We’ve rented an air-conditioned tour bus to take us to points of Baum interest around Aberdeen. We’ll start at our hotel with local historian Troy McQuillen as our tour guide. A few buildings where Baum and Gage family members lived are still standing; we’ll see them as well as locations of significant buildings, such as Baum’s Bazaar, that have been lost to time. A special stop at “Easton Castle” is on our list. This private home was built and owned in 1889 by local businessman C.A. Bliss. Baum wrote about visits and parties at the Bliss home in the Saturday Evening Pioneer; its current owners celebrate the connection.
Our plan is to break for an early lunch and disburse in downtown Aberdeen. (Note that this lunch is not included in the registration fee; please be prepared to purchase your lunch at a local restaurant.) We’ll allow time for a brief visit to The Dacotah Prairie Museum to increase our understanding of what the territory was like in Baum’s day. Then we re-board and head to the Yellow Brick Road.
Aberdeen’s Wylie Park offers a Storybook Land that will be having its annual festival from 10-2. We’ll be there at the tail end of those festivities, and take time to tour the Mother Goose section, paying particular attention to those features representing stories from Baum’s Mother Goose in Prose.
Then we’ll arrive in the Land of Oz. The Yellow Brick Road winds from Dorothy’s house through Munchkinland and settings for all the primary characters. You’ll find a balloon ride overhead, and can take a slide down the legs of an enormous Tin Man.
Construction of this charming Oz park began in 1976. Now generations of local families and tourists have visited Oz and learned about Baum’s 
connection to the area.
At some point, we need to have our bus take us back to our hotel, but for those who want to linger, we’ll see if we can’t find a private car or two willing to shuttle–it’s only five miles to the hotel.
