Oklahoma Metropolis calls itself the trendy frontier, summing up in two phrases its personal specific model of rugged stylish. In fact, like many cosmopolitan cities, Oklahoma’s capital can give you virtually any model of household trip. Outdoorsy, artsy, instructional, sensational — just about no matter you need, you’ll find one thing to go well with in OKC. Spend the day driving coasters at Six Flags and the night watching skilled ballerinas pirouette.
However in case you’re on the lookout for a novel only-in-OKC expertise, try this checklist. I included what we had been capable of squeeze right into a weekend getaway, though in case you have extra time, stick round to the tip the place I added a couple of additional journey concepts together with a suggestion of the place to remain.
1. Eat at Cattlemen’s
When you go to OKC and don’t eat at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, had been you even there? Situated within the coronary heart of Stockyards Metropolis, Cattlemen’s isn’t only a restaurant — it’s an Oklahoma Metropolis establishment.
Dishing up hearty cuts of beef and luxury meals since 1910, Cattlemen’s initially served as a spot for hungry cowboys, ranchers, and haulers to get some filling grub after a cattle drive.
Cattlemens Steakhouse, photograph courtesy of Go to Oklahoma Metropolis
Whereas it’s modified fingers a couple of instances since — together with being gained and misplaced in a smoky backroom cube sport — the ambiance stays largely unchanged. Pictures cowl the partitions commemorating well-known friends, together with film stars and presidents. And also you’ll nonetheless discover loads of genuine cowboys bellying up for a stable meal.
Scrumptious, completely cooked steaks include a buttery roll, a baked potato, and a salad topped with their well-known do-it-yourself dressing. When you’re feeling adventurous, I like to recommend ordering the lamb fries as an appetizer. They’re a traditional. Spherical out the meal with a slice of their well-known coconut cream pie.
2. Go to the Cowboy Museum
You don’t must be into cowboys and even like museums to understand the Nationwide Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. There are large sculptures and high-quality artwork work, weaponry and Western put on. You’ll find out about Native American tradition and Previous West traditions like rodeos and cowboy films.
A reproduction Native American dwelling outdoors on the Nationwide Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, photograph by Cheryl Rodewig
Our favourite gallery was Prosperity Juncture, the place you’ll be able to stroll by a recreated cattle city with a financial institution, saloon, jail, church, steady, and extra. Some play recordings of conversations between characters who would possibly go to these locations, making it all of the extra life-like.
Finest for households: Situated outdoors, Liichokoshkomo’ lets children study by play, together with grinding corn, loading a pioneer wagon, and plotting constellations to information your journey west.
3. Bike the Trails
After I checked Tripadvisor for issues to do in Oklahoma Metropolis, Trip OKC was ranked No. 1 for outside actions, which tells you a couple of issues. For one, you’ll be able to surmise that they’ve high quality bikes and good customer support, they usually completely do. They’ll even carry the bikes to you.
Biking the paths in Oklahoma Metropolis, photograph by Cheryl Rodewig
However most significantly, you already know you’ll have enjoyable. You may lease a set of wheels like we did and cycle alongside the river. The path is huge and flat, excellent for households. It takes about 20 minutes for a leisurely journey over to the Boathouse District after which as much as the huge Centennial Land Run Monument, an set up of 45 bronze sculptures displaying horses and wagons crossing the canal.
Centennial Land Run Monument, photograph by Cheryl Rodewig
Whereas not on a path, a visit from Trip OKC to the Paseo Arts District takes lower than quarter-hour, and it’s a straight shot on Walker Avenue, which has a devoted bike lane. The humanities district is enjoyable for procuring, looking the artwork galleries, and taking selfies with all of the Crayola-colored partitions as a backdrop.
Paseo Arts District, photograph courtesy of Go to Oklahoma Metropolis
You may as well take considered one of Trip OKC’s guided bike excursions. They’re themed for various pursuits starting from breweries to ghost excursions. If you wish to see the most effective websites within the metropolis, attempt the Artwork + Structure tour the place you’ll find out about OKC’s storied historical past, together with the heroes and villains of the notorious Oklahoma Land Run.
Don’t miss: The superb Scissortail Park is correct by Trip OKC. They’ve a great deal of occasions right here, and the “sprayground” is a should for teenagers in summer time!
4. Savor Vietnamese Flavors
Whereas it might not look like it at first look, Oklahoma Metropolis is rapidly changing into recognized for its worldwide delicacies — significantly Vietnamese meals. On the prime of my checklist is Cafe de l’Asie, a cute Asian-inspired bistro in downtown Oklahoma Metropolis with some French fusion aptitude.
Beef bulgogi and steamed buns for lunch in Oklahoma Metropolis at Cafe de l’Asie, photograph by Cheryl Rodewig
Whether or not you’re craving a decadent banh mi or need lighter fare, equivalent to Chef Vuong’s Salad with blueberries and strawberries, Cafe de l’Asie has you lined. I like to recommend beginning off with the hen cheesesteak egg rolls, which can simply be the most effective eggroll I’ve ever had, after which sampling among the steamed buns. The fried shrimp bun with lemon aioli and the pork stomach bun had been our favorites.
And you may’t go flawed with the meat bulgogi. It’s filling, not too spicy, and all-around satisfying. When you’ve bought a candy tooth, remember to decide up one of many Thai teas as properly. They style pretty much as good as they give the impression of being.
