Would you visit Wichita, KS
 

Is there anything in Wichita, Ks that would cause you to make it a destination in your travels? Or even a stopover en route to somewhere else?

No. Wichita has a police chief who, after five white kids were brutally tortured and murdered 2 Christmas' ago by two black hoodlum brothers, claimed the crime was not racially motivated. A fool.

Wichita is truly a soulless, sad place worthy of no more than a glance out your rear view mirror as you speed past.<BR>Can't think of a single good thing to say about it. Sorry.

I was born and raised 30 miles from Wichita, and I never liked it even then. There really isn't any attraction to speak of for a tourist, but it is a cheap place to stay.

I wouldn't, unless I had a relative I was going to visit. If there was a specific reason for going there (like a wedding or funeral) then I would attempt to find something interesting about the place. But, to plan a vacation around Wichita...probably not.

I too have to vote against witchita. Only been there twice, but both times was impressed only by the amount of grime and poverty i saw.

I live in Wichita,and while I would not call it a travel destination, there are a few things to do here. We have a great zoo and a top-notch science center called Exploration Place. Could be a good place to stop and stretch your legs for a few hours.

I live in Kansas and would not recommend Wichita to anyone I like. It's a nasty town with a high crime rate. I hate to say this but I would almost (heavy emphasis on almost) recommend going to Oklahoma City or Tulsa to stop. The good news is Dallas is only 6 hours or so from Wichita.

SIX HOURS! That's got to be the worst "good news' I've ever heard.

Its a ghetto in Kansas. That sounds like a darn good time doesn't it?<BR>

I just returned from an overnight stay in Wichita earlier this week. Was there to see two customers and had no time to check out the city but a quick gander at citysearch and other web sites didn't turn up too much. There is a good club somewhere outside the town that has live blues periodically... our customer thought that MAYBE there was one Starbucks in town... it looked like a quiet place without too much going on. The good news is that a really nice room was only $69 per night. We stayed at Cambridge Suites by Candlewood. My room had fireplace, large TV, recliner, kitchen etc. Was identical to a nice Marriot Residence Inn unit but without the upstairs loft type arrangement (my co-worker's room had a sleep sofa rather than recliner but no fireplace). One of the best rooms I've ever stayed in for the $$ and right by the highway. We had dinner at the Scotch and Sirloin restaurant - excelllent steakhouse. Seems like an okay place to spend one night but not a great place to visit.

Kept hoping someone would post in with some good words for my home state big city.....but I have to agree w/the above posters: Wichita makes me nervous, and it's not much of a destination city. Tulsa is so much better.....

If someone referred to my hometown by saying Tulsa is so much better, I'd move out by sunrise.

I agree with everyone else. I live in Kansas (suburb of Kansas City on the Kansas side). Nothing to see or do in Wichita.

Only at gunpoint.

This would be my trip to Wichita:<BR>Fly into K.C. and spend the night on the Plaza, eat at Plaza III and go to a Jazz Bar. Rent a car and drive to Wichita. The Flint Hills are truly beautiful between Emporia and Wichita. Stay at the Hyatt on the river in Wichita. Get up the next day and visit the science museum and Botanica. Botanica are wonderful gardens in downtown Wichita. The next day take a drive to Hutchinson(one hour drive north)and see the cosmosphere. This is a full days trip and worth seeing. Come back and do some shopping and eat out on the east side of town. Get up the next day and drive south of Wichita to Winfield because it is the middle of September and it is Bluegrass weekend. See lots of music, buy some crafts and camp out in the camp grounds. You won't get much sleep because they play music all night. Drive back to K.C. through Augusta and eat at the chinese restaurant there. It is my favorite. Spend the night at the Crown Center in K.C., eat at Arthur Bryants the next day, and fly home. Have fun.

Teri- What Chinese restaurant in Augusta do you like? My folks live in ElDorado and when I visit I never know where to take them out for dinner. Augusta is not far, if it's really good?

Dear Bonnie:<BR>When I first moved to Winfield, My boyfriend wanted to take me to a movie and dinner in Augusta. I thought he was nuts. We went to see a movie in a fabulously restored art deco styled movie house and ate at the best chinese restaurant I've been to in a long time, The Beijing. Check out the art on the walls.

You should go another 45 minutes north east of Wichita on Hwy 96 to Hutchinson, Ks. It has a space museum with the largest collection of USA and Russian space artifacts outside of the Smithsonian of which they are one of a few museums that are affliated with. The LPGA Open will be held in Hutchinson on July 1-9. It is a clean town with virtually no crime. A good free zoo and a new aquatic swimming park.

