Emporia is a college town, home to Emporia State University and the alma mater of B! We haven't visited since having kids and B has always wanted to go back, so we thought it was the perfect little getaway with our family!
Day 1: Emporia Family Fun Center, Trolley House Distillery, Flint Hills Bowling Center
As we drove into town, the first venue we see (and the one Wake was most looking forward too!) was the Emporia Family Fun Center! Behind a Mr. Goodcent's (which was a little odd to walk through to get to the fun center), was a putt putt course, go-karts, batting cages and an arcade! Unfortunately, they were doing maintenance on some items and were planning on opening the NEXT DAY! But they were so gracious to let us drive a few times around the race track and play putt putt for free! I guess we were their guinea pigs for the first day of the season!
We were in Emporia on a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday (not the best days to see what a city h as to offer), and we knew the Trolley House Distillery was closed on Mondays, so after an early afternoon of go-karts and golfing, we headed to the distillery to enjoy the weather on their patio and have a drink with some snacks!
It was splendid! Super chic building, great service, awesome drinks, and some yummy apps! The outside patio was perfect for a spring day! They also do tours for $5 so you can learn more about the distillery process! I had their cinnamon moonshine with cream soda!
After an afternoon of sunshine, we headed to Flint Hills Bowling Alley! Bowling alleys are best kept secrets in smaller rural towns. Their are all unique and all provide some great entertainment, whether you are 3 or 100! We have to say this bowling alley was one of the better ones! Really large, around 20 lanes maybe? Great food and bar. A small arcade in between bowling. And professional and helpful staff.
Day 2: David Traylor Zoo, All Veterans Memorial, Rainbow Arch Bridge, Emporia State University, Radius Brewing Company
The next day (Monday), was quite a dreary, cloudy and damp day. But we bundled up and headed to the their free zoo! But first, of course, a local coffee shop!
We stopped at Gravel City Roasters downtown Emporia. They have an adorable art shop in the front of the building (Wake got a new graffiti coloring book and lego pens!), and I got a soy latte-hit the spot on the cold day!
After the proper caffeine, we walked around the David Traylor Zoo. It was about a 30 minute walk to see all the sights of this free zoo. We saw animals like a fox, albino peacocks, lemurs, wildcat and many more! B loved the water features, the kids loved the many "action to activity" painted on the concrete around the zoo. Like "Walk like a monkey" or "Jump like a frog."
After the zoo, we wanted to check out Emporia's downtown. Unfortunately, Monday's are not the day to go to their downtown! Many of their stores are closed on this day. We were pretty disappointed since this was our only day to explore and "shop small," but we did get to go to one very important store-Sweet Granada! A very popular and famous chocolate shop!
A one stop shop for all things chocolate! We got macaroons, fudge, Oreos, truffles and Dayne got a rice Krispie treat! It was a delight for all of us!
With nothing else open downtown, we went to check out the All Veteran's Memorial. Did you know Emporia is the home of Veteran's Day? Well it is! They have a fabulous park dedicated to all Veterans of all branches of all wars!
It was really a sight! They had flag poles of each war fought in America's history. They also had a gazebo covering a gravestone, which we assumed was a war hero from Emporia.
The park is right beside Emporia's famous Rainbow Arch Bridge. This bridge was built in 1923. In 1986 the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic, but visitors can still walk and bike across the historic bridge.
We then headed to Emporia State University to check out their beautiful campus! It was fun to walk around, even without the hustling and bustling of students (it was Spring Break for them, too!). The student union was state-of-the-art, the buildings and campus were well taken care of, the football track was a cool gold color, and they had a beautiful pond and bridge we had fun going across.
Next on the agenda (we really pack in a lot when exploring a town!), we headed to Radius Brewing Company. On Monday's their restaurant is closed but their taproom is open with bar snacks and their craft beer is available. We stopped by around 4 and the place was packed! They had fun flights and we had some delicious appetizers! Wake even got a fancy "Emporia sunset" non-alcoholic drinks!
We capped off our day with the hotel pool, of course! Our kids could skip the whole vacation and just swim in a hotel pool and they'd be in heaven!
Day 3: Peter Pan Park
On our way out of town the next day, we had to stop by the famous Peter Pan Park! A park that holds a wonderful disc golf course, pond, castle-like structures and a pretty awesome playground all on 50 acres! The kids loved getting some energy out before sitting in the car for 3 hours!
We would give Emporia a 4 out of 5. And mainly the 1 less star was because we went on the wrong day and many store fronts were closed-so our fault! We'd love to go back when it's better weather and explore their trails, go to the splash park, and definitely walk through the zoo again!
Have you been to Emporia? What's your favorite thing to do in Emporia?