Atchison, KS  Named for David R Atchison, co-founder, and US Senator from Missouri (!).  Lewis and Clark celebrated their first 4th of July (west of Mississippi) here.  It’s the birthplace of Amelia Earhart, and Jess Stone, member of 4 music Hall of Fames, and writer of “Shake Rattle and Roll”.  It has the only airport in the world named for one woman (only).   It’s the ‘most haunted town in Kansas’ (the stories I heard!).  It’s the closest spot to Colorado in what we now know as Kansas, making it an ideal place for a new ‘headed west’ settlement.   Which is a perfect segue to my SURPRISE OF THE TRIP!!  It appears almost certain that my great great grandfather was one of the 13 original founders of Atchison!!  Wow.  I doubt that anyone else is too interested, but if so, here are the details of the discovery (as well as other Atchison historical tidbits):  EH.Norton  There’s SO much I could share about my Atchison, visit, but for now, I’ll limit myself to these three items:

Birthplace of Amelia Earhart  She was born in her grandparents’ home, now a beautiful museum.  See EABM.

Amelia’s Sister Plane (named for her sister) Comes to Atchison!  The ONLY one exactly like Amelia’s in the world!  It is now in Atchison (as of about 2 weeks ago), has created quite a buzz, and I was allowed to see it (with wings back on) before they’re ready to open it for public showing!  See Muriel! and read details of its uniqueness.

The Bridge Lighting!  You’ve seen the picture above (maybe 2 or 3 times now).  See details, and some more pictures (including other views and other colors) here:  AtchBridgeNite