Sept 17 - Not Another Museum !

Today was to be Gary’s adventure day, as we were going to the Wichita Aviation Museum down adjacent to McConnell Air Force Base just south of town. We arrived there at 11 AM and found the sign said it would open at 1 PM. OK, McDonald’s nearby and we had a leisurely lunch while we waited.

The impressive building housing this museum was the Wichita Municipal Airport from 1935 to 1954. Then it became part of McConnell Air Force Base and abandoned in early 1980. It was later cleaned up by volunteers and opened as a museum in 1991. Inside, we were able to view a vast number of restored aircraft as well as donated historical aircraft in the process of renovation. There were several levels to the building. The third floor is a large balcony with railing that allows you to look down onto the lower, main level.

They tell that: during the 1930’s and 1940’s seating was arranged around the balcony railing so people could watch passengers come up the south stairs while their plane was being refueled.

Many movie stars and VIPS came through this building – Howard Hughes, Bob Hope and Gregory Peck – to name just a few. Fred Astaire once danced around the compass rose (the design in the marble floor on the lower atrium level) just to entertain those watching from the balcony.

It was just that kind of a setting where you could picture this happening…something out of a movie. And the best was yet to come…

Next we took a narrow stairway that led up into the airport tower. It was very rustic and complete with a rotary dial telephone. The view was awesome. A full 360 degree panorama of Wichita…which by the way is perfectly flat…we could see the few tall buildings of the downtown area in the distance but, best of all, we were able to sit there and watch several of the large Air Force tankers take off and land. They had a radio connection broadcasting the Wichita control tower communication and it felt like you were right in the middle of the action. Of course my aircraft buff husband loved every minute of it.

From our vantage in the tower we had a bird’s eye view of the outside displays. They included several aircraft used in the Vietnam war as well as Learjets, Cessnas and a number of Boeing aircraft. Wichita is home to both Cessna aircraft and Boeing but the Boeing facilities looked pretty dormant due to the current worker strike.

Once we safely descended the many staircases we had a bit of energy to look into a couple of the aircraft outside before we mounted the motorcycle to leave.

Since it was still relatively early, Gary wanted to know if there was any place more I wanted to go. I said, yes, to “Cowtown”…he said OK as long as it was not another of those “museums”. Well I knew that technically it was the “Old Cowtown Museum” but not the typical museum so I did not own up to it.

We would our way through the streets of downtown Wichita until we located a complex of parks along the Arkansas River where they have located a number of “Museums”. The entire area is very well done and attractive to visit.

We located “Old Cowtown” which is a complete town of restored antique frontier buildings. It is very authentic and true to the Wichita you would have found in 1880 – 1890…just when Gary’s ancestors arrived. The streets are dirt and everyone there is dressed in appropriate vintage clothing.

Their frontier ball team had just completed a baseball game and added to the other activities going on. The blacksmith was in his workshop working the forge. The livery man was in the stable shoveling the horse manure out of the stalls. The stage coach sat outside the stable. The railroad cars were at the station. The printer was in his print shop and talked to us on the wooden walkways to see if we had any news for his latest edition of the Wichita newspaper. We wandered down the walkway and visited with the carpenter who was building another coffin in preparation of the next Wild West shoot out. Across the street was a log cabin with bear skins drying outside alongside skunk hides and coon pelts. It was all very authentic and educational. Not your typical dry museum behind plate glass. We both loved it but soon tired after our already full day.

Our motor home with the air conditioning already running was a welcome sight. The familiarity of our own place and our own things is very comforting when we are tired. We are having fun but starting to think we will be really be ready to be home when it is time.

We will have been here in Wichita a full week…RV park gave us a weekly rate of $110 (plus metered electric) so we are getting our money’s worth. Monday will be departure day and then we will head to Pikes Peak for a few days before we visit with our good friend Dennis Smart in Denver on the 25th.