Living the Cowboy Way in Kansas

Josh Hoy, a fifth-generation rancher and the Flying W chef (left), embodies the modern entrepreneur mixing cowboy and comfort. He descends from the chuck wagon's inventor and can handle a horse, but he also serves guests meals he learned at the Culinary Institute of America, including a French Picnic featuring herb-roasted game hens.

Around Kansas, you can grab a seat and watch real-life cowboys in action at big-time summer rodeos in Dodge City, Abilene and Phillipsburg. Cowboy festivals with chuck wagon cookouts, cowboy poetry and historical lectures crowd the summer calendar. Each puts you closer to the true cowboy than the reconstructed boardwalks of Dodge City or Wichita, but going all the way means only one thing: Getting in the saddle.