What to Do Around Wichita

Outdoor Museums:
Not to be missed are Cowtown, which recreates life in Wichita in the 1800's when it was a town on the cattle drive route from Texas to Abilene, KS, and the Sedgwick County Zoo, which features the first, and maybe only, of its kind--the North American Prairie exhibit complete with bears, otters, bison, prarie dogs, and even a boat ride.

Riverside Parks:
The riverside parks in the downtown and riverside areas offer not only great walking and cycling paths but great art as well. Local wood sculptor Gino Salerno has carved and painted tree trunks all through the area while in the downtown area there are numerous lifelike bronze sculptures to catch and amuse your eye. The largest sculpture, the Keeper of the Plains, is by the famous Native-American artist Black Bear Bosin, at the meeting of the big and little Arkansas rivers.

Festivals: In mid-May is the River Festival which is two weeks long of activities, concerts, a treasure hunt, hot-air balloon launch, fireworks, and of course boat races down the river. An admission button can be bought for Housing:
Hotels and motels are both inexpensive and plentiful in the Wichita area. For an interesting sleep try the bed and breakfast at Crumb Castle. A cheap motel should be around for a double bed with en-suite bathroom.

Food: Eating out is also inexpensive with most sit- down restaurants around or less for a meal and a drink. Locally owned Mexican, Vietnamese, and Italian restaurants are both excellent in the mid-town region while chain-restaurants tend to be plentiful on the trendier edges of town and thus more pricey.

Weather:
The winter (Nov-Feb) is very cold (dry, around freezing, and windy), the spring is great (Mar-May) requiring only a light jacket, the summer (June-July) is baking but great for swimming with highs between 80-100 F, and the fall is the best (Sept-Oct) where everything gets green before turning gold and red and the temperature is very pleasant for playing golf in shorts and t-shirt.

Customs:
Even in this city with half-a-million people in the metro area, people are still very friendly and tend to say hi to you if they pass you on the street.

Best Way To Get Around:

You need a car. Gas is cheap (less than .50/gallon usually) and public transit is limited. There is a bus system that runs infrequently and is most convenient for going to and from downtown. Downtown there is a trolley (motorized) service that takes you between downtown attractions that could be worth riding and is great for the river festival. The upside of driving is that the roads are wide and uncrowded, there are tons of parking lots which are almost always free, and the only place where you may need to parallel park is downtown but there are lots there too. Taxi cabs can be phoned but are not plentiful enough to count on hailing one from the street (unless you are at the airport). Walking is feasible downtown but everything else is really spread apart. Biking is great on the special paths but there are no bike lines on the street and few cyclists so drivers tend to be not paying attention for cyclists. Watch out.

Known by locals as Crumm Castle or Campbell Castle, this 19th century Romanesque Scottish castle was almost demolished before money was raised to save this historical landmark (built in 1888) and make it into a B&B. Set in the riverside area along the river and next to Oak Park. This newly renovated & restored B&B offers one of a kind "old-world" elegance (although at a hefty price for Wichita!). Riverside is only 5-10 minutes for the museums and downtown and about 10-15 minutes to local restaurants and/or the mall. There are also many scenic cycle paths in this area as well.

Rooms are ~$250 / night. On their website, you can see a virtual tour of all of the different rooms.

For more info, pictures, and rates:
http://www.castleinnriverside.com/castle.html

Connie's is a family-run favorite on Broadway offering homeade Mexican food the way it should be.

The ambience is very casual with booths or tables/chairs. There's plenty of seating in the back (no-smoking area). No reservations are necessary.

Try the tacos or a combination plate. The taco shells are made fresh, the meat and potatoes are put inside then the combination is deep-fat fried. After the shell is cooked, the tacos are removed from the oil and fresh salad is put in. Mmmm... It really is quite tasty (even if greasy). Free chips and salsa are served while you wait for your food to be cooked. Meal including drink can easily be had for < $10 /person. <$5 if you just want tacos.

