Last week was spring break and we kicked off our first weekend of break with a two day trip to Hutchinson, KS. This was our first time to this sweet town and it was packed with all the fun things this city has to offer! Hutchinson is located just three plus hours Southwest of Kansas City, the perfect amount of road trip time for a little family getaway. And I can't wait to share the things we did, and the places where we dined, while there. Day One was full!
The drive into Hutchinson was scenic and quick. We arrived just after noon, leaving a little before 9:00, and getting into town way before we anticipated. We did a little drive through town on our way to lunch and discovered that Hutchinson is home to the Kansas State Fair! Did you know that? We didn't and McKinley has already made plans for our trip back later this summer. Mark your calendars for September 8-17 to get in on the action. While learning more about the city, we discovered they have a thriving theater scene, displays of beautifully painted murals, a sweet sculpture walk through downtown, and local eateries that left us full! And just like any growing city, they are working to expand their footprint with hopes of enhancing their downtown landscape. What an exciting time to live in Hutchinson!
And we were excited to be invited to visit! Did I mention we were hungry when we arrived? Good thing too. We had lunch at Bogey's a local favorite for over thirty years who has been voted Best of Hutch for their shakes. There are 101 flavors to chose from! They have giant juicy burgers, larger orders of curly fries (I got the onion rings which were so good), and McKinley got a hotdog that he stated was in the top five of hotdogs! I loved the Pop Art images of Humphrey Bogart on the walls! Super simple graphics that totally caught my eye.
After lunch, we were off to Strataca where we would find ourselves 650 below ground! Terrifying! In all honesty, McKinley and I were truly scared. Six hundred and fifty feet below ground is a LONG way down! And it only takes 90 seconds! EEK! But let's back up. What is Strataca? Strataca is an underground salt museum with salt deposits that were formed more than 275 million years ago!
This portion of the mine, with work that still takes place a mile and a half away from this now completed portion, houses machinery and other artifacts that were used in various stages of mining throughout the years. What's interesting, is that the processes used for mining the salt are still very similar to those used originally. It's the machinery that has advanced over the course of mining. And the salt that they mine isn't your average table salt, it's the salt used on roads during winter. The whole process is truly fascinating!
In addition to housing equipment that was used, there are tractors, trucks, cars, dynamite that was used to explode the salt, trash that has been left down in the mine because as they saying goes "What goes in the mine, stays in the mine" and they weren't kidding! There are two different tours, in addition to the self-guided. The first is a fifteen minute train ride that guides you around places in the mine that are accessible for walking. Here you can catch glimpses of artifacts that are truly one-of-a-kind, including costumes from some of Hollywood’s popular blockbuster movies. That's because the mines humidity is 40%! Perfect for preserving artifacts and keeping my curls from frizzing! However, we didn't get to see the super cool Hollywood costumes because our train derailed! McKinley was beyond freaked out with this little kink in our tour. And, as we were told on the trip back up to higher ground, there is a newspaper dating back to the day that Lincoln was shot! I would have LOVED to see that. The Ford's Theater is my favorite tour in DC. Oh well, I guess we can see that later this summer when we head back for the State Fair....
The second tour to take is the 30 minute Dark Ride. This ride takes you deeper into the mine and you get a bird's eye view of what the miners saw years ago. This tram ride is through a areas of the mine that includes dimly lit areas that explain the importance of air flow and the ways in which early miners created dams that later miners used to expand this technique. It also sheds some light on how scientists tried to house nuclear waste within the mine due to its low humidity and settlement, and the hazards that came with any sort of mining. There is one particular moment within this tour where you get a frightening dark minute within the caverns of the mine. Without light, this space becomes horrifyingly dark. It has been said that miners who lost all light in the mine went crazy. And blind! Did you know there is such a thing as dark blindness? Me neither. But it's true. And it's happened. If a miner went without light for five days they became blind. Going crazy comes from your mind playing tricks on you. It's a mirage of sorts. You think you see light, or figures, or more. And in the brief minute or so we had total darkness, I could feel myself growing a little anxious. I didn't like it!
This is an example of the early miners creating air flow within the mine. They stacked boxes around a blasted hole. These boxes are all original. Salt definitely preserves time. In later years, they used sheeting.
This isn't being used to hold the "ceiling" up. It's being used for settlement.
The sheeting to the right of the boxes shows the newer way of creating air flow.
This ruler indicates that the floor is heaving upward. This shows exactly how high the floor has risen. Below the ruler is a gapping hole.
These are the remnants of the nuclear waste experiment. The experiment didn't go as well as the scientists had hoped. Remember, what goes in the mine, stays in the mine...
While on the dark ride, you get to stop and collect fist size pieces of salt! They advise you to wash the salt off with cool water to rinse away any debris. But when storing the salt, use a piece of glass or thick plastic as its base. Do not use metal as it will rust and it will leave dark marks on wood that cannot be removed.
At the end there is a gift shop. We thought he should get the "Why so salty?" t-shirt. Instead, he decided on an onyx crystal.
The tour has come to an end. We learned so much! This is definitely a family must see when in Hutchinson!
After we left Strataca, we checked into the hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express and it was the perfect accommodation for the weekend. Our stay at the hotel included a pool, complimentary buffet breakfast, king size bed, and a pullout sofa! Win-win for everyone! We got ourselves settled and it was time to head out again. This time for dinner at the Salt City Brewing.
Salt City Brewing is located in downtown and was established in 2015. Their mission is to brew their beers with "superior ingredients and rigorous science". The place was packed on Friday night! The patrons never stopped arriving. And the staff accommodated everyone coming and going. They were super friendly, provided excellent selections in beers, modified a sandwich for McKinley with no issues, and the buzz throughout was electric. I could have been all the hype of the KU game, but I'm sure that it's like this every weekend! I loved the industrial vibe throughout, dark wood accents, and black iron details. And check out the beers that were on tap! I tried the First Responder, an American Lager inspired beer, and the Tangerine Blonde which had hints of Tangerine! Both were so good! And they paired perfectly with my Game Day Nachos! If you love Mexican Corn, you will love these nachos!
And that is a wrap on day one! We were all so tired! So tired in fact that McKinley skipped swimming! Now you know that's tired!! We needed to recharge our batteries because day two was just as full!
Andrea
*This is a sponsored post. However, all thoughts and photographs are my own.
