Todd Schoonover

This is a unique Italian dining experience. You start out by walking through the kitchen where you can interact with the chefs and servers. The menus are set up so that you order small or large servings, where the small serves 2-3 people and the large serves 4-5. They do have individual servings too, but that won’t give you the true experience of Italian family dining. Big plates are brought out of heaping pastas and other goodies which those at the table portion out amongst each other. The atmosphere is a little loud, but it reminded me a lot of the Italian family dinners at my grandfather’s house.

Everything I sampled was excellent, and freshly made there. I would definitely go there again if I were back in the area.

Make sure you stop inside while it’s open and sign the guest book. You can also place a stick-pin in a map on the wall showing exactly where you’re from. I did.

The Center shows a 27-minute docudrama called “Lawrence: Free State Fortress.” The 1998 Kan Film Festival “Best Film” chronicles the first 10 years of Lawrence’s history and culminates with Quantrill’s Raid of the city in 1863. The film is shown on weekends every hour, on the hour, and weekdays by request. There is no admission charge, and copies of the film are available for purchase. Also available for purchase is postcards, Kansas chalk, and other memorobilia at good prices. The chalk was $1 for a nice sized piece wrapped with blue and red ribbon.

The staff there is friendly, and the bathroom was clean. When the guy saw I was from Pennsylvania, he asked me to explain why it’s called the Keystone State, so I did.

If you’re lucky, you’ll get to see trains come through on the working tracks behind the depot. I was there maybe fifteen minutes and got to see two separate trains come through.

This place had been recommended as one of the places I had to eat if I came to Kansas, so I had to check it out. I love homemade ice cream, and the selection here was impressive. I uploaded a shot of the menu board and there was another whole column that isn’t in the shot.

The guy behind the counter was friendly and helpful. There were two mothers with their screaming and running brood that I could’ve dealt without, but that’s more a comment on their parenting skills (or lack thereof) than of the place itself.

I had a flavor that combined vanilla bean with English toffee. It was sinful, and I was so tempted to go back for more or to try other flavours. I was being good though and didn’t want to cheat too much on my diet. I would definitely go back here again and become a regular if it wasn’t 1000 miles away. Hmm, Yahoo Maps says that’s just a sixteen hour drive. I’m smelling road trip…