Our Weekend Trip to Wichita, KS

Surprise! We took another pretty-spontaneous weekend trip for our anniversary in June. This time we stayed a little closer to home, driving about two hours to Wichita, Kansas. If you’re stationed at Vance or just happen to be in the area (lol), I highly recommend this destination for a weekend getaway. The drive is not much longer than the drive to OKC, and I know y’all be makin that drive weekly for your Trader Joe’s and Target fix. For those who haven’t heard the devastating news, Enid does not have either of those stores! Write a letter on our behalf plz we are desperate.

In a nutshell, Wichita is a small city with just enough going on to keep you entertained without being overcrowded or overwhelming. Not to mention everything was incredibly affordable, especially with some military discounts sprinkled in. Read on for a full overview of where we stayed, what we did, and most importantly, what we ate.

Where to Stay

From my very limited experience, it seems there are two parts of Wichita to spend your time in: the riverwalk and old town. Both locations have hotels and Airbnb’s available, but we opted for the Hotel at Old Town. It’s part of a luxury hotel group that also owns and operates the Hotel at Waterwalk for those who want the same level of service by the water. What’s cool about staying at one of these properties is that your hotel room key acts as a discount card at dozens of local businesses, with perks ranging from a free yoga class to 20% off your dinner tab. They call it the Gold Cap Experience.

The reason we ultimately chose to stay in old town was because that’s where the night life is. We figured we didn’t mind driving to the museums, memorials, and restaurants by the riverwalk, but would want to be walking distance from our hotel when it came time to hit the bars in old town. Basically we chose to stay where we were more likely to be drunk. There, I said it!

Hotel at Old Town was ideally situated in the heart of Old Town and had an upscale, historic feel. They knew it was our anniversary weekend, so they hooked us up with a top-floor room which had the most majestic window and view of the entire old town square. The room had a kitchenette, complete with refrigerator, microwave and even a stove. The cabinets were stocked with cookware, plateware and silverware. All the wares! While we didn’t use the kitchen much, I can imagine it would be a nice touch for families or guests who prefer not to eat out as much.

This hotel also helped me keep the old-timey, historic hotel vibes going from our last weekend trip. From the classic piano bar in the lobby to the old-timey hotel phone in our room, I definitely felt like we were living our best 1920’s lives.

I will say, however, it was much more modern and updated than the Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs (but that’s not saying much). And as far as I could tell, this place wasn’t haunted.

What to Do

Aside from eating and drinking, which admittedly makes up the majority of our travels, there is a lot of great stuff to do in Wichita. The best part was that it was all so easy to drive to! All of it was within a 5-10 minute drive of each other, and there was nearly non-existent traffic the entire weekend.

Walk the (River)Walk

As I mentioned above, the riverwalk is one of two areas you’ll definitely want to spend some time in. It’s a huge stretch of paved walkway along the Arkansas River that walkers, runners and bicyclists share. There are tons of things to do and even a few restaurants along the way, but these were the places we prioritized on our first visit.

Exploration Place is a science center that hosts interesting exhibits and is home to the Boeing Dome Theater. On our visit, we explored oddities in the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not exhibit, learned about how planes work, and saw an amazing show on the Apollo space program in the dome theater.

Regardless of what’s on display or what’s playing at the theater, I’d say it’s always worth a visit when in Wichita. Right now, the Exploration Place is participating in the Blue Star Military Program so active duty members can bring up to five guests for free. Note that this doesn’t include tickets to the Boeing Dome Theater, but that’s only $5 per ticket. You can even try your hand at a flight simulator and hopefully do better than I did:

Veteran’s Memorial Park is a sprawling park right off the river that has breathtaking memorials and tributes to veterans of several wars. Park here and take a stroll through the memorials, then turn toward the river for a relaxing walk along the water toward Keeper of the Plains.

Keeper of the Plains is a magnificent metal statue on the river that watches over the city. We walked from Veteran’s Memorial Park with lattes in hand and crossed the bridge to the statue. Surrounding it is the Mid-America All-Indian Center where you can learn interesting facts about the history and culture of the plains. And, every night, a “Ring of Fire” ignites around the statue and burns for 15 minutes. Definitely a sight to see! Check the website for times as they change throughout the year.

Hatman Jack’s was not on my list of things to do or see, but it was just down the block from where we were having lunch (ramen, yum!) and we saw enough people walking out with massive hat boxes that we just had to check it out. After trying on a ton of awesome hats, I actually ended up buying one that I wear regularly! I never considered myself a straw hat kind of person, but here we are.

Party in Old Town

Since we were staying in old town, we started our day off by the riverwalk and came to old town to settle in for the night. We checked into our hotel, relaxed a bit (in reality, I worked a bit) and then we went out on the town!

Okay so we actually started with dirty martinis at our hotel lobby bar, chatted with some new friends, enjoyed the live piano, but then we went out on the town!

Mort’s Martini and Cigar Bar is right in the middle of all the old town action and was our first stop on Saturday night. They boast a massively long list of “martinis” to choose from, but really it was just a bunch of cocktails served up (aka in a martini glass). If you can look past that, though, this place is great fun! There’s live music out on the patio where guests can choose from a menu of cigars to enjoy along with their drinks. And don’t worry, if cigar smoke isn’t really your thing, you can choose to sit inside where there is no smoking, just drinks and free popcorn!

Public at the Brickyard is a short walk across the square from Mort’s and my new favorite place to be on a warm Saturday night. We were a few martinis deep by the time we left Mort’s, so we literally just followed the sounds of a cover band playing “Stacy’s Mom” and found ourselves here.

There was a huge outdoor courtyard where a high-energy cover band was playing all the best throwback hits, and there was an indoor area that serves a full menu of food up until 9 or 10pm. Even if you aren’t wanting to eat, you’ll want to spend some time inside playing games like shuffleboard and skee-ball. Nick and I spent no fewer than two hours playing skee-ball and drinking (you guessed it) dirty martinis.

Old Chicago is really nothing special in my humble opinion, but this location is open late and within walking distance of the old town bars. Needless to say, it was jam-packed around 1am. We waited maybe 40 minutes for our takeout order but honestly, the pasta and pizza (aka carbs and fat) were so worth it. Tasted just as great as leftovers the next morning, too!

Asian Food in Wichita?!

Blessed be the fruit of ethnic diversity in Kansas. I would have never guessed I would find great, authentic Asian food in Wichita, but indeed I did! We only had one night and about the equivalent of one day in town, so our culinary adventure was limited to two lunches and the late-night drunchies splurge at Old Chicago mentioned above.

Yokohama Ramen Joint was our first meal in Wichita. Coming from LA, the best-reviewed ramen place in OKC was solidly meh, so coming to an even smaller midwest city, I wasn’t hopeful. But Yokohama did not disappoint! It was a tiny restaurant with no more than 10 small tables, but around 2pm on a hot Saturday afternoon, we were seated right away. It’s located in a cute little square just a few minutes away from the riverwalk. Here you’ll find a handful of dining options, ranging from sushi and ramen to a divey diner.

Thao’s Bistro, off the beaten path in what some would say is a seedy neighborhood, is the most legit Vietnamese restaurant I’ve visited since leaving home. That means the menu has 100+ items on it, the servers are the children of the owners who are cooking in the back, and the food is fire but the service is slow. 10/10 would recommend.

All in all, Wichita was a great place to visit and we will definitely be back!