Mother’s Day Weekend
Posted on May 10, 2015 by Ching under Events, Family.
I hope everyone had a fantastic Mother’s Day weekend. We started ours off on Saturday night with grandma.
They had a lovely reception at Cherry Creek for all the women residents. There were snacks, fruit punch (fake sangria) and sangria. They even had an acoustic guitar player.
Grandma got a lovely carnation from Sharon.
She also got first dibs on the sangria.
For our part, we got grandma a Mother’s Day card and the Annie soundtrack
Kudos to the Cherry Creek staff for putting together a nice reception for the residents.
On Sunday morning we met dad, mom, and Jenni at Piccadilly Grill for brunch. We were on a bit of a tight schedule because mom and dad wanted to be at Derby Bowl for Logan and Matt’s first bowling league at 12:30 PM and then I had a Zumba class to teach in Andover at 1:00 PM. We managed to make it work.
Here are some pictures of the fantastic brunch spread.
The buffet today was double the size of their normal brunch.
In addition to the regular buffet, there was a waffle station, omelette station, and a ham and roast beef carving station. They also had smoke salmon, various cheeses, and tabouli. Piccadilly is a Mediterranean restaurant after all.
There was a huge selection of cakes and pies for dessert.
Made me wish I didn’t have to teach Zumba so I could stuff my face silly. I still tried, though. At almost $25 per person, you best believe I tried to get my money’s worth. LOL. I’m kidding! I behaved (for the most part).
Anyway, I’m really glad that we got to have brunch today at Piccadilly. Brian told me that they’re going to be tearing the place down so today was the last Mother’s Day brunch before the demolition happens. I hope that Piccadilly Grill returns after the new building is finished. The thought of the restaurant closing really makes me sad. There are very few places that serve a fantastic brunch buffet here in town and Piccadilly is one of them.
If you’ve never been to Piccadilly Grill, I highly recommend checking it out. Specially since their days are numbered. Who knows when they’re reopen or if they reopen after the construction is complete. Check them out and let me know what you think in the comments below.
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52nd Annual Honors Night
Posted on May 10, 2015 by Ching under Events.
Brian and I had the privilege of attending the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Honors Night a couple of weeks ago. It was at Beech Activity Center this year, the same place that Cards for the Cure has been held that last few years.
You wouldn’t be able to tell that it’s the same place though because the tables were all decked out for Honors Night, complete with fancy table center pieces (each table had a different one) and a few bottles of wine.
The event is a celebration of individual, corporate, and architectural achievements that enhance the Wichita community. Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception received the Keeper of the Plains Award, an award recognizing an architectural project completed by a firm, organization, or individual, which has contributed to the beauty of our community.
I’ve never been inside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (also known as Saint Mary’s Cathedral) since I’m not Catholic but the restoration is impressive. I definitely want to check it out one of these days and see the remarkable architecture in person.
Mr. Steve Clark received the Chamber’s most prestigious individual award, Uncommon Citizen. It’s an honor bestowed on those who have made uncommon contributions to the people and institutions of Wichita year after year.
Wichita State University received the Spirit of Wichita award which is only given to an institution that was previously recognized with an Over the Years award at least 20 years ago. This year’s Over the Years award recipients were Meritrust Credit Union, LDF, and Youth Entrepreneurs.
These videos are extremely well done so I had to share them with you guys. They’re so awesome that I almost want to win an award so that I could have my very own video vignette. LOL.
Here’s a picture of the trophies. Below is a picture of Mr. Steve Clark with his Uncommon Citizen trophy and, below that, is a picture of Dr. Bardo who received the Spirit of Wichita award on behalf of Wichita State University.
There are more pictures of the event on the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page. Brian and I are both grateful for the opportunity to attend the event and witness these honorees receive their well-deserved awards.
Congratulations to all of the awards recipients and thank you for all that you do for the Wichita community!
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KANSEL Trivia Night
Posted on May 8, 2015 by Ching under Events.
Brian and I attended KANSEL’s trivia night with Karen and her husband Don and Shane and his wife Sarah a few weeks ago.
