Wonders of Wichita!
The Kansas Media Day was held in Wichita, Kansas. My visit was sponsored, and I was hosted tour many wonderful sites in this beautiful city full of creativity, art, and agricultural stops! During my visit to Wichita, I saw the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview and explored some innovative shopping sites. We toured the wildlife park at Tanganyika, walked through a sunflower maze at Kansas Maze. Our group sipped wine at Grace Hill Winery, painted at the Lazy Moon Ranch, and experienced great food and cocktails at Grow@Botanic, and the Public House. We ended our trip with a stop at the iconic Keeper of the Plains to watch the lighting of the fire bowls. Let me tell you all about it.
The media day offered a chance for writers and bloggers to meet with Kansas State destinations!
A little history.
The city of Wichita sits at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers. By 1895 Wichita was the 3rd largest city in Kansas. However, Native nomadic people had been using the area up to 11,000 years ago!
Western visitors go back as early as 1541 when Francisco Vaquez de Coronado was searching for his cities of gold. He met the Wichita Indians, that later moved to Oklahoma until returning during the Civil War.
Wichita has a lot of western cowboy history! I noted that the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview was along the Chisholm Trail. The trail is named after Jesse Chisholm along with Black Beaver, a Lenape guide and rancher. Together they established a trading point at the confluence in the 1860’s. I learned there is a Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan, Oklahoma that would be wonderful to visit!
Oil and Manufacturing come to Wichita!
In 1914, the oil boom arrived, which in turn brought refineries to town. Besides the architecture, I also want to come back to visit because Wichita is known as the “Air Capitol of the World” since they have produced more aircraft than any other US city! Today Wichita is a vibrant city with much to offer along the river and more.
Drury Hotel Plaza Broadview
During my visit, I stayed at the beautifully restored Drury Hotel Plaza Broadview. I loved the history and art in this lovely hotel. While the rooms were comfortable, and food good, my very, very favorite aspect of the visit was a small view in of a mosaic mural in the Crystal Ballroom. Hotel Manager Scott Ragatz shared in the 1960’s over a twelve-year period the mural was created by Native American artist Blackbear Bosin. He used students to assist. Blackbear Bosin also created the Keeper of the Plains! The 1,500-square-foot mosaic theme in the ballroom is “The Advance of Civilization in Kansas”.
Innovative shopping, art and culinary opportunities!
After our wonderful Kansas Media Event 2023, we boarded a luxury bus, and headed to Revolutsia for a tour and tasting. This unconventional area offers a fun space. The website explains, “Using an established building and additional shipping containers utilized as “building blocks,” the corner is used for retail, restaurants and office space. The focus is an outdoor food court and seating area that creates a sense of community and belonging.”
Artist Deliah Reed owns the fun shop The Loud Cicada where I found some marvelous earrings. Reed created a painting that was later presented to Colby Sharples Terry, of Kansas Department of Commerce. I loved the bright colors and spaces. The Mulberry Art Gallery and YBG Studios were two of my other favorite stops!
For those of us that love German food, Prost was a wonderful treat. We sampled German beer along with amazing food.
Marks Arts Tour and a culinary experience
Mark Arts is described as a vibrant regional arts hub, this fun place provided both indoor and outdoor art. We had a fun tour and wondered through the studio at leisure to enjoy. I love that they share, “The mission of Mark Arts is to be a vibrant arts hub in Wichita and the region by providing opportunities to appreciate and create art in an atmosphere of lifelong learning.”
At Marks Art, in their culinary teaching kitchen, we had a great dish. The chef explained that through immigration of first Hispanic, then Vietnamese, then Lebanese, and finally Mexican peoples, the focus of food in Wichita was impacted by their arrivals. He served us a meal reflecting these wonderful tastes. The Baklava was truly awe inspiring!
Cleveland Corner and Viola’s Pantry
What a fun space Cleveland Corner offers. The best description for this is from the website, “MERGING RETAIL, HOME FURNISHINGS, FOOD, ART, FASHION AND CULTURE”.
With locally owned businesses, and a few profiled that will eventually move into a mortar brick building of their own, this is a place for businesses to become established, grow and expand. Innovation is truly a trend I see here and in Wichita in general. This is a creative space with something for all. J.K Design owner Janelle King who specializes in furniture selection and design, space planning and sewing services started the corner as an outlet for her design business.
While at Cleveland Corner we got to sample the culinary offerings of Viola’s Pantry. An Italian pantry named after the owner’s grandmother, they offer fresh meals and home-made goodness. We sampled focaccia bread which was the best I’ve ever tasted!
