In my efforts with my husband to visit every US state together, we weren’t sure for reasons to visit Kansas. So, when I heard my favorite radio host was doing a show with his band in Wichita, AND it was over my birthday weekend- we had to go!
With our research, there isn’t too much to do around Wichita, and we wanted to make just a quick weekend trip, so we flew in on a Saturday from United, with a 2 pm flight from Pittsburgh, had a quick layover in Chicago, and were in Wichita by 6 pm.
(I do have to add on that I received a new ‘weekender bag’ for my birthday, and it was the perfect size for this trip, especially since the airplane was so small, if we had carry-on luggage, it would have been plane side (again not a big deal) … see my post on Santa Fe for size comparison of the airport, ICT had 9 gates compared to 2 (still unsure what ICT means, it is all over the city). (No, there is not a yellow brick road in the airport.) (We only so 1 reference to the Wizard of Oz, and that was a beer from a KS brewery.)
The airport was an 8-minute drive to our hotel in the city (Ambassador Hotel, Autograph Collection), we lucked out and had a car shuttle (a black Escalade) from the hotel- so there was no need to rent a car, plus we were not leaving the city.
We freshened up and were walking through the city by 6:30. We were the ONLY people walking… the city was empty. Yes, it was Labor Day weekend, BUT we were the only people. The city was basically closed. There are no shops within the city buildings. Most buildings were under construction. No joke, we passed 1 couple walking their dog as we walked down W. Douglas Ave bridge to dinner at The Monarch in Delano. Once we arrived for dinner and drinks, we finally saw people sitting (it was bizarre). (Delano is part of Friends University, so there were some people around the area.) There was a very large selection of bourbon and whiskey, and the menu items looked good, but the food portion was very small. I would recommend looking around for another place to eat before going back.
After dinner, we walked back to our hotel to try out the speakeasy within the hotel: Dockum Apothecary. We were allowed in, but did not have reservations, we were asked if we wanted to sit in the Vault (the hotel is an old bank). We went in and felt very awkward but made the best of it. Take a tip and get a reservation to sit at the bar or a high-top. The specialty drinks were great, but the drinks we requested that were not on the menu were not so great. I would go back again, knowing to stick to the drink menu.
We got up the next morning and took a walk along the Arkansas River, we did see a few more people exercising along the river, but it did seem like everyone leaves the city for the weekend- it was still very quiet. Everyone was friendly and said hello or good morning to us. The city has a lot of statues that are pretty cool and add a nice feeling around the city. Across from the river, we were able to see The Keeper of the Plains sculpture.
We took an Uber to Crutch and Biscuit, about 10 min out of the city. It was a delicious, huge portion- we actually didn’t eat for the rest of the day, we were so full. We took the uber back (got the same Uber: UBERMAN) and got ready for the music fest at Wave.
Wave Amphitheater was within walking distance for us- we headed over around 2. We missed the first 2 acts but lucked out since Bobby brought them up on the stage later. The venue can hold about 5,500 outside and about 2,400 inside and is made of old train shipping cars, it was pretty cool. There are no bag restrictions either, so that was nice. There is a bar inside, and also outside, and food can be purchased from Adiós Nachoria inside (though, I did see an Uber Eats McDonald's drop-off later in the night). There is a large selection of drinks for mixed drinks, cans, or drafts. Inside has a smaller stage, like a club area. Outside has a big stage, with rocks as the ground. There is an above VIP area outside.
We were able to see the acts for Bobby Fest 2021 inside and outside- It was great! The venue is right beside raised train tracks, so every time a train drove by they would blow the horn. It was very entertaining, and everyone cheered, and the artists commented, it went along with the music well and wasn’t too distracting. We were able to see Walker Burroughs, Taylor Acorn, Raymundo from the morning show doing Trivia, Nikita Karmen, Boy Named Banjo (They were awesome, I got a tank top from the merchandise area!), Seaforth, Maddie & Tae, Russell Dickerson, and Bobby Bones & The Raging Idiots. (It was a great, fun, exciting show!)
I don’t think I’ll be back to Wichita, let alone KS overall, but it was an experience! Take a look at the cell phone video I made so you can check it out from #bobbyfest : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsqKmRWEVUY&t=45s
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