For all the talk of OKC’s recent cultural renaissance that’s brought a remarkable wave of sports, leisure, arts, and entertainment options to the city over the past decade, the sheer size and sprawl of our capitol can still make it difficult to find just the right kind of fun you’re looking for.
It’s a task that publisher Reedy Press has tackled for cities across America, and that they’ve now updated for OKC with the brand new Third Edition of the book “100 Things to do in Oklahoma City Before You Die.”
To pen the new edition, Reedy Press originally approached local author and Oklahoma oddity historian Jeff Provine who called in the help of his friend Dennis Spielman, the filmmaker behind travel shows like Uncovering Oklahoma.
Jeff Provine: The publisher said, “Hey, we’re looking to do a new edition of ‘100 Things,’ do you think you could do that?”
And I was looking at it. I was like “well, there’s so many restaurants and stuff, and Dennis knows more about that than I do.” So, I was like, “Hey, can we do a co-authored story?”
Brett Fieldcamp: With the pairing in place, they set about creating their first master list of possible entries and quickly realized that the city’s recent boom had made for far more options than they’d expected.
Jeff Provine: Our preliminary list just cast a wide net, just what would you recommend on just a huge list. And we had almost 200 suggestions.
Dennis Spielman: Yeah.
Jeff Provine: So we had to start narrowing things down.
Dennis Spielman: Even though it’s a hundred things to do, this is not a ranking. It’s just a list. Everything’s just kind of sprinkled around throughout there. It’s all kind of sorted in different categories, from food and drink to arts and entertainment to seasonal events that are very popular and huge that people come from out of town and out of state for.
Brett Fieldcamp: One category that immediately presented way too many great selections was, of course, OKC’s robust, award-winning food and restaurant industry.
Jeff Provine: I think our first list we had, like, eighty cool places to eat. And then we're like “oh dang. That’s not what the categories all are.”
Dennis Spielman: I mean, you could easily write a hundred restaurants to eat at in Oklahoma City.
Jeff Provine: Oh, easily.
Brett Fieldcamp: Another category that saw a wealth of options was the much more open-ended “sports and recreation,” featuring everything from the OKC Zoo and the Mat Hoffman Action Sports Park to kayaking, hiking, and even searching for the hidden fairy houses scattered throughout Will Rogers Gardens.
But they also use the section to encourage residents to get out and explore some of the city’s recent transportation and infrastructure improvements.
Dennis Spielman: We have a really impressive and extensive network of bike trails and running trails in general. And biking along the river is absolutely gorgeous, and it's a lot of fun, and you kind of get to go, like, weave into parts of the city that you just wouldn't really get to see, that can only see via bike.
Brett Fieldcamp: Of course, Provine and Spielman still gravitate toward the more unexpected oddball side of OKC life with some of their favorite entries.
Dennis Spielman: Yeah, go to the Pigeon Museum. People don’t know about that.
Jeff Provine: Yeah, which even living here, a lot of folks don't hear about it, like the exotic animal racing for charity up at Remington Park. Every spring they bring out special, like, ostrich racers and camel racers.
Brett Fieldcamp: Ultimately, the pair said that their goal with the book was to focus more on the lesser-known, lesser-praised entries further off the city’s beaten paths.
Dennis Spielman: Well, in my mind, I was kind of thinking of people who are, like, maybe new to Oklahoma City or maybe, you know, just trying or want to expand their horizons.
Jeff Provine: And since it's the third edition, we really focused on, like, stuff you probably haven't heard of. Like in the introduction we talked about, you know, we're not going to tell you to go to Cattleman’s to get a steak, because everybody knows you need to go to Cattleman’s and get a steak.
The book “100 Things to do in Oklahoma City Before You Die” is available in local bookstores, online retailers, and city libraries now from Reedy Press, and you can catch Provine and Spielman in-person at this year’s Litfest, Saturday, August 17th at the Metropolitan Library System’s Downtown Library.
------------------------------------------------
KGOU relies on voluntary contributions from readers and listeners to further its mission of public service with arts and culture reporting for Oklahoma and beyond. To contribute to our efforts, make your donation online, or contact our Membership department.
