As mentioned on my previous post, I recently went to Oklahoma City for the very first time. There aren’t many cities left on my “to visit” list within close driving range, but for some reason I had never found my way past Tulsa on I-49. Thanks to the kind folks at the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau, we were able to #seeOKC through some fantastic local experiences. It’s always our mission on a family trip to make it fun for everyone – whether you’re a grown-up or a kid. That means Iris might go to a restaurant or brewery that we really want to try, but we’ll even it out by hitting up a fun spot like a park or zoo.

We drove in on a Friday night so that we could have a full Saturday to explore. So upon arrival on Friday our first priority was, naturally, food and drinks. Situated right next to our hotel, 21c Museum Hotel Oklahoma City, The Jones Assembly was exactly what we were looking for. A lot of folks recommended this spot, noting the atmosphere was very Insta-worthy, but that reservations were hard to come by. Thankfully a table opened up at the very last minute and we were able to wander over for dinner. The food was delish and the atmosphere was a perfect introduction to OKC – very lively with a huge open dinning area, an open-air hangout space to play baggo while we waited for our table, and a swanky bar upstairs. This place was massive – and massively cool.

After an amazing night’s sleep, we woke up and rolled downstairs to Mary Eddy’s Kitchen x Lounge for breakfast, fueling up for a jam-packed day. From there, we ventured off to the Oklahoma City Zoo, where we found lots of wooden paths, curved through trees taking us to the different animals. Iris insisted on riding the train, so we got in a little ride before we left in search of lunch.

Wanting pizza, we found ourselves at Hideaway Pizza where we stuffed our faces and tried a couple local beers. The restaurant was in a cute older part of town so we explored a couple of the local shops (Plenty Mercantile was my fave).

Needing a little rest before our next round of fun, we headed back to the hotel for a little relaxation. I mean, looking at our room, can you blame us? For dinner we made a last minute decision to hop in our hotel’s complimentary shuttle and head to a spot called The Bleu Garten. Quite a few folks on Instagram recommended it, so we decided to give it a try. Lined with food trucks, Bleu Garten was completely outdoors and featured a couple different bar areas along with quite a few yard games – kind of perfect for a family. Iris was able to run around and play while we leisurely ordered drinks and food. I opted for the Healthy Hippo food truck and had an amazing black bean burrito (I’ve since tried to recreate it at home to no avail), while Iris and Todd opted for BBQ (our girl LOVES herself some BBQ).

As the sun went down, we weren’t quite ready to call it a night. So instead of heading back to our home-base, we grabbed an Uber and headed over to Bricktown. Right next to a little river were tons of restaurants, shops, and even mini-golf, but our sights were set on one thing – the Bricktown Water Taxi. We already checked riding a train off our list that morning, and now Iris was ready to end the day with a nighttime boat ride. Talk about the perfect night cap!

On Sunday morning we were sad to say goodbye, but since the drive home to Fayetteville was less than four hours we still had time for a little last minute food and fun. I kept hearing about a place for breakfast called Waffle Champion, but after peeking at their Yelp page I saw that sometimes the line wraps around the block. A little nervous about a long wait, we decided to go for it anyway. Thankfully the line wasn’t crazy yet, but sure enough when we left the line was around the corner.

While Waffle Champion would have been a perfect way to end our weekend getaway to OKC, we had one more place to visit before we said goodbye. I kept hearing that Riversport Adventures was a must-see, so we went to check it out. As soon as we arrived I could tell this was a place where you could spend all day – there was a huge river where you could go white water rafting, another spot for zip lining, and an entire adventure area for kiddos. There were also some extreme slides, which I was too scared to do, but Iris jumped at the chance! While I would have liked to stay longer, it made for a perfect last stop because after jumping on the Cloud Bounce and doing the mini-zip line a million times, Iris napped nearly the whole. way. home.

Now THAT’s the perfect way to end a trip.

This post is in partnership with the Oklahoma City CVB, but all opinions are my own.