Fly Over Country - Exploring Wichita. May 15th and 16th

Fly over country is what one typically thinks about when you are mentioning the city of Wichita in a sentence. Given that there are no direct flights from Kansas City to Wichita….I embarked on the 3 hour journey down I-35 which led me through the heart of Kansas which was pretty much wheat fields and grazing grounds for livestock. The highlights of the drive were driving through the flint hills of Kansas and driving past the Kansas Oil Museum….all which caught my attention for about 6 seconds before I went back on to living my life and forgetting all about them.

Naturalists Jan Jantzen said that the flint hills are an incredible, wonderful, almost magical place. And that there was no other place like it on earth. But I would beg to differ as this place felt like any other place in the middle of nowhere you had ever driven through.

Nonetheless, after 3 hours in the car, we arrived into Wichita. Wichita is the 48th largest city in the United States and I was hoping for something spectacular…as I had last been here about 8 or 9 years ago…and at that time it was tolerable. We were staying at the Ambassador Hotel, which was a pretty awesome place. The hotel was an old bank which was renovated about 5 years ago when it was restored to its former glory.

The bank vault is still found today in the basement speakeasy – Dockum’s which is named for a drugstore that was housed in the building back in the 50s. In fact the Dockum Drug Store sit-in back in 1958 which was the first lunch counter sit-in which helped break segregation – which at the time was particularly bad in Wichita.

I was just in town for a quick 24 hour visit so didn’t have a lot of time to get out and explore, but was able to make it out for a quick walk around the block which took me through Old Town – a collection of renovated warehouses that now function as the towns entertainment district with a collection of bars, restaurants and boutiques. I also was able to find my way to Espresso To Go Go which was a cute retro coffee bar in the heart of the city.

I was stuck in meetings for most of the day, but the highlight of the trip, was a visit to the Dockum DrugStore - a Speakeasy styled bar serving exquisite craft cocktails. Dockum was hidden in the basement of the Ambassador Hotel in the former vault of the bank. It is a small 10-20 seat space that is definitely the place to be and the place to be seen. This bar provided a classic ambiance that you probably won’t find anywhere else in Wichita, and I bet Kansas.

The menu had an array of craft cocktails that were all thoughtfully prepared. I opted for their signature drink - Old Smoking Cody that was a delicious concoction which started with a smoky infusion of the crystal glass and a mixture of bourbon and other delicious additions.

All in all this place hit all the right notes, sexy vibe, good tunes, great cocktails, finger foods and a great bartending staff that was prepared to prescribe a drink for whatever ails you.