LIBERAL

This FLASHBACK to our summer roadtrip is linked to SIGNS SIGNS.  Thank you Lesley for hosting!

As Dorothy remarked to Toto in "The Wizard of Oz", I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.  But we were there in June.  On last summer's roadtrip we stayed overnight in the town of Liberal....in the middle of Kansas, which is in the middle of the country. 

When we checked into the RV Park, the host/owner handed us this Chamber of Commerce pamphlet.  She said "Don't worry -- Liberal isn't named that because of it's political leanings."  I said "Oh, that's too bad, because that's why we decided to stay here."  (It wasn't really ... we just stopped because it was time to get off the road for the night  ... but I hated that she apparently assumed our politics would be conservative.) 

(The pamphlet explained that Liberal is named after an old friendly expression, where people instead of saying "thanks a lot" would say "that's mighty liberal of you."   I'd never heard of that expression before, but oh well.)

Liberal claims to be the town where Dorothy lived with her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry.  (Really, the town isn't named in the book or movie, all we know is that is in Kansas.)   Since both book and movie were childhood favorites, "we" had to drop by the town's theme park on our way out of town the next morning.  (Well, I had to and Bill had to drive me there.) 

 
I was sadly disappointed (I don't know what I expected from a tiny town out in the middle of nowhere the country) but I guess cardboard cutouts and yellow-painted bricks with sponsors' names on them just didn't quite live up to my expectations.   

So we were quickly off following our own yellow-brick concrete road on the way to the next stop.

Comments

[Lindy MacDuff]

Awww, too bad the theme park was such a disappointment. Cute photos, though!

[Pam]

In the land of Oz not everything is what one might expect.
Pam

[Martha]

It seems like they are ashamed of their name, perhaps they should change it.

[Francisca]

You had me smiling with this one, Sallie... :-)

[Carletta]

I watch America's Got Talent and one of Pierce's sayings is 'it was very cheesy.' Liberal's theme park seems cheesy. :)
My little granddaughters love the Wizard of Oz but I don't think they'd even be impressed. :)
I have heard the phrase 'that's mighty liberal of you'. I can't remember in what context. I saw Ewok's comment about a cowboy movie and when I read that I googled John Wayne and I can almost hear him say that. I wish I could be sure. :)

[ann nz]

you are the second person I commented about Wizard of oz today. My daughter was the beautiful witch of the north. I was so proud.

[Wayne]

I guess they are trying to build a tourist trade, but I think they need to invest a bit more in their attraction. Better yet, come up with something else!

[Ebie]

I guess, using the cut up boards, they were not so "liberal" with their expenditures!

Goodbye, yellow brick road, as the song goes....

P.S.

When I was i n grade school, I was teased by my classmates and called me "frog". I was so upset then, but now, I just smiled and reminisce those days.

[Gattina]

I don't know anything about it I haven't seen the Wizard of Oz

[Pat]

Wait, you didn't take the tour inside the buildings? Ha ha! You missed it! First off, the ad made it sound like that house was the same house used in the movie. But it is a house made to REPLICATE the house. The tour guide would say things like, "Dorothy would play with this, or that" and I wanted to say, "You KNOW that Dorothy is just a CHARACTER, right?" The warehouse was set up like the whole movie of The Wizard of Oz, and instead of letting us walk on our own, the guide had to tell us THE WHOLE MOVIE. It was unreal!

[Andy]

The last time we drove through Kansas we saw a large billboard with no text, just a picture of Jesus parting some wheat so he could look serenely out at the interstate.

[Inger-M]

All in all, the fact that they have a visitors guide kind of impresses me, I think...:-)

[Joe Todd]

You never know what you will find LOL

[Marilyn]

Oh I love it ...'that's mighty liberal of you'. I can just see me saying that to my daughter at some stage ;-)

[Barb]

Looks like the Wizard was playing a trick on you, Sallie!

[Ewok]

given that the wizard of oz is hugely popular worldwide they could have made a more appealing tribute.

somehow, i think i may have heard of that expression, mighty liberal of you, in an old cowboy movie.

[VioletSky]

I have heard that term, probably from an old movie or two. Sounds kinda 'Andy Taylor' (Griffith) -ish to me (though I know he was from NC and not KS)

[RedPat]

I do like the cover of their visitors guide. The little town probably couldn't afford much more than cut-outs - kinda sad really.

[Andy]

I have also been to attractions that should not have been attractions. I just wall away shaking my head and wonder why.

[Lesley]

That is disappointing. Cardboard cutouts really don't seem appropriate considering the fate of these characters!

[Penny]

I think I would have been disappointed, too, Sallie, though I love the signs.

There is a park in Chicago called Oz Park that is delightful, full of flowers and a statue. I need to visit it and take some pictures. It is named Oz Park in honor of Frank L. Baum who it is said wrote The Wizard of Oz in Chicago, during the the time of the Columbian Exposition. Your post reminds me that I need to go there someday soon.

[Carver]

Great signs. I would have been disappointed by the yellow brick road with sponsor names and the cut outs too.

[TexWisGirl]

i do like the 'land of ahs'. :)