Daytrip: Lawrence, Kansas

You don’t even have to click your heels. Just down the road from Wichita lies the funky, yet cosmopolitan, little college town of Lawrence, Kansas. Thanks to Quantrill’s Raiders, Lawrence has a “wild and woolly” past (which you can view while watching a film at Lawrence Visitors Center in the train depot), but today’s visiting “raiders” mostly choose to “loot” the unique little specialty shops downtown.

Like a certain computer company, Lawrence chooses to “think different.” (An issue of the Utne Reader once identified Lawrence as one of the most enlightened communities in the country.) In Lawrence some of the students proudly sport “Keep Lawrence Weird” T-shirts, and there are plenty of independent coffee houses/Internet cafes, each with its own individual flavor, ably competing with Starbucks.

This sure doesn’t look like Kansas, Toto…in just one downtown block of Lawrence, you can find Thai food, Greek food, and Latin American food---plus good college bar food, too. You don’t have to walk much farther to encounter Indian, South Korean, Mediterranean, Japanese, and Vietnamese restaurants. Fancy sushi and sashimi? No problem. Care to encounter French bistro fare? Lawrence has that, too. “Grass-fed only” buffalo or elk burger? Be Lawrence’s guest.

Nestled along tree-lined streets, downtown Lawrence is home to more than 100 stores offering gifts, clothing, and artwork. Many are locally owned, and have a distinct foreign flavor. Brits, at 929 Massachusetts Street (or, “Mass Street,” as the locals say), caters to Anglophiles with its wide selection of British food, souvenirs, and pub stuff. Brits’ sister store, Au Marche′, right next door, provides groceries and one-of-a-kind gifts from continental Europe. Wander inside either shop, and marvel at the unfamiliar-looking cheeses, chocolates, and cans (“tins”) of mushy peas. On a side street just off “Mass,” you’ll find African Adorned (5 East 7th Street), which features African wood carvings (including a large Makonde body mask) and jewelry (handmade in Kenya). On the south end of downtown, at 11th and “Mass,” the Japanese Friendship Garden offers a peaceful setting that is perfect for enjoying a cool drink under the pergola, or just meditating among the cherry trees. You’re sure to get the feeling that you’re not in Kansas anymore.

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