Pretty much exactly as it says on the tin. I won a competition at my work for a week get away at the Sheraton hotel in OKC. Is it any good? I'll be driving from San Antonio Texas so what cool things would yall recommend to see on the way, eat, see etc.
Won a free week trip to the Sheraton downtown, what are some cool places to see in the city/surrounding area?
always liked our science museum
If you are not bringing children I would not bother with the science museum. I have been to several children’s birthday parties and would be upset if I had personally paid to enter.
I am visiting soon too from Austin! I'm taking the Amtrak (Texas Eagle) to Ft Worth and then the Heartland Flyer to Oklahoma City. I'm planning to visit the OKC Museum of Art. In addition to being an art museum they also have a movie theater and they screen all kinds of movies (old and new), so you might want to check that out if you're a movie fan. Also I'm going to visit the Oklahoma State Capitol, and cross that off my list of state capitol visits. Hope you have a good time!
The art museum is nice and they have the largest collection of Chihuly glass outside of the Chihuly museum in Seattle.
You'll be close to both the Myriad Gardens and Scissortail Park, which are fun! You're also just down the street from Mahogany, which is one of the better steakhouses. It's a nice little part of the city, but it's downtown, and that's not where most of the nightlife or restaurants are.
If you want to get away from that small part of the city, you could visit Bricktown, the Paseo, the Plaza, or Midtown. Any of those will offer lots of fun places to eat and window shop (or shop for real)!
First Americans Museum is really good.
If you're coming in the summer:
OKC Riversport - Just a bit east of Bricktown (you'll be on the west side of Bricktown). You can whitewater raft and do some other cool river stuff. https://www.riversportokc.org
Concerts - Depending on when you're coming, the Criterion, Jones Assembly, Tower Theatre, Beer City Music Hall, and Blue Door (my favorite BYOB listening room) are all pretty close by.
Bricktown Comedy Club is nearby to your hotel.
Where are you coming up from? If you're coming up I-35, Turner Falls is worth a stop (there's a swimming area near the base of the falls, so bring your swimsuit). If you're coming up I-44 from Wichita Falls area, check out the Wichita National Wildlife Refuge/Wichita Mountains. There's a lot of hiking, and you can see bison roaming around. You can stop in Medicine Park (right next to the refuge) and swim/eat.
On my map at least yes once I leave Texas and enter the Chickasaw Nation it's either a straight shot with I 35 or I can go right and split off and use US route 177
I’d say go up I-35 and check out Turner Falls then. It’s only a few miles off the interstate.
Hi! I used to work at that Sheraton. Be thankful you have not paid money to stay there. Please make sure you thoroughly inspect your room for bed bugs. It was a recurring problem we would have there. The weekend crowd tends to be very rowdy and noisy, and we always had issues with drunk guests disturbing others on weekend nights. Room cleanliness was a huge problem as well.
Not trying to piss in your cheerios - just want to give you advice. It was the worst hotel I have ever worked for.
What else can you tell me about the hotel from your experience if you're willing to share?
It is a shame they did not get a nicer hotel. I have done stay cations at The National. I went to wedding once at the Sheraton and thought how sad it looks and that was 14 years ago.
Not a bad a bad location except you're there in the dead of summer. You're close to Scisdortail Park, Myriad Gardens, and Bricktown. But it's also going to be close to 100°. Luckily, parking is typically easy to find in OKC and you're a short drive away from plenty to do. I'd split the trip into neighborhoods.
Plaza: eat at Ma Der Lao, hit shops, drink
Paseo: I'd eat bat Frida or get tacos and drinks at Flamingo. If you're there on 1st Friday, it'll be packed for the art walk.
UpTown: drink at The Pump and eat at Cajun Corner or Big Truck
Midtown: Drink at Lunar Lounge consider dinner at R&J, Barrios, or The Collective
Stockyard City: I do personally enjoy Cattleman's but will readily admit there are dozens of better Steakhouses
Museums: Bombing Memorial, Museum of Osteology, First Americans Museum, and the Western Heritage Museum.
Route 66: it runs right through OKC (go see the milk bottle building and Gold Dome) but Arcadia/Wellston have great food options with Butcher BBQ and The Chicken Shack. Plus, you can go see The Round Barn and overpay for soda at Pops.
Great Asian food and BBQ options everywhere.
Would also recommend Awaji Izakaya
I love that joint!
You can get to all these places by walking or taking the street car from your hotel. You shouldn't have to do much driving unless you want to venture further out in the city.
You wanna go to midtown, man. Not much in downtown and no one really hangs out there. Midtown, Paseo district is where it’s at
The small business core of downtown is pretty dead sure but Midtown, Automobile Alley, Deep Deuce, West Village and Bricktown are all downtown neighborhoods. Also two great parks downtown, Myriad Gardens and Scissortail.
Extra plug if you're here on the 15th, go see John Moreland perform at Keepsake Tattoo's fundraiser event
Sadly our ticket was for the week of July 22
Too bad. Can't believe I forgot to plug the Britton District. Very up and coming but go shop at Orange Peel vintage. El Coyote is a great dinner spot
What type of food do you like?
