Oklahoma

See

• Route 66 Oklahoma has more miles of original Route 66 road-bed left than any other state.
• Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum in Oklahoma City. The memorial is both one of the most visible attractions in the city as well as the saddest, which has posed some problems for the city's tourism department. The outdoor symbolic memorial commemorates the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, in which a domestic terrorist set off a car bomb in a federal government building and killed 168 people. It is free and open 24 hours a day, while the very well done Memorial Museum, right next door, can be visited for a small fee.
• Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Indiahoma. More than 50 mammal, 240 bird, 64 reptile and amphibian, 36 fish, and 806 plant species thrive on this important refuge.
• The architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed several ... interesting ... buildings in Oklahoma and elsewhere. His tallest skyscraper is the Price Tower in Bartlesville.
• National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Here you can walk down the streets of Prosperity Junction, a turn-of-the-century Western town. Visit the American Cowboy Gallery, the American Rodeo Gallery, and the Western Performers Gallery.
• Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa. The largest collection of Western art in the world.

• Oral Roberts University in Tulsa is among the nation's largest collections of futuristic architecture.
• Lake Eufaula The largest lake in Oklahoma 102,000 acres of water.
• Oklahoma is home to dozens of sacred sites of the native Kiowa tribes.

Do

Oklahoma is known as a great place to live and visit. There are a lot of things to do in Oklahoma and it has all kinds of terrain. You will find mountains, pine woods and lakes in the eastern third of the state, plains and grasslands with rolling hills in the center of the state and plains and semidesert in the west and panhandle.Oklahoma City is also home of the Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Gambling

There are over eighty casinos in Oklahoma including the largest casino in North America, WinStar World Casino and Resort. In addition there are three para-mutual race tracks for the horse-racing fan. In addition to slot machines, most of the casinos have gaming tables. All the casinos are on Native American Indian lands, most are run by the tribes and have tobacco shops nearby where you can purchase cigarettes cheaper, and tax free. You will also find big name live entertainment at their on-site event centers, and card tournaments at most of the casinos. Some of the biggest names in casinos for the state include,

• River Spirit Casino: Owned and operated by the Muscogee-Creek Nation
• Hard Rock Hotel and Casino: Originally named the Cherokee Hotel and Casino, Hard Rock bought the name and theme rights to the location; however, under Oklahoma law the Cherokee Nation still owns the land. It is the only casino Hard Rock operates
• Cherokee Casino and Resort: Owned and operated by the Cherokee Nation
• Osage Casino: Owned and operated by the Osage Nation, they have seven locations throughout Osage County, with three featuring a hotel

Wichita Mountains of Southwest Oklahoma

These mountains are older than the Rockies, now ancient and worn down, but still beautiful and majestic. The Wichitas are the site of the oldest National Wildlife Refuge in the United States, the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. It is the second most visited refuge in the national wildlife refuge system and attracts more than 2 million visitors annually. At the turn of the century, the American Buffalo was nearly extinct.

President Theodore Roosevelt became concerned. Through the efforts of the American Bison Society and the New York Zoological Society, an offer was made to donate 15 bison to the Wichita National Forest and Game Preserve. Congress set aside $15,000 for this purpose, and on October 11, 1907, 15 of the finest buffalo from the New York Zoological Park were shipped by rail to Oklahoma. Seven days later, these six bulls and nine cows had safely returned to the plains and mountains. The bison herd is now maintained at approximately 650 animals. Along with bison, there are many other species of wildlife: more than 50 mammal (including elk and deer), 240 bird, 64 reptile and amphibian, 36 fish, and 806 plant species thrive on this important refuge.

The Wichitas attract rock climbers from the entire region, particularly Texas because of its amazing granite peaks and faces. Mt. Scott has a paved road all the way to the top and provides a great view of southwest Oklahoma. Also in the area you can catch America's longest running passion play each Easter weekend at the Holy City of the Wichitas, hike the Charon's Garden Wilderness Area, camp alongside beautiful lakes, and be sure to try the famous Meersburger at the Meers Store north of the Refuge.

