Joel Weihe

The Kansas State Fair is like a whole world unto itself. Just forty minutes west of Wichita the fair is close to the best little city in Kansas.

One can easily get lost in time and space while wandering around the 280 acres of buildings, rides, fairways and commercial vendors. There is so much to see and so much to do it all can't possibly be done in a single outing.

Get there first thing in the morning on the first weekend. That's the best time to see all the many different animals before or shortly after they are judged. There are cows of many different varieties. More than one breed of goat (my personal favorite among the mammals), sheep, and many beautiful horses. Even llamas, or alpaca as the ones at the fair are, make an appearance.

After the buildings that are a temporary home to these mammals the birds have some real estate of their own. Inside the rabbit and bird complex you can find chickens of many different and quite interesting varieties. There are also ducks, geese and pigeons of lots of different sizes and shapes. You never knew there were so many different kinds of rabbits.

The fairway is something that Kansas can be proud of. Full of rides for all ages and tolerances. Tall scary ones, super fast spinning ones and slow easy rides for those more tame souls. There's Loads of games to win prizes at, cotton candy to eat, a fun house and much, much more.

If Competition is your game you'll find plenty of that at The Kansas State Fair.

A building dedicated to the domestic arts is full of beautiful hand made quilts of every size, baked goods and knitting, all judged for ribbons. There's even cooking demonstrations.

There's the livestock competitions. The beasts are all groomed and pampered to look their best then paraded around in front of the judges and public to be admired. Who has the best looking cow, sheep, goat or even chicken. Whatever it may be. Some really beautiful animals are to seen here.

4-H is a big part of the Kansas State Fair. Young people learning about ranching, farming and life. A really great program. Boy scouts and girl scouts make their presence known also.

Kansas is a big agricultural state so there's plenty of vegetables and such to be judged. Can't forget about wheat in Kansas. You can learn all about wheat at the fair. Where it comes from, how it's harvested and what it's used for. Yep, wheat is a pretty big deal in Kansas. Not just wheat either, lot's of different crops are on display here and there's lots to learn about them.

When your hungry it's not hard to find a good place to eat something. Food vendors of all kinds are strategically placed about the fairgrounds to ensure no one goes hungry while enjoying the fun.

One thing you won't want to forget when you come to the Fair is a good pair of walking shoes. There is so much to do and see you'll be on your feet all day racing from one cool thing to another. While there are plenty of places to sit in the shade and rest, you'll want to be sure not to miss any of the fun!

The Kansas State Fair is just one more great thing about Wichita Kansas.

You know ya wanna live here!!

Lisel and I spent last Saturday at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita Kansas. The Zoo here is quite possibly the coolest piece of real estate in Wichita. We love the Zoo. Opening in 1971, it's among the 20 largest Zoos in the country.

Out Zoo is nationally renowned and ranks among the best by visitors and visiting officials alike. This place is home to something like over 2000 different animals in large (for the most part) naturalistic exhibits. So much to do and see a full day could easily be spent at this Zoo. The admission fee is a great value for all the entertainment you get.

As you enter the Zoo right after the Cargill Learning Center you will happen upon a flock of brightly colored Pink Flamingos. One of which is no longer here but remains quite famous as it flew the coop and is spotted in different places around the country.

The Zoo has everything from a domestic animal petting area with animals and themes from around the world to exotic animals to places to dine and rest from all the walking you do.

It seems almost every year there are new and grand things being done at the Sedgwick County Zoo This year is the year of the tiger. A brand new and spectacular tiger exhibit opened up.

Some of the newer and really cool places include the Downing Gorilla forest, the just recently opened and one of my favorites, The Penguin Cove and a habitat for the king of the jungle. The last exhibit you'll see on the way out is the Koch Orangutan and Chimpanzee Habitat housing, you guessed it, Orangutans and Chimpanzees.

The Zoo itself is divided into sections from around the world. Just about all the continents are represented by the animals that inhabit them. There's North America with Grizzly bears, otters and wolves. A South American jungle , Australia and it's kangaroos and Asian animals. Africa is the biggest with the most large mammals. There are hippos, elephants, giraffes, rhinos and loads of others are to seen.

Birds, rodents and other small mammals are abundant throughout the different exhibits. Lots of colorful parrots and little creatures scurrying about interact directly with visitors as you wander through their natural habitat. A good job has been done placing the animals in natural and roomy surroundings.

Other than all the great animals to be seen and learned from, the Zoo offers different programs too. Zoobilee is a concert and the biggest fund raising event of the year. It's also famous around these parts as the place to be and be seen. At Zoobilee there is lots of food and adult beverages to be had.

Around Halloween every year there is The Night Of The Living Zoo. A night to celebrate Halloween in grand fashion. There are events around all the holidays, a creature feature night where a full length movie is shown in the Cargill Learning Center and many other special events throughout the year.

This Zoo is really something you should see. If your ever in town or even close by it's worth the trip. Our world class Sedgwick County Zoo is just one more of the many attributes for Wichita Kansas to be proud of.

You know ya wanna live here!!

Final Friday for Wichita Kansas sounds like the title of a disaster or apocalyptic movie. It's no such thing here in Wichita and several other cities across the country like Cincinnati, Dallas and Nelsonville, Ohio to name a few. It is in fact a celebration of arts and culture. An art gallery crawl where crowds of people stroll around downtown to the many different art and photography galleries.

Some of the galleries include the Mead Street Gallery, Gallery XII, Bruce Ward Photos, Mosaic gallery, and many others. The City Arts building in the Warren Theater Plaza has 3 floors of artists exhibiting there finest work.

