Traveling through the Midwest this summer? You won’t want to miss Lawrence, Kansas—a gem in the heartland of the United States—located between the east-central and northeast sections of Kansas, about 41 miles west of Kansas City and 20 miles east of Topeka.
Home to the University of Kansas (go Jayhawks!) and over 80,000 full-time residents, this Midwestern town has even had its share of stardom. Mentioned in the TV series Jericho as a town being (fictionally) destroyed by a nuclear blast, Lawrence is also portrayed as the hometown of fictional characters Sam & Dean Winchester in the TV series Supernatural. And let’s not forget the 1983 TV movie The Day After, in which many of the scenes were filmed in Lawrence and locals were given small roles or used as extras.
As visitors, you should know—Lawrence, Kansas harbors better-kept secrets than providing a backdrop for television movies and series. And the area boasts more claims to fame than just being home to the 2008 Men’s NCAA College Basketball Championship Team. For instance, did you know that in 2000, Lawrence was chosen as one of the “Dozen Most Distinctive Destinations” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, recognized as one of the “best preserved and unique communities in America?” Now that’s something to talk about!
But for fellow B&B and food enthusiasts who are wondering if Lawrence, Kansas is home to any outstanding bed & breakfast inns, and if so, are any of those inns sharing their favorite recipes with readers of Inn Cuisine, the answer is…you bet!
If you’re in the Midwest and looking for a relaxing, peaceful bed & breakfast experience—the perfect place to kick your heels up after a long day of shopping and sightseeing in town—you might want to check out the Circle S Ranch & Inn.
The Cirlce S Ranch & Inn is set just outside of Lawrence, Kansas and rests on 1200 acres of land that began as an 80-acre tract purchased from the railroad in 1860. Owned, operated and expanded by innkeeper Mary Cronemeyer’s family for five generations, the Circle S Ranch is now home to an 11,000 square foot inn built by Mary’s husband Jack, which the couple opened for business in May of 1998.Quickly achieving the kind of success most new B&B’s typically dream of, in 2001 the Circle S Ranch & Inn was chosen as 1 of the 12 Most Romantic Bed & Breakfasts in the United States by bedandbreakfast.com, and in 2002 the inn was selected as 1 of the Top 10 Destinations for Business Travelers by Arrington’s Bed & Breakfast Journal.
Today the Circle S Ranch & Inn is home to 12 unique rooms with themes ranging from the Cowboy Room and the Celestial Room, to the Garden Room and the Kansas Room. The Circle S Inn is also set-up to host a variety of special events including weddings and receptions, one-of-a-kind slumber parties, and meetings & retreats.And the food? Of course there’s food! Every bit as bountiful as the Circle S Ranch & Inn itself, guests can expect to find a hearty, country-style breakfast waiting for them each morning, as well as an evening social hour each night. And the inn provides a full catering menu for special events as well!
While Mary Cronemeyer often comes up with menu ideas to serve at the inn, she says it’s her husband Jack who does most of the cooking and refers to the rugged cowboy as “fearless” in the kitchen.
“As I watch Jack cook,” Cronemeyer tells Inn Cuisine, “he is fearless! Jack will try anything, never holding back on new ideas which almost always turn out great! We have a large, kitchen garden and get most of our veggies from it in season. While Jack keeps telling me to cut back, we keep using everything I can grow.”
The innkeeper adds, “When our daughter Dakota was born in February of 2007, everyone thought I would give up my garden, it was huge! [But that year,] Dakota just hung out in the back of Lucille (our ‘47 Ford pick-up truck) while I worked. This spring however, she is getting more involved. As I watched from too far to catch her, she laid down and made dirt angels in the onion patch on one of our warmer spring days!”
Which Circle S Ranch & Inn recipes did innkeepers Mary & Jack decide to share with Inn Cuisine? Stay tuned to find out…
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Have you ever considered writing a book? Because seriously, you give some of the best B&B reviews I have ever read!