Honos (honoretvirtus) wrote in nevermore_ooc, @ 2016-11-05 19:05:00 |
|
|||
Current mood: | good |
Entry tags: | -liz |
Situation Report: 11/5/16. Location: Lebanon, KS.
So...I've been telling Lara and Circe over Snapchat that I'm totally gonna go see the center of the US, you guys! Like, this weekend! And that...was over a month ago. But today, I finally went to bed at a semi-decent hour the night before, got up, and got myself on the road by 12:30. Which turned out to be fortuitous, because this place is a two hour drive from my house, and doesn't have outside lighting, as far as I can tell.
So when I got there, I scoped the place out. It's beautiful. I mean, really beautiful. You're up on a hill, looking at nothing but blue skies, farmland, and roads, for miles in every direction. It puts that 'I swear we were infinite' scene from Perks of Being A Wallflower to shame.
And of course, what use is a scouting report without pictures?! Here, have some!
A nice welcome, with the ubiquitous Kansas sunflowers.
The buildings and signs are set inside kind of a loop of road (like you might see in front of a high school, like a drop off zone), and the first sign is on one side, this one is on the other side.
There's a flagpole you see when you first pull up, US and Kansas flags flying. This plaque is at the base of it, it tells you the coordinates, who mapped it, that kind of thing.
</a>
A little collection of write-ups from various newspapers. I got the impression that some of them had been there a while. You also get the impression, while you're there, that a lot of the care of this place is done by the town. The lady at the market I stopped at kind of confirmed this for me, when I stopped off to get some souvenirs. She said 'the ladies' go up there and clean every once in a while. (More on that in a minute.)
The interior of the chapel. This places seats eight, max, and it's a very tight squeeze. Outside of, like...children's play houses when I was younger/babysitting, this is the smallest structure I've ever been in.
Also. YOU GUYS. There were a horrific number of flies in there. Like. Fuckin' Beelzebub must use this as his summer home, because they were everywhere. I think that's what the lady meant, that they come up there and take care of them when they can. But I about gagged. I almost walked out, but I'd come that far, and I was already there, so I just sucked it up.
Or as I captioned the snap I sent, 'Yeah, pray Trump doesn't get elected'.
Further evidence for my theory that this place isn't maintained by the government, but the town. It's got that small town, folksy kind of feel. 'Tell us what you thought, and where you're from. :D'
So, naturally, I did. :D I added a comment about how it was worth the drive, because it was beautiful. Which was totally truthful.
See what I mean? It just goes on forever. The road T's directly in front of the place, and that road going away takes you back out to the highway. (I was attempting to get a picture of those two horses in the corner-because they seriously gave no fucks-but I apparently forgot that zoom was a thing. My screen was super reflective in the sunlight and I could barely see the camera button. Welp.)
Different angle, but in the same vein as above.
I think this is meant to be...sort of a miniature version of the hill where Christ was crucified? IDK. I didn't even notice it til I was leaving, hence part of my steering wheel being in the shot.
And that's what I've got! I drove into Lebanon proper, trying to find that market the sign mentioned. But since I manage to get lost even in the smallest towns...I found it by accident. I found Main Street purely by chance, and followed it directly to the place I wanted to be. It was so small they didn't even take debit cards, which is fine, but it further reinforced my opinion that Lebanon is one of those towns that time forgot. But on the flip side...where else are you going to get a souvenir coffee mug that only costs $4? Nowhere, that's where.
And now I am home, and pleased not to be in my car anymore. But it was well worth the trip, and it was a nice tour of a little piece of my new state. So fun times were had by me. :D
♥