The Oklahoma City Tour Group after a visit to Arbuckle Fried Pies
Dianne Ace
Early in the morning on Wednesday, May 19, a group of ladies from the Robson Ranch Women’s Club boarded a bus for an adventure in Okla. Every year, the Women’s Club sponsors a trip for its members to a nearby destination, and this year we traveled to Oklahoma City.
The first stop was the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, Okla. The Center is home to historical museum buildings with interactive exhibits on Chickasaw tribal history, traditional dancing, and the Chickasaw language. As part of their tour, the group was entertained with a Stomp Dance demonstration and had lunch in the cafe, which featured indigenous dishes. During the tour, some of the ladies could be seen walking around wrapped in Indian blankets to keep warm to ward off the unseasonal cold.
The next stop was the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. The Memorial honors the victims and all those touched by the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. While there, a survivor of the bombing spoke to the group. The ladies found this to be an impactful experience.
Later that evening, the group took the water taxi tour, where they viewed the sights and sounds of Bricktown while floating down the Bricktown Canal. After breakfast the next morning, the group visited the Oklahoma City Museum of Art which is home to one of the largest collections of Chihuly glass in the world. Dale Chihuly is considered to be the most important artist working in glass since Louis Comfort Tiffany.
After lunch at nebu, the ladies visited the Myriad Botanical Gardens, which features the Inasmuch Foundation Crystal Bridge Conservatory. Dinner at the Cattleman’s Steakhouse closed the second day.
The last day of the tour began with a visit to the Express Clydesdale Barn, where the ladies had a chance to get up close and have their pictures taken with the majestic Clydesdale horses. Then they boarded the bus and drove to Norman, Okla., home of the University of Oklahoma and the National Weather Service (NWS). Their tour of the NWS building was guided by an OU student who explained weather forecasting to them. They also viewed actual storm-chasing vehicles and props from the movie Twister.
The group again boarded their bus, but this time it was to return to Robson Ranch. Following the conclusion of the tour, everyone agreed that this was the best trip they had participated in—even though it rained the whole time.