Wichita’s Hot Fun in the Summertime

From the completely extreme to the divinely sublime, there's plenty to do this summer.

Up, Up and Away
Start or end a summer day with a hot air balloon ride! HAVNFUN Hot Air Ballooning in Derby flies two balloons all summer long, with rides that begin at sunrise or two hours before sunset. Flights, which are scheduled depending on weather conditions, take off from various locations in and around Wichita. A favorite route of HAVNFUN’s pilots starts near Mulvane and follows the Arkansas River. A chase vehicle follows each flight and returns passengers to the launch site following the adventure. $200 will get you a one-hour flight, a champagne ceremony and a souvenir. To book your flight, contact HAVNFUN at 788.6473.

Doing Kitties in the Dirt
“Not your ordinary Saturday night drive,” 81 Speedway features a 3/8-mile dirt oval track that hosts racing events on Thursday and Saturday evenings through October. From Sprint cars to modified street racers and cruisers (racing that requires two occupants in the car: a driver to control the brakes and steering and a passenger to control the throttle), there are plenty of options! Admission is $5-$8 for adults and $3-$5 for kids. 7700 N Broadway in Park City, 755.1781. A racing schedule is available at 81speedway.com.

Got Ski Feet?
If getting your feet wet is your favorite summer activity, then the Wichita Water Ski Club is the group for you! The club, which hosts the largest barefoot skiing tournament in the United States at Wichita’s annual Riverfest, is open to anyone with an interest in water skiing—from beginner to pro, skier to boat driver. Boat ownership and expensive equipment are not required—the club is a family friendly group that offers instruction and clinics for entire families and hosts multiple social events during the year. For kids up to 17, the Wichita Water Ski Club promotes junior skier development with practice on Tuesday evenings all summer long at the club lake located near 21st and Hoover. A tournament-style boat, equipment and coaches are available. There is a minimal cost to help cover boat fees. For more information about club membership, call the Wichita Water Ski Club at 943.6106 or online at geocities.com/wwsc_2000/index.html.

Floating on Air
If you really want to do something a little edgy this summer but aren’t quite ready to commit to a tattoo, a trip to Air Capital Drop Zone might be just the thing. Like a tattoo, tandem skydive preparation takes only about fifteen minutes, requires a signed release and makes people flinch when you tell them what you’ve done. Unlike a tattoo, skydiving (done properly) doesn’t leave permanent marks. Located just east of Derby at Cook Field, Air Capital Drop Zone offers tandem and instructor-assisted deployment skydiving Wednesdays from 4 pm to dark, Saturdays 8 am to dark, and Sundays 9 am to dark through September. Tandem instruction and jump is $175; solo (IAD) is $160. For an additional $75, you can buy a video and still photos to remember your adventure. Visit aircapitaldropzone.com or call 776.1700 to schedule your jump.

Wet ‘n’ Wild
Did you enjoy watching the wakeboard competition during Riverfest? Then load up the family and head south to Wichita’s GO Lake, where you can watch local competitors rip up the lake as they practice for the International Amateur Waterski, Wakeboard, Wakeskate and Kneeboard Tour. If the action gets you itching to join in the fun, Wichita’s Marine World offers lessons at GO Lake for $30-$50 per hour; contact the staff at Marine World, 7310 E Kellogg or 265.2628 for details. GO Lake is located at 3360 S Broadway in Wichita. Additional competitive wakeboarding events are scheduled in Kansas; go to intleague.com for more information.

A Bird’s Eye View
Take your pick of east or west Wichita and book a flight lesson. Jabara Airport on Greenwich Road at 29th Street is home to Midwest Aviation, and Yingling Aviation is based at Mid-Continent Airport in west Wichita. Both facilities are Cessna Training Centers, offering multiple level flight training to students young and old. Omar Aquino, certified flight instructor at Midwest Aviation, encourages anyone interested in flying lessons to book a Discovery Flight. “If you’re thinking about learning to fly, or looking for a little adventure, that’s the way to go,” Aquino says. “You’ll get forty minutes of hands-on flying with an instructor and a great view of the city.” Discovery Flights begin at $49 and are available by reservation. For more information and pricing, contact Midwest Aviation at 636.9715, midwestaviation.com/training; or Yingling Aviation at 943.3246, yinglingaviation.com.

