museum?”  Well, there is in Wamego, KS and it was interesting to visit if you have any memories of the movie classic, “The Wizard of Oz!”  This museum is dedicated to the making and history of the movie and contains thousands of pieces of memorabilia, costumes, clips, etc. from the movie.  It is relatively quick, self-guided tour, but fun and informative if you enjoyed the movie!  

Of course, where there is an Oz Museum, there must be an “Oz Winery”, right?  There is in Wamego and it was another hidden gem!  While they import the grapes, they do produce their own wine locally.  All the names/labels are related to the Wizard of Oz and the wines were very good – if you are into that sort of thing!  We both sampled several offerings and ended leaving with both a bottle of red (Melted Merlot – think demise of the Wicked Witch) and a white – a Chardonnay – cleverly named ‘Set Off Upon the Journey’ with a label showing Dorothy starting down the Yellow Brick Road.  Great stop and a great cheese board and cracker snack!  

We found a couple of other breweries, one in Manhattan, appropriately named the “Manhattan Brewing Company” which served as a stop while waiting for our dinner reservations.  Earlier in the day we stopped at the “Iron Rail Brewing Company” for lunch.  This is at the top of my list for breweries in Topeka.  Not only did they have good beer, but their menu was outstanding!  Focused primarily on the sale of locally grown food, we ordered a pulled pork and a brisket sandwich.  Both were delicious and the beer pairing was unbeatable!  The only regret to our stop in Topeka was that it was so short, we were not able to make a repeat visit to Iron Rail!  

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, we stopped in Topeka to see the Capitol.  That we did as we walked off our lunch from Iron Rail – only a couple of blocks away.  We made it to the Capitol and did a self-guided tour around the Rotunda and in the pseudo-museum on the ground floor.  The lower halls were filled with pictures and descriptions of the history of the state, and more specifically the building of the Capitol itself.  It was a great photographic history and I thought very interesting.  The Rotunda was well done and covered with full wall murals and other artwork from local and other well-known artists.  It was truly remarkable and beautifully done!  And I did stop by to see the Governor, but she was busy at the moment, missing her opportunity to meet the great Mojo!  

We stayed at the “Deer Creek Valley RV Park” in Topeka and were quite happy with the campground.  An immaculately maintained all concrete camp with nice sized sites.  Would stay here again if the opportunity arises!