Following the Yellow Brick Road to Boomtown USA

I have never really been a big fan of fireworks. Sure they can be pretty to

look at, but the loud booms and crackles as the black powder explodes

overhead in the sky isn't my favorite noise in the world. However, for

YEARS I have heard about how amazing the firework show in Wamego

is and decided that this year would be the year I would head up

to check it out for myself.

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Nick and I left Pilsen around 10:30am because per usual your girl

was running late, and we arrived in the already bustling city of Wamego

about 11:40ish. The first thing we had on our agenda was to check

out the free car show being hosted in the City Park where they also

host their big tulip and craft festival every spring. (I went to this

a few years back with my bestie Kristin and it was a pretty fun

event with a lot of great vendors and multiple opportunities for

tulip pictures!) The car show certainly wasn't as big as the one held

in McPherson every year, but they had a LOT of cool cars there including

one from one of my favorite TV shows of all-time, Supernatural!

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Yertie the Supernatural Gremlin

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That's one cool doggo.

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Once we strolled our way through all the muscle cars, off-road vehicles, main

street cruisers, and television famous vehicles we walked over to the antique

tractor show guided by the popping noises of the antique engines. Sadly

for Nick there were only a few tractors there and we

moved on from that show pretty quickly.

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Apparently all of our walking stirred up an appetite in us both and

so after the tractor show we set off in search of food eventually landing

ourselves at a small place called Smokin' Wille's BBQ. (Full review found here!)

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With bellies full and knowing we had quite a few hours to kill before

the 4th of July parade and fireworks show began, we set off on a walk

down main street in search of something to fill the time. It wasn't long

before we found ourselves standing outside of one of the main tourist

attractions in town, The Oz Museum. We headed inside, bought ourselves each

a ticket (for two adults it was $20 even), and then stood on Auntie Em's porch

to hear the before tour spiel given by one of the workers. After that we

were set free to roam about the museum at our leisure.

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So. Creepy.

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I laughed way too hard at the Air Dorothy shirt. Lol

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Twinsies lol

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Things to Know About the Museum:

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-No food or drinks are allowed inside the museum.

-Your ticket is good for the entire day so you can

leave and return any time you would like.

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Hours:

Summer (Memorial Day-Labor Day):

Mon-Sat: 9am-6pm

Sun: 12pm-6pm

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Winter:

Mon-Sat: 10am-5pm

Sun: 12pm-5pm

Christmas Eve: 10am-2pm

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Rates:

-Adults (ages 13+): $10

-Children (ages 3-12): $8.00

-Do offer a military and student discount of $1 off your ticket price.

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-Museum is pet friendly, but with some stipulations:

-Small dogs must be carried through the museum.

-Dogs that cannot be carried must remain in the gift shop area with the museum staff.

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Find more information about the museum here on their website.

This is definitely a great place for lovers of The Wizard of Oz!

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Once we made our way through the land of Oz we walked across

the street to stroll down the Yellow Brick Road. (I tried to get Nick

to skip down it with me, buuuut he was not having it. Party pooper. lol)

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Follow the Yellow Brick Road. While walking down this little road I actually had a lady call me Dorothy. lol

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After our walk we went back across the street to the Columbian Theatre

to watch the special 3 o'clock showing of "Boomtown-Behind the Fence." The video

was not exactly what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed getting to see it.

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After the video, still about 3 hours until parade time, we walked back

to my car, grabbed the lawn chairs, and then headed out down main

street in search of a good spot to watch the parade from. (Definitely

recommend picking out your parade spot early like we did because spots fill up FAST.)

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Then, about thirty minutes before the parade started, Nick and I abandoned

our chairs with my family who had showed up to watch the parade and

headed over to the carnival area to grab some food. We ended up going

with a cheeseburger meal from the Knights of Columbus tent (which was really fast

and probably the most affordable food option in the area) and then waited in

line at one of the food trucks so Nick could get his fried Oreos. Our wait for

those golden brown sugary pockets of joy took FOREVER and once we finally

did get them we had only three minutes to get back to our seats almost two

blocks away! I walked as fast as my blistered heeled feet could carry me and

we made it back to our seats just as the first of the parade people were passing by. Perfect. Timing.

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These are the masterminds behind the spectacular fireworks show.

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Once the parade was over the huge crowd of people began to disperse

and we headed back to the car to go try and find some parking closer

to the fireworks show. Luckily for us my family scored us a spot in the

private KanEquip parking lot (#connections! lol) and so we hung out there

with the fam until it was time to walk across to the famous fireworks show.

(The show normally starts at 10pm, but this year they started

about an hour early due to the bad weather moving in.)

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Things to Know About the Fireworks Show:

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Bring noise cancelling FM radio headphones.

-The fireworks show has its own soundtrack on B104.7 FM and, while they do play it over

the loudspeakers at the complex, having the noise cancelling headphones with the built

in radio really changed the whole experience for the better.

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Fireworks start at 10pm and last 30 minutes

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Set up your chairs/mark your spot for the fireworks show EARLY

(especially if you want a parking spot).

-We arrived over by the rec complex right after the parade (which was

3 hours before the fireworks show) and there were already cars lined

up for miles along the highway and tons of people in the area. I recommend

getting parked/set up by at least midafternoon if you can.

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You can always find more information about the fireworks show and the other

4th of July events on the Visit Wamego website

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Once the fireworks were over the pyro crew made their grand entrance

into the crowd of adoring fans.

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Then it was time to head home!

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Wamego is a town that knows how to host an event and has

without a doubt earned the name Boomtown in my opinion. I certainly

wouldn't hesitate to return to Wamego for any festival they might be

hosting and it might have become my new favorite place to go for 4th of July.

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