The Wichita Gardens are a place of solace. Several themed gardens are featured. The Shakespearean garden showcases plants featured in his writings. The butterfly garden's vivid colors draw winged creatures or from June to September see them in free flight inside the Butterfly House. The pinetum (species of pine trees) serves as a border along the eastern edge. The 350 plants of the rose garden include many All-American Rose Society winners. The fountain garden is surrounded by 2,000 flowering plants, including peonies early each summer. The woodland walk provides a place for quiet reflection amid... More

The Wichita Gardens are a place of solace. Several themed gardens are featured. The Shakespearean garden showcases plants featured in his writings. The butterfly garden's vivid colors draw winged creatures or from June to September see them in free flight inside the Butterfly House. The pinetum (species of pine trees) serves as a border along the eastern edge. The 350 plants of the rose garden include many All-American Rose Society winners. The fountain garden is surrounded by 2,000 flowering plants, including peonies early each summer. The woodland walk provides a place for quiet reflection amid streams, azaleas, dogwoods and wildflowers. Next door is the wildflower meadow and the xeriscape demonstration area. The teaching garden puts ideas into motion, while the perennial border illustrates how it's possible to have color during many months of the year. More than 30 types of junipers can also be seen and smelled, just like plants in the sensory garden. In garden on the rocks, plants sprout in difficult environments. Sculptures are found throughout the various gardens, lending to the topic of the area.

Cero's has been making gourmet quality chocolates in Wichita for more than 100 years. Watch candy being made.

The last remaining member of the family sold the business to the Mental Health Association that provides job training to special needs adults. More

Cero's has been making gourmet quality chocolates in Wichita for more than 100 years. Watch candy being made.

The last remaining member of the family sold the business to the Mental Health Association that provides job training to special needs adults.

This weathered marker indicates the spot where the Chisholm Trail crossed the Arkansas River. This was the final natural barrier at the end of a long journey, a signal that the work was almost finished.

The inscription reads: "between the years 1865 and 1874 over 3,000,000 Texas Longhorns were driven up the trail" More

This weathered marker indicates the spot where the Chisholm Trail crossed the Arkansas River. This was the final natural barrier at the end of a long journey, a signal that the work was almost finished.

The inscription reads: "between the years 1865 and 1874 over 3,000,000 Texas Longhorns were driven up the trail"

"The greatest name in the great outdoors" is Coleman with more than 2,000 camping products. Based in Wichita, this store features a small museum that celebrates the company's more than 100 years in business. It all began when W.C. Coleman began manufacturing lamps. Vintage Coleman products are on display. More

"The greatest name in the great outdoors" is Coleman with more than 2,000 camping products. Based in Wichita, this store features a small museum that celebrates the company's more than 100 years in business. It all began when W.C. Coleman began manufacturing lamps. Vintage Coleman products are on display.

Exploration Place, located on a 20-acre site on the banks of the scenic Arkansas River in downtown Wichita, it was designed to inspire interest in science though interactivity. Of special interest is an exhibit on aviation that explores its history through present day aeronautics. Or learn about life in Kansas - from tornadoes to spiders and snakes to local landmarks. There's even a world of make believe for the younger set.

Also housed at the complex are the CyberDome Theater (fee)... More

Exploration Place, located on a 20-acre site on the banks of the scenic Arkansas River in downtown Wichita, it was designed to inspire interest in science though interactivity. Of special interest is an exhibit on aviation that explores its history through present day aeronautics. Or learn about life in Kansas - from tornadoes to spiders and snakes to local landmarks. There's even a world of make believe for the younger set.

Also housed at the complex are the CyberDome Theater (fee) with a variety of presentations each day; the SIM Center, home to a handcrafted carousel (fee); and MiniGolf, an 18-hole outdoor course available seasonally (fee).

The larger outdoor campus, Exploration Park, has a children's playground area and open space for recreational pursuits and picnicking.

Learn about the abundance and diversity of the North American prairie at the Great Plains Nature Center. Kansas' environment includes woodlands, wetlands, rivers, streams and lakes. The focal point of the center is Koch Habitat Hall with exhibits on the prairie or grasslands in an earlier time, climate, European settlers, streams, wetlands, rivers and woodlands, and a 2,200-gallon aquarium. From here, enter the Wildlife Observatory, which looks out on the wetlands of Chisholm Creek Park. One of the city's largest parks, it brings to life many of the exhibits just seen. Also find 2.5 miles of paved trails.... More

Learn about the abundance and diversity of the North American prairie at the Great Plains Nature Center. Kansas' environment includes woodlands, wetlands, rivers, streams and lakes. The focal point of the center is Koch Habitat Hall with exhibits on the prairie or grasslands in an earlier time, climate, European settlers, streams, wetlands, rivers and woodlands, and a 2,200-gallon aquarium. From here, enter the Wildlife Observatory, which looks out on the wetlands of Chisholm Creek Park. One of the city's largest parks, it brings to life many of the exhibits just seen. Also find 2.5 miles of paved trails.

The museum, housed in the former Wichita Municipal Airport terminal that was completed in 1935 and used as a commercial terminal until 1954, strives to preserve the birth and development of Kansas's aviation industry - the Air Capital of the World and to educate visitors on the past, present and future of flight. Find more than 40 complete, restored and partial aircraft of many different types and all eras of modern aviation.

A number of the aircraft are rare or one-of-a-kind... More

The museum, housed in the former Wichita Municipal Airport terminal that was completed in 1935 and used as a commercial terminal until 1954, strives to preserve the birth and development of Kansas's aviation industry - the Air Capital of the World and to educate visitors on the past, present and future of flight. Find more than 40 complete, restored and partial aircraft of many different types and all eras of modern aviation.

A number of the aircraft are rare or one-of-a-kind and represent important aviation milestones. They include:
• Boeing B-29, "Doc." One of Wichita's most important contributions to the World War II war effort was the Boeing B-29. From mid-1943 to early 1945, Boeing Wichita delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces 1,644 B-29s, including 14 YB-29 prototypes. "Doc" is being painstakingly restored by the U.S. Aviation Museum and, when completed, will be one of only two B-29s that are still capable of flight.
• Beech Starship. The all-composite airframe Starship was the first civilian airplane to make wide-ranging use of composite materials. Bert Rutan participated in the aircraft's futuristic design, which featured push-type turboprops and canard wings among its many innovations.
• Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. Built in Wichita in 1957, this aircraft was posted to several different assignments, including duty in Vietnam.
• 1934 Model 73 Stearman Trainer. Credited as the aircraft that kept Boeing in Wichita during World War II. Stearman Aircraft Company won a contract in the early 1930s from the U.S. Navy to build the Model 73/Navy NS-1 Trainer. The Model 73 saved Stearman from bankruptcy during the depression, thus forming the nucleus for Boeing Wichita during the war. To the museum's knowledge, it is the only remaining Model 73 out of the 61 originally built.
• KC-135E refueling tanker. The KC-135E, a swept-wing in-flight refueling tanker built in Wichita, was part of the Kansas Air National Guard fleet based at Forbes Field in Topeka, Kansas.
• 1921 Laird Swallow. The Laird Swallow is important both to Wichita aviation and to the history of general aviation. The Laird Swallow was produced in Wichita from 1920 to 1923. Not only was it the first "made for production" aircraft in the Air Capital, it was the first such aircraft produced anywhere. Only 43 of the aircraft were made in Wichita before Matty Laird returned to his hometown of Chicago. When the 1921 Laird Swallow currently under restoration at the Kansas Aviation Museum is completed, it will be the only such aircraft of this model known to exist.