Here we are in Wichita, Kansas, the most unusual, incredible, exotic location we could find. Melissa and I decided we'd meet in the middle for vacation this year, and Wichita was it.
It's been a good few days so far. We started out at the Rolling Hills Zoo near Salina. I’d never heard of it, but I was game. It was one of the best zoos I’ve been to. It’s not quite on the level of the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha (very few zoos are), but it was pretty impressive. It’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere, which means you don’t have all the city noises in the background. You can actually enjoy the animals in nature. Add to that, the zoo has a wildlife museum, which is filled with dioramas representing ecosystems around the world and through time. Talk about impressive! The detail was phenomenal. I’ve seen wildlife scenes before, but nothing like that.
We went to the Museum of World Treasures the next day, and it was off the charts. I went through several of the exhibits backwards (not walking backwards, that would be weird, but from end to beginning instead of beginning to end). Sometimes I think that’s almost better because things can fit together a little better. Anyway, we started with the dinosaurs. I’m telling you, you can’t go wrong starting with dinosaurs. From there I wandered through rocks, Asian religions, Egyptian sarcophogai and mummies. There was a time line of the Roman emperors complete with coins from most of their rules, a shrunken head (creepy) and a piece of the Berlin Wall. That was pretty impressive, I must say. And that was just the ground floor.
The second floor was more American history and included a display of all the presidents, Civil War memorabilia and pieces from World War I, including a replica trench, World War II, including a model of the Arizona and its memorial, Vietnam and Korea. One of Alexander Hamilton’s jackets was on display, as well, and that was cool.
The next day, we headed up to Hutchinson for the Cosmosphere. The Cosmosphere focuses on man’s attempts to get to space. Starting with rockets designed during World War II, it chronicles the development of rocket power, ending with the space race and its aftermath. The museum includes a lot of replica spaceships, suits and equipment, but there’s quite a bit of real stuff there, too.
One of the most interesting exhibits was a pair of German rockets. The V-1 and V-2 were built during World War II and rained death and destruction on London. Hitler was convinced they would be a gamechanger for the Nazis and poured a lot of money into their development. As the war wound down and German fortunes faded, the scientists responsible for the program decided to take their talents to the United States. Werhner von Braun was the head guy, and once he got to America, he helped develop the U.S. space program.
I'll post some pictures once they're downloaded. Hooray for technology.
