My tour of some of Kansas' more unusual attractions began in Lucas, home of the Garden of Eden. (No, this is not the famous biblical garden).  Samuel Dinsmoor, described as an 'artist and social commentator,' built the place as a tourist attraction between 1907 and 1928. He originally tried to woo people in by offering exotic animals like bobcats, prairie dogs, turtles, or whatever he caught in his field. Then he tried art.
There over 200 cement statues depicting the story of Adam & Eve and other religious stories.  A few of the sculptures cover the ruin of early America, and a giant sculpture depicts Dinsmoor’s feelings about lawyers, doctors and unions.  P.T. Barnum would be jealous of this guy.

My favorite piece of art is an all-seeing-eye-of-God. Dinsmoor had a hose that ran from the eye to the basement.  From there, using a booming voice, he would play God and shout at people walking by his house. I love it! Dinsmoor also built a tomb for his wife and himself. She died first, but the city would not let him bury her in the tomb, so he had her buried in the cemetery. A few days later he dug her up and entombed her in cement at the house so the city could not pull her out.

Over the years Dinsmoor gave tours of the house. Apparently the highlight of the tour was when the Dinsmoor would pose for pictures in a glass coffin. He is now buried in it and you can see him through a glass window. I don't want to ruin the surprise, but a little girl on the tour described the view as, "Ewwwww." Ewwww indeed.  A few years ago some employees were moving the casket and dropped it, leaving a crack in the glass.  The outside air is causing the body to decompose.

The Garden of Eden is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was voted one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Art. 

On my way to Lucas I passed near Wilson State Park.  I'm not an outdoor type of guy.  I am a redhead with a very light complexion.  I don’t sunburn as much as I just burst into flames.  So, I try to avoid most outdoor activities, though I did enjoy the drive around Wilson Lake.  The road passes over the hills so the lake is below you and it gives you a feel for its 9,000-acre size.

Cawker City was the next stop. Its claim to fame is that it's home to the largest ball of twine in the world (or as Wikipedia clarifies, 'the largest sisal twine ball built by a community'.) You can walk right up to it, touch it, photograph it, and imagine the glory, the splendor, and the enormity of one man's colossal waste of time.  In 1953, a farmer named Frank Stoeber started balling the twine, just using it as a tidy way to keep twine.  By 1957, the ball was 8 feet tall.  If you take some twine you can add to the ball too. After taking in the ball; walk across the street to the antique store and pick up a genuine miniature ball of twine, they have twine ball salt & pepper shakers, spoons, and yes, shot glasses!  All of them hand made by the owner of the shop.  Many of the shops are vacant in the downtown area, but murals have been painted over the empty spots to give a little color to the area.
 
Next was Rock City near Minneapolis, Kansas, a National Natural Landmark according to its own highway billboard (not to be confused with the attraction on the Georgia/Tennessee border). It is a little off the main road, but worth a visit. The rocks are more like big boulders, they are called concretions, created by erosion several million years ago.  Each rock is named for what it looks like, anything from a chair to an ashtray. One had two names, lips or donut, so I guess it depends if you are a Simpsons fan or Rocky Horror fan.  There are over 200 boulders in an area about the size of a football field.  Stop in at the gift shop and pick up some goodies. One of the employees hand paints many of the souvenirs.  I had her autograph a hand-painted shot glass.  
 
My day in Kansas came to an end, the rolling hills and white puffy clouds became a memory, a fond memory of a quirky Kansas, except for the dead guy. That part was just plain cool.  

Click on the map to see Kevin's route in TripTik Travel Planner