Lunch at the Hardware Store

It was delicious, Stewart Hardware at 412 Broadway in Valley Falls, Kansas (where else?).

I had sausage on a bun, with warmed sauerkraut (on request), plus two sides of Stewart Hardware's beans. (If any food establishment names a menu item after itself, it's pretty certain to be very good.) I had previously been promised a chance to eat at Stewart's Hardware, but it had not been open the few times we were in Valley Falls.

My son had gone there because of a computer problem, and rather than wait in the car, I left him a note on the windshield and found my way into Stewart's, a longtime, old-fashioned hardware store in downtown Valley Falls, which had re-invented itself into a food establishment. Its hardware store beginnings, however, are very evident in the remaining cabinets on the walls.

I was enchanted by the light fixtures hanging down from the ceiling -- manufactured from old glass canning jars. I'll keep those in mind if I am ever re-decorating a house.

I had hardly started my meal when I was discovered by my son, so I suggested he either order something from the menu, or share what I already had -- maybe that's why I had ordered beans for the two "sides". He got one of the little cups of beans, and half of my sandwich, but I kept all the sauerkraut for myself.

Valley Falls also has a charming little gift shop -- Awesome Blossom -- which I very carefully avoided because I desperately need to be downsizing. Maybe next time.