Keith's Travel Blog

After lunch yesterday, we ventured south of I-70 between Russell and Hays to Victoria, KS, home of St. Fidelis Church. Built from 1908 to 1911 by the descendants of Volga Germans immigrated from Russia, the church has undergone dramatic repair and restoration from 1994 to the present.

The parking lot is spacious and the church is open and inviting to visitors.

The interior work was done by Linenberger Painting of Salina — the third generation of Linenbergers to paint the interior. This recent repainting returns it to its original colors.

The walls of the nave are filled with magnificent stained-glass windows, but the most striking is the huge rosette in the west front, above the choir loft.

Between Lucas and I-70, Highway 232 crosses the Wilson Dam and skirts the eastern end of Wilson Lake and Wilson State Park.

After visiting The Garden of Eden in Lucas, we stopped for lunch at a scenic overlook by the northern tip of the eastern arm of the lake, just northwest of the dam, in the Lucas Park Recreation Area.

The overlook was indeed scenic, providing a tranquil view of the northeast section of the lake.

After lunch, we continued south to the southeastern tip of the lake, turning in to cross Hell Creek Bridge into Wilson State Park.

The area is woven with walking trails and we went to the water’s edge to look into Kansas’s purported clearest lake,

with submerged plants giving credence to the claim.

I was particularly taken by the juxtaposition of sandy grasslands, jutting red rock, and clear water.

Who knew Kansas hath such splendor?

Yesterday, my retired parents and I departed home for a Colorado vacation and family reunion. As I had previously persuaded the travel planner to spend the first night in Limon, CO instead of pushing through to Denver or beyond, we had some extra time on our day’s drive. Our first stop was The Garden of Eden in Lucas, KS, a yard full of towering concrete sculptures handmade by S.P. Dinsmoor in the early 1900s. Part Hieronymus Bosch, part social commentary, and all eccentric, the Garden continues to fascinate visitors generations later.

House

Parking across the street, we’re first greeted by this sign at the grand … exit.

Walking clockwise around the street corner toward the entrance, we see these human sculptures. All of the representational art is around the perimeter; everything inside the garden, as we saw shortly, is functional or geometric.

The tour — guided or self-guided — begins inside the house, after paying a relatively modest $6 admission fee.

The house, also built by Dinsmoor, has a relatively conventional period interior, with wooden floors, steep stairs, and gables.

In the cellar of an eccentric, under a low ceiling with a stout meat hook, next to bottles of chemicals and preservatives, I really needed no exhortation not to open the heavy wooden door.

The rear balcony and ornate rail are concrete as well.

Yard

Proceeding clockwise around the yard, one wonders whether Dinsmoor planned the flowers on the ziggurat or whether they were added later to give a pretense of cheer.

In the northeast corner is the mausoleum he built. His first wife is encased in concrete (after her demise, one hopes) and Dinsmoor himself is on display behind glass, greatly decomposed.

Near the center of the small yard are these animal pens. Not having selected the guided tour, I’m not certain what kind of animals he kept …

but he constructed these underground dens for them.

On the west edge of the yard is the work shed with a display of the hand tools used in the construction of the house and sculptures.

Just past the shed is the exit, with a closer view of the original couple.

Perimeter Sculptures

As I mentioned earlier, most of the elaborate sculptures are around the perimeter.

With a definitely flair for the grotesque, most of the yard lights are animals …

vomiting up light bulbs. Yum.

And one can make a plausible guess

what part of the garden story and what animal

most captivated Dinsmoor’s attention.