Archive for "Things to Do"
2026 Wichita Wicked Brew Tour
Posted on June 15, 2026 by Ching under Food and Drink, Things to Do.
The Wichita Wicked Brew Tour is one of our favorite summertime traditions. We’ve done it every year since inception in 2016; although, we found out about too late to get a shirt that year. The key is to finish your tour early so that they still have your size of shirt available but I have seen some go-getters finish the tour the same day that it starts — which is really wild to me, unless you’re drinking coffee and starting early in the morning.
This year we started our tour at Mokas and finished in exactly 10 days.
We met for lunch at Mokas, got coffee with our Mokas duos, and received our first stamps. SIDE NOTE: If you’ve never been to Mokas, the Mokas duos are an excellent value because you get a half sandwich, salad (or soup), and chips (or fruit) for one price. The portions are generous and their food is fantastic, as is their coffee. If you don’t consider the convenience of Scooter’s, Mokas is hands down Brian’s #1 favorite coffee place.
Next Stop – Saturday, May 30: River City Brewing Company. We went to RCB for dinner after the tournament at TapNPaddles. We got a couple of drinks and stamps along with them.
Don’t ask me what this green drink is because I don’t remember but it was very good. That part, I do remember.
After dinner we went to Cocoa Dolce down the street for a couple more stamps. Brian got a small coffee and I got a tipsy gelato.
The following morning we hit Il Primo Espresso Caffe on the way to High Park in Derby to check out the new pickleball courts.
My back had been killing me so we just went for some pictures and I only played a couple of games. It was also way too windy that day. Here’s our Wicked Brew Tour passports up to this point:
Brian had to stop by his office on the way home to check on some painting that was completed. Since we were already out West, we decided to have lunch at Wichita Brewing Company and get some more stamps for our passports.
The East-side WBC is actually where we typically begin our tour because it’s close to us but we deviated from our usual routine by starting at Mokas this year.
Passport update: 5 stamps completed.
On Monday, Brian took our passports to work and bought his coworker Miranda a coffee so he could get two stamps at Nameless. In previous years, this is how we got out of sync. Whenever I went and got coffee on my own, his passport would fall behind. So this year, we decided we would keep the passports together so we stayed in sync the entire time.
I would have gotten a couple more stamps for us when I got coffee with my coworker Chris on Tuesday morning but that was the day that Brian had to take me to the ER. Chris actually texted me if I wanted to get coffee and, I remember telling him he should just grab coffee for himself on the way to work because I wasn’t feeling well.
I had been suffering from back pain and cramps all weekend and I felt the worst that day. I thought it was just my typical cramps so I just sucked it up and went to work anyway. But then, I started feeling disoriented and my vision got blurry and I started freaking out so I called Brian to pick me up from work and take me to the ER. I will save that story for another time because I’ve gotten sidetracked enough.
The next day, I was back to work because I was feeling much better. I went with Chris to get coffee at Larcher’s Market. Brian told me to tell my manager Alicia “Thank you,” so I did one better. I brought her an iced coffee so I got two stamps in the process. Our passports are continuing to stay synced up.
On Thursday morning, Chris and I went to Reverie Coffee Roasters. He had already gotten his Reverie stamp so he didn’t need one from there but I made him a deal that if we went to Reverie that morning, I would buy his coffee in exchange for a stamp. That was stamp #8 for both Brian and me.
The weekend of June 6, our friend Laurie Adams came to town for a visit so the three of us had dinner at Piatto (my favorite pizza spot) after playing in the IPN mini tournament at TapNPaddles. We decided to walk over to Hopping Gnome to get stamps after dinner. Since I was still taking my antibiotics (which were prescribed by the ER doc), I couldn’t drink. Decided to buy Laurie a drink in exchange for a stamp.
Brian and I finished this year’s tour on Sunday by having breakfast at the Pennant, my current favorite coffee shop because they serve the best iced vanilla latte in the city.
This was kismet because it put us just around the corner from the newly unveiled transit center called The Hub. This deserves its own post so more on that later but, since we were already in the area, Brian and I did drive over there to check it out after breakfast. That pretty much concluded our tour for this year. I think this is the earliest we have ever finished. Most of the time, it takes us at least three weekends because our passports get out of sync and then I’m having to catch Brian’s passport up. We were way more strategic this year. I picked up our shirts on Monday last week. We haven’t worn them yet because Brian refuses to wear new clothes until they’ve been washed but we look forward to wearing them all summer long along with others from past years. How about you? How is your Wicked Brew tour going?
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Team Activity at GROW Plant Bar
Posted on June 10, 2026 by Ching under Things to Do.
