[box style=”rounded”]This post is part of our Small Town Spotlight Series. Read more posts from this series…[/box]
If you’ve lived in Wichita for any amount of time, you’re likely familiar with Derby, a quaint town just a few short miles south of Wichita. Derby has grown exponentially in the last 10 years adding avenues of entertainment, shopping and dining. But it still offers a small town feel.
Parks and Recreation
Overall, Derby offers 37 park locations that includes 92 playgrounds. It could take you all year to hit them all up. A few include…
Madison Avenue Central Park is a park that is currently being built. This park will offer an event venue, all-access playground, splash pad, outside classroom and a 1/2 mile path for hiking and biking. It is currently being renovated, and at completion, will be on Madison at the site of the old St. Mary Catholic Church. The venue should be completed by the end of 2015, and the rest should be complete by spring 2016.
High Park is located just east of Rock Road and spans from Madison to James street. High Park offers more than 2 miles of Hike and Bike paths, multiple playgrounds, volley ball courts, baseball and soccer fields and a few enclosed shelters available for rent. There is also a lake where you can fish {You will need a license if you plan to fish}.
Stone Creek Disc Golf Park is the perfect place to play disc golf. There is also a lake for fishing and a small playground for entertainment.
The skate park is located at the location of the former city pool that has now been converted to a skate park. It features stairs, rails, banks and a 4-foot deep bowl. This has definitely given the young adult population a cool place to hang out and not intrude on personal or business properties.
Local Eats
For breakfast, The Firehouse Cafe and Riverside Cafe Derby both offer the usual pairings of what you come to expect from cafe style breakfasts.
Derby Donut is a fun place to stop for donuts and specialty bottled sodas.
Also recently establishing roots in Derby, are two local coffee shops. Silvery Coffee and Bakery is locally owned and serves coffee, pastries, scones, bread and their speciality : cupcakes! They offer all different types throughout the week. You can check out their Facebook page to see what they are serving for the day.
WazUp Coffee House is also locally owned and operated. They are open for breakfast and lunch and then again for dinner. Their breakfast menu has traditional breakfast items, and their lunch and dinner menu is pretty impressive. They serve soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts. They also offer free community rooms, meeting rooms and wi-fi.
Stop by Talliano’s for their delicious white sauce pizza and chocolate chip dessert pizza. You can get it by the slice on their buffet or order it to go.
Pizza John’s is a long-time locally owned pizzeria with small town flair. They serve hoagies, pizza and a local legend the Sara Salad. Their specialty though is great customer service.
Head to Casa Martinez for some delicious, authentic Mexican food. It has recently changed ownership but their food and friendly wait staff has stayed the same.
Finish your evening at Little Busters or Madrocks for a nightcap.
Entertainment
Rock River Rapids is an aquatic park that features a zero depth pool, lap pool, slides, lazy river and a really cool kids play area.
Derby Plaza Theaters is a great place to beat the heat. You don’t have to head to Wichita to see the latest movies year-round with great sound. In the summer they offer movies for kids with discounted prices on tickets and snacks.
Derby Family Entertainment Center will entertain you with bowling, games and a great restaurant and bar. Order the fries…you won’t be disappointed!
Strike Zone has batting cages and offers a venue for birthday parties that features dodgeball.
Select Saturday’s, you can venture to the Derby Historical Museum to see what Derby was like in the past, and there are a lot of artifacts to look at and enjoy.
No matter what you’re looking for, Derby pretty much has it all. The city is always looking for new retail and food options and bringing new tenants to fill any gaps that we might have. But if you haven’t been to Derby in recent yours, you’ll probably find a lot more to like than you have before!
WazUp Coffee also features paintings from local artists in their back room! Go check it out! Here is a link to the public art page of one of your local Derby artists! https://www.facebook.com/pages/CJOY-artworks/321835741298310