Beef, Airplanes and Others Things You Probably Didn't Know About Wichita

Apparently my failure to post a update recently has ruffled some of my fans' feathers. Sorry about that - I've been spending my time actually writing for money and conducting "research" for an update I hope to post next week.

In the meantime, here's a look at some fascinating things I've discovered about our new city.

Flying the Friendly Skies

When you land at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita and walk into the terminal, you'll swear you've gone back in time. From the geometric designs in the carpet to the pink neon adorning the airport's bar, everything about the terminal screams 1983.  Even the musak playing overhead is a constant barage of the same four saxophone-laden light jazz songs. It's truly horrific.

Apparently this is a big enough problem to warrant
not one, but three signs in baggage claim.

The fact that Wichita's airport needs a major facelift is surprising since the city's modern existence is beholden to the aviation industry. For whatever reason, back in the day, a whole slew of aviation companies chose Wichita as their home base. All the big names have huge manufacturing facilities here - Airbus, Beechcraft, Cessna, Lear, Boeing and a bunch of other aviation-related companies.  Add in McConnell Air Force Base down south, and you can hear planes flying around any time of the day or night.

Here's a fun fact: Since the Wright Brothers' first flight in 1903, about 75 percent of all general avaiation aircraft have been built in Wichita.  That's a heck of a lot of planes. And up until recently, Air Force One was serviced at the Boeing facility here in Wichita. Pretty cool.

Bob is Awesome

I have schizophrenic taste in music, and fortunately Bob does, too. "Bob" is the character who picks the music for 97.1 FM. The station's tag line is "Bob plays everything," and indeed he does.

Want some Stone Temple Pilots followed by the Go-Gos and Gotye? Bob will play it. How bout Outkast, Phil Collins and Guns and Roses played in the same set? How bout yeah! Haven't heard "Funky Cold Medina" in about two decades? Don't worry - Bob will play it for you and follow it up with Nirvana and Lady Antebellum.

This is the playlist of a crazy person, and I dig it.

Meat and Its Byproducts

Want to know why Wichita is even here? Cattle. The city was a railhead where cowboys drove herds to be shipped to market. Beef was so important to early Wichita, the city earned the nickname "Cowtown."

Fast forward 150 years and the beef seems to have disappeared from Wichita. (I'm forcibly restraining myself from including a terrible Where's the beef?" pun here. You can thank me later.)

Anyway, you would think the city's heritage would warrant a couple of really good steakhouses or at least some regional pride in locally produced meat products, but I've yet to find much that harkens back to the city's beef-filled glory days. If you want a steak, it's Texas Roadhouse or the Wal-Mart meat department for you. I really hope I missing something.

On a meat-related sidenote, our sausage drought continues. I've tried everything, including Nolan Ryan's Hot & Spicy Beef Sausage and Earl Campbell's Hot Links. Bad jokes about former pro athletes' anatomies notwithstanding, their sausage is sub-par at best. To help tide us over until I locate something better, my inlaws are bringing some tasty Louisiana sausage when they visit at Thanksgiving. God bless those crazy Cajuns and their delicious meats.

Don't quit your day jobs, guys.