Carolyn's Essenhaus in Arlington Kansas

Tonight I wanted to have something different for dinner. Something fun. Something unusual. I called Greg and he was game for it, but didn't have any thoughts about what that something was.

I thought about Carolyn's Essenhaus in Arlington, Kansas - about a 25 minute drive from my house. I called and found out they were open until 8:30. So, I called Sharon to see if she wanted to go too, and the three of us headed off for dinner.

Nothing gets a holiday weekend off to such a good start as dinner somewhere cool with friends.



On Friday night they serve verenike - a German treat that generally we only have during the MCC sale.

Carolyn stopped by our booth and visited very briefly, but they were busy. Very busy. They're one of the 24 finalists for the 8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine. I asked if they were so busy because of the holiday weekend or the content and she said probably some of both.



They served the verenike with your choice of ham or sausage, a trip to the salad bar, and a slice of their fresh baked bread. I didn't eat all the ham because then I wouldn't have had room for pie. And you gotta have pie...



Apparently you also gotta have more bread because I bought a loaf at check out. Along with a jar of sand hill plum jelly.

Guess what I'm having for breakfast.
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Third Thursday Plus

Tonight was the monthly Third Thursday art walk downtown. But, there was even more happening tonight, including a walk in the Houston Whiteside Historic District.



It was a walking tour conducted by Amy, who works for the city. That's her in the middle there, facing toward the camera. She was giving information about various homes, much of which would have been gathered by my dear, dear, friend, Pat Mitchell, who died eight years ago. I still miss her.



One of the homes is on the market and the very smart realtors had it open tonight so people on the tour could go in. This beautiful porch was enthralling to me.



This home is on Sherman, in an area where lots of the homes have been restored.



The flowers are just starting to bloom in places. This house is one of the neighbors.



Before the walking tour, we went to an event at City Hall where Steve Harmon and Steve Conard were giving a presentation about historic photos of Hutchinson.



The photos were taken by the Atchison, Topeka, Santa Fe Railway. They, also, were drawing on information that Pat gathered.

Greg pointed out that he gets continually frustrated that she doesn't get the credit she deserves. I know what he means. She, single-handedly, preserved much of Hutchinson's history through her "Hutch Files," which her son gave to the local historical museum after her untimely death. She cataloged a tremendous amount of information about people, places and events in the community.

She was the one who wrote the original walking tours, and conducted them. She was the one who did the surveys of the homes - going through city directories and figuring out the history of the various spots. Yet, I never hear anyone mention her name or give her a modicum of credit. She was working on preservation before there was a Landmark's Commission, before there was a "movement," and before anyone else saw any need for it.

I did take time to go downtown for a little bit of the usual Third Thursday events, but just ran out of time to do much. There was music and art and running into folks, which is always nice. We're so fortunate to have this monthly event happening.
________________

Subscribe for free to Patsy's Ponderings in email or your choice of a reader.

Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, cooking and more. Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk and other social media sites of your choosing.

All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.