The Wild at Public at the Brickyard
Posted on September 5, 2025 by Ching under Things to Do.
Public at the Brickyard not only has the best food but they have the best seasonal pop-ups! I went to the Wild pop-up for the first time early in summer with some coworkers and I had to return several times because the they had the best tropical vibe. Here are some pics:
Naturally, I had to return and bring Brian (and our friend Chris). The three of us went there for lunch one day over the summer. I’m so glad Public is open at lunch.
And then I had to check it out in the evening; so we returned again with some friends (Egans and Terneses) on a live music night. Susie picked the date and she couldn’t have picked a better night because Latin band Tumbao was there on the night we went.
Brian fit right in with his orange Wicked Brew Tour shirt.
Anyway, now that it is Fall, they’re probably getting ready to switch out the decor. I highly recommend going before the Wild is gone for good (at least until next season).
Location: Public at the Brickyard
Address: 129 N Rock Island Ave, Wichita, KS 67202
Phone: (316) 263-4044
Website: publicbrickyard.com
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What Else Happened in July?
Posted on August 25, 2025 by Ching under Events, Life, Pickleball, Things to Do.
What else happened last month? Let’s see.
We made several trips to the ballpark, formerly Riverfront Stadium but now known as Equity Bank Park. Free tickets are the best! You can use the money you saved on their expensive drinks. LOL.
BTW, this awesome “Pickle Baller” ball cap is from my friend Carrie Soto. She gifted ball caps to several of us on her one year pickleversary. Isn’t that sweet?
Our friend, and fellow Chicken N Pickle ambassador, Laurie Adams came to visit and we took her to one of our most favorite restaurants, the Belmont. You’ll recognize this place from our social media because we’re here almost every week.
We had dinner with the Egans and Terneses at Public at the Brickyard and enjoyed the lovely tropical ambiance and decor of the Wild, their summer pop-up experience. Public does the best pop-ups!
We got a much-needed couples massage. Hit me up if you need the contact info of our massage therapists. They said they are open to taking new clients by referral.
We loved the Glass in Flight 2 exhibit at Botanica so much, we returned with our friend Chris Townley. I hope you all got a chance to see the traveling exhibit while it was in Wichita. If not, I created a video so you can at least see the awesome installations. Enjoy!
The Sobeks — father Rosti (left) and son William (right) — made another pit stop in Wichita during their summer pickleball academy and tournament road trip. A few local players were fortunate enough to meet and play with them at TapNPaddles.
I think that pretty much sums up our July. Come back next time for the August recap. Until then, I hope you’ve all had a great summer (despite the sweltering heat). Here’s to cooler days ahead!
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West YMCA and Zumba Update
Posted on August 25, 2025 by Ching under Health, Zumba.
It’s been a while since I posted about Zumba. I’m still teaching classes. Currently in my 13th year in the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN). However, I’m only teaching one class a week right now. It’s at West YMCA on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM. The time slot works perfectly for me because Wednesday night is when beginner open play is at West YMCA so I can invite my friends who are new to pickleball to come for beginner open play at 5:00 PM and join me for Zumba at 6:30 PM. When I rejoined the YMCA group exercise team a couple of years ago (because I quit the Y for a while – well, technically I didn’t quit – when they laid everyone off during COVID, I didn’t didn’t return like many others did because I was super into pickleball at that time and I didn’t want to be too busy to play), that was the time slot that was available. Things just kind of lined up with the pickleball schedule because it was meant to be. LOL.
Incidentally, I get a break from my Zumba class this week because they are refinishing the studio floors. Our Group Ex Coordinator at West, Sheila, offered to let me teach in the Pickle Center (old basketball gym that is now being used for full-time pickleball) or the turf, but I passed. The pickleball floors in the Pickle Center and the turf are not idea for all the twisting and turning that happens in Zumba so I decided to the much-needed break.
