April's Feature Destination:

Destination Dining
at Trader's Lodge

“We provide destination dining,” says Kay Kindall, “We cater to tourists that want to go to a unique place for a special and delicious meal.”

Kay and her husband Neal Kindall own Trader’s Lodge, a Bed and Breakfast in Wells, Kansas, and it’s hard to decide whether guests are attracted by the meals, or by the unique and attractive surroundings.

In addition to fine dining, guests are treated to a fascinating tour of antiques, Indian artifacts, and handcrafted Indian tomahawks, peace pipes, war shields, drums and other pieces made by the resident artist and historian-in-residence, Neal Kindall. Long rifles, pelts, black powder pistols, rawhides, knives, and other items catch the visitor’s eye. Not to mention the Buffalo head mounted on the limestone fireplace, and the cedar beams made from cedars that grew there on the farm.

But the highlight of the visit for many people revolves around fine food, especially the Kansas beef and buffalo that many choose for their entrees. The fine food, prepared with care and attention, is then topped off with Kay’s homemade gourmet desserts.

Dinner arrangements to eat at Traders Lodge are all made in advance, which allows Kay to determine what her visitors enjoy most, and to have it perfectly prepared when they arrive. Most of her dinner guests come with groups, and the dining room will seat 40 people. The Kindall’s can also open the double doors to the adjoining family room to seat larger groups, seating another 16 or 20.

The destination dining business continues to grow at Trader’s Lodge

“We probably average two dinners a week, and of course in December, it is every weekend and often a few weeknights, with corporate dinners, church groups, and so forth,” Kay said. “We get two or three buses a year, and that’s growing too. The word-of-mouth is our best marketing, as one tour group tells another what a great time they had at Trader’s Lodge.”

Overnight guests will find the four bedrooms all to be quite different, and interesting. Named the “Renaissance Room,” the “Trappers Room,” the “Plains Indian Room,” and the “Southwest Room,” the rooms are decorated accordingly, with unique features such as the willow frame for the bed in the Plains Indian room. Each room has it’s own bath and climate control. There is also a hot tub and exercise room for guests.

“Our guests love to sit out on the big porch in front and watch the sunset, listen to the birds, and to not see or hear any traffic,” said Kay. “ A lot of visitors will also wander out to the grape arbor, by the fountain, or meander through the rose garden, perennial garden, and my new herb garden-there’s nothing as tasty as fresh basil.”

Read more about how business is going at Trader's Lodge, and about how the Kansas Agritourism Scholarship helped make a difference. (Click here.)