By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
On the map: Salina, Kansas Distance from Hays: 97 miles Drive time: 1 hour and 28 minutes
SALINA — For many in northwest Kansas, Salina is the “big city.”
It’s not. It is a small town, in many ways similar to Hays.
I lived for a few years in Salina right out of college. There are places here I have been frequenting for years, and yet I often find new places to explore.
The south Ninth Street corridor has grown significantly since I lived in Salina in the mid-1990s. I try to resist its big-box store allure when I visit. Instead, I go to where I feel more at home — downtown.
My most frequent stop in Salina even if is for just an hour on my way to see family is Martinelli’s Little Italy, 158 S. Santa Fe. My sister has driven 115 miles to just eat at this restaurant. My family likes the simple spaghetti and meatball. I say meatball, because one of their meatballs is a little smaller than tennis ball. I am not exaggerating.
Across the street from Martinelli’s is the Stiefel Theater, a beautiful art deco movie theater that was opened in 1931. The theater was designed by the Boller Brothers. If the name sounds familiar, it should. They were the same architects on The Dream Theater in Russell. The Stiefel is also on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the Steifel is primarily a live-performance venue.
Tony’s Pizza Events Center is the other major venue in Salina. It hosts concerts and trade shows, among other events. It will host the Salina Comic Con July 7-8.
If you want to do dinner and a show at the Stiefel, there are other downtown dining options. I recently tried Blue Sky Brewery and Eats. These guys will put about anything on their wood-fired pizza. I had the Big Lebowski, which has pasta as a topping. I didn’t think this would work, but it did. Some other recent pizzas of the week, included Crab Rangza and Uncle Morty reuben pizza. Check out their Facebook page for weekly special.
I am not a beer person, which I know is heresy in Hays, but the night I was there, some of their craft beer selections were Crankcase IPA, Watermelon Crawl, Jalapeno Cream Ale, Fire Engine Red and Dirty Ol’ Stout.
I prefer ice cream over beer, so here are a couple of great places in Salina.
Dagney’s Ice Cream, 105 E. Iron, is a newer establishment downtown. Salinans Ken and Dagney Stromberg make their ice cream in store. I had the Speculoos, which tastes like a snickerdoodle, but for the young or young-at-heart, they also have fun flavors, such as Fruity Pebbles and Captain Crunch Berry.
I have been going to Bogey’s for more than 20 years. The small ice cream shop and burger joint was founded in Salina 32 years ago. Carole Sperling, owner with her husband and son, was a big fan of old movies and named the restaurant after Humphrey Bogart.
If Blue Sky will put anything on a pizza, Bogey’s will put anything in a shake. Their slogan is, “Shaking over 101 ways,” but the manager insists they have well more than 100 shake combinations. If you are buzzing through on I-70, they have a drive-through.
The Salina’s culinary history goes even further back. The Cozy Inn, 108 N. Seventh, has been operating in Salina since 1922 and is one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine. You can buy chips and a drink at the Cozy, but that is all. It is all about the burgers. Its greasy onion-laden burgers are nationally known. The burgers are slider-sized and most people buy them by the bag takeout because the Cozy is one of the few remaining last six-stool diners in the U.S.
The legend goes the secret to the Cozy burger is the grill, which is the same grill that has been used at the burger joint for 96 years. One of the owners of the Cozy decided they would upgrade, so they sold their old grill and purchased a new one. Cozy regulars complained the burgers didn’t taste the same. The owners had to track down the original grill and repurchase it.
If you are at the Cozy, turn around, because down the street is a beautiful relief sculpture on Sacred Heart Cathedral. The church was built between 1951 and 1953 and combines Greek styles with something that is reminiscent of a Kansas grain silo. The limestone sculpture depicts Christ on the Cross with a turned head looking down upon a processional lead by a Kansas farmer and his family.
If your belly’s full, downtown has plenty of boutiques, gift shops, antique shops, a you-paint ceramic studio (On the Pot), quilt shop, free-trade store and an organic and local produce market, Prairieland Market.
One of my newer favorites is Ad Astra Books and Coffee House. It is a frequent hangout for local artists and entertainers. It carries a wide selection of used books and a section of new books by Kansas writers.
I have always seen Salina as a culture and arts haven on the prairie. Like Hays, Salina has a strong arts commission. The Salina Arts and Humanities Commission was created in 1966 and is a department of the City of Salina, which means it has been influential in public works projects and public art installations.
Santa Fe, the main drag downtown, is lined with ScultpureTour Salina. The Arts Commission rotates in new art every spring.