Slip Slidin’ Away
Any destination that includes the words flume slide, tube slide and speed slide has to be fun. Rock River Rapids Aquatic Park in Derby has all of that, and more. With more than 28,000 square feet of water surface, the options are lengthy: a zero-depth-entry shallow play area with toddler slide, spray features, floatables, water walk and foam shooters; a play structure with two enclosed tube slides, interactive spray elements and 1,000-gallon dumping bucket; an eight-lane, 50-meter lap pool with one- and three-meter diving boards, two drop slides, basketball goals and themed floatables, and a 600-foot-long lazy river. In addition, there are adult fitness and multiple level swim lessons available. Open at 12:30 pm every day through August 16 and weekends through Labor Day, you can make this destination a multiple-day event. Admittance is $5 for adults, $4 for children 4 to 17, and free for 3 and younger. Season passes are also available. More information is online at rockriverrapids.com or by calling 788.7665.

Always dive with a buddy!
No, not in the Arkansas River, or Cheney or El Dorado lakes—and definitely not in the lakes at Sedgwick County Park. Sure, to really appreciate SCUBA, you have to leave town, but to really learn SCUBA you just need to book a class. Local dive shops Pro Ski and Scuba and Adventure Sports are both PADI 5-Star dive centers, which means they have the highest training levels certified by the PADI Association. In just a few weekends of training, you can achieve an open water diver certification and be ready for deep-water diving before summer’s end. Instruction is in two phases; total investment for open-water dive certification is around $225. Both facilities have class times and prices online at proskiandscuba.com (684.9738) or adventuresportskansas.com (689.8051).

Mount Sunflower, It Isn’t
If you absolutely can’t find your adventure in town, then hook up with the folks at Backwoods in Bradley Fair. This outdoor-
adventure store not only provides the gear you need to navigate about any type of outdoor expedition, they have a variety of guided tours that begin around $500 for a mountain backpacking expedition in Colorado, and go up to a $4,450, two-week hiking adventure that includes the majestic Mont Blanc Mountain in the heart of the Alps and France, Italy and Switzerland. (Prices don’t include travel to and from your adventure.) Check out the amazing variety of trips at backwoods.com or call 267.0350.


Sublime
A Safari Expedition, an Hour Away
Take a walk on the wild side at Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure. Located just west of Salina on I-70, Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure is both a 300+ animal zoo and an immersive museum that includes exhibits from seven world regions. Open year-round, their summer hours are 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission is $15.95 for adults for both attractions and $7.95 for children 3 to 12. Contact RHWA online at rollinghillswildlife.com or by phone at 785.827.9488.

Real Men Don’t Wear Shoulder Pads
This is only relaxing if you watch it. The rough-and-tumble world of rugby beckons in late August when the Wichita Barbarians Rugby Team begins their fall schedule. Local matches are played at Harrison Park in east Wichita. Check the Web site (Rugbyunion.org) for details—as well as photos of the guys receiving tattoos and babies born to the team! Call David Farris at 262.6800 for more info.

Baseball Minus the brats and Dogs
Most Americans probably couldn’t tell the difference between Quiddich and Cricket, except that one is played on brooms (the flying kind) and one is played with bats (not the flying kind). Hot Shot Cricket founder Edward Fox describes it this way: “Imagine baseball with no foul territory, no balls or strikes, and where you can get six runs with a swing of the bat again and again because you’re still at bat!” If you’re ready to know more—to play, or to watch—visit hotshotcricket.com for details on youth league cricket and adult participation, or call Edward Fox at 200.4135.

