Oklahoma

For people who grew up in the Oklahoma City area, Tulsa is the obvious vacation away from home but still within the state. Shelby and I spent the weekend in Tulsa, OK with our good friends Sarah and Sylvain. The main reason for our trip was because the legend himself, Justin Timberlake, performed at the BOK Center. So it just worked out that we could spend a few days and cross another state off the list.

On Thursday, the four of us met at the hotel and walked in the freezing rain to see the man of our dreams. My entire world ended, I was revived, and nothing was ever the same again. We enjoyed his perfection from our seats right next to the stage; in fact, the stage came up into our section. We were exhausted after, but not more exhausted than we were hungry. We went to the restaurant in the lobby of our hotel for homemade chips before bed.

Friday was our big day to really explore the city. I had been asking friends and coworkers for over a month which places were necessary to see. After recovering, we started the day out at Brookside by Day with mimosas and some seriously delicious diner breakfast. From there, we drove around the city some before stopping at The Center of the Universe. Sarah and I knew the secrets of this local gem, but Shelby and Sylvain didn't. We enjoyed it for a couple of minutes before the cold became too much. Many of the roads downtown were blocked, because there was a big race the next day, so we had to walk a couple of blocks in the sleet to get to our next destination. It was worth it, because there was hardly anyone at The Gypsy coffeehouse, and we just relaxed while drinking mochas and playing chess.

After we were ready to brave the freezing weather again, we made our way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We were recommended Andolini's Pizzeria on Cherry St, so we went there for dinner. There was a bit of a wait, but you could watch the pizza being made in the waiting area. It was neat, and I never want to forget that house made smoked mozzarella which made the pizza even better. Paired with a Belgian beer, and this may have been the best meal we had all weekend. After dinner, we went to The Max, an awesome retropub. There were a lot of cool arcade games and fun drinks. 

On Saturday, we met some friends who recently moved to Tulsa at an authentic Irish pub called Kilkenny's. It was delicious, and I kept having flashbacks to our time in Dublin earlier this year. On the way back home, we visited the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks. I was the only one who had been previously, but it had been about a decade, so it was essentially a new experience for everyone. The best part of the aquarium was probably when we got to see the beavers being fed. They ate broccoli and grapes, and they were so happy. Their hands were really impressive. Of course my favorite part of the aquarium was the mammals, but the fish were neat too. 

states: 05/50

Bryce :)