Bricktown - OKC

Oklahoma City doesn't sound like an interesting destination place. Surprisingly, it does have a lot to offer! This blog will be the first in a short series.

Now, don't judge that comment by my first photo. This was just an unexpected building we walked past on a walk around Bricktown. We didn't go in. While I do enjoy good banjo playing, I wasn't interested in seeing a whole collection.

The reason for our visit was just a desire to have a getaway weekend without traveling too far. We stayed in the Bricktown section of OKC. Parked the car at the hotel and didn't need it again until it was time to return home. Everything we needed was right there, including the free tram to get around the rest of the city.

We had dinner al fresco along the canal. Perfect evening weather! I had a moment of awareness of being surrounded by simple community joy. People were dining, spending time together and enjoying the weather. Nearby the Comets (minor league baseball ) were playing and we could hear the announcer. We had seen the fans lining up, excited and all ready to take in a ball game. 

It all struck me as this is how life was meant to be - people at peace, happy, being together, sharing good experiences. You think, "why can't it be this way everywhere?"

Yet, even in this heartland city, the unimaginable happened. We'll talk about that next post.

We rode the canal water taxi and enjoyed our "captain's" insights into the history and cultural development of Bricktown. Starting with the Land Run (another post coming up) the area became a thriving commerce district. As often happens, eventually the area fell into terrible decline, resulting in high crime.

You can read more about Bricktown's history here.

How blessed a community is when people of vision invest in it. They get the ball rolling, but when the community itself gets behind the vision, amazing things can happen. That's how Bricktown was reinvented.

OKC / Bricktown isn't done developing either. We saw where the new arena for the Thunder basketball team has started building. Continental Coliseum is going to be a huge, state-of-the-art beauty. If you're a basketball fan (and I am absolutely not!) you'll want to check out the renderings here. It's scheduled to open by late summer 2028.

Scroll down - I'm doing three more posts from our visit, just because I like taking pictures and showing them off somewhere :) And maybe it will encourage local friends to see what our neighboring city has to offer.