2 Days in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City
A desire to utilize our Six Flags membership and visit as many amusement parks within driving distance motivated our trip to Oklahoma City over Labor Day. The relatively new First Americans Museum was a draw as well.
Bricktown Canal
Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Gardens
We are big on memberships, you’ve probably noticed, as we tend to get our money’s worth and more. Our Houston Zoo membership gets us into other AZA accredited zoos for free or half off. OKC is 50% off. They are in the process of redoing many of their exhibits to provide bigger habitats for the animals. The elephant enclosure is very impressive, allowing you to walk up above the expansive space to get a bird’s eye view of the elephants. I also enjoyed seeing the Indian rhino, red pandas, and turtles.
Elephant Enclosure
Bricktown
Bricktown is close to downtown and has a small riverwalk. Bricktown Candy Co. is an old-timey style candy store than also sells gelato and worth a visit. We ate at Earl’s Rib House and Bricktown Brewery and grabbed coffee at All About Cha. Parlor is a fun food hall with a few options. We enjoyed the Cajun pasta at Bad Nonna’s.
Bricktown Candy
First Americans Museum (FAM)
This wonderful museum was conceived with input from many of the 39 tribes that were forced into Oklahoma. It’s a beautiful space that honors and centers the story of First Americans. As a history professor, I’m always looking for better ways to incorporate indigenous history and the {hall} gave me several ideas. For instance, the notion that gift-giving was reciprocal in Native American cultures and the lack of reciprocity from European conquerors led to conflict. I particularly loved the 21st century mound and the glass dome that mimics a Wichita grass house.
West Village
Oklahoma City has done a pretty good job saving warehouses and turning them into cool things. The store/salon/restaurant Social Capital sells socially conscious products in a converted automobile factory. Stitch in the West Village is a café/plant shop with homemade pop tarts and specialty lattes like kettle corn flavor.
Stitch Cafe Rainbow Wall
Six Flags Frontier City
This amusement park was built in the 1950s, around the time Disneyland opened. A few years ago, the Six Flags corporation bought it but they haven’t made many changes. It still has a Wild West theme and mostly moderate rides. There’s a decent magic show and a very campy stunt show. Our favorite ride was the Steel Lasso, an inverted coaster.
