Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a highly underrated city that has a lot to offer visitors and locals alike. More than a million people make their homes in the greater Tulsa metropolitan area, which provides them with a variety of recreational opportunities and activities. My name is Mike Heuer, and I am your ApartmentHomeLiving.com guide to many of the great things there are to do and see in Tulsa. Here’s a closer look at some of my absolute favorites.
Visit Tulsa’s Air and Space Museum & Planetarium
One of my favorite places in Tulsa is the Air and Space Museum & Planetarium, which is situated in the northwest section of the Tulsa International Airport. I have been a huge fan of aviation history since I was a boy, and the Air and Space Museum & Planetarium always brings out the same youthful sense of wonderment. Current aircraft on exhibit include a Grumman F-14 Tomcat, a Rockwell Ranger 2000, an American Airlines MD-80 commercial airliner, and a Spartan Executive single-engine propeller-driven plane.
The museum’s exhibits also include a tribute to a particular WWII B-24 bomber, which was the last one built at a Tulsa plant during the war. Locals bought enough war bonds to build the aircraft, which is named the Tulsamerican and saw service during the war. The Tulsamerican flew combat missions in Europe and crashed into the Adriatic Sea after being attacked during a mission on Dec. 17, 1944. The Tulsamerican exhibit tells the story of the heavy bomber and its crew.
The museum also has an exhibit that is dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen, who were in an all-black unit of Army Air Corps pilots who were trained in Tuskegee, Alabama, and eventually flew missions over Europe. The pilots flew P-51 Mustang fighters and compiled one of the most impressive combat records of any flying unit during the war, including never losing a bomber from the bomber formations that the pilots protected.
The James E. Bertelsmeyer Planetarium also provides an outstanding experience and is located next to the Air and Space Museum. The planetarium provides full-dome shows that illustrate