Here’s the group exercise schedule at the West YMCA this week for those who, unlike me, DO NOT want to take a break:
Speaking of West YMCA, I actually have the best parking this year. I had the winning bid for it in the silent auction last year so I get to enjoy this awesome parking until June 30, 2026. I didn’t realize they put my sign up until I went back to teach class after our cruise. Since I’m really only at the West YMCA on Wednesday evenings, I told my friends they could use my parking on the other days. Although, I don’t really know that anyone has taken me up on this offer.
I extended the same offer to anyone subbing my class, on days that I can’t teach. Obviously, I’m not going to be there and won’t need my parking spot. LOL.
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Sharps Scratch Kitchen
Posted on August 18, 2025 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Final day in Seattle was pretty uneventful. Some of the folks in our group opted to go to the Space Needle. The rest of us just chilled at the hotel. Mom and dad went to lunch at Sharps and then did some sight-seeing after. Brian and I did a late lunch/early supper at Sharps with his parents.
It came highly recommended by hotel staff and had great Google reviews. Also, the hotel could shuttle us to the restaurant for free to that was definitely a helpful deciding factor. We opted to go for an early supper because that mean happy hour prices and, if you know me, then you know I love a good deal.
Here are some food pics…
I guess that’s it for all the food we ate on this trip. Our last vacation meal was breakfast on the flight home the next day, which was actually not bad and worthy of its own photos.
Flying first class is a luxury that I wish we could afford more often. But hey, at least we are getting to travel, which is a luxury that is not afforded to most so no complaints here. Till the next trip!
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Victoria and then Back to Seattle
Posted on August 11, 2025 by Ching under Travel.
I know. I can’t believe I’m still posting about our Alaska cruise a month later. I promise this is the last installment. I just couldn’t fit everything into a single post and so here we are, five weeks later, still talking about our trip.
Victoria, British Columbia was our final port before returning to Seattle. It wasn’t really a sight-seeing port because we were only docked there for three hours, and we didn’t even get there until 8 PM. There were excursions offered to the Butchart Gardens but, after considering the time it takes to get there, you really would only have 15-20 minutes to explore the gardens before they closed for the day. We didn’t think it would be worth it so Brian and I just opted to do our own exploring. I saw on the map that Fishermans Wharf was only a 15-minute walk from the port so we did that instead.
We thought about not even getting off the ship, which is what my mom and dad did. They just stayed on a the ship and had a nice dinner. We wanted to get off the ship to get our passports stamped but they don’t even do that. I don’t think they even looked at our passport on our way back. At least we got a stamp from the Yukon Suspension Bridge when we were in Skagway. We were really hoping for some more passport stamps, though.
So we got off the ship and walked over to Fishermans Wharf. It’s not a bad walk but it got pretty chilly as the sun set. Neither of us were dressed for the cool weather because the forecast was 73 degrees, but that was the high. We were ding dongs in not taking into account we would be there in the evening and we failed to consider that the temperature would drop significantly once the sun was gone.
We got there just as shops were closing.
The house boats were really cool though.
The water taxis also looked cool. I wish we had ridden in it. I don’t even care where it went. It would have been fun just to ride.
We wanted to try this Mexican seafood place and this crab shack but both were closing up already. Plus, it was getting colder and colder. So, after poking around the wharf and snapping a few pics, we decided it was time to walk back.
It seemed kind of silly to only stop somewhere for three hours so Brian and I looked into this. Apparently, there is a US law called the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) that requires foreign-flagged ships traveling between US ports to make a stop in a foreign port. For cruises from Seattle, Victoria is a convenient pit stop to meet this requirement.
It’s super close to Seattle also. After leaving Victoria around midnight, we were back in Seattle by morning for debarkation. Debarkation was pretty smooth and we were off the ship in no time. I feel like waiting for the shuttle to our hotel took longer than actually getting off the ship.
Okay, so I lied. I probably will have one more post because I want to tell you about this really good restaurant close to our hotel that we ate dinner at the night before flying home. So come back for that post.
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