Tanganyika an animal experience!
Tanganyika is like nothing I’ve ever been to before. As a kid, I watched the television drama Daktari, and always wanted to be a veterinarian in Africa. I loved hearing the story of how this came about by Matt Fouts, Tanganyika’s Director. It all began when his father Jim Fouts got a San Diego Zoo Guidebook. His love of animals took him from working at a zoo to establishing his own breeding facility and animal wildlife park. On their website they share, “Over the past eight years, we have grown into the third largest animal collection in Kansas, and one of the largest attractions in the state.”
After a tasty dinner of building a Buddha Bowl, we had our own opportunity to tour, and bond with the animals. We got to pet a sloth, feed a rhino, sit with lemurs, pet an exotic porcupine, feed a giraffe, see a penguin, and more!
What an amazing experience!
Sunflowers, wine and llamas!
Day two we took off for the Kansas Maze. This farm has been in the Gaeddert family for over 75 years. Originally established in 1880 by Mr. Ben Buhler whose family the nearby town is named after, in 1930 the farm was purchased by Frank and Katherine Gaeddert. Today owned by Leon and Ruth Gaeddert, they, along with their daughters Tonya Martisko, and Julie Gaeddert have turned what was once a traditional farm into a wonderful agritourism sunflower maze! Tonya’s husband Brent is also part of the Kansas Maze mix.
During my visit, much to my joy, I also spotted a Farmall H that was part of the scene!
Grace Hill Winery
Onto the Grace Hill Winery for a fun lunch and wine tasting! Our host and his canine companion shared the different wines. He told the story of the winery and offered us up a fun tour. My favorite wine was Peckerhead Red like many from middle America. You can go here for live music, tastings, dining and more. Bring the kids, bring the dogs, they are laid back and fun!
Lazy Moon Ranch
After a little food and wine, we set out for the utterly unique Lazy Moon Ranch. On their Facebook page you get a sense of who they are. This comes through with, “Where Farm & Art Collide” at this fun hobby farm.
Jeremy and Erin and their children run this farm filled with eccentric art decor and fun merchandise. I saw skeletons sitting on tractors, psychedelic art in what I think was a party room. We came across ducks, goats, donkeys, llamas and more! Erin, who is oh so kind (she treated me for a cut after I took a tumble on gravel) led a paint class where we studiously composed a sunflower painting. What makes this so unusual was that we did this in a llama pasture.
RISE Rooftop Garden & Grow@Botanic
The RISE Rooftop Garden is part of Firefly Farms. The garden is an urban garden and the website states, “As a beacon of environmental progress in the heart of Wichita, Kansas, RISE Farms is a 15,000-square-foot specialty crop farm and a 204-panel solar farm blooming on the top floor of Fidelity Bank’s RISE Car Park.”
I was mesmerized by the technology involved in this farm where they create solar power and sell vegetables and fruit to both restaurants and individuals. Luckily, you can schedule a tour and learn about this garden, which could very well be the future of urban farming. How inventive to use this space in such a meaningful way!
After touring at RISE, we headed for cocktails and more at GROW@Botanic. This has a fun vibe with a lot going on, there is an event room where it looked like perhaps a bridal shower was happening.
There was the bar surrounded by plants. I decided to go with a fun tea, but the colorful drink concoctions others choose were works of art, and from what everyone said, quite tasty! Visitors can find fun gifts, and they also offer workshops like the one we did to create a terrarium.
Public House and the Keeper!
While all of our meals were tasty, the food at Public@Brickyard was absolutely amazing! After just leaving RISE, we had the good fortune to dine on some of their fine greens! As they state on their website, “Public is an all-inclusive farm-to-table eatery for the whole family! Adjacent to Brickyard, Old Town’s premier outdoor music venue, we first opened our doors in 2012 for dinner service with the goal of serving fresh and regionally sustainable ingredients to create our take on the flavors of local cuisine.
The meal was finely crafted and delicious! From the watermelon salad to the pork shoulder and more every bit was the best. The roasted potatoes just made us all say MORE!
The visit ended with a stop at Blackbear Bosin’s amazing Keeper of the Plains.
It is fitting remembering the area at the confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas rivers was first settled by Native American peoples that the visit should end with a commemorative tribute. There is none better than this beautiful 44-foot steel statue with hands raised in supplication to the Great Spirit. I am thankful God allowed me to take this wonderful trip.
Be sure to check with Visit Wichita to learn more about the 50-plus museums and attractions, the 1,200 plus eateries and to learn more about the innovative spirit that embraces this city that is all heart!
