Amelia Earhart's Atchison Kansas

Who is Amelia Earhart?

1. A record-breaking female aviator whose international fame improved public acceptance of aviation and paved the way for other women in commercial flight.

2. A woman who disappeared without a trace over the Pacific.

I decided to visit her birthplace, Atchison, KS to find out a little more about the former. As to the later, while some people believe that Earhart's plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean, others believe she landed in the Marshall Islands, was taken prisoner by the Japanese, participated in Tokyo Rose broadcasts, rescued by U.S. occupation troops and then lived out her life in obscurity in New Jersey.

I'm hopeful longtime readers can guess which version I believe.

Thursday

09:59 am

Crossed the Missouri River inbound on the Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge. Opened in 2012 it's a tied arch bridge that replaced the prior eponymous bridge. The "tied" in the tied arch bridge meaning that the outward forces of the arch is borne by a horizontal beam (often the roadway), instead of the abutments.

10:13 am

Coffee and the world's largest cortado (which isn't exactly a good thing) at the Sunflower Café, which is a coffee shop/bar that shares its name with the state flower.

11:25 am

Stopped off at the Amelia Earhart Earthwork, which is profile of the aviator composed of permanent plantings, stone, and other natural materials in field. Unfortunately viewing it from the nearby modestly elevated platform does not give the same effect as viewing it from the Google Earth.

Viewing Platform vs Google Earth

11:39 am

Then onto the nearby International Forest of Friendship which is an arboretum/memorial containing a tree from every state, including one grown from a seed taken to the Moon, as well as over 1,200 stones with the names of aviation notables. It was under renovation with the trails being upgraded and the stones tossed hither and tither. I thought if a stone with a random person’s name were to placed amongst all the others, who would know when the renovation was complete and the stones reinstalled?

It also contained a nice statue of Earhart, though as there is a photographic dictum that says "If you want to take a photo of a statue, the Sun will be in the worst possible position,” a good photo was difficult to come by.

There was also simple memorial to those that lost their lives in space exploration, which was not quite accurate as it did not include any Russians . . . which I don't necessarily have a problem with.

12:26 pm

There is a pizza parlor downtown called Gambino's Pizza. Now if you make pizza for a living, you've got to have set of cajones to choose this very ethnic name for your business, as you need to make sure you are tossing a very authentic pizza. Well that and Gambino is the name of one of the five families of New York that dominate mafia activities nationwide and if the pizza's not that good somebody might get very upset.

As soon as I saw Polynesian pizza on the menu I knew there may be an authenticity issue, so I just ordered the "Mini 7" 4 slices Cheese Pizza" to take the edge off before continuing on this Earhart expedition.

The joint's motto is "You're Going to Love It!" though if you ask me it should be "You're Going to Love It or I'm Going to Put a Rocket in your Pocket!"¹

12:54 pm

The Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum ($10 with Veteran's Discount) is a simple but well crafted museum located in the Gothic Revival house the eponymous aviator was born in 1897. It does a solid job of detailing her childhood, accomplishments and fearlessness, only touching via a small map on all the batshit crazy conspiracy theories.

2:25 pm

Mailed the Amelia Earhart postcards purchased at the museum gift shop to three lucky Subscribers at the Amelia Earhart Post Office. Built in 1894, and it's nice that it's still a functioning post office instead of it being torn down with its replacement now occupying a small nondescript storefront (or contained within a Walmart). When we asked the clerk if the postmark (at whatever future date it would be applied) would state "Amelia Earhart Post Office," she replied that it wasn't the actual name of the place, but helpfully mentioned that there was a plaque.

BTW: It's the actual name of the place, per an Act of Congress in 2018.

2:50 pm

Willie’s Sports Pub for a review of the history of women's aviation over onion rings, indifferent service, a Yuengling and 16 TV sets.

3:53 pm

At the Veteran's Memorial Park there was a rusted steel relic from the USS Arizona (BB-39) that was enclosed in a glass display case with an access hole to allow it to be touched. It was from a piece of the battleship that was removed in the early 60s during the construction of the USS Arizona Memorial. It all seemed a little ghoulish. . . but I touched it anyway.

