New Years in Wichita

It was a busy day of flying - five legs total eventually terminating in Wichita, Kansas around 8:00pm. Nicole was in the back coming to Wichita to welcome the new year with me. I did a small amount of research trying to figure out where we might go for dinner or to grab a couple drinks. If you recall from my last visit to Wichita, I had great difficulty finding anything that was open and ultimately ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. Despite it being New Years Eve, most restaurants/bars were closed in the immediate vicinity. Once again, we ended up at the hotel restaurant. It was very crowded inside, probably due to the lack of other options.

We watched the ball drop in NYC (at 11:00pm) and essentially missed the exact moment it became new years in Wichita because the tv stations don't apparently care about central time zone and were still showing idiots in New York talking about how they were so excited to be in Times Square despite having soiled themselves three times over.

The next morning we ventured outside to explore the deserted city. We walked to an area called old town, but everything was either closed or for lease.

I understand it's New Years Day and all, but I just couldn't believe the sheer lack of any activity anywhere. Occasionally we would be walking along and we would see what we thought was a person. It was not. For whatever reason, the city has put up numerous statues ranging from birds over a trash can to a fox walking around with a duck in its mouth to a man playing the guitar. I kept thinking of a scene in Blazing Saddles where they have to erect a fake town of Rockridge and realize they need to create people to make it more believable. This is apparently what has happened in Wichita.

I will commence my first flight of the new year from Wichita back to Minneapolis, and with any luck catch a flight home for the first time in weeks. It is crucial I get back to LA. I have been trying to get a haircut for weeks, but every attempt is foiled by a change in my airline schedule. I was ready to get one in Cedar Rapids, but found myself stuck in the airport instead of next to a SuperCuts. And I think we all know that I'm not going to find a place to get my hair cut in Wichita today...