Wichita is Closed

For the first time since New Years Day of 2016, I found myself overnighting in Wichita, Kansas. On that previous visit, Nicole and I braved 20 degree temps as we remarked on how deserted downtown Wichita was. We assumed this was due to it being New Years Day. Flash forward two years and little has changed...

Since I had a pretty long layover, I looked into museums or other attractions to see. It's then that I discovered everything's closed on Sunday. Nevertheless, I put on my jacket and hat and decided to go for a walk.

As I walked along the riverwalk, the only living creatures I encountered were geese who were too stupid to migrate. They had left a good amount of their poop on the trail to remind me who owned this part of town.

With the exception of a homeless man propped up against a veterans memorial, I saw zero people.

I approached an area with a bridge and a cascading fall that led up to a statue of sorts. I thought to myself, "Well that's at least interesting. Let me check it out..."

 No such luck. The pedestrian bridge was somehow also closed. Sunday is real serious business in Wichita. I gave up. From there I went into downtown Wichita and old town. It was noon now and I thought it best to try and find a place to eat. To date the only restaurant I have eaten at in Wichita is the restaurant attached to the hotel.

The creepy statues were my only company on downtown's streets. As I have previously speculated, it's to give downtown the illusion of being active and vibrant. I'm not sure if this town is a has-been or a never-was. Perhaps they are yearning to make America great again, like when cows roamed the streets and stores were open. But without exaggeration, I saw one place open during my entire walk. The rest were for lease or simply closed.

I found a Quizno's nearby on my map, so I walked toward it only to find that it too was closed. Things weren't looking good. When I returned to the hotel, I did a search to see what was available in the Wichita airport terminal to eat. The only thing that seemed quick and easy was a Chick-Fil-A. It's like a sick joke. I could starve to death here! At this rate, I'll have to wait until I get to Denver to eat. Pray for me. There's a church around the corner, and it's the only thing open today.

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...

I'm Going to Wichita!

You know . . . like the song from the White Stripes? No? Ok... As far as I can remember, I had never been to Kansas before. I have come close on a few occasions -- most recently about 9 years ago when I drove my car from Wisconsin to California. I almost clipped the edge, but got to experience Oklahoma instead. This new job has brought me to many new places. As snarky and sarcastic as I am known to be, these places do fascinate me -- even if it's the sheer shock that anyone even lives there. For the record, Wichita is not one of those places. I didn't see much of it, but it is the 49th largest U.S. city by population according to the hotel's guidebook. The view from the Drury Inn wasn't too bad. I could see the river and some Christmas decorations lit up below me. As a flight crew member, we get a discount at the hotel's restaurant, but I ventured outside hoping to at least take in my surroundings and try something different. Anything I walked by was either abandoned or closed. This was less than ideal. In fact, I didn't even see another person. I must expand my search area next time. I will be here for New Years Eve, so I'll have to do more research.

We didn't have to leave the following day until 1045am, so I had plenty of time to grab some breakfast. This seems to be a rare occasion for me lately. I usually have to catch an airport shuttle around 5:55am and breakfast begins at 6:00am. Such a tease. Little did I know then, that our departure from Wichita with 30 mile per hour wind gusts would be the best weather I would encounter all day.