The Giant's Bathtub and Other Interesting Places

A few weeks ago, in Wichita, my brother, sister and I drove around the city visiting places close to our hearts when we were children.

In Oak Park, we visited The Giant's Bathtub. This bathtub shaped pond sits in a lovely shaded spot and has been called The Giant's Bathtub as long as we can remember. Our grandmother used to take us there on summer days long ago. I recently read an article on the Internet where someone remembered ice skating on the pond in the 1930's.

Across the road, used to be a small mound of a building that had something to do with the water department. We called it "The Witches Cave" and it always seemed scary and mysterious to us as kids. Sadly, The Witches Cave was torn down long ago.

Close by in another section of the park stands Park Villa (see picture above.) I remember "dancing out" there in front of an audience while my Aunt Cherry (Irene Larmer) accompanied us on the piano. I took dance classes at the Claudia Mundy School of Dance for years as did all the little girls in our neighborhood. Claudia believed that her students should have experience in front of any available audience. We tapped our little feet off for nursing homes, amusement parks as well as the annual recital. Tap, ballet, jazz and acrobatics were a big part of our lives and I have the home movies to prove it!