Trip pix: The Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas

I’ve lived in Kansas for 18 years now {oh my god what I have done to myself} and in my frequent travels I’ve heard a gazillion Dorothy comments or questions about tornados. The Wizard of Oz and killer weather: these have to be the two things that come to mind most often when I tell someone I live in Kansas. {Notice that I say I live in Kanas, I’m from Missouri. There’s a difference!}

Honestly, the Dorothy and Toto stuff can easily become cheesy so when I heard some 10 years ago about a new museum dedicated to Oz, I was skeptical. This is a cheese-free museum, people! Seriously, it’s one of the best-done museums I’ve ever visited. Not only is the collection unique but the museum documents the artifacts and tells a great story of the commercialization that occurred after MGM released the movie in 1939 (L. Frank Baum wrote “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” in 1900).

The problem is that The Oz Museum is not exactly on the way to anything else for me, so I’ll admit that I haven’t been back since I visited right after the museum opened 10 years ago. For anyone going to Manhattan, Kan., or Topeka, Kan., or traveling along I-70, make the detour to the tiny town of Wamego. It’s worthy of an on-purpose road trip, too.

So in honor of L. Frank Baum’s birthday today, I’m sharing a photo from my trip and an endorsement to go visit The Oz Museum. To read my article from the museum’s grand opening that was published in the Wichita Eagle back in 2003, visit my online writing and photography portfolio at melindaschnyder.com.