Rustle up Some Grub, Cookie!
If riding like a cowboy and getting saddle sore doesn’t spin your spurs, you can still enjoy the cowboy life at the Prairie Rose Chuckwagon. From entertainment by the world-famous Prairie Rose Wranglers to the Hopalong Cassidy Cowboy Museum and Chuckwagon Supper, the Prairie Rose has a lock on western hospitality, entertainment and cowboy dining in these parts. Visit Thursdays through Sundays: gates open at 5 p.m. and supper is served at 6:30. Chuckwagon supper prices are $15 for kids 6–12, and $25 for adults. Museum admission is $4 for kids and $6 for adults. For more information on Prairie Rose’s eighth season, call 778.2121 or check it out online at prairierosechuckwagon.com.

Chukkers
A fairly well-kept secret, the Fairfield Polo Club plays four times per week from May to October on grass fields in Andover and Haysville. Attend with high expectations for a terrific match; not only does Fairfield’s current lineup include four pros from Argentina as well as local team members, but several local polo alum have gone on to professional polo success. Competing teams include those from Tulsa, Fayetteville, Des Moines, Edmond and Kansas City. All matches are free for spectators, with the exception of the occasional charity match. For more information, contact the Fairfield Polo Club at 686.7314 or Mike@ecarn.com.

Playing from Dawn to Dusk to…(Yawn)
Late summer in Wichita means one thing: baseball, as the National Baseball Congress World Series takes the field at Lawrence Dumont Stadium, 300 S Sycamore in Wichita. This year the fun runs July 28 through August 12. The July 31 and August 1 games are free, courtesy of Coca-Cola and Taco Bell; the ‘round-the-clock games are scheduled for August 4–6. Check additional game times, prices and team lineups at nbcbaseball.com or call 267-3372.

Pony Up!
Have you always had the desire to own a horse but not the means, the time or the acreage? Singletree Stables in north Wichita has the solution. This family-owned stable offers lessons, rentals and short- or long-term horse leasing. Lessons are available five days a week, beginning at $15 per lesson at package pricing. A quick perusal of their Web site (singletreestables.com) shows a variety of horses to choose from, for purchase or lease at a range of prices. Contact Jill Neal at 838-7846.

Coming About on the Open Water
With nearly 10,000 acres of water and an abundance of wind, Cheney Lake has sharpened the skills of hundreds of competitive and recreational sailing enthusiasts. Watching keel boat races and regattas is half the fun in this sport, and the Ninnescah Sailing Association at Cheney will host a variety through September. Find the schedule of events online at ninnescah.org, or contact the association at 729.5757.

It’ll Keep You in Stitches
Do your colleagues keep telling you to take your act on the road? If you’ve been told your schtick is funny, Wichita’s Loony Bin Comedy Club holds an open-mic show the first Wednesday of each month before the professional comedians take the stage. Prefer to be entertained, rather than be the entertainment? Comedians from around the country appear at The Loony Bin each Wednesday through Sunday. Doors open at 7 pm, and ticket prices start at $7. No joke, the  phone number is 618-HAHA and the Web site is logically loonybincomedy.com/wichita/.

Faux-ly Finished
Are you a closet HGTV junkie? A do-it-yourselfer? Or do you just love anything that lets you get your hands goopy? Then the classes at Artimatrix in Old Town might take you to design nirvana. Artimatrix Academy of Architectural Finishes offers half-day to five-day classes to students of all skill and interest levels. Whether you’d like to refinish your entryway walls or are exploring a new career, check out the wide variety of lessons available at artimatrix.com or call for a class schedule at 264-ARTY.

Wings Over Wichita
Prepare to be awestruck. The city celebrates its aviation heritage at the Wichita Flight Festival at Jabara Airport, 3512 N Webb Rd., August 25-27. The daredevil acts are sure to amaze even the most stalwart observers. Watch Stearman Soucy fly his Showcat plane as partner Teresa Stokes walks along the wings. Patty Wagstaff returns to fly an Extra 300S that climbs at 4,000 feet per minute and spins at 420 degrees per second. For quieter entertainment, the festival will host displays of vintage, experimental and new aircraft. There’ll be food and activities just for the children, as well. Tickets are $30 for a weekend pass or $5 per day for Saturday and Sunday. Children under 10 are admitted free. To volunteer or find out more, call 267.2817 or visit wichitaflightfestival.com.