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I'm from Oklahoma - born in Idabel, moved to Edmond at age 10, graduated from Edmond Memorial, then from OU. I moved to Ft. Lauderdale, FL about 3 years ago, met my true love, and then married him a month ago. He's from Connecticut and has lived in Ft. L for 10 years.
We have decided to move back to OK for a number of reasons, and the decision is final, but I think I'm a lot more excited about it than he is, because for me it's home. We're coming home this Friday for 4 days, and I want to use the opportunity to show him everything about Edmond/OKC that he'll love. In other words, even though we know we're moving there, I want to get him as excited about it as I am.
This is where you (hopefully) come in. I need some suggestions/advice about what to show him. We're staying with my mom, who lives east of I-35 off 15th St (read: Henderson Hills & the new Super Wal-Mart, bleh). He has been there twice before, and I've taken him around most of eastern Edmond, Bricktown, and downtown OKC. Since we're coming for such a short time, I don't want to leave the Christmas festivities for too long, so I'm basically looking for a good 'driving tour' route that will show him why it's such a cool place to live.
He is 32, an artist & sound designer for TV/film, and a lover of all things food, wine, and culture. I want to show him that these things abound in OKC if you know where to look. If we don't buy a home in east Edmond (my first choice), we'll be looking in downtown OKC, Mesta Park, Crown Heights, and Heritage Hills. It's possible, although last on the list, that we'd look for something in Norman as well.
Am I painting a decent picture here? Here's an idea of what I have so far for this little tour:
Edmond neighborhoods:
Chimney Hill
Arrowhead Hills
Forest Oaks
Whispering Heights (where I grew up)
Lake Hiwassee
Other Edmond stuff:
the new dog park
downtown
Hafer Park (named after my great uncle!)
OKC stuff (in addition to the neighborhoods I mentioned above):
- the cool part of Western (what is the actual section?)
- the Paseo district
This is all I've come up with so far. I think it's a good start, but I'm wondering if the members of this board have any feedback. I really want to come back to FL after this trip with my husband as revved up about this move as I am! I'm looking for areas we can just drive through, not so much for places we can stop and wander (we'll have plenty of time to do that when we move there!).
Sorry for the long post. Your suggestions are welcomed!
I am sure you will find things to do! The "sell" shouldnt be too hard. I just got to know a married couple that are both attorneys that have found many areas of OKC that they really enjoy. I was a bit surprized because they are from Boston and I tried to prepare them for the worst but I was shocked with all the compliments!
They really loved Cheevers Cafe because they felt like it had a real east coast vibe. Midtown /Auto Alley/Western/Paseo/Film Row/Little Saigon and of course all the Historic neighborhoods really intrigued them.
It is a bad time to visit Oklahoma because of the recent ice storm...It was VERY destructive. Hopefully everything should be cleaned up by the time you arrive so it wont be such a shock for him...Hopefully
Here is Western Ave. Its grown so it does get confusing! Has a map ect...
website...
www.visitwesternavenue.com/business.php (broken link) - 60k -
Here is a basic list I found off another forum that might be helpful. But the menu would obviously be short because of the cold weather! You know Okie homa...we have more to do during the spring/summer months. This might really help because it is December....
OKCMOA has a great exhibit coming along with independent films!
exhibit...
http://www.okcmoa.com/Default.aspx?p=13013 (broken link)
films...
http://www.okcmoa.com/p/6802/Default.aspx (broken link)
Cool exhibit at Science Museum Oklahoma (its a Smithsonian affiliate museum now) which has gone through major changes. Formerly known as the Omniplex...Im sure you remember!
