Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!

No person, business or attraction has paid us for an endorsement.

Population: 649,821
Founded: 1889
Average income: $31,4502
Average price of housing: $197,823
Median age of the population: 34
https://www.okc.gov

Impressions

Geographically, Oklahoma City is in the middle of the state, both north/south and east/west.

We never know what to expect in a larger city. Sometimes they have no character. They are all hustle and bustle with only stores and restaurants you would find in 100 other large cities. Then there are other large cities with character. They pay attention to their local and regional history with museums and local restaurants. City officials respect their downtown businesses and don’t charge for downtown parking. While something horrific happened here, Oklahoma City is a strong, proud city. The people are friendly and the history is told but not commercialized. This is a place to see and spend some time reflecting on the strength of Americans and resilience of her people.

Downtown

Getting around downtown is very easy. The roads are in a grid, with only a few one-way streets. On street parking is somewhat limited, but there were several parking garages.

Bricktown is a definite place to wander around. There are a lot of small shops and restaurants. It is also where the water taxi is located.

Food and Drink

Crabtown: Fun, casual, eclectic seafood restaurant in the Bricktown area of Oklahoma City. As an appetizer we had “Chowder Fries”: French fries with creamy clam chowder, cheddar cheese, bacon, and scallions. It sounds “unusual”, but it was really, really good! We also had fried shrimp and crab pot pie. Good food, quick service, fun place. Definitely a place to go back to!!

Pie Junkie: The Pie Junkie only sells sliced pies and whole pies (some are fresh and some are frozen). The variety changes daily. They also have coffee and other bottled drinks. The pies are amazing! We opted for slices of orange bourbon pecan pie and pumpkin crumble pie. Both were so good we went back and bought a whole peanut butter pie! Which was ALSO excellent! Nothing was too sweet, it was just good!

Toby Keith’s I Love This Place Bar and Grill. A fun, casual restaurant with a large center bar. Live music in the evenings on weekends. The food was good, the service quick, the atmosphere was laid back. If we lived in the area, we could see us returning here many times.

Attractions

American Banjo Museum. According to their website, “The American Banjo Museum is a world-class facility dedicated to preserving and promoting the music and heritage of “America’s instrument.” It is the “world’s largest” banjo museum. They sponsor a banjo festival in the fall (this year in September).

Centennial Land Run Monument. This group of monuments commemorate the opening of the Unassigned Land in Oklahoma Territory with the Land Run of 1889. It is one of the world’s largest bronze sculptures featuring 45 figures of land run participants as they race to claim new homesteads. The scale of all the statues is 1½ life-size. It is amazing!

First Americans Museum. This museum was opened in September 2021. It is devoted to Native American heritage and culture. There are many films and videos with Native American speakers describing different aspects of the Native American life.

National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. This is an amazing museum that is absolutely not possible to see in one visit!!! There is so much to see and take in. There is a vast combination of paintings, sculptures, exhibits and artifacts to see. The museum has done an excellent job of bringing the cowboy lifestyle to life. We HIGHLY recommend the tour. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the subject matter.

Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. It would be impossible to not be emotionally affected by this memorial. It is a sacred place. There are monumental gates at both ends of the reflecting pool, one with a simple 9:01 and the other with a 9:03. The 9:01 gate represents the innocence before the attack on April 19, 1995. The 9:03 gate symbolizes the moment healing began. The nine rows of 168 chairs represent those killed, each representing a floor of the Federal Building where the field is now located. Each chair bears the name of someone killed on that floor. Nineteen smaller chairs stand for the children. Five chairs to the west of the memorial represent the people who were outside of the building who were also killed. If you are anywhere in this area, it is a memorial you must experience.

Home Base: The Campground

For us, a campground is not our destination. Our RV is self-contained. Rarely do we use campground services or amenities. We are explorers, not campground reviewers!

We stayed on E-14 at Twin Fountains RV Resort in Oklahoma City. It is a hilly park. The sites in the section we were in were level where your RV sits, but a steep angle to the road both in front and in back of our RV. The park is clean and well-maintained. Our pull thru site was a FHU (water-electric-sewer) on cement. Very simple check in, friendly staff. The sites are wide with grass and trees between sites. 30 and 50 amp service was available. There was good cell phone coverage (Verizon). Our site had an open southern sky for our satellite, but this would NOT be true in all sites. The campground is conveniently located off both I-44 and I-35. However, this also means there is constant traffic from both interstates.

Fun Facts

We learned some fun facts at the Cowboy Museum. Our tour guide explained a significant philosophical difference between the early Native Americans and the people who “went west”, whether it was the early Spaniards, the pioneers or the military. The native population lived with the land, while the later arrivals lived on the land. Both struggled to understand and value the philosophy of the other.

The mystique of the west has been shaped by five factors: the people, animals, the weather, the landscape and a story. Legends abound when these five things come together, for example, Annie Oakley, land rushes, the Lewis & Clark expedition or any dime novel or movie about the west.

We never knew why cowboy boots had pointed toes and large heels. Do you? The pointed toes were so the cowboys could get their feet in their stirrups quickly and easily. The heels were so their boots would have a stop in their stirrups!

Summary

Oklahoma City, with almost 700,000 people, is a big city with a small-town feel. The people are friendly, it is easy to get around and there is plenty to do and see. We would definitely go back!

Your partners in travel,
Kathryn, Dave and Lucky
RVing Nomads

It’s a lifestyle

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