The Onion attacks Kansas

I tend to stay away from posting stuff from The Onion, although I enjoy the site and its print edition. But I have to sound off on The Onion, because once again, stand up for Kansas. As regular Marathon Pundit readers know, this Chicago-born man ventured to the Sunflower State last summer, partly because liberal grouch Thomas Frank wrote in What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America that Kansas was the nation's least popular vacation destination.

Since I hadn't been to Kansas, I decided it was time to spend a week in what The Onion calls "the Kansas rectangle."

The so-called "Kansas rectangle," a desolate and featureless region covering 82,277 square miles in America's mysterious Great Plains, has been a source of speculation among paranormal investigators for decades. Though the questions surrounding its existence have never been answered, one thing is certain: The life of former Chicagoan Kevin Corcoran suddenly vanished into the eerie region 30 years ago this week, never to return.

According to his friends and family, Corcoran, a bright and energetic young man of 18, was last seen driving into the Rectangle in a Plymouth Duster on the afternoon of May 8, 1978. Surveillance footage shows him stopping at a gas station near the border to buy fuel and snacks at 4:15 p.m. Although his trip was only supposed to last the summer, he was never seen or heard from again.

As you'll read below, there is plenty to do in Kansas. Maybe Corcoran likes it there.

Next week I begin my next blog-vacation, My Mississippi Manifest Destiny.

I've never been to the Magnolia State, but I'm sure I'll find plenty of amazing things there.

Up above is part of the Monument Rocks, one of the Eight Wonders of Kansas.

Related posts:

My Kansas Kronikles, a 39 post series
Eight Wonders of Kansas announced

Technorati tags: Kansas byways photography photos Greensburg Great Plains humor Mississippi travel tourism