Despite the earthquakes and super cell storms that absorbed most of our time in Oklahoma, we did get a little time to visit kids and grandkids. Terry’s youngest son Keith and our granddaughter Alyssa live in Tulsa so we decided to spend an afternoon at the Oklahoma Aquarium. This is a great family-oriented environment with several interactive aquatic displays and the largest bull shark grouping in the country, housed in a one-of-a-kind walk-though clear tunnel tank.
The unusual creatures to be found under the sea have always fascinated me, so I thought I would share some of my favorites.
Tulsa has done an admirable job of expanding upon their riverwalk, complete with sitting areas and plantings. It was a great way for us to grab some exercise on the one sunny day that we had while in the city.
Since Terry lived in Tulsa many years ago, he wanted to see how the downtown area had changed so we also took some time to drive around, with Keith and Alyssa as our tour guides.
The BOK Center ( Bank of Oklahoma), is a multi-purpose arena in Tulsa, used for sporting events as well as music venues. It was designed by César Pelli, the architect of the Petronas Towers in Malaysia and is the flagship project of Tulsa’s Vision 2025 long-range development initiative.
Alyssa is a very talented 12-year old, learning to play the guitar by ear and is asking for a ukulele for Christmas and has an interest in learning to play the violin. She loves classical music, sings beautifully, and wants to be a marine biologist or veterinarian and loves nature.
Oklahoma City is where we experienced all the crazy weather and where Terry’s oldest son, wife, and our two grandsons live. We opted for an indoor activity and decided upon the National Cowboy Museum, a wonderful depiction of all things western: paintings, bronzes, rodeo history, western performers and a great display of saddles from the 1700’s through present-day. Beautiful fountains and gardens rounded out the presentation. Unfortunately photography was not allowed in many of the viewing rooms.
The two grandsons are into sports, playing basketball and football. Given that the oldest grandson, Brandon, is only 14 and is already 6’1″ and wears a size 16 shoe, and the youngest, Matthew, has had a big growth spurt, football may be in their future, at least mom and dad hope so.
Time to head south!
Paint Your Landscape 
hey terry–
Ok City sure looks a lot better than it did in the old days, uh? when i used to go there in the 50’s to visit with my cousins, there really wasnt much going on. looks beautiful now. Lu, i hope the aquarium doesnt get blown away in a big storm, releasing all the morays.
–david
Looks like a good visit. I’ve heard about the Cowboy museum. I love aquariums being Tulsa is close enough to Coffeyville that might be an idea for a weekend outing. Glad you got some time with kids and grandkids. Safe travels as you head south.