Abilene Kansas, Dining, Shopping and More
This past February my husband Keith and I spent a few days in beautiful Abilene, Kansas. We went to museums, enjoyed the Cowboy Art Trail, Eisenhower history, and art throughout the town. Hosted by Visit Abilene, we enjoyed our stay.
First thing after checking into the Holiday Inn Express we found a Welcome Bag with lots of fun goodies, and information for our trip! Thank you Visit Abilene!
Sunday night in Abilene, we enjoyed diner at Ike’s Bar & Grill. Ike’s offered good food, great service, and we enjoyed watching the Super Bowl with Kansas City Chiefs fans!
A little Catholic History
On Monday morning with The Kansas Guidebook 2, in hand, we decided to check out one of the “Explorer extras”. We stopped to see the Dakota sandstone grotto they listed. I love grottos and religious stops. This spot north of town opens with the remaining two red brick pillars at this abandoned rectory. It is a bumpy road back. Drive with caution.
The pillars are the entrance to the former St. Joseph’s Orphanage. The orphanage was home to children from 1915-1959. The grotto is fascinating. I wish I could have seen it in its prime.
We set out on the Cowboy Art Trail. You can enjoy the historic buildings, murals, and stops like the Big Spur and the World’s Largest Belt Buckle.
Cowboy history in Abilene came about from cattle drives! In 1867, the Kansas Pacific Railroad was built. The first cattle drive took place that same year. The drives caused Abilene’s population to surge to around 3,000 residents. The town boasted eleven saloons! During the drives 1.5 million plus head of cattle came to town. The drives brought cowboys and their wild ways. Soon Abilene was known as the wildest place in the west!
Old Abilene Town, which brings the pages of history to life through reenactments, reproductions, and historical buildings was another fun stop. I just walked through, since they were not totally open when we were here. I need to come back to experience this and the Smoky Valley Railroad. I’d love to ride the steam train!
Abilene History
The Lebold Mansion is listed in 8 Wonders of Kansas Architecture and was built by C.H. Lebold a banker. This area was the site of the first settlers in 1858. Timothy F. Hersey and his family built a log cabin. Abilene began as a stagecoach stop and was first called Mud Creek.
The Beautiful Seeyle Mansion and Seeyle Patent Museum
Our most beautiful stop we in Abilene was at the Seelye Mansion. Volunteers Julie and David Wilson gave us a tour! David shared the amazing story of A.B. Seelye.
A.B. Seelye started making home healing remedies first in his grandma’s kitchen sink. Selling them door to door, eventually Seelye had 400 to 600 salesmen. Traveling by horse and buggy they sold medicine in several towns. David said the best seller was “Wasa Tusa”. It was advertised as “a cure for all, fit for men, woman or beast!” It had 60% alcohol, selling for $1.00 a bottle, it only cost 3 cents a bottle to make! Dr. Seelye became very wealthy.
Over time though, David said, “He never modernized and was out of business by the 1950’s or 60’s.
Creating medications, he developed Mentholatum with a pharmacist from Wichita. He also made vanilla extract along with other medications. Dr. Seelye married Jenny Taylor in 1893. They had two daughters. They built a large Victorian home. When Jenny decided she needed a bigger house, they tore down the Victorian, and built the lovely Seeley Mansion in 1905.
With twenty-five rooms the home is built in the Georgian Revival style. Most furnishings were purchased at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Julie shared the furnishings cost $55,000, more than the house itself! The house is 11,000-square-feet. It features original Edison light fixtures. There is a Tiffany-style mantel. Frank Lloyd Wright suggested remodeling the interior in the 1920s. We were excited when we got to bowl on the 1904 Box Ball Alley!
Changes at the Seeyle House
The two Seelye sisters, Marion and Helen lived all their lives in the home. Marion had been a concert pianist, and Helen had been a chemist working with her father. Terry Tietjens and his twin brother Jerry eventually convinced the sisters to sell the mansion. They bought it, then Terry moved into the house with the sisters. He renovated it and opened it to the public. The sisters passed but their legacy lives on. The home is a historic place with tons of history. Visitors like Edison, Wright and more have been here. Mrs. Seelye opened the house up to soldiers during World War II. Besides being a lovely place, the home is a treasure of architecture, stories, and more.
