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Local Flavor is So Delightful

Posted on March 18, 2024 by under Food and Drink.    

Local Flavor

Ever since I’ve discovered Local Flavor and their “local delight” pie I have been completely obsessed. In fact, I dragged Brian and Chris (my friend from work) there again for lunch recently just so I could satisfy my pie craving. Here are some pics from that visit and previous visits (because the place is now on our regular dining rotation).

Smoked Chicken Bacon Wrap

The smoked chicken bacon wrap normally has greens and tomatoes. Brian doesn’t like tomatoes and so there’s none in this pic. After having this version, he decided he didn’t like the greens either. So now he gets it without greens and tomatoes and it’s absolutely perfect. This wrap has the best smoky flavor. It’s our new favorite thing to get there.

New Favorite Chicken Wrap

Brian also loves their rib tips. They are good but a bit too spicy for my taste buds.

Spiced Honey Siracha Rib Tips

Parmesan potatoes – not that special but good. And they’re the perfect additional side to complement your meal specially if you’ve decided to just split a chicken bacon wrap like we sometimes do.

Parmesan Potatoes

Chris had the fish at lunch the other day. He got two huge fillets, battered and fried. Not gonna lie. It looked pretty good. I would have had fries instead of the fried okra, though.

Fried Fish, Okra, and Cabbage Slaw

The smoked salmon dip is also something that I have really enjoyed there. You can’t see the dip under the pretzel in this pic. They give you quite a bit of it along with the pretzel, Ritz crackers, veggies, and chips.

Salmon Dip

I had so much dip left over one time that I took the rest home and made a sandwich out of it the next day. It was great that way too.

Local Delight Pie

And then here’s the best part – the local delight pie. It’s got the best fruity flavors.

Local Delight Pie

The place doesn’t really look like much when you first pull up but, as soon as you get out of the car, you’re immediately greeted with that smoky barbecue aroma. That place smells so freakin’ delicious. Besides barbecue, they also serve tacos and burgers. Much like everywhere else, Tuesday is “Taco Tuesday” and Wednesday is burger day ($2 off any burger). You can see the rest of the daily specials in the pic of the menu below.

Happy Hour and Weekday Specials

Happy hour is 2 to 5 PM Tuesday through Saturday and there’s a bonus late night happy hour from 9 PM to midnight Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I’ve yet to come out to enjoy their happy hour but I’m very tempted to because the food and drink specials are pretty darn good.

Drink Menu

Here are some of their specialty drinks.

Sunday Brunch

I’ve also yet to come out to Sunday brunch but those $15 mimosa buckets are calling my name. Anyone wanna go this Sunday?

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Team League at West YMCA

Posted on March 15, 2024 by under Pickleball, Things to Do.    

I played in the first ever team league at West YMCA and it was such a traumatic experience. Just kidding. It was so much fun. The only thing that sucked about it was that I’ve had the yips since the beginning of the year and so all my servers were basically points for the other team. That wasn’t the league’s fault.

Handsome and Holesome

Here are some pics that we took throughout the league.

Susie and Ching

Susie Ternes and I wore our blue Halara dresses on one of the days. I absolutely love this dress but I just hate being so short because it’s sooo long on me! Anyways, if you shop at thehalara.com, remember to use discount code CHERRIE for 20% OFF! (Discount doesn’t work on SALE items but works on everything else.)

Austin and Matt

Here are a couple of pictures of Austin Winter and Matt Von Feldt. I love that these boys were into being matchy-matchy also.

Austin and Matt

I really struggled this league because of the rally scoring and my yips situation. Because I couldn’t serve, we were pretty much playing with a handicap. We didn’t perform well enough to be in the upper division so we ended up in the lower division on tournament night (final week of league) and we ended up winning that division. I think it was kind of a blessing because I’m not sure we could have won the other group. So at least we medaled. That’s the silver-lining, anyway.

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This kind of reminds me of last year’s Picklemania tournament. My team missed the elite group by mere points (we were in the toughest pool with three teams with the potential to advance to elite and we ended up being third) and then ended up in advanced group. We obviously won it because we really should have been in elite but just got edged out. LOL.

Speaking of Picklemania, we are having it again this year. This year’s event will be at Crestview Country Club on May 25. Hope to see you there!

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National Margarita Day

Posted on March 10, 2024 by under Life.    

I know National Margarita Day was a few weeks ago so this is a super late post. Most people usually go for Mexican food on National Margarita Day — because tequila — but my favorite stop is Chicken N Pickle because they have these super cute margarita flights on pickleball paddles that’s available one day only — on National Margarita Day.

Margarita Flight

However, friends had other plans this year so I didn’t get to have my annual margarita flight. First stop was a meet up with my Leadership Wichita classmates at Social Tap, also one of my favorite spots in general. Our Leadership Wichita class celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. I love how many of us from the 2014 class still get together ten years later.

Leadership Wichita Meetup at Social Tap

Next stop was the West side El Agave to meet some pickleball pals.

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It’s always fun celebrating drinking holidays. Fun times!

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Pennant Coffee – New Location

Posted on March 7, 2024 by under Food and Drink.    

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Leslie Coffee in Delano closed and Pennant Coffee, which was originally located at Revolutsia, took over their location.

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Chris Townley, Josh Harris, and I recently went to check them out at their new location. Sad that Leslie Coffee closed but we absolutely love Pennant. Specially since they don’t upcharge the non-dairy milk options.

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The breakfast sandwiches are also fantastic there. This is the classic sando. It is hefty with a kick! Anyway, I highly recommend checking out Pennant if you ever have a chance. Rumor has it, Reverie’s Kyle is over there now.

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Dental Adventures from Brian’s Perspective

Posted on March 5, 2024 by under Health, Life.    