Despite the restaurant's quite local appearance. It is actually quite famous. Harrison Ford was pictured in the newspaper eating at Connie's last time he came to have his Learjet serviced. Never know who'll you'll meet there!

Connie's is located on Broadway just north of 21st street. It is very easy to find.

Felipe's is a nice family run Mexican restaurant with locations on the West (original), East side of town (newest), and South (I've not been to this one). It is a family style restuarant with a pleasant ambience. The decor is Mexican themed but not overdone. The East location is a much newer building is a nicer dining area.

The food here is authentic and tasty. You are safe with most any dish. The food is not spicy (unless requested) and there are many choices that you would not find at more American-ized chains. We have also been eating here for over 20 years. I likely the tasty cheesy dishes. Favorites here also include tamales, enchiladas, chimichangas, or burritos. Chips and salsa are served while you wait. Most meals are < $10. The portions are hefty and we usually take half of it home.

You don't need a reservation. There are no smoking sections available. We've never had to wait for a table although it might be possible at peak time (6-8pm in Wichita).

The west location is on Central just a block east of West St (haha). The east location is on Woodlawn just north of 21st St. The south location is at Harry & Webb. I think they are closed on Mondays. They even have a website with video:
http://www.felipeswichita.com

De Fazio's is a family-run restaurant offering some of the best, and most authentic, Italian food in town. Great for a quiet night out or you can reserve part of it for a large group or party.

Anything on the menu is a safe bet; most dishes are less than $10 for an entree that includes soup or salad and garlic bread. I prefer the cream of mushroom soup but my brother prefers the minestrone.

Our family has been patronizing this restaurant for over 20 years. We enjoy the high food quality and affordable prices. There are a number of national chains of Italian food in town but none come close to the quality and authenticity here.

The style is casual, but the ambience is nice enough for a date. Best yet the entire restaurant is SMOKE FREE!! Yay! Reservations are possible but not necessary. There are dining areas that can be reserved for large parties. The newer dining area on the left is very trendily decorated. You can see a panorama at:
http://www.360wichita.com/Restaurants/Italian/DeFazios.html

This down-home family run steak house is just a few blocks from my house and collects a real local crowd to its dimly lit faux wood-panelled 1970's dining rooms. The main entrees (mainly steaks plus some chicken, pork chops, and even clam strips) come with a choice of salad (they have a special garlic salad that is quite good and unique to them), choice of bread, an choice of potato (with the main meal). Most of the meals are under $10 (even the steaks). My favorite dish is the bison ground steak with french fries, garlic toast and garlic salad (that's about $7 or $8).

Doc's is definitely a local establishment. The building my parents say was a series of add-on's to some now undiscernable structure. There are suprisingly no windows. Yet Doc's maintains a family-flare, likely you just stepped into a neighbors parlor who last decorated in the 1970's.

You don't need a reservation. We rarely have to wait and if so not for long. The restaurant has separate non-smoking section. Most seating is at tall booths. Likely most family run restaurants in Wichita, I believe Doc's is closed on Mondays.

Doc's is located on Broadway just north of 13th St. There is plenty of parking.

There is a large Vietnamese community in Wichita and they eat here. Don't be fooled into going to Saigon--the more Americanized restaurant just north on 13th. This locally-owned restaurant is charmingly decorated and offers an excellent selection of Vietnamese food. I first went here with one of my Vietnamese friends but since go back all the time. It is very close to St. Francis hospital so convenient for lunch if you work in that area.

The food quality is the best of the several Vietnamese restaurants on Broadway. If you are unfamiliar with the fare, ask for suggestions or request the picture menu. I like the rice noodles with barbecued pork and peanut sauce (you have to special request the peanut sauce). It is tasty and filling while light. Thus perfect for lunch. Most meals are <$10. Lunch is really more like $6.

There are no need for reservations. The only downside is that it is one big open room so if people are smoking in the "smoking section" it pretty much affects everyone.

The restaurant is located on Broadway just north of Murdock (8th ST). There is plenty of parking next to the building.