Lunch and shopping!
Lunch on Monday was at Tossed-N-Sauce, a wonderful locally owned pizza restaurant.
After salad and pizza, we headed out to the shops, perhaps Keith’s favorite part of the trip. He loves farm items and at the Vintage Bling and Antique Things shop he found his Bailor wrench made by the Bailor Plow Company from Atchison, Kansas.
The shop is more a jewelry and glassware store, but he spied a box of wrenches and voila, finds. There are also two cool antique malls on Buckeye Street that caught my farmer husband’s attention. They are the Abilene Downtown and Antique Mall, and the Buckeye Antique’s Mall. It was Valentines while we were on our trip.
When I found the cool Bombshell Salon and Boutique, I picked something out too. With it being Valentine’s Day, I found fun gifts for the grandkids at Rivendell Bookstore!
The Cypress Bridge Candle Co. was another fun stop! My favorite item there was an apron that said, “Not my monkey, not my circus.”
My last shopping stop was at Aksent Boutique where I found some fun items. I also wondered into RHV Do It Best Hardware and learned some of the fun store history.
We stopped in Amanda’s Bakery for a treat during the afternoon, and found our way back to this great dining and gift shop in the morning for breakfast!
Best of all at Amanda’s, we got talking farming and met Loren Sorenson President of the Dickinson County Heritage Museum where we would visit on Wednesday!
Architecture
Some places in downtown Abilene were just beautiful and fun to stop in like Geske Interiors. The building has amazing tile. The Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church also caught our eye. The church was built back in 1878 and is on the National Historic Register. If I could have toured, I would have loved it! The Abilene Public Library is a Carnegie library, and I admired the ceiling and intricate designs. I wandered into the old Shockey & Landes Furniture building (now Cowboy Billard’s) that they now use for event space. Lovely!
We finished up our day with a fun supper at La Fiesta. Good food, and cute decor.
Ike and Heritage
Tuesday, we hit up the amazing Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home. Curator William Snyder provided us with a tour.
We saw the boyhood house where President Eisenhower grew up, then we toured the library and museum, plus, we viewed the memorial where he and wife and child, Doud, are buried. We learned and saw so much about this President that served during wartime as a General, then moved us through the Cold War.
A stop at the Greyhound Hall of Fame got me a visit with the retired racer Max! These amazing dogs have a pedigree of 4,000 years! The hall shares facts about the history of greyhound racing and these amazing animals. They have been recorded running as fast as 45 mph! The art in the museum is quite lovely too.
Wednesday, we stopped at the Dickinson County Historical Society, Loren Sorenson gave us a great tour. At this stop, they have many items including antique equipment that made Keith quite happy. Besides the equipment, they have a C.L. Parker carousel. I even got to take a spin! This turn of the century carousel was built in Abilene! There is also a beautiful barn onsite, old log cabin, former grocery store, and in the museum over 100 years of telephone history and more. On the barn there is a neat barn quilt, and you can even take a self-guided tour of barn quilts in Dickinson County.
My favorite item at the museum was a neat the IH truck!
Dining and details
Tuesday evening, we dined at M & R Grill where they were having a Valentine’s Day special. Steak, baked potato and salad plus a box of chocolates! What more could you ask for?
We closed out our whirlwind trip to Abilene with lunch at Joe Snuffy’s. This veteran owned business offered a great menu selection. I learned that the name came about because the owner Marty Andrew’s dad, Joe got the nickname “Snuffy” in his childhood, and it stuck. Joe was in the army, Marty’s wife Anja said they support veterans in their diner. There was a sign outside that said, “Thank you veterans of all ages.” This was on a “We Like Ike” sign.
Along with Ike, there was much to like and love in Abilene! Have you been? Let me know what your favorite thing was!