5. Immerse Your self in Touchable Artwork
Combine Tape, an immersive artwork expertise created by Manufacturing unit Obscura, could also be Oklahoma Metropolis’s most artistic attraction. Situated in downtown’s Car Alley, Combine Tape isn’t your typical look-but-don’t-touch artwork gallery. Right here, guests are inspired to the touch, look, pay attention, work together, create, and revel in artwork on their very own phrases.
Combine Tape coronary heart tunnel at Manufacturing unit Obscura in Oklahoma Metropolis
When you’re simply passing by, you’ll be able to play with the “Boombox” show outdoors. Styled as a large cassette participant, it has buttons you’ll be able to push for music and different sounds. Inside, you’ll discover 6,000 sq. toes of sensory artwork impressed by music. The area is crammed stuffed with issues to discover: tiny dioramas, tunnels to crawl by, a slide, a moody teenager’s bed room, and a video name to someplace in New Mexico. It’s mind-boggling.
Household photograph op: Head to the heart-shaped hallway, lined with stuffed animals, or the fuzzy-walled disco cave proper if you enter.
6. Hit the (Dessert) Bar
You won’t be hitting up OKC’s nightlife scene if it is a household trip, however you’ll be able to nonetheless dangle on the coolest bar on the town — Perets Dessert & Espresso Bar. The comfy setting, subtle decor, and Instagrammable desserts will remember to please teenagers — and everybody else in your social gathering.
Affogato at Perets Dessert & Espresso Bar, photograph by Cheryl Rodewig
Vital is the affogato, an indulgent mixture of Oklahoma-made ice cream and toppings paired with a shot of espresso. Taste combos embrace vanilla with raspberry sauce and rose-sugared pistachios and blueberry compote with oat streusel crumble. They’ve nice espresso together with numerous different desserts. Don’t overlook the from-scratch chocolate chip cookie. It’s superb.
7. Do the Zoo
OKC has greater than horses and cattle. Spanning over 130 acres, the Oklahoma Metropolis Zoo is dwelling to over 1,900 animals from as far-off as Asia and Africa. One of many highlights is the Nice EscAPE, the place you rise up shut and private with orangutans and gorillas. Close by, the Sanctuary Asia part homes the zoo’s herd of Asian elephants.
Oklahoma Metropolis Zoo, photograph by Cheryl Rodewig
The Oklahoma Trails reveals are a should too. Right here you’ll see Oklahoma’s native wildlife, together with black bears, alligators, and bison.
Particularly for teenagers: Cease by the Kids’s Zoo to pet goats, see monkeys and lorikeets, or play within the splash pad.
8. Cease and Odor the Backyard
Only a block from Bricktown close to Scissortail Park, Myriad Botanical Gardens is an oasis smack in the course of downtown OKC. The gardens are greatest recognized for the Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, housing a two-level waterfall, terraces, a mirrored image pool, and a number of tropical vegetation. It’s onerous to take a foul photograph right here.
Myriad Botanical Gardens conservatory, photograph by Cheryl Rodewig
There’s lots to get pleasure from outdoors the conservatory too. Children can journey Mo’s Carousel, mother and father can browse the store, and everybody can admire the outside gardens. When you occur to go to over winter, they open up an ice skating rink. Examine their calendar earlier than you go — the gardens are a hotspot for festivals and occasions distinctive to Oklahoma Metropolis.
9. Tour the Capitol
The Oklahoma State Capitol constructing is a superb place for households to go to. The Capitol Rotunda, greatest considered from the second ground, is price a go to by itself. On sunny days, the stained glass shines in blue, gold, and purple. Surrounding the rotunda are hallways full of colourful art work that paperwork Oklahoma’s historical past.
Oklahoma Metropolis capitol constructing, photograph by Cheryl Rodewig
Earlier than leaving, remember to cease by the Oklahoma State Capitol Museum contained in the capitol constructing. The museum has animated projections that’ll hold even youthful ones entertained in addition to a set of attention-grabbing artifacts. You’ll get an opportunity to have a look at a working draft of the Oklahoma Structure, the quill utilized by Teddy Roosevelt to signal the Sooner State into statehood, and extra. In addition they do guided excursions.
Bonus: Each a self-guided go to and the excursions are fully free, making this attraction budget-friendly for households.
A lot Extra in OKC
These had been our prime experiences from our weekend escape to Oklahoma Metropolis, however try their lineup of issues to do and design your personal getaway.
When you’re on the lookout for extra traditional OKC sights, two others so as to add to your checklist are the Oklahoma Metropolis Nationwide Memorial & Museum, which remembers the 1995 Oklahoma Metropolis bombing, and the First Individuals Museum, which celebrates the heritage of 39 indigenous tribes.
Taking a narrated water taxi journey down the canal in Bricktown is one other quintessential expertise. Bricktown is likely one of the coolest neighborhoods in OKC, and I extremely advocate spending a night right here simply strolling (or cruising) round earlier than or after dinner.
Guide Your Keep in OKC
Bricktown can be an amazing place for households to remain. We cherished the Hampton Inn & Suites in Bricktown. Its location is tough to beat, with a baseball stadium, banjo museum, a great deal of eating places, and a sprawling leisure complicated known as Brickopolis — gem mining, mini golf, laser tag, arcade, and so forth. — all simply steps from our entrance door. The suites are particularly handy since you’ll be able to put teenagers in a connecting room and everybody will get their very own area. And the free breakfast was scrumptious. I might simply have stayed right here for every week.
Hampton Inn & Suites Bricktown, photograph by Cheryl Rodewig
And also you would possibly need to. As a result of it looks like there’s at all times extra to do in OKC, this cultured cattle city the place exploring and new discoveries go along with the territory.