Then took a tour around downtown, which has a time machine element to it, like I was in Topeka or Mayberry. There is a replica of the Amelia Earhart Statue mentioned above and a statue of a local who was born deaf and unable to speak who subsequently had his lower legs cut off in a railroad accident. He then became a very successful bricklayer who the locals called "Deafy."²

5:55 pm

A pre-dinner drink at Mueller's Lockeroom, which unlike Willie's delivered friendly service and an icy cold Rolling Rock. I could have done without the Jalapeno Poppers but someone was really hungry. The place contains various mementos from Jamie Mueller who was a running back for the Buffalo Bills (1987-91) and alumnus of nearby Benedictine College.

6:37 pm

Everyone I asked about where to eat mentioned Pete's Steakhouse. When I then asked what to eat, they would mention anything but the steaks: the pasta ("I'm a pasta girl"), the pizza, the Greek salad, etc., which left me a little suspect. We went anyhow as I couldn't bear the thought of passing on a 12 oz. Kansas City strip for $24, unfortunately it came with chimichurri sauce which is as ridiculous as it was thankfully scrapable.

The place reminded me of a (slightly) upscale version of the classic Greek diner back on Long Island: comfortable booths, efficient service with photos and maps of Greece covering the walls. Our table was covered with advertisements for local businesses which is also very Greek.

Friday

8:47 am

Breakfast at the hotel . . . it came with the room and I can’t help myself.

11:02 am

Stopped off at the Amelia Earhart Substation which was built by Evergy to improve local electric reliability. If it sounds a little forced, it was, but I'm thinking an electrical substation may be the best chance I have at memorializing myself.

11:17 am

We concluded our flight of discovery at the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum ($12 with Veteran's Discount), which was opened in 2023, so the place still has that new car smell. It is centered physically and spiritually around a Lockheed Model 10-E Electra that is nearly identical to the plane Earhart flew on her final flight. Though oriented towards a younger crowd, the place did a fine job conveying the spirit of Amelia Earhart.

A Lockheed Model 10 Electra, named Muriel after Amelia's sister

12:43 pm

The coffee at the hotel didn't take, and as I had previously noticed signs and memorabilia for the nearby Benedictine College's athletic teams (the Ravens), I decided to visit for a biblical cup of joe and it didn't hurt that Benedictine is my favorite liqueur. Wasn’t sure if it was a Catholic institution of higher learning until I saw a sign . . . for the John Paul II Student Center. A blessed Americano and beatified cortado at Holy Grounds where I easily blended with a full house of caffeinated undergrads.

1:31 pm

Crossed the Missouri River outbound on the Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge.

Lodgings

Pickin's were slim in Atchison, KS, as the Quality Inn was sold out, leaving the Holiday Inn Express ($197), the Super 8 by Wyndham Atchison ($77) and the Hotel Eastin Riverwalk ($54).

Now the Hotel Eastin Riverwalk was eliminated as its rating of 3.4 on Booking was as incomprehensible as it was unbookable, though I was tempted to book for journalistic purposes (did Scooby-Doo sleep here?). As the Wyndham had a 7.0 rating which was exactly on the AAR Mendoza line, I decided to play it matrimonially safe . . .

So that left the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Atchison By IHG which both Booking and Expedia quoted at $197/night, but unusually the IHG website offered a rate of $187. Now it's been my near universal experience that hotel websites and front desks never offer a better rate than Booking or Expedia, so I was a little surprised. I decided to book directly with the front desk in person, hey, maybe they'd give me an even lower rate? Well they offered me . . . $197. When I mentioned that it wasn't $187, they mentioned something about there being different systems, blah, blah, blah, but that because I was a veteran they could offer me a rate of $192. So . . .

I sat down in the lobby, booked a room on IHG website, waited five minutes for the systems to update, blah, blah, blah, and then checked in.

It's a hell of a way to run a railroad (the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, no doubt). Speaking of which, it ran not but 150 feet from my room and is the reason the room comes with a white noise machine.

Statue outside of the Hangar, a replica of which is now in Statuary Hall

Endnotes: I wanted to provide some very specific details that, while vaguely interesting, did not contribute to the overall narrative. Perhaps just wait until the end to enjoy.

¹ I decided to go with "a rocket in your pocket" so I could link the specific article, though I could have also went with "You're Going to Love It, or You're Going to Sleep with the Fishes!"

² Yes "Deafy," and no, I am not making this shit up.