This trendy restaurant in Old Town has a old-western decor but is very new with wooden booths and tables. The dining area is quite large (and thus can be a bit noisier--good for family or group, not quiet date), but can fill up quickly since this is a popular area. Come early or call to make reservation.

They have many local brews as well as offering unique menu selections such as bison burgers (my favorite!). Great for lunch or dinner or for a pint before heading to some of the country music clubs in the area. Slight warning on the lemon-pepper chicken though (not so good). Most meals are under $10.

Parking is next to restaurant or in many lots around Old Town area.

The Wichita River Festival is the largest and most popular festival in Wichita each year and draws crowds from the surrounding area. The fun begins a week early with the beginning of the Wichita Eagle Medallion Hunt. A new clue is published in the paper each morning to the secret location of the medallion (in some public area--often a park). The hunt is quite popular since the prize for finding the medallion is several thousand dollars plus your picture in the paper.

The Festival continues with traditional events such as the Sundown Parade which features local area high school marching bands (there are more than a dozen) and a float competition by different community groups--and then of course there are the Shriners in their fez hats and little toy cars. The hot air balloon take off is quite spectacular but requires getting out of bed quite early. For the later risers, there is fair food, barbeque cookoffs, and concerts. Last year Hootie and Blow Fish was the main act. On a bit more formal level there is also an Admiral's Ball with the honorary "Admiral Windwagon Smith" chosen from the local community.

There are lots of activities geared at kids as well with Treasure Island games and activities in Riverside park. People of all ages enjoy the crazier stunts like the bath tub race down the Arkansas (that's pronounced "R-kansas") River. For those athletically inclined there is a River Run 10K race and for those wishing lower impact a "walk" as well.

The River Festival is a great deal as most events can be entered with the purchase of a River Festival button (a few bucks) sold at local area businesses/grocery stores. Since most of the events are downtown, the trolley runs downtown between all the events to cut down on the traffic (and also because many of the roads are blocked off). The next River Festival is May 9-17, 2003.

Check out the website for more info at http://www.wichitariverfestival.org/riverfestival/.

This museum traces the history of man in space from the invention of rocketry through to the international space station. Associated with the Smithsonian, the museum not only houses an amazing number of artifacts and lifesize models of the different space crafts, suits, and other equipment, but does restoration work as well. For example, you can see from behind a class wall, scientists restoring the actual Apollo 13 model that the astronauts returned to earth in after almost near disaster! There are also life-size models of the lunar modal that was left on the moon and a rover.

Including a completely round domed IMAX theatre and the museum you need at least half a day but you could easily spend the whole day here. This museum is very professional and more informative than some of the actual Smithsonian museums in DC. Although this museum is geared for the whole family, you might want to leave the kids at home so you will have time to look take in all the exhibits.

The museum is about an hour's drive north of Wichita and is open everyday. It's $11 for adults and $8 which includes an IMAX movie, the exhibit hall, and some of the other presentations. Check out the museum's website for more information at http://www.cosmo.org/. This is a site not to be missed! I've been to both the Kennedy and Johnson Space Centers and the exhibit here is more informative than either!

This is one of the top breeding zoos in the country and along with over 2500 animals of 500 species, this zoo has several unique habitat exhibits as well.

The North American Prairie exhibit might be the only of its kind in the world and offers a glimpse of animals indigenous to the area (although many rare now) in their natural environments. There are black bears, grizzly bears, otters, wolves, bald eagles, sandhill cranes, bison, a prairie dog town, cougars, and elk. There is also a boat ride. Go buy tickets to this first before looking around the zoo since rides tend to sell out quickly.

The new KOCH Orangutan and Chimpanzee Habitat sponsored by a local millionaire family is a chance to see many of the great apes in huge playgrounds that give you a chance to witness their playfulness and social behavior first hand.

There are three children's farms that offer: the Asian farm, American farm, and African farm--which has camels and warthogs! Also in the zoo are a herpetarium, rainforest house with jungle walk through, African veldt, and South American pampas. You can spend all day or all summer here.

