Kansas & Missouri: the Heart of America

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Discover the back roads of Kansas and Missouri on this Heart of America tour! You’ll see the Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Museums, tour the Jesse James Farm and visit Missouri’s largest Amish settlement. The kid in you will enjoy a spin at the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum and the Moon Marble Factory. You’ll even get to hop “over the rainbow” at the Oz Museum and Oz Winery. Come join the friendly folks in the Heart of America on this wonder-filled Kansas and Missouri vacation!

Tour Highlights

Explore The Money Museum in the Federal Reserve in Kansas City.
Visit the Jamesport Amish community, Missouri’s largest Amish settlement.
Tour the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Museum and Library at Abilene, Kansas.

2011 Dates and Pricing

July 17-22
Sept. 25-30

Price Per Person:

Double: $1,197
Single: $1,435

Depart & Return: Kansas City, Missouri

Pre/Post-Tour Hotel: $138/night

Meals Included: 11

Itinerary

Day 1—Kansas City: Meet your fellow travelers at a welcome reception at our hotel in Kansas City. Then get ready to discover the heart of America! Welcome Reception included.

Day 2—Kansas City/Leavenworth: After breakfast, we’ll head over to the Federal Reserve Bank and The Money Museum. On our tour we’ll see how the bank’s personnel work with robots to move huge containers of cash in the automated vault.

Then we’ll travel into Independence, Missouri for a tour of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. Later, you’ll have time to explore Kansas City’s Crown Center, a three-story shopping and dining attraction. Enjoy lunch on your own at one of the center’s many restaurants.

The city of Leavenworth, Kansas, is also the carousel capitol of the world! At the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum, we’ll learn about the history of these carnival attractions—and take a spin on a restored 1913 Parker carousel.

Later, we’ll travel on to Ft. Leavenworth, the oldest fort in continuous operation west of the Mississippi River. We’ll enjoy a tour of the fort’s historical sites, including a visible gap in the terrain carved by wagons heading west on the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails.

Dinner will be a real treat at the Riverfront Community Center in Leavenworth, housed in a historic 1888 Union Depot. In addition to home-cooked fare, this one-of-a-kind dining experience includes waitresses in “Harvey Girl” costume and music by a local barbershop quartet.

We’ll return to our Kansas City hotel for the night. Meals included: B, D.

Day 3—Kearney/Jamesport: This morning we’ll stop in Kearney, Missouri, and drop in on the Jesse James Farm and Museum. We’ll stroll through the farmhouse where the notorious outlaw grew up before we continue on to VanTill Farms in Rayville. We’ll take a tour of the farm and vineyard and enjoy a delicious lunch made with the freshest fruits and vegetables for a truly farm-to-table experience.

Then it’s on to Jamesport, the largest Old Order Amish settlement west of the Mississippi River. We’ll step back in time on a guided tour of the settlement and its people, craft stores and more.

Our home for the night is St. Joseph, Missouri. Meals included: B, L.

Country Tours Exclusive

Marian and Gary Schlaegel began growing popcorn almost 30 years ago. They now grow and sell gourmet unpopped corn and dozens of flavors of popped corn. We’ll enjoy a guided tour—and tasty samples!

Day 4—St. Joseph/Whiting/Wamego: This morning a local guide will join us for a tour of St. Joseph. This lively city on the banks of the Missouri River is rich with Wild West history, including the origin of the Pony Express in 1860 and Jesse James’s last stand in 1882.

We’ll also drop in on Schlaegel’s Popcorn Farm in Whiting for a guided tour and a delicious snack. After lunch, we’ll visit a historic Dutch Mill and Old Prairie Town before taking a trip “over the rainbow!” Our first stop is the Oz Museum, home to more than 2,000 artifacts dedicated to the L. Frank Baum classic, The Wizard of Oz. Folks in Kansas take their Oz so seriously that there’s even an Oz Winery! You’ll have time to stop in for a tasting of “Run Toto Run” (a semi-dry red wine) or “Yellow Brick Road” (a semi-sweet white) among the more conventional offerings.

We’ll have a mouth-watering dinner together at the Friendship House in Wamego before retiring for the night. Meals included: B, L, D.

Day 5—Junction City/Abilene/Council Grove: Bison once roamed the Kansas plains in huge numbers. Today we’ll take a ride back to that era on a wagon tour of Lazy Heart D Ranch. Plus you’ll get close enough to these majestic creatures to actually feed them!

After a home-cooked lunch at Munson Angus Farm, we’ll tour the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, where Ike spent his boyhood. Dedicated on Veterans Day, 1954, the Museum includes over 30,000-square feet of galleries and exhibits that tell the story of Eisenhower’s military and Presidential careers.

You’ll have time on your own this evening in the town of Council Grove. Meals included: B, L.

Day 6—Topeka/Bonner Springs/Kansas City: Today we’ll head to Topeka, the state capitol of Kansas. The dramatic State Capitol building is located on a 20-acre tract of land donated in 1862 by businessman Cyrus K. Holliday. Designed in the French Renaissance style, the Capitol was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

After a tasty barbecue lunch, we’ll roll over to the Moon Marble Factory for a marble-making demonstration!

Then it’s time to say good-bye to our new friends as we return to Kansas City and our flights home. It’s been a wonderful trip filled with Wild West lore, U.S. history and so much more. Meals included: B, L.