11 days in OKC
 

Heading to OKC for about a week and a half. I will be there for business but will have a car. The weekend is free. I've never been to Oklahoma and would like to drive around the state a bit. I enjoy hiking, wine, quirky things, sports.... Is part of Route 66 worth driving?

I also need some dinner recommendations please. Any type of cuisine is fine, and any price is fine.

I know my request is vague, but thank you in advance.

There is a Frank Lloyd Wright building in Bartelsville that has been converted to a hotel. You can also take a tour of the building

Oklahoma City has an excellent art museum in the center of the city, and there is another in Norman, at the university. Norman looks farther than it is. The Cowboy Museum in NE OKC is very good, but the American Indian Museum in Anadarko is not worth the trip.

The Lawton-Ft Sill area makes a good weekend trip, though you can certainly do it in a longish day. Ft Sill is the headquarters and training center for the United States Army artillery, and they have a good museum. Nearby is a national wildlife refuge that is really interesting: freely roaming buffalo, elk, deer, prairie dog villages, and lots of winding old west roads with views down into Texas. You can get to Lawton pretty quickly on I-44, but it is interesting to return to OKC via any one of a number of roads that go due north through prairie and low hills until you hit I-40 and turn east. Part of the interest here us that it 's pretty empty.

You can find excellent food of all sorts these days, from American bistro to Venezuelan and lots of Asian, but you really ought to go to the Cattleman Restaurant at the Fairgrounds/Stockyard for giant hunks of meat. Out in the Mustang area, west of the city, they make a local specialty in diner/cafes called an onion burger. Slightly strange, but worth it.

I have always found it difficult to buy the Sunday New York Times, and the area called Bricktown is a lot less interesting than the locals think unless you are going to an event, sport or concert. There are chain restaurants like Spaghetti Factory and strip clubs (ho hum).

I think Lawton will be a definite....The wildlife refuge sounds interesting.

I love a good steak, so cattleman's it is.

Off to google onion burger. In my mind I see a giant grilled Vidalia.

It's the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, not to be mistaken for any refuges in the Ouachita Mountains, which are east of there.

There is a village where you can grab a snack, but there was no gas available anywhere last time I was there,so make sure you fill up before you leave civilization.

Given your interests, I think you will enjoy it.

Try the T-Bone steak at Cattlemen's, the onion burger at Tucker's and the fried pies at Arbuckle Mountain Original Fried Pies.
The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum are worth a visit.

Hope this helps.

Lots of good advice from Ackislander.

There are a couple days worth of good things to see in OKC. Agreed the art museum is worth a visit, especially for its Chihuly holdings -- much more varied than what one usually sees by him. And the Cowboy Museum is large and excellent, with a worthy collection of Western themed art and lots of vintage cowboy and Native American paraphernalia. The OKC National Memorial is very good, excellently telling the story of the terror bombing of 1995. The Myriad Botanical Garden is pleasant enough, and the state history museum out by the capitol is worth seeing. They're now doing renovation work on the capitol building -- well worth a visit under normal circumstances, but no idea what may be covered up at present; if memory serves, they're going to be doing work on it until 2021 or thereabouts.

Also agreed about Bricktown (meh), though if you like minor league baseball, that's where the stadium is. Cattlemen's Steakhouse was fine; believe it or not, I got the salmon when I went and it was really good. Especially liked the food at a downtown spot, Kitchen no. 324; kind of pricey especially for breakfast (which is what I got there), but rop quality -- they also serve lunch and dinner.

Am guessing you'll have a car, though I got around well enough via bus while staying downtown. Note that the bus ridership is more poor folks than commuters (doesn't bother me, though), doesn't run especially late, and doesn't run at all on Sunday. Downtown is also pretty much deserted outside of business hours, though I never felt unsafe at all.

Yes to a car. Need to book that....

Will spend this week checking out the attractions posted online. Need to see if any have evening hours so I can visit some after my training and then spend the weekend travelling farther out. The wildlife refuge will definitely be one weekend day.

Need to book my hotel too. Was thinking residence inn bricktown, but may move to the Renaissance. I prefer Marriott's and get upgrades to concierge level.

45th infantry museum - excellent. 200 Bill Mauldin cartoons. closes early, so could only do on weekend.

I found the OKC bombing museum to be boring and poorly designed. The memorial was fine.

I stayed at the Sheraton OKC Downtown; room was fine but breakfast buffet was awful. Went across the street to eat the Renaissance where the breakfast buffet was loads better.

Suggestion: wherever you stay if it's in that area, try to get a room that doesn't face the train station/tracks. The train was audible (though not deal breaker bad) from the room where I stayed at the Sheraton, which faced towards this.

The OKC art museum is open Thursdays until 9 pm and on weekends. The OKC History Center is only open Tu-Sat 10-5. The Cowboy Museum is open daily 10-5 except Sunday 12-5. The OKC National Memorial Museum is open daily 9-6 except Sunday 12-6. The Myriad Botanical Gardens are open outside grounds part daily 6am-11pm, inside greenhouse part daily 9-5 except Sunday 11-5. Best I can tell, the capitol building is only open M-F 7am-7pm.

Correction: the OKC History Center is open Mon-Sat 10-5.