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Topeka’s 10th Street – A Day Trip to Capitol City

One of our favorite day trip destinations from Kansas City, Kansas is the capital of our state, Topeka. The population is about the same as our hometown, and it offers some nice attractions less than an hour away. Many times our visits have a simple itinerary located along Topeka’s 10th Street, which includes a couple of attractions, and lunch at a restaurant nearby. Let us show you how to enjoy A Day Trip to Capitol City,  without spending a ton of money.

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A quick dash out Interstate 70 will land you in Topeka (Be aware that this is a toll road). As you pass through the downtown area you will come to the SW 10th Avenue exit, which we will use as our main thoroughfare for this visit. Heading west, one of our first views will be of the state capitol building. Tours are available, but you will need to use the 8th Street entrance for these. Continuing west on 10th, you pass through a variety of business and residential areas, which are quite reminiscent of our hometown. In about 2 1/2 miles you will come upon SW Gage Blvd., which will be your signal that you are near the entrance to Gage Park and the Topeka Zoo.

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This affordable, and family-friendly zoo is a great destination for a 2-hour visit. The zoo is located in Gage Park, which also features a mini-train and a carousel. This park is a great place to enjoy a picnic lunch, after a relaxing visit to the zoo. Visitors with children or grandchildren may also be interested in visiting the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center, which is also located in the park. On most of our visits, we will choose to either picnic or grab a quick bite at one of the fast-food stops a little further west on SW 10th Avenue. Another 2 miles down the road you will come upon SW Wannamaker Road. This north/south road is a major artery of the western edge of Topeka and is lined with shopping and restaurants. Just about any type of cuisine will be found with a little searching, but quite often we will fall back on one of our favorite burger joints in the area, Freddy’s.

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With our hunger satisfied, it’s time to partake in some historical meandering. Short drive north on Wannamaker will bring you to SW 6th Avenue. Heading west, it is about 1 mile to the parking lot for the Kansas Museum of History. This state ran facility ranks as one of our favorite museums in Kansas. Now we know that we haven’t been to every museum, and each one that we have visited has displayed its own unique features. We just find this museum to be a great collection with plenty of diversity for everyone at the party. Our visits will range in length from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. A lot will depend on the content of their traveling exhibit, which can sometimes be extremely engrossing.

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By the time we exit it is usually late afternoon, so we quickly determine if we want to do a little shopping in town or just head back home. Either way, there are still plenty of things to see. Our hope is that you too will take a day to enjoy A Day Trip to Capitol City. Topeka has so much to offer, it just requires a little research. It looks like we will have to make another trip so that we can highlight some of the other great attractions in our state’s capital city. Do you have any places you would like us to feature in our next visit? Just tell us in the comments section below, and we will do some research. Thanks!

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