<p>My husband and son will be visiting KU in a couple of weeks. What restaurants are good, and what is there to do that is fun? They will be there on a Sunday before the visit Monday, so will have time to wander around.</p>
<p>hey elizabeth…Have a great trip!! PLEASE post a visit report when you return…very intrigued by KU…</p>
<p>anyway, I think that Lawrence has their own website if you google it…apparently very good restaurants abound…</p>
<p>Definitely go down Massachussetts street, of course. They have a lot of popular shops and dining areas. There is an excellent pizzeria that is underground that I forgot the name of, small and busy, but delicious. There is also a restaurant called Free State Brewery that is pretty decent; they brew their own beer (hence the name) and make up some good food.
As for shopping (if they are going to even consider that), there are several name brand clothing stores as well as off beat shops.
Hope everything goes well for them. I enjoyed my visits to the school.</p>
<p>Depending on what your son’s interests are you might consider the Dole Institute of Politics, the Natural History Museum, and the Booth Family Hall of Athletics (KU’s athletic Hall of Fame). All are on the KU campus.</p>
<p>Massachusetts St. is the quaint main drag in the historic district and offers some great choices in restaurants, coffee houses, music venues and shops. Free State Brewery is a great place to get the Lawrence feel and a regular dinner stop during our visits. For breakfast, try Milton’s or Wheatfields (also good for lunch). Ingredient is also another lunch spot that we like for the really fresh salads and Teller’s is a more upscale dinner place. Strolling along Mass St. on a Sunday is wonderful. </p>
<p>Also definitely check out the KU calendar and see if there are any interesting events that day and a visit to the KU places listed by jklm would be great; we particularly enjoyed the Dole Institute and Booth Family Hall of Athletics. Walking or slowly driving down Jayhawk Blvd and memorial Dr. on a Sunday is lovely. I would get a good campus map and drive all around and really explore all the little nooks and crannies on the weekend as some roads are closed to vehicles during typical school hours. There is a great view of the stadium, grove and Campanile from the top level of the parking deck at the Kansas Union. A drive by the Greek houses on W Campus Rd. near the Chi Omega Fountain is impressive.</p>
<p>Continue past the university on Iowa St. and you will come to the more typical strip mall/big box store area with many more stores and chain restaurants. You will find a 12-screen theater, Target, WalMart, Best Buy, Kohl’s, BB&B, 5 Guys, Applebee’s, Longhorn, On the Border, Old Chicago and many, many more. There is no actual “mall”, but plenty of dining and shopping available and we were easily able to buy most of S’s dorm furnishings in Lawrence. </p>
<p>The choice of hotels, to me, is the one area that need improvement. Many are very old and just basic lower level chains, but there are a few good ones. There is a new hotel on campus, the Oread, that looks beautiful but is not yet open (I think next month). The Eldridge is a very nice historic hotel right on Mass St. We like the Hampton Inn and the Springhill Suites (this one is walking distance to Mass St) in that order. Our next choice would be the Holiday Inn Express, although we have not yet stayed there. We did stay in the Holiday Inn Holidome once, but would not go back.</p>
<p>Have a great trip. We are headed to Lawrence next weekend for the KU-Nebraska game!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great tips! Rodney, I will update you when they return.</p>