Oklahoma City
Campground
Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday
A very well kept KOA, as usual. It has a pool, nice individual combo shower-toilet rooms, a fenced-in dog area, and open areas for dogs to run. It was pushing 100F and humid the entire time we were here so it is really a challenge to get out and enjoy the grounds. While we were packing up to move on, we found a black widow spider (check out the photos for proof) in one of our tire covers. Yikes!
Things to see
Bricktown Canal Walk
After several decades of this area being abandoned by businesses and being rundown and crime-ridden, the city did a make-over. They dug a canal with the four word goal "Be Like San Antonio". Lots of art, restaurants, shops, and other activities line the canal. At one end is a Bass Pro Shops with plenty of parking and they encourage you to do so. Dogs allowed.
Bricktown Water Taxi
We enjoyed the 45 minute water taxi along the Bricktown canal. The best part was learning the history of the area and the sights along the canal. We then went back and walked the canal and took pictures of the sights. No dogs allowed.
Factory Obscura Mix-Tape
An immersive and interactive art experience. It pays homage to the 1980s custom of creating musical compilations on cassette tape to give others as a way to express emotions. This is the modern version of a mix-tape for the artists here. It is similar (smaller scale) to the Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. In fact, there is a phone booth with video in each location that connects to the other. We spent quite a bit of time trying to convince the people at the Santa Fe location that we were live in Oklahoma City. There are also several unique shops in the area and it is walkable (1/2 mile) to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. No dogs allowed.
Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
A somber and touching memorial to the domestic terrorist bombing that took place here in 1995 at the Murrah Building.
Hiking
Draper Dog Trail
Pay attention to the reviews of this trail on AllTrails. Seriously. We didn't read far enough and didn't realize there were SO MANY TICKS! Barb stopped counting after she pulled 100 ticks off Polly. Mark pulled just as many. They hadn't all dug in yet but, ew! The ticks were also crawling on Mark's and Barb's shoes and lower legs. We caught all those in time. Barb looked up the kind of tick and they were mostly "Lone Star" ticks, marked with a single light spot on their torsos. Those don't typically carry Lyme Disease. Just don't go here.
Food and Drink
Earl's BBQ
Legend has it that Elvis Presley used to fly Earl from Oklahoma City to Memphis so Earl could make Elvis' favorite BBQ.
Tipsy Tiki Dockside Bar
Fun tiki bar along the Bricktown River Walk. They have some very fun and unique drinks. They do not serve food but there is a Mexican restaurant right behind the bar.
To make a long story short ...
Ticks, ticks, and more ticks
Ew. There are few things that gross me out more than ticks. You know what I mean when I say that once you find one crawling on you, every little itch makes you panic that you've got another crawling around. Luckily (?), the Lone Star ticks we ran into on the Draper Dog Trail don't typically carry Lyme Disease. We ended up taking hundreds (not kidding) off Polly and spraying here with a scented oil (like the Bug-Off you can find in stores). She gets treated once a month with flea and tick application so the ticks are supposed to die if they bite into her. We didn't want to wait because we didn't want ticks in the camper so we spent a LONG time pulling them off. She was so patient.