More info at their website: http://www.scz.org/

Cowtown is an open-air museum that introduces visitors to life in Wichita from 1860s-1880s. Original buildings have been moved from sites around Wichita and the wider Kansas area to give visitors insight to shops (including a barbershop, carpenters, blacksmith, drug store, general store, and funeral home) and home life with the recent addition of an entire farm complete with animals. Children and adults alike will enjoy the demonstrations, riding out to the farm in a covered wagon, and trying their own hand at printing, carpentry, grain grinding, and more. When we were there this fall, they were doing Victorian dancing in costume and at the end some of the audience members (including my dad and I) got to join in. It was very fun (and challenging).

As with most places in Wichita there is loads of parking. Because the museum is outdoors it is only open from Mar 31-Oct 31; however, if you are in Wichita in December there are usually some Christmas special days which include an old-fashioned church service.

Tickets to the park are $7 for adults. Also annual family memberships are also inexpensive. The visitors center has been recently moved to a new building on the other side of the park with a nice common area where dinner concerts with the former Prairie Wranglers Music group are held. This is a first-class trio who single old-cowboy songs and are quite worth the hefty ticket price of $30. The offical website is http://www.old-cowtown.org/.

The botanical gardens are a well-manicured and landscaped escape from city-life in the middle of the city. In the same park area as Cowtown and the Art Museum it makes for a convenient stop. There is a large butterfly house that is quite fantastic in season as well a woodland trail besides the many species of flowers you expect to see. Also entertaining are the number of high school seniors getting their "senior pictures" taken here. A great place to spend a few relaxing hours or to get married.

As part of the downtown renovation, sculptor Georgia Gerber has designed life-size bronze sculptures that line the downtown sidewalks. Sculptures include a man walking barefoot in a fountain, a man playing guitar for a listening dog, a girl playing hopscotch, and a Woolworth's lunch counter. One of the joys of walking or driving down Douglas Avenue is not only appreciating these sculptures but spotting them in unexpected places.

The Bucknell alumni page has this to say about the sculptor:
Georgia Gerber ’77 began sculpting pieces on the family ping-pong table when she was still in high school. She now creates life-size and larger bronze renderings of people and animals in her own studio. Her replica of a vintage Woolworth lunch counter, complete with salt shakers and customers, beckons office workers to sit on the empty stools at lunchtime in a "pocket park" in downtown Wichita, Kan.

The realistic-looking lunch counter is just one example of Gerber’s "public art"— pieces that motivate folks to mingle with the statues. Funded by a $500,000 grant from the DeVore Foundation to renovate the downtown, Gerber created an assortment of other figures, including a guitarist, a little girl playing hopscotch, and a boy pushing a pedal car. Lining the city’s major avenue, they are fully accessible to an admiring public.

"They put scarves and hats on the sculptures in winter — kids and adults. You get the feeling you can interact with it, versus a piece just to be viewed and walked by," says Gerber. She is especially grateful that youngsters are enchanted by her pieces. "It’s wonderful to watch children interact with art; usually, they’re not allowed to touch it."

The Warren Theater makes the most of the movie going experience. Going all out with the decor, the Warren aims to give you the experience of going to the movies in the 1930's and 1940's with an art deco scheme, its very own malt shop (west location) or diner (east loaction), and uniformed staff with brass buttons. Not to be out done, the restrooms at the new east location has a waiting lounge complete with couches and a real fire in the fireplace, while the restrooms (at least the women's) have a vanity area and at least 30-40 toilets.

Of course the technology is 21st century with Digital surround sound and some theatres with stadium seating and curved screens. In all of the theaters the seats are red plush with high backs that lean back. This makes both for comfortable movie watching and avoids the scenario of having to lean left or right to see around the tall person in front of you. There is also so much leg room between rows that you don't have to squish in order for people to get up and out of the rows. Everything is run very professionally. The curtains are drawn up from in front of the enormous screens before the show begins and the only ads are movie previews (no made-for-movie-screen commericals that have taken the Odeon movie chain by storm).