We recently had a team activity at GROW Plant Bar. We did the DIY plant bar as a group and it was so much fun. It’s been about a month now and I’m happy to report that my plants are still alive. Here are some pics from the event:
I brought mine to work the next day.
Here’s a picture of my plants today.
I am happy to report that both of the plants I chose are still alive and seem to be thriving, which I am glad about because if these died I would be really upset. They weren’t cheap to make.
GROW is a neat place and the atmosphere is super fun but, if you’re looking at potting some plants, this is most definitely not the way to go. There are way cheaper options. I had a great time bonding with the coworkers though, so there is that.
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Banana Ball Craze
Posted on May 29, 2026 by Ching under Things to Do.
We ended up getting sucked into the Banana Ball craze earlier this month. This event is so hyped up but, after having attended, I don’t get it. I heard about it for the first time last year from a couple of friends. Because I’m such an easy target, I ended up entering the lottery. I think back in December-January time frame, I got information that I was picked in the lottery. You feel kind a special because not everyone gets picked so, of course, I went for it and purchase my allotment of five tickets. I didn’t really know what to expect. I was mostly just along for the ride.
Fast forward to Banana Ball weekend. Amazingly enough, they managed to fill Equity Bank Park. I have never seen the ballpark packed with so many people. We were in the outfield standing room only area and even that was packed. It was wild!
Supposedly, what makes Banana Ball such a huge draw is that it’s way more fun than regular baseball games. And it’s true, there’s dancing and tricks and crazy rules. I think we would have had way more fun if we had actual seats and weren’t in the outfield SRO section, though. I mean, we didn’t really know what was going on most of the time. The regular baseball rules are confusing enough for me. The modified rules made it even more confusing.
Anyway, glad we got to experience it but probably won’t do this again. Baseball, even if it’s fun like Banana Ball, just isn’t for us I guess.
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Tom’s Last Visit
Posted on May 15, 2026 by Ching under Things to Do.
Here’s a recap of our friend Tom Grace’s last visit to Wichita, which involved nails, a tequila and mezcal tasting, dinner, and brunch the next morning.
The four of us got our nails done together at Nails & Beyond, a nail salon in West Wichita where Brian and I had been going every month for nearly 20 years.
Tom got cuddles with Nugget and all of us (except for Tom, who just did “buff shiny” on his nails) got some shade of blue.
I did a dark blue on my toenails and then a light blue on on my fingernails purposely to go with the dress I was wearing to the wedding we were attending the following weekend.
Here’s a pic of my nails with the dress.
After nails, the four of us went to Total Wine for a tequila and mezcal tasting class.
We tried eight different bottles of tequila and mezcal. I list them all below along with how much each retails at Total Wine and how much I liked them.
- Bad Bull Spicy Taramindo ($19.99) *****
- Luna de Jalisco ($39.99) ***
- El Ateo Reposado ($49.99) ***
- 3 Amigos Anejo Tequila ($34.99) **
- Mi Familia Flores Cristalino ($65.99) ****
- Fosforo Ensamble Mezcal ($54.99) *
- Mi Mama Me Dijo ($44.99) *
- Mi Familia Flores Extra Anejo ($99.99) *****
As you can see, the two that I liked the most were the most expensive and the least expensive. While some people really enjoy expensive bottles of tequila, price it seems has zero bearing on whether I will enjoy it. I learned a ton at this class but my key take-away was that I apparently do not like mezcal – at all. Out of all the ones we tasted, I enjoyed the mezcal ones the least.
After the tasting, we enjoyed a nice dinner at Oak & Pie. Here are some pics of our food. I think the Italian nachos were the hit of the night.
The next morning, we had brunch at Chicken N Pickle where Brian and I ran into an old friend, Michael Castile, who we hadn’t seen in a long time.
By the way, the brunch at Chicken N Pickle is legit. They offer something for everyone. We’ve been to Chicken N Pickle for brunch a few times now and have never been disappointed.
Anyway, that pretty much wraps up Tom’s last visit to Wichita. Until next time!
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My First Blarney Breakfast
Posted on April 20, 2026 by Ching under Community, Things to Do.
The Blarney Breakfast is on its 51st year but I’ve never ever been able to attend because it’s usually on a weekday. This year, however, I managed to squeeze it in to my schedule. Although, I did have to get up super early and go at 6 AM. It helps to have a little bit of peer pressure.
The event benefits Rainbows United and is usually on St. Patrick’s Day (whatever day that might fall during the week). There were drink specials but I couldn’t partake because I had to go to work immediately after. Some of our friends were smart and took the day off, though. I’m thinking I might have to do the same to fully experience Blarney Breakfast next year. What a great way to start the day!
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