Permanent installations and murals dot the city in public places and parks. The colorful “Waiting in the Wings” by David Lowenstein graces an outdoor stage off Santa Fe downtown. Oakdale Park, the home of the Smoky Hill River Festival in June, boasts “Kansas Blues,” an almost patchwork quilt on the former Carver Pool floor. Also in Oakdale Park “Under Cottonwood,” columns of recycled newspaper, are a commentary on decay and formation of land.
The Salina Arts and Humanities website has photos, locations and a list of artist names to guide you on your sculpture tour around they city.
At the heart of the arts commission is the Salina Art Center. This a space similar to the Hays Arts Center that hosts rotating exhibits. “Anthony Hawley: Fault Design” and “Birdless” will be featured in the gallery through Aug. 26. Admission is free.
“Fault Diagnosis“ is a multimedia performance event and exhibition that explores what happens when things we think we know so well break down and fail us, according the art center website. “Birdless“ explores themes of hoarding, collecting and the spam of our lives.
Just down the street from the art center on Santa Fe is the Salina Art Center Cinema. The theater shows foreign films, documentaries and other films that the big movie houses in rural America are probably not going to dedicate space to. Most shows run for only a week and showtimes are limited.
You can sign up for the Salina Art Center email list at the art center to receive weekly updates about exhibitions, lectures and classes at the art center and movies showing at the cinema.
Salina offers plenty of family fun. The Smoky Hill Museum has a new area for kids called the Curiosity Shop. You can make designs on a giant peg light board. An area is dedicated to tornado education in which you can create your own vortex as well as experience a tornado in a wind tunnel.
I was lured into a few free games on their mechanical pinball machine. I am a little bit rusty.
A quiet nook in the rear of the Curiosity Shop offers a place to play board games; games are provided. The museum offers plenty of education opportunities, including several exhibits on Salina’s agrarian history. Children are free to touch and play with items in a dugout model.
The museum currently has a temporary exhibit, “In the Trenches with Company M,” which depicts the journey of Salina’s Company M during World War I. Those interested in military history can also view artifacts from Salina’s closed Schilling Air Force Base. The museum itself is a former art deco post office and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It too has relief sculptures on its exterior. They were carved by Carl Mose and Jon Johnson. Admission is a free-will donation.
My nephew had fun last summer at Kenwood Cove Aquatic Park. Philip particularly liked the park’s 1,400 feet of slides. Kenwood also has a lazy river, wave pool and children’s area. Kenwood offers affordable passes: $4 for children through age 17 and $6 for adults.
Salina has many beautiful parks, but one of my favorite recreation areas in the city is Lakewood Park. Nature trails wind around a small lake with plenty of trees and shade. It’s a nice walk on a summer evening. The park also has a discovery center that is open during the week with a lot of displays on native wildlife for kids to explore. Lakewood also has a disc golf course.
There are 24 miles of walking trails in Salina. See walksalina.com. One of these tours is “When Houses Became Homes Tour,” which takes you from about Ninth and Iron streets to Ninth and Prescott streets.
H.D. Lee of Lee Jeans founded a garment factory in Salina in 1911. The home in which he lived, at 200 S. Seventh, is on the historic homes tour and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Although not on the NRHP, the Salina Masonic Center on Santa Fe is necessary stop for those interested in local architecture. It was completed in 1927 and is framed by columns and carved gargoyles.
When Philip was younger, he liked to visit Rolling Hills Zoo, which is 6 miles west of Salina off of Interstate 70. The zoo is particularly known for its white rhinos, but you can ride a tram or walk to see more than 100 species.
In the heat of the day, Rolling Hills offers an air-conditioned museum with mounted animals specimens from around the world. At the rear of the museum is a children’s area with lots of hands-on play. The museum hosts traveling exhibits and is currently featuring “The Art & Science of Arachnids” through Sept. 3. See the Rolling Hills website for hours and admission.
One attraction I have yet to get to in the Salina area is Prairie Lavender Farm, which is about 9 miles north of Salina near Bennington.
The Bennington farm was established in 2002 and has 4,600 plants representing 15 varieties.
The lavender is blooming and being harvested now. The farm operates a small shop that sells lavender products. Lavender, which is a member of the mint family, has long been revered for its healing and relaxing properties. In addition, to the lavender, the farm has fairy, flower and herb gardens and plenty of room for children to run and play. Now through September, the farm is open 9 a.m. to noon. Admission is free, but a 45-minute tour will cost you $5 per person for anyone 6 and older. To set up a tour, call 785-488-3371.
I know that is a lot, and probably way more than you could do in a day. Pick and choose what fits your tastes and family.
I’m out to far western Kansas this week, so see you on the road!
Other links to check out while you are planning your trip: