In Portland is this place called Kruger's Farm Market. I've never been there, or to Portland for that matter, but I wish Wichita had something similiar. Kruger's is a farm where you can pick your own strawberries, tomatoes, flowers, pumpkins, etc. It's a beautiful place (based on the pictures, of course) but what makes this place extraordinary, in my opinion, is the summer concerts that they host on Thursday evenings. People are invited to bring their lawnchairs and blankets and enjoy an evening of live music. In my dreams, I imagine listening to a band like Old Crow Medecine Show at the farm, wearing a cotton sundress (I know, me in a dress! This is why it's a dream...) and hanging out in a lawnchair drinking a summer beer. It sounds so lovely, like a perfect summer evening. The thing I find particulary frustrating about my dream is that I am sitting in Wichita, KS -- home many, many fruit stands, farms, and markets --there are so many places that would be ideal to host concerts like these. Unfortunately, the City of Wichita finds it necessary for us to compete with bigger cities and create an upscale redneck-version of this -- the outdoor concert series at Bradley Fair Shopping Center. I say redneck because the people who go are those who see and want to be seen and Wichita is always fighting to stay trendy. If you ask me, it's not about the music either. Seriously? Smooth jazz? It's like Wichita is trying to re-create KC's Plaza experience yet we don't have near the options for shopping, dining, or entertainment. Oh, and KC also has the City Market which does host concerts so they cover more than the hoity-toity population that needs to "be seen." I'm also disappointed with Wichita's Waterwalk Project... this is not the downtown that I want for Wichita. Old Town has come so far in the last few years with some decent bars, the Final Friday crawl, the new First Friday crawl, some great coffe shops, etc. Even the shopping has improved! And now we are going to get another mini-Plaza that will come up short. Gander Mountain already set the vibe for this location-- why does a mega-sports store need to be downtown? As far as concerts go, I'm pretty lucky that Josh loves music as much as me and is always up for a roadtrip to see a band but I wish we didn't always have to travel so far. There are so many great concerts coming near Wichita but hardly anything in Wichita this summer. I've been preparing my concert list, which includes: Collective Soul (the one band coming to Wichita -- but of course I've seen them before), Heart, Huey Lewis & the News, DMB, Blondie, Jackson Browne, Aerosmith, Tilly & the Wall, Green Day... of course we won't be going to all of these concerts (traveling to KC or OKC involves using vacation time, getting hotel rooms, etc.) but I'd sure like to. U2 is coming to Oklahoma in October and I already bought tickets for it because it's U2 and tickets were more than reasonable. I also found that Truckstop Honeymoon is going to be playing a free concert in Lawrence on July 4th, which could be a lovely way to spend the evening. If you haven't checked out Truckstop Honeymoon you should. They are a fantastic band out of LA that have a bluegrass-rockabilly vibe. Go listen to them now!
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