Bricktown (canal rides, street performers, land run monument, annual festivals, dozens of bars, dozens of restaurants, dozens of clubs, retail, movie theatre, bowling lounge, AAA baseball)
Oklahoma City Museum of Art (largest collection of Chihuly glass in the world, art film theatre, traveling exhibits including art from the Lourve this year)
Paseo Arts District (several blocks of working galleries/studios as well as gift shops and restaurants, indie live theatre)
Bike/Running trails on Lake Hefner and the Oklahoma River
Crew Rowing on the Oklahoma River (iconic Chesapeake Boathouse, 3 collegiate boathouses being built)
Sailing on Lake Hefner
Mountain Biking at Lake Arcadia
ATV trails at Lake Stanley Draper
Hiking at Martin Nature Park and Lake Arcadia
Redhawks Baseball, Blazer's Hockey (AAA sports teams)
NBA basketball (returning soon)
Downtown Guthrie (suburb, largest contiguous area on Historic Preservation protection)
Norman (diverse college town, University of Oklahoma, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, OU football, Campus Corner entertainment district)
Oklahoma City University (renown performing arts programs, American Spirit Dance Company, Oklahoma Opera)
Science Museum Oklahoma (interactive exhibits, IWERKS dome theatre, traveling exhibitions--right now BODIES)
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (fine western art)
International Photography Hall of Fame (permanent and traveling exhibits)
Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden (oldest in the Southwest)
Oak Tree Country Club, Gaillardia Country Club (tournament hosting courses)
Celebrity Attractions (traveling Broadway tours, Spamalot in May)
Ford Center, Zoo Ampitheatre, The Blue Note, The Conservatory, VZD's, Toby Keith's I Love this Bar and Grill, Coca-Cola Center, Riverwind Casino (a few live music venues)
Remington Park (racetrack and casino)
Riverwind, Fire Lake Grand (upscale casinos)
DeadCenter Film Festival (5-day multi-venue event)
Festival of the Arts (artists from nationwide, week-long, 150,000+ attend)
Women's College World Series (annually)
Big XII Tournaments (annually)
NCAA Tournaments (annually)
Opening Night (New Years Eve festivities downtown, multiple live music stages, Flaming Lips performing)
Downtown in December (outdoor ice skating, snowtubing slide, free museum admission)
Of course....The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.
The "driving tour"...Every city has that trick up their sleeve!! I have been to so many wonderful cities that have the "drive" to show off and then you take them to the other side of town and they hate it.lol.
Drive down Auto Alley,Western,Midtown,Penn, basically NW OKC because that sounds like where you will be moving if you dont move to Edmond. Its nice because the sq. miles that covers NW OKC is the size (land) of a lot of major cities...So if all else fails just say..."Look we will be living in a large area called NW OKC/Downtown/Midtown/Uptown and thats the main and best area of OKC and I promise to not go outside of those boundaries!!" LOL.
Best of luck
Last edited by happytown; 12-18-2007 at 10:42 AM..
I am sure you will find things to do! The "sell" shouldnt be too hard. I just got to know a married couple that are both attorneys that have found many areas of OKC that they really enjoy. I was a bit surprized because they are from Boston and I tried to prepare them for the worst but I was shocked with all the compliments!
They really loved Cheevers Cafe because they felt like it had a real east coast vibe. Midtown /Auto Alley/Western/Paseo/Film Row/Little Saigon and of course all the Historic neighborhoods really intrigued them.
It is a bad time to visit Oklahoma because of the recent ice storm...It was VERY destructive. Hopefully everything should be cleaned up by the time you arrive so it wont be such a shock for him...Hopefully
Here is Western Ave. Its grown so it does get confusing! Has a map ect...
website...
www.visitwesternavenue.com/business.php (http://www.visitwesternavenue.com/business.php - broken link) - 60k -
Here is a basic list I found off another forum that might be helpful. But the menu would obviously be short because of the cold weather! You know Okie homa...we have more to do during the spring/summer months. This might really help because it is December....
OKCMOA has a great exhibit coming along with independent films!
exhibit...
http://www.okcmoa.com/Default.aspx?p=13013 (broken link)
films...
http://www.okcmoa.com/p/6802/Default.aspx (broken link)
Cool exhibit at Science Museum Oklahoma (its a Smithsonian affiliate museum now) which has gone through major changes. Formerly known as the Omniplex...Im sure you remember!
Stuff you can try to get him pumped up about!!
