Old Dutch Mill - Wamego, KS

Not far from the land of Oz is the Old Dutch Mill. It is the only working stone mill in the state and still grinds wheat into flour today. But not the day we were there. It was closed for renovations. But that didn't stop us from exploring!

Before the mill, we stopped by the small Wamego Museum to see what other interesting artifacts there were. But it cost money to look around and the elderly woman behind the desk did not seem the least bit thrilled to have a few hyper young girls in her quiet temple to the obsolete, so we decided we didn't want to see her dumb old museum anyway. Instead, we went to see the mill before we wandered around the very lovely park.

The mill was a large stone pillar encased in the metal scaffolding - it was an interesting contrast as if the present were holding up the past. We walked up the winding stone steps with debris on either side. Weeds and fallen branches blocked our path but we cleared them away as we circled around for a better look.

That is until the fish. On the steps was a dead fish, presumably from the pond over 20 feet away from the mill. That is when we discovered Kelly's ichtyophobia - an extreme fear of fish. She completely lost it! She was screaming and dancing around, having a complete conniption fit. It had probably been dead two weeks, but that didn't calm Kelly down. I'm not sure what exactly she was afraid of, but Jessica and I certainly enjoyed watching her spinning around, waving her hands in the air and rambling at the top of her lungs about, "The fish! There's a fish!"

If you decide to take a trip to Wamego, enjoy the Old Dutch Mill but beware of the fish!