Tickets are $5 for matinees (begins before 6pm) and $6.50 afterward. Showtimes can be found in the paper or by calling the theater at (316) 773-3232. There is also a drive-up ticket machine and ATM for ticket purchasing out-of-hours.

The Warren Theatre's west location is easily found on west 21st street. The east location can quickly be reached on the northeast expressway (Kansas highway 96) at the 13th street exit. There will also be a location in Old Town opening sometime within the next year or so.

Central Riverside Park is part of a larger Riverside area park system that includes a smaller North Riverside Park as well as the "Museums along the River," which includes the Art Museum, Old Cowtown Museum, Botanica, and the Mid-America Indian Center. All are located just northwest of downtown.

Central Riverside Park is a large park along the river and features the Kansas Wildlife exhibit, a duck pond, and a large playground most notably remembered by children for its three-story "rocket ship." The park makes an excellent stop for families with pre-school- or elementary-school-age children who need to work off some of their extra energy.

The Kansas Wildlife Exhibit is a small zoo that features a block of half a dozen large cages with native Kansas animals in their natural environment. There are several large birds, including hawks, a vulture, and many colorful ducks. The highlights are definitely the large bobcat and the beaver, who is usually building a small dam in his little pond. The duck pond is next to the exhibit; however, the ducks and geese are absent during the winter period.

The playground consists of the large metal rocket ship with three floors and a slide exit on the second floor, a dome jungle gym, swings, smaller metal "space craft," a merry-go-round, a tire swing, toddler swings, several colorful concrete structures to climb on, and a newer metal/plastic playground with slides, monkey bars, etc. Children will enjoy this area immensely, and there are benches for adults to rest on while watching over the kids.

There is plenty of parking. If you enter the park on Bitting, you can park right next to the wildlife exhibit and about 30 meters from the playground. The park is open year-round.

Ice Sports Wichita is located downtown and offers two ice-skating rinks (one for free skates and the other for ice-hockey games) plus skate rental, skating supplies for sale, a concession stand, and a bar upstairs with a viewing area onto the rinks.

Call (316) 337-9199 for updated free-skate times. Here is a rough estimate of the schedule for free skating:

Monday No public skating
Tuesday 11:30am-1pm; 7-8:30pm
Cheap Skate Tuesdays (admission is $4)
Wednesday Coffee Club (adults only)
9am-11:15am; 11:30am-2pm; 6:15-8:30pm
Thursday 11:30am-2pm
Friday 7-10:30pm
Saturday 12pm-3pm; 7-10:30pm
Sunday 12pm-3pm

The admission fee is normally $6 per person with an additional $2 fee for skate rental. The good news is that the admission is good for all day, so you can leave to have lunch, for example, and come back later without having to pay for readmission. There are plenty of small lockers to store your valuables or your skates (if you are leaving and coming back). It costs either 25 cents to rent a small one (holds three to four pairs of sneakers and a purse) or 50 cents for a large locker, which would hold all of the above plus a coat.

Skating here is really an enjoyable outing. The ice is smoothed out by the Zamboni machine every two hours during the free skate, and the rental skates (plastic with large clips to secure tight fit) are in good shape and reasonably comfortable. Both figure and hockey skates are available, and there are helmets for young children. Although on the weekend the rink can get occasionally crowded, most of the time there's plenty of room.

There are also plenty of viewing areas for spectators. Both rinks have a bleacher section with plastic seats with backs and shared armrests. Slightly warmer are benches between the concession stand and entrance to the ice, where you can not only change your footwear but also watch your children while they are on the ice. Also, there's a bar and grill one floor up with large windows that allow one to look down on the ice.

The possibility of figure skating or hockey lessons is also available. During the free skates, you can see small children practicing jumps and spins in the center under the watchful eyes of their coaches. Inquire at the shop or check out the website:

http://www.icesports.com/wichita/