Landing at Garden City Regional Airport in Garden City puts you right in the middle of things, with places like Dodge City, Holcomb, and Lake Scott State Park all close by. Garden City is the biggest town in southwest Kansas, a farming and beef-packing city on the Arkansas River that is far more diverse than its size suggests. Mexican, Vietnamese, Somali, and Burmese families have made it a surprisingly good place to eat, and the surrounding sandsage prairie is wide and quiet.

Standout things to do around Garden City: - Walk or drive through Lee Richardson Zoo, one of the largest free zoos in the country - See the state bison herd at the Sandsage Bison Range just south of town - Tour the Finney County Historical Museum in Finnup Park - Order street tacos, pho, or Somali sambusas from the city's immigrant-run kitchens - Golf the links-style Buffalo Dunes course - Drive to Holcomb, the small town made famous by Truman Capote's In Cold Blood - Hike the canyon and see the El Cuartelejo pueblo ruins at Lake Scott State Park - Walk the Arkansas River bed and see where the water has gone dry

Garden City is a good launch point for the High Plains. Dodge City and its Boot Hill history are 50 minutes east, Lake Scott State Park is 45 minutes north, and the chalk towers of Monument Rocks are about an hour and a half beyond that. Cimarron National Grassland and its Santa Fe Trail ruts are about 75 minutes southwest, and Liberal, with its Land of Oz house, is about an hour south. Summer brings Mexican rodeo and quinceanera parties to the parks. Come hungry and curious, and Garden City will reward both.