KOA OK City East
(10-17 Aug)
Oklahoma City, OK! What an interesting town! So much history… so much to do… so much to see! We started this visit with a bang by meeting our long-time War College friends, Mike and Debbie Thompson. We all met for dinner at the iconic “Cattlemen’s” Steakhouse in the historic “Stockyard City”. It goes without saying that the dinner and service were top notch! The only thing surpassing dinner was spending time with friends catching up on family and careers. It was good to hear about Mike finishing up a long and distinguished career with the OK National Guard and his retirement from the OK State Troopers. Thank you for your service and enjoy the time with the grand babies!! I know Mike and Debbie are both looking forward to the next chapter!
As per usual we did some homework and searched out a few of the local craft breweries. In that search we learned that there are 29 registered independent breweries in the greater OK City metropolitan area. Sadly, or fortunately, we only took on a handful of those establishments! By the way, those 29 represent over half of the 54 in the entire state! We made it to “Twisted Spike;” “Prairie Artisan Ales;” “Vanessa House;” “Bricktown;” and ”Elk Valley” Brewing Companies. All had their trademark beers, sours, and other. Of those visited, we most liked Elk Valley and chatting with Grant. Interesting hearing about the history of Elk Valley and brewing in general in the state. He was also a great source of where to eat and what else to see. My favorite beer at Elk Valley was the Tenkiller Pilsner while Tina once again preferred the fruity side. In this case the fruity side was frozen mixes with strawberries and one flavored like Pina Colada. Truthfully, the latter was pretty tasty! 😉 Lastly, check out the beer pulls from Elk Valley. Owners are big Super Hero fans in case you couldn’t tell!
Of course, we ate on occasion. We already mentioned Cattlemen’s. Another at the top of the list goes to the “Hideaway Pizza” restaurant. Delicious pizza and great service! Shanna was awesome and is a military spouse with a great personality. Nice chatting! The other eatery of note was food at the Bricktown Brewery. A well-done menu and tasty, but nothing to hit the “favorites list.”
For things to see and do, you cannot beat – and if ever in town, cannot miss – the “Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum” and the “National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.” No words I can put in this blog would surpass the actual visit and the links will do a much better job than me trying to put everything into words. Both are phenomenal records of history and have been done with impeccable attention to detail and modern artistry. We spent hours at both, but still did not see everything thoroughly. We also visited the Capitol and enjoyed the “Water Taxi on the Bricktown Canal”. It was an entertaining and historically themed narrated cruise through the manmade canal in the Bricktown district of the city. Our guide and “boat Captain”, Cassidy was not only knowledgeable, but exceptionally funny! Great tour and we learned a lot about the city and the formation of the state of Oklahoma. Of interest to some, I would like to note that Oklahoma City is also home to “Tinker Air Force Base.: There was a time I actually flew into there for “work.” To close this chapter out, we stayed at the KOA Oklahoma City East and it was a much greater stay than our last KOA. The sites were generally roomy, and the campground was much easier to navigate. Friendly and helpful staff . . .may have re-instilled my faith in KOA! We will see. 😉 The only negative, if there is one, is that we were about 15-20 miles from town and all the points of interest. Overall, a great visit to OK City and one stop we are glad we made!
Camping up with the Joneses 