Now that you have read about my adventure from Ching’s point of view, I think you’ll want to hear it from the horse’s mouth… so to speak!

So, all of what Ching said is true. It’s my own fault that I’m in the situation that I’m in and, had I just pushed my anger down, and attempted to speak to the management at Wichita Endodontics I wouldn’t be in the situation I am currently in.

At the end of 2019, I was informed by my dentist that I had a small infection above my left front tooth. I was told that I needed to have a specialist take care of it due to the nature of the infection and the potential for further treatment that may be needed. It was just outside of the scope of what my dentist could tackle. Back then I was not as busy at work and taking the time to deal with these things was fairly simple. I was referred to Wichita Endodontics. Back then, they were at their old office. I went to my appointment, paid my $160 (a fee that was not able to be absorbed by insurance), and got all of my x-rays and images needed to get the procedure done. I was given two different methods that would take care of the problem and given the percentage of success for each. One was a root canal method. The other was a small incision over my tooth. The incision had a greater chance of success. I chose the root canal method because it was less expensive, less invasive, and I just really didn’t like the idea of being cut open. All was decided. I explained everything to Ching (which she has forgotten) and she was all for it. We had a few things going on, so I scheduled my procedure for about 2 months later. Well, as Luck would have it, this is when Wichita finally decided to shut down — literally 4 days before my procedure. So, I get a call from the endo telling me that they are going to have to cancel for now, and they will call once everything is sorted and they are able to see patients again. I understood completely, given everything that was going on I figured that there would be something like this and I was already mentally prepared for this.

Fast forward, it’s now almost the end of 2020. I get a call from the endo — they are ready to reschedule my appointment and get the procedure done. I was thinking, this means pick up where they left off. No! The person that called stated “Oh, by the way, we will need to do the scans again and you will need to pay the fee again.” I asked if she was sure and she said, “Unfortunately, yes.” I replied with “Well, unfortunately… No!” and hung up the phone. Was this the right thing to do? Not at all. I should have requested to speak to someone, work out the details, and see if they would just do the new scans given that I already paid. I know now (in hindsight) that this could have been resolved right then and I would not be in the situation I am in.

I proceeded on with life, not thinking about the growing infection in my mouth. I was not in any pain. My life went on as normal. I was reminded every year when I saw the dentist that I needed to get this taken care of and every year I reminded him of why I didn’t want to speak to them and on more than one occasion I was advised, in a very professional way, to grow up.

Now we come to my most recent appointment. My dentist takes the x-rays, comes to me and the first thing he says, “You really need to get this taken care of.” I shrug my shoulders and the doc says, “No, we’re getting this fixed.” He gives the details to the hygienist and she takes me to the appointment desk. She hands the business card to the lady behind the desk and proceeds to tell her “Brian is having an issue making an appointment. Can you call and get something scheduled for him?” And she does just that. I don’t blame them for treating me like a child as I was acting like one — an old, grumpy child. Shortly after my appointment was made is when the fistula appeared. Since I had the appointment, I toughed it out. I was told that the fistula is a result of the infection spreading and that if I didn’t get this take care of it would only get worse, and there is a chance that it already is, and I may still need oral surgery by this time next year.

I did tell the doctor of my issue in the past and why I didn’t do this sooner. He informed me that had I just come and spoke to someone then this could have been resolved very easily and I would not be in the mess I am in now. Reconfirming that this is really all my fault! On the plus side, the doctor did make it right, even after all these years, and he really didn’t have to. I mean seriously, ultimately, it was me that made the decision to just blow the whole thing off.

Well, we move to the day of my procedure. I can say with absolute certainty that they mean what they say. It was the first root canal that I have ever had done that I didn’t feel anything. Even after the numbing wore off, I only had a slight tingle in my upper gum and tooth and that’s it. I did take an Advil that night, mainly for inflammation (it was highly suggested in the follow up paperwork) and then a Tylenol the next morning — more as a precaution than anything, I didn’t really need it, but I had to go back to work, and I didn’t want to risk feeling any pain as the day progressed.

Now I have to wait. The first thing I have to wait for is the fistula to go away. They said I had to wait about four weeks and, if it’s not gone by then, I have to let them know. They advised it may flare up before it goes away (I think that happened this weekend, at least I’m hoping that’s what happened) and, if it doesn’t go away in that four weeks, I have to call them back for another appointment and it may mean oral surgery for sure. If the fistula does go away, then I have to wait another six months. They are going to call me in 5 to schedule an appointment. This will be to see if the infection is going away, if the infection is going away on its own, then I’m in the clear (meaning – no surgery). If not, then I will have surgery by this time next year.

I have to say that several lessons have been learned from this adventure.

  1. Stay on top of your brushing, make sure that you brush at least twice a day, at a minimum. I personally have also started to use medicated mouth wash as well, mainly because I still suck at flossing. But my oral hygiene has improved due to this.
  2. If something needs to be done, don’t wait. Do it, get it done. You have no idea how bad things can get if you put it off. There are just some things that your body will not fix on its own.
  3. Don’t let your emotions govern how you take care of yourself. Had I just spoke to someone and worked it out, I wouldn’t be in this situation. I could potentially lose several of my teeth because I let my emotions get the better of me. Unfortunately, this is a family trait.
  4. Finally, all things can be resolved through communication. I should have known this, my wife an I practice this. We believe that communication is key, not only in a relationship, but in life in general. If you’re having an issue, work it out like adults and have a discussion. Had I just spoke to someone other than the attendant that called me, I could have gotten all of this resolved and not be in the situation I’m in.

In the end, I’m grateful for my wife Ching. She is always there for me. She takes care of me when I need it and tells me how bad I’ve screwed up when I need to hear it. I don’t know where I’d be without her. Probably toothless.

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