Jenna Whitfield

I know a day trip is working when I stop caring what time I left home and start…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 21

Fall looks a little better when the trees are heavy with apples and the ground smells like the…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 20

Ranking barbecue in Kansas City, Kansas is a little like trying to settle a family argument with a…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 20

September is the month when dinner can still be messy enough for rolled-up sleeves and cool enough to…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 19

Fried catfish has a way of making a casual meal feel like a small event, especially when the…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 19

Warm glaze on your fingertips is a pretty convincing reason to forget whatever breakfast plan you had. Kansas…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 18

The grocery list in my pocket once survived exactly two aisles at a family-owned market before I started…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 18

Skip the packed dining districts. Sometimes the better fish dinner is waiting somewhere locals already know by heart.…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 17

A sushi ranking gets complicated fast when every restaurant seems to have one dish that refuses to leave…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 17

A zoo visit is better when you can actually stop for a while instead of treating every enclosure…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 16

A good used bookstore can turn up in the last place you would think to look, which is…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 16

Late summer is a good time to trade the pool bag for an empty trunk and see what…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 15

A garden project can start with one empty corner and somehow end with the trunk full of pots.…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 15

Good carnitas do not need much decoration. The first bite should handle the argument all by itself. At…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 14

The burrito hits the table, and suddenly everyone stops pretending portion size is a normal concept. At this…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 14

The paper bag barely makes it to the car. At a Kansas apple orchard, cider donuts have become…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 13

You do not need a resort budget to have a good lake day. Sometimes the better move is…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 13

Halfway through a fall road trip, a giant antique store can become a much better destination than whatever…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 12

“We can still catch the movie.” That sentence sounds much better when the theater is outdoors and the…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 12

Cold evenings have a funny way of making a full buffet look like very sensible planning. Across Kansas,…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 11

A small object behind glass can carry more history than an entire wall of dates. At a Kansas…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 11

Pull over, park once, and let the main street decide how long you stay. Kansas small towns can…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 10

The knife hits the plate, the center looks right, and suddenly everyone at the table has an opinion.…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 10

Forget the clock. A country store this big can turn “just a quick stop” into a full afternoon…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 9

Some chocolates disappear because they are trendy. Others stick around because nobody wants the recipe touched. That is…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 9

You round a bend expecting more prairie, and suddenly the water steals the entire windshield. That is the…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 8

Settle in, fire up the grill, and forget about ordering just one plate. At this Kansas all-you-can-eat spot,…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 8

Road trips are not always about chasing the loudest attraction. Sometimes the best stop is the one that…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 7

Fall has a way of making dinner plans feel more important than they probably are. Maybe it is…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 7

The directions to a great lakeside restaurant sometimes come with an unspoken condition: do not tell everybody. Kansas…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 6

Breakfast tastes better when the view makes you forget to check your phone. Kansas has plenty of mornings…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 6

September peaches have a way of making summer feel like it saved the best part for last. A…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 5

Secondhand bookstores have a way of making new releases look a little impatient. The real thrill is in…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 5

Ranking Italian restaurants sounds simple until the pasta arrives and everyone at the table suddenly has a different…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 4

Crowds can ruin a view faster than bad weather, which is why a quiet state park can feel…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 4

The map looks harmless until you realize those little county lines can change how you plan a wooded…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 3

The trouble with a good bulk-food bargain is that one bag rarely stays one bag. In Kansas, this…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 3

The first question is not what to order. It is whether the table has enough room for all…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 2

Fried chicken tastes even better when the dinner rush has already packed up and gone home. At one…

By Jenna Whitfield · Sep 2