Harveyville

You notice a lot of variety in fenceposts when you drive through the Flint Hills. The most common are modern, steel ones with a grim, spare efficiency.

Others are made of limestone: They are quarried from the deep earth, hauled up steep hills, and festooned with barbed wire like ancient lamas attired in saffron. Unchanged by time or weather, they smile inscrutably at the grassy hills rolling off toward the horizon.

Still others are wood - mostly Osage orange in this part of the country. They're tough, gnarled posts that look right at home out here on the prairie. They may be bent with time and wind, and charred by occasional pasture burnings, but they belong here as their steel and stone counterparts never could.

Harveyville reminded me of those wooden fenceposts. It didn't have the industry and polish of a town like Kansas City, or the intellectual aloofness of Lawrence. It wasn't gorgeous, but it was tough and strong and serviceable. And I felt right at home there.

We pulled into town at the end of a long day of exploration, and we were hungry. Lo and behold, D&C's Diner and Grocery LLC!

We weren't sure what to expect from this diner / grocery store. What we got upon walking in was a very sweet lady who apologized to us for the lack of the normal dinner buffet (it was Prom Night, so she didn't expect many customers).

We sat down in the eatery half of this building. Their menu offered a variety of foods. (And the back of the menu advertised a taxidermy business, some of whose "clients" were also displayed in the grocery half of the place.) We settled on waffles with bacon for the boys, and chicken bacon ranch pizza for Magen and me. It was yummy and very reasonably priced. We'd definitely return next time we're in the area.