Actually, Hutchinson is northwest of Wichita. And the Cosmosphere is an outstanding museum. An in Wichtia, there is the Museum of Ancient Treasures--lots of historic artifacts.

As Museums go, visit the Capt. Kinko's World Inst. of Pornography in downtown Wichita, on 4th and Main, I think. It's only open from midnight to 4:00 AM, but it shows what the good side of Wichita is all about...porn, drugs, crime, and prostitution.<BR><BR>Cheers! (clink)

Thanks for the replies. I was doing an informal survey because my lovely hometown is pushing to get a large sports/entertainment complex here, paid for with an increase in taxes, of course. They are trying to convince the general public that this would make Wichita a "destination place". I don't buy it, and judging from these replies, neither would anyone else. Now if the rest of my fellow Wichitans will be so wise as to not fall for this....

To Just Curious:<BR>I'd like to point out one very important thing: you're so far off base with your question that it borders on being absurd.<BR>Thank goodness you're not employed in the sciences, or as a strategist.<BR><BR>First off, your question implies you are asking if someone planning a trip in the south Kansas area would detour to Wichita for its current attributes.<BR>What you REALLY want to know is whether the presence of an entertainment complex would help draw people who already live within a few hours.<BR>What you want to know has NOTHING to do with what you asked.<BR>Secondly, you are asking this on a TRAVEL forum, where people go, for the most part, to plan vacations. The question you are asking concerns people who already live in your area. NOT AT ALL the same set of issues.<BR>Thirdly, this is an anonymous travel forum and you received a handful of random replies. The scientific validity/relevance of which is close to ZILCH.<BR><BR>You learned absolutely NOTHING about what you wanted to know. AND you wasted a bunch of people's time.<BR>Not too bright, are you?

Aw c'mon George. Lighten up on the little lady. After all, she lives in Wichita. Imagine the damaging effect that alone must have on one's perspective.

Oh, thanks so much George! Actually, I am quite bright and I am perfectly aware that I was not conducting a scientific survey. In fact, I said it was an informal survey. As far as wasting people's time...no one forced them, or you, for that matter, to read this post or to reply to it.

Ignore George's response. He obviously can't read. You specifically asked about Wichita being a DESTINATION for travel, not whether area locals would drive in.<BR><BR>As a former Wichita resident, my answer is NO. There is nothing there that would make me travel there on purpose. I probably wouldn't even make a bathroom stop there if driving through.

Well, I've never visited Witchita, but from all the other replies I can tell that it's a place that very few people are fond of. So don't ever count on seeing me there.

I've tried for several months to think of a reason why one would want to visit Wichita voluntarily. I failed.

I visited Wichita for a weekend in August. Went down to view the final B-1B Afterburner night at McConnell AFB and toured The Kansas Aviation Museum.<BR><BR>While in town, I also visited the Sedgwick County Zoo and bicycled along the Arkansas River.<BR><BR>The most interesting restaurant was Savute's Italian Ristorante, a family restaurant and bar with an aviation theme. The whole place is decorated with aircrafe picturtes, but the bar has actual aircraft seats and all sorts of aviation related items. The food was good and very inexpensive.<BR><BR>I wouldn't cross the country to see Wichita, but it is worth a few hours drive.<BR><BR> Keith

Wichita does produce some wonderful people though, I live in St. Louis and some of my closest freinds are from there. Bright, funny, educated, cultured people. I was in Wichita once and it pretty bleak. I guess thats why these women left.!!!

I wouldn't drive cross country to visit Wichita, but if you're driving by, you should stop and visit...<BR><BR>. Wichita has a historic village with guided tours, a lot of old houses and buildings displaying life 100 years ago.<BR><BR>. Just east of the downtown, there is an area with a lot of restored warehouses, containing some interesting bars, restaurants and shops. There is one building in particular, just north of a one block wide town square, that has dozens of small shops with just about every artifact and wooden indian you could imagine.<BR><BR>. The Wichita art museum is worth a visit.<BR><BR>. There is an excellent aerospace museum in Hutchinson, a small town a few miles northwest of Wichita. This museum and its IMAX theatre are a must-see. <BR><BR>. The upscale street in Wichita is called Rock Road. It goes north and south, is a few miles east of downtown, and has the best shops, best restaurants, and all three of Wichita's chain bookstores (i.e. Barnes & Noble, Borders).<BR><BR>Don't dismiss Wichita. It's not Las Vegas by any means, but it is an oasis of civilization in Kansas, between Chicago and Dallas.