Often there are fun activities for the public to participate in at City arts. Last Friday they had their Apple macs out and were letting people play with software imaging. The fun was making pictures of yourself in different and unusal ways. You could then email them to yourself and have them to keep. City Arts also offers lots of different classes throughout the year.

Final Friday isn't just all about art. The many bars and restaurants downtown have live music, good food and other activities going on. There are coffee shops, like the espresso house that have live shows. This week there was a talented band playing Irish music at the back of the shop.

There's the Qline, a trolley, for riding around in if you don't like to walk and a horse drawn carriage is also available for those out for a little romance.

In the plaza a drum circle meets every Final Friday and people are welcome to sit in and beat a little rhythm for awhilewith the drum masters. Across from the drum circle the fountains in the plaza provide a nice distraction for the kids who can be heard from blocks away "whoopin' it up" and laughing. A nice break for the parents to sit and enjoy.

Some of the popular shops are open late for those like to browse and buy.

There's ice cream to be had, activities for the kids and adults alike and lots of people. Chances are you'll run into some of your friends and on occasion old friends not seen in a long time.

Final Fridays in Wichita are well worth the trip down town once a month to get out and shake it up a little.

Last weekend Lisel and I attended our first "Tweet up" with our Twitter friends at the Kechi Playhouse in, you guessed it, Kechi Kansas.

Kechi is basically a suburb of Wichita just minutes away from the city limits. Look at the red ball on the map. The town is a quaint little touristy place with antique shops, restaurants and craft stores built directly into some of the older homes. Real estate for sale is hard to come by.

It happens it was also the first time we had ever attended one of these little community theaters. I have to say it was a lot of fun!

The theater is a converted old Methodist church. The building itself was constructed in 1920 and Misty Maynard, a local theater talent, made it into the Kechi Playhouse in 1983 and has been putting on fine productions ever since. The church was a small one with about 14 pews sitting 7 to 8 persons apiece and the originals are still used today. Cozy is the best way to describe the atmosphere. There's also a small balcony.

Playing Saturday night, 8/22/2009 , was "Tons Of Money". A comedy involving a scam to fake a death in the family in order to gain an inheritance. The plan goes awry from the beginning and the hapless couple end up having to fake two deaths and a live relative. When the real relative shows up it casts doubt on the whole plot from the lawyer in charge of distributing the money. It's very funny and had us laughing all night.

The show lasted about two hours and cost us a measly $10 each. Well worth it for the huge amount entertainment we got.

There's two more shows being put on before the season ends October 25. From September 3rd thru September 27, 2009 you can catch "Be My Baby".

The final production from October 1st thru October 25, 2009 is a brand new comedy, "You Take the Cake" that promises to make you laugh and feel good. As Misty herself puts it, "a fun, new play to finish out our 27th year of business".

You still have time to catch the fun at the Kechi Playhouse this year. Reservations are recommended. Maybe we'll see you there. We aren't going to miss the last two shows!

If you like and care about animals like I do, then you'll appreciate our new Humane society and animal shelter combination here in Wichita Kansas. The new state of the art building is modern, attractive and inviting, unlike the old animal shelter that was downright scary with it's twin smokestacks spewing what we hate to think about ominously into the sky.

The two are now combined in the same area to better care for lost and homeless pets. Best described as large, Clean and very accommodating with central heat and air. The animals are kept very comfortable indeed as they await their owners to claim them or to be adopted into a new home.

The animals themselves have it much better. The cats and kittens reside in what are affectionately referred to as "Kitty Condos". Roomy "homes" with lots of stuff to climb on and play with.

The dogs have large show rooms where potential owners can browse and interact with mans best friend. Their is always an experienced attendant on hand in case needed. It is even recommended to bring in any pets you already have to see if they'll get along with their new Friends

If you've ever been to an animal shelter before you will immediately recognize all the care and love that went into building this one. Truly one of a kind.

While the critters on the animal shelter side don't have it quite as good, the area is kept clean and they are well fed and cared for. Many of these animals are claimed and taken home where they belong. A lot of the rest that aren't claimed are slated for transfer over to the humane society for adoption.

Unfortunately, mostly because of irresponsible people, some have to be killed. The way the professional and caring staff here handles it is much as if you were taking your pet to the vet to be "put to sleep". Kept comfortable and shown affection as a shot is administered puts the animal to sleep painlessly. No one likes this part, but kudos to the staff for their caring attention to a bad problem.

In the back, out of the public eye are the dog runs where most of the animals are kept. Don't worry, not to hide them for any reason, they just need the room.

Up front in the viewing areas it's like a hotel at the Humane society, with glassed in rooms so you can easily see the array of lost animals to choose from, and there are a lot, way to many.

The staff works hard caring for the lost pets, making them comfortable during their stay and getting them out to new homes as quick as they can. A surprisingly amount of these animals are taken home by families, but their are still way to many out on the streets. HUMAN society should take care and be more humane about having your animals spayed and nurtured.

Wichita is only one of a handful of cities in the country that has taken the initiative to build one of these modern facilities and develop programs to better care for homeless pets. The goal is, through education and community involvement, to sometime in the near future not to have to put any animals down.

Officials from the city and the humane society traveled around the country exploring some of the most cutting edge technologies in care and adoption techniques. Ours is modeled after the programs from Wisconsin and San Diego CA.

Wichita's new and greatly improved solution to the abandoned and stray pet problem is another example of how progressive a city Wichita is. Progressive and modern yet still down-home and friendly.

You wanta live here!!