The small historic town of Medicine Park is found at the main entry to the wildlife refuge on State Highway 49. It is widely known as "America's Cobblestone Community" and was Oklahoma's first planned tourism resort, founded July 4th, 1908. Today, the community is experiencing a major revitalization and attracts thousands to visit its quaint shops, dine in restaurants, taverns, winery and stay in its bed and breakfast inns and numerous cottages. The area of the Wichita Mountains has been designated as the Wichita Mountains National Scenic Byway.

Eat

Oklahoma food has two main influences, both imported from neighboring regions:

• Tex-Mex cuisine and slow-cooked barbecue come from south of the border. These are popular and available in a range of spiciness that ranges from painfully hot down to mild enough for children (but possibly not mild enough for people from the upper Midwest). Fast food is especially popular in Oklahoma, and Tex-Mex favorites such as hard-shell tacos and burritos are well-suited to speedy service. The most popular regional chain is Taco Bueno. Barbecue joints, which are often locally owned and operated, can be found in most areas.
• From the foods of the southern US and Native Americans, there is another influence that brings fried chicken, cornbread, beans, and other foods. These are common in diner-style restaurants and large chains of steakhouses. Frybread, a high-fat Native American bread that resulted from the reservation system, can be bought at most large events. The popular Indian taco is frybread with taco ingredients inside it. Chicken-fried steak is a breaded beef steak, and it usually comes drowned in a thick, milk-based gravy, unless you ask for the gravy to be served in a bowl "on the side".

Oklahoma's agricultural strengths are in cattle ranching and wheat farming, and the popularity of beef and carbohydrate-rich foods reflects this. As a landlocked state, seafood is available only if it's flown or trucked in. Deep-fried catfish is the most popular fish, and some restaurants raise their own to be certain of freshness. Especially in the eastern half of the state, which gets more rain, you can get locally grown produce normally associated with southern states, such as peaches, watermelons, and pecans during the appropriate seasons. If you're looking for something that you won't find just anywhere, keep an eye out for fried okra. If you're looking for something truly unusual, then Rocky Mountain oysters are served at Stillwater's annual festival, The Calf Fry, as well as at some steakhouses. Rocky Mountain oysters are also called calf fries (if they're from cattle) or lamb fries (from sheep).

To finish off the meal, consider a piece of pecan pie or peach pie, or go out for ice cream. Braum's Ice Cream, a regional chain based in Tuttle and with more than a hundred stores throughout the state, is "the" place to get ice cream in Oklahoma. If your interests run towards the old-school style, then deep-fried hand pies and root beer floats are venerable Oklahoma traditions.

For breakfast, large plates of eggs, meat, and potatoes are available in every part of the state. The favored local doughnut chain is Daylight Doughnuts, which was founded in Tulsa and now has about 150 stores within the state.

Drink

Sweet drinks, including both sodas (also called "pop") and fruit juice, are popular. "Coke" is used as a generic term, rather than an indication of a Coca-cola brand soft drink. If someone offers you a coke, they may then ask you whether you would prefer a Dr. Pepper or a Pepsi. Some residents will insist that they can taste the difference between sugar and corn syrup in their carbonated beverages, and if you search a bit, you'll probably run across sugar-sweetened ones.

In October 2018, the previously restrictive liquor laws changed to permit beer and wine sales (but not hard liquor) in grocery stores and similar establishments. The change also allows beer (of up to 9% alcohol by volume) and wine to be sold under refrigeration. Before then, any alcoholic beverage of more than 3.2% alcohol by weight (4.0% by volume) sold for off-premises consumption had to be sold at room temperature. The best-selling beer in the state is Bud Light. Among relatively few Oklahoma breweries, the Tulsa-based Prairie Artisan Ale produces a highly rated, high-alcohol imperial stout, and Roughtail Brewing Company in Midwest City is known for its hop-centric IPAs.