Bricktown (canal rides, street performers, land run monument, annual festivals, dozens of bars, dozens of restaurants, dozens of clubs, retail, movie theatre, bowling lounge, AAA baseball)
Oklahoma City Museum of Art (largest collection of Chihuly glass in the world, art film theatre, traveling exhibits including art from the Lourve this year)
Paseo Arts District (several blocks of working galleries/studios as well as gift shops and restaurants, indie live theatre)
Bike/Running trails on Lake Hefner and the Oklahoma River
Crew Rowing on the Oklahoma River (iconic Chesapeake Boathouse, 3 collegiate boathouses being built)
Sailing on Lake Hefner
Mountain Biking at Lake Arcadia
ATV trails at Lake Stanley Draper
Hiking at Martin Nature Park and Lake Arcadia
Redhawks Baseball, Blazer's Hockey (AAA sports teams)
NBA basketball (returning soon)
Downtown Guthrie (suburb, largest contiguous area on Historic Preservation protection)
Norman (diverse college town, University of Oklahoma, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, OU football, Campus Corner entertainment district)
Oklahoma City University (renown performing arts programs, American Spirit Dance Company, Oklahoma Opera)
Science Museum Oklahoma (interactive exhibits, IWERKS dome theatre, traveling exhibitions--right now BODIES)
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (fine western art)
International Photography Hall of Fame (permanent and traveling exhibits)
Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden (oldest in the Southwest)
Oak Tree Country Club, Gaillardia Country Club (tournament hosting courses)
Celebrity Attractions (traveling Broadway tours, Spamalot in May)
Ford Center, Zoo Ampitheatre, The Blue Note, The Conservatory, VZD's, Toby Keith's I Love this Bar and Grill, Coca-Cola Center, Riverwind Casino (a few live music venues)
Remington Park (racetrack and casino)
Riverwind, Fire Lake Grand (upscale casinos)
DeadCenter Film Festival (5-day multi-venue event)
Festival of the Arts (artists from nationwide, week-long, 150,000+ attend)
Women's College World Series (annually)
Big XII Tournaments (annually)
NCAA Tournaments (annually)
Opening Night (New Years Eve festivities downtown, multiple live music stages, Flaming Lips performing)
Downtown in December (outdoor ice skating, snowtubing slide, free museum admission)
Best of luck
Wow, HT. I'm printing out this list and bringing it with me when we come down on January 1st!
Thanks so much for this awesome list. There have been some pretty amazing imrpovements to my hometown since I left! I am going to print this out and show it to my husband on our little tour...even though we won't be able to hit all these places, I know he'll love to read it and see what a dynamic, vibrant city it is.
Thanks again for your quick response and thoughtfulness. I am going to knock his socks off!
Sprout
P.S. I already have him wearing OU garb and ordering the games on Pay-Per-View, so I know he's not far away from becoming a true Oklahoman.
Ya- Fill 'em full of OU attire!! If he loves football then that will be a very good thing! Tell him that OKC is undergoing a huge transformation via penny sales taxes that have created around 3 billion in public money for all kinds of big time projects...So he can expect a lot more soon. If he likes the NBA then that will be on its way also...He will probably know about the Sonics ect. If that doesnt work then say DEAL WITH IT!!
Here is something to look forward to when you guys get older!!...Future OKC... Core 2 Shore
If you want to "sell him" on Oklahoma, it's not about trying to take him to different venue's or landmarks, what makes Oklahoma so special is its down home people and kindliness, and the ability to drive 15 minutes outside either Tulsa or Ok. City and have all the peace and quiet you desire. Those are the things, to me, that make Oklahoma the best state to live in!!
If you want to "sell him" on Oklahoma, it's not about trying to take him to different venue's or landmarks, what makes Oklahoma so special is its down home people and kindliness, and the ability to drive 15 minutes outside either Tulsa or Ok. City and have all the peace and quiet you desire. Those are the things, to me, that make Oklahoma the best state to live in!!
Agreed. I'm going to start by driving him up to Guthrie, then on the way back we'll detour east on Rt. 66 and take a look at the round barn and explore some of the little dirt roads. I think that country is some of the most beautiful in Oklahoma! If we had time, I'd drive him down to Turner Falls or the "mountains" in the southwestern part of the state...but that will have to wait till we move.
There is a new attraction in Arcadia near the round barn called Pops. It is a pretty cool place to stop in for a soft drink. There is a winery north of Luther you might want to visit.
Agreed. I'm going to start by driving him up to Guthrie, then on the way back we'll detour east on Rt. 66 and take a look at the round barn and explore some of the little dirt roads. I think that country is some of the most beautiful in Oklahoma! If we had time, I'd drive him down to Turner Falls or the "mountains" in the southwestern part of the state...but that will have to wait till we move.
If nothing else sells him, your enthusiasm alone should do it! Good luck
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