I’ve never been too crazy about Oklahoma, but we arrived for one night in Oklahoma City (OKC), and what an impressive city! Barry discovered a Full Moon Bike Ride that was happening the night we had a travel stop in OKC. We thought it would be cool to do the bike ride, and it would a neat way to see a little bit of the city since they close off traffic to some of the streets for it, and we are only here as a one-night travel stop.
Prior to arriving in OKC, we stopped at a rest area that also functions as a welcome center. Barry picked up a few booklets on Oklahoma and Oklahoma City. The ladies working were quite helpful. This was a very positive first impression for the state.
Our afternoon and evening for exploration was limited since I had to go to an urgent care due to an earache. I had fluid behind both eardrums, but the left inner ear was also red. The doctor put me on amoxicillin for 10 days and prednisone for five. Once we got my prescriptions picked up we headed into the downtown area to still do the bike ride. It wouldn’t be anything strenuous since we both have e-bikes.
Wow! This entire downtown area was amazing! A large 17-acre urban botanical garden with outdoor concert area overlooking a pond with ducks, geese and koi. The Crystal Bridge Conservatory was closed for renovations till late 2022, but we didn’t have time to explore inside anyway.
A huge splash park area, and a carousel.
The large, central lawn area was being set up for a free evening movie. Tonight was “Jurassic Park”. Every Wednesday, June 29-July 27 a movie outdoors here for families. A couple food trucks were on a bordering street. Two Jurassic Jeeps #12 and #29 were brought on site to add to the movie atmosphere.
We found the area for the bike ride sign up in Seasonal Plaza.
It was a $5 donation per person. We signed our waiver and were ready to go. Typically there are 600-700 bicyclists participating! Tonight, due to the heat and maybe since it landed on a weeknight, it was only about about 200-300. We were glad the numbers were down. We stayed up near the front with the leaders. We didn’t want to take a chance of getting lost. It was a great little 7-8 mile ride, over a couple bridges, and down along the river, and back to Seasonal Plaza.
And we’re off!
And back into the city.
While we waited for the ride to start, we had a pleasant conversation with a local rider. He told us that he used to want to move to Dallas in the worst way, but not anymore. He wouldn’t go anywhere in Texas now. He loves OKC with all the renovations that they’ve done over the last decade or so. There is so much to do. This entire complex we were enjoying was done right. OKC has a network of 10 interconnected bike trails that totals about 80 miles, and lead to almost every part of the city.
He also told us about the Boathouse District. Riversport options include zip lining across the river, surfing, snow skiing simulators, stand-up paddleboards, kayaking, sky trail, and Riversport Rapids with Class II-Iv whitewater rafting! It is the official U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Site and home of the OKC National High Performance Center for both rowing and canoe/kayak. This is where rowers can train locally, but in a specially-designed high altitude environment! Pretty impressive. We would definitely like to check out the Boat District next time!
OKC has 14 unique districts to it. A couple I found interesting:
Stockyards City District – Hosts the world’s largest stocker and feeder cattle market. Cattle auctions take place every Monday and Tuesday and are open to the public. I think this would be cool to see.
Paseo Arts District – Here there are 20 eclectic art galleries with many having attached working artists’ studios, and shops.
There are so many different museums around the city. One that seems worthy of a visit is the First Americans Museum (FAM) located along the river. It has collective histories of Oklahoma’s 39 distinctive First American Nations!
From the FAM website:
I would also like to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial. It is the memorial that honors the victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were affected by the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995.
Next time we also plan to get together with a high school friend of mine – Paula Binkley Nuxol (although her last name will be changing soon. 🙂 ) I had no idea she lived in the area. We will also plan to stop and spend a day or two with Tex and Susan Collier west of OKC.
I so enjoyed this, Nancy! My husband Joe was born and raised in OKC, and we lived there 1973-1979 and 2000-2013. I retired from teaching there. You’ve done a beautiful job of highlighting many of the wonderful aspects of the city. 😉
That is so wonderful to hear. Since you know the city so well, your kind words truly touched me. Thank you!
What did you teach? I retired from teaching in WA. I started out as a kindergarten teacher in Ohio. LOVED it…but when I moved to WA I was hired for 6th grade. To my surprise I really enjoyed middle school. I started middle school with and AM “core” – reading/LA/Social St and a PM “core”, then I had core + art and math till I went to all math and got my National Board Certification in Young Adolescent Math.