They were quite serious about their trivia, complete with proctors throughout the banquet room and baskets for phones. Absolutely no cheating allowed.
We may have sucked at trivia but we had the best team captain ever!
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The Arlington House
Posted on April 30, 2015 by Ching under Travel.
Here are some pictures of the Arlington House.
Most of the furniture is original.
This room was first used as a parlor. Mrs. Lee converted it in 1855 after arthritis restricted her mobility. Her father, George Washington Parke Custis used it as his painting studio. This is where he painted American Revolutionary War scenes, including the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey.
This room served as Mr. and Mrs. Custis chamber. Both Custises died here. Agnes and Annie Lee were reciting the Lord’s Prayer with their grandmother when she died on April 23, 1853. You can learn more about the family tree.
This is the family dining room.
According to family tradition, Lee proposed to Mary Custis in the family dining room. Lee often gathered roses, placing one at the plate of each woman present for breakfast. Family and guests shared meals here, using the dinnerware and silver featured in this exhibit. Original pieces include china, silver, and the twin serving tables.
Meet Mary Custis Lee. Since our visit fell on the 150th anniversary of General Robert E. Lee’s resignation from the US Army, there were several people in costume throughout the property on the day of our visit.
I believe this is what is referred to as a winter kitchen, where slaves prepared meals for the family. The picture below is of the winter kitchen in the Arlington House.
We were so fortunate to visit when we did.
I’m not sure all of these costumed people would have been there otherwise.
The Arlington House is like a museum that showcases the house as it would have been during that time. There’s also a memorial housed in a separate building with letters, mementos, and other artifacts. There are audio recordings at various points to tell you more about General Lee and his family. It is an amazing exhibit and one of the highlights of our visit to Arlington Cemetery.
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Arlington National Cemetery
Posted on April 26, 2015 by Ching under Travel.
This is the post that grandma has been waiting for. 🙂
It was really easy to get to Arlington Cemetery from our hotel and Getting Around in DC. We basically took the red line from Woodley Park to Metro Center and then transferred to the blue line from there, which drops us off directly at Arlington Cemetery. Easy peasy.
The cemetery is open until 7 PM but we both made a mental note to return before peak so that we could take advantage of the lower fares. Sad, but true.
Here are some of our favorite photos from Arlington Cemetery.
The structure that you see in the distance is the Arlington House. I have a separate blog about that. For now, here’s a picture of the Kennedys’ gravesite.
It’s one of the highlights of every tour of Arlington National Cemetery.
This is the outdoor amphitheater next to the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers.
The Tomb of Unknown Soldiers is guarded by a soldier 24 hours a day, through rain, sleet, or snow. There’s always someone there marching back and forth with incredible precision. We witnessed a “changing of the guard” ceremony while we were there so we got to watch at least a couple of soldiers march back and forth.
The soldiers moved exactly the same way. The soldiers’ footsteps are so precise that their feet land on the exact markings where the heels of soldiers that have gone before them have worn down the ground.
The well-timed clickity clack of their boots on the pavement reminded me of a metronome. Nothing phased the stoic soldiers as they each completed their shift. Their movements so precise and mechanical that they almost didn’t seem human. They looked like wind-up toy soldiers.
Here are some pictures from the “changing of the guard” ceremony that we had the good fortune to witness while we were there.
The inspector walks around the new soldier and checks him from head to toe.
The inspector makes sure that nothing is out of place and fixes the soldier’s hat and everything using the same precise movements.
We also got to watch a “wreath laying” ceremony while we were there. Brian got great video of it. I didn’t get to take any pictures, though.
Both of the ceremonies we witnessed were solemn events. There was a huge crowd around but as soon as each ceremony began everyone fell silent. I can try to describe it and show you guys pictures but it’s not the same. These are the types of ceremonies that you just have to watch for yourself because, beyond the beauty and artistry of it all, there’s so much emotion involved.
Arlington National Cemetery definitely tops my list of things to see and do while you’re in Washington DC. With the station just outside the gates, there is no excuse to miss it. Next up, I will share some pictures of the Arlington House. Come back soon.
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