Steak, traditional BBQ, sushi, pretty much any seafood, Italian etc I really don't mind most foods as long as it's not a tourist trap or I have to take out a bank loan once the bill comes out lol
Steak
- uhhh expensive
BBQ
- Edgecraft does TX-style very very well. Go on Friday/Saturday for Pastrami-style brisket/beef rib.
Sushi
- Gogo Sushi - not gonna say it is the best. I don't know how to judge sushi, but ~4pm weekdays they have a very extensive 50% off sushi menu.
Other
Tucker's Onion Burger, Nic's Grill (not diner) - classic OKC onion burger
Cheever's Cafe - a nice sitdown lunch. I would say classic Oklahoma food with modern touches.
Hall's Pizza, Empire Slice - both good pizza places.
Tamashii Ramen - My favorite bowl of tonkotsu ramen. If you don't like the thick broth though then ehh. Other people love other stuff here too but it is just alright.
Pie Junkies - dessert pie, Drunken Turtle is the best, others are alright. Can be too sweet for some.
The Collective/Parlor - food halls/bars. multiple food stall options to try out.
Harvey Bake Shop - good pastries, very big coffee and sandwich house.
Cafe Kacao - "famous" breakfast place. Don't try on weekends too busy but other days are fine. Just fine. Their homemade cream cheese is delicious, but the breakfast is just all carbs. The Guatemalan is underseasoned to me.
OKC is broken up into districts so that is the easiest way to travel and try stuff.
Downtown (Bricktown)/Midtown (10th st)/Uptown (23rd) - Midtown semi-walkable and has food. Uptown not walkable but has food.
Plaza District (16th street, Western/Penn) - very walkable district. Very good food site. Empire, Pie Junkie, Roxxy's ice cream,.... M=ma der lao....
Asian District (Western, 23rd) - Drivable. Asian food. Cafe Kacao
Boathouse - River. Not food but very fun ($$$) artificial white water raft and some other activities like artificial surfing.
Honorable Mention - Not Cho Cheesecake Factory - Local place, very kind owner. Just too far for most people.
Thanks for all the food recommendations. Do you know any good coffee places in Downtown or Midtown?
Harvey Bake Shop is where I would go (for baked goods) ... and they sell coffee. But honestly I don't drink coffee, so even if I've heard good reviews I can't recommend coffee.
Stop in Ardmore and get carrot cake from cafe alley
Not OP, but I will try to keep this in mind!
Best carrot cake in the world… never even liked carrot cake until I tried it from there!
The OKC Museum of Art is having an exhibit of the Hollywood movie costumes of Edith Head that should be good
Do you ever watch any of the film screenings there? I was thinking of seeing a film during that Edith Head series.
I haven’t, I don’t live in OKC, but I definitely would if I lived there
I liked the First Americans museum,but I was there 2 years ago and it wasn’t completed. Scissortail Park, Myriad Botanical Gardens we’re also nice. Oklahoma City Bombing memorial is a must visit. Very moving and well done memorial.
Loved checking out all of the amazing craft breweries and the unique districts like Midtown, Paseo, Automobile Alley. Each one has something different to offer.
Some of the bars I enjoyed were Skinny Slims (Bricktown), The Garage, Social Capital, and oddly enough also really liked hanging out at the bar at Pearls Crabtown, but probably not a must see, I just liked the vibe.
For breweries I thought Fair Weather Friend had ok beer and amazing pizza. Vanessa House, Skydance, Angry Scotsman, and Stonecloud had my favorite beer.
Vast is cool for the view- I was there for a catered reception so I didn’t have to buy anything 😁. I liked Clark Crew BBQ and Rivierie Modern Banh Mi too
When I was there I used the street car for some travel, Uber a couple time but really liked getting around on Lime Scooters.
For OP: I won't say Vast lunch is the best food, but it is a cool weekday lunch buffet that isn't too expensive. Definitely a cool thing to have in the city.
You're going to be downtown for a week, go walk over and check out The Oklahoma Museum of Telephone History, just tell em you're there for the museum and go hit up The Banjo Museum in Bricktown
The Oklahoma City Museum of Art is downtown. The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is just up the road as well.
I hope that vacation does you some good, we all need a breather that's for sure.
He can go see the river walk, which is a little copy of the river walk in...oops...San Antonio.
Seriously though, go over to bricktown,may e see a ball game, it's a nice baseball stadium.
👎
The memorial is a must for everyone I feel like. First Americans and museum of art are both good. Bricktown has some restaurants and bars that's close. Paseo and midtown are more the local flavors. Vast on top of Devon Tower is pricey but good experience to eat. There's several local breweries and nice restaurants and bars around downtown and scissor tail park area. We have a pretty good food and beer scene honestly.
The Science Museum, Museum of Osteology and the Museum of Natural History are all really cool if you're into that kind of stuff