Swedish statue downtown.
From Tulsa, we headed north into Kansas and came across a cute little town that calls itself Sweden U.S.A. Lindsborg was founded in 1869 by Swedish immigrants and still holds tight to Swedish culture. In fact, 30% of the current population of Lindsborg (about 3,500) is of Swedish descent.
We came here for the city park campground, which is only $5/night for dry camping, $10 with electricity. The park was a large, grassy area with picnic tables and fire pits. The guy mowing the lawn said to park anywhere, and just pay at the mill museum in the morning. There was only one other RV that came in after us, and at the far end, a sweet little gypsy wagon parked next to a hearse.
The gypsy campsite.
Later, this innocent-looking campsite became a raucous teenage campout, and they partied into the wee hours of the night. But the local police drove through every hour or two to keep things from getting out of hand, and they didn’t play music, just laughed and talked a lot. Normally, that kind of noise drives me crazy, but they seemed like a good group of kids, and I didn’t feel too bothered by it.
The old blacksmith shop.
Kate and I loved exploring this town, first by foot with Gypsy and Bailey, and after dinner by bike. The downtown plays up its Swedish heritage and caters to tourists. Brightly colored buildings, decorated Dala horse statues, old streetlamps, and cute shops. There’s also an old mill, which is now a museum that includes other restored structures, such as the 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion, which was moved from St. Louis at the end of the fair.
In the morning, I rode my bike on a conservancy trail that went right through the park. What an unexpected gem in the middle of Nowhere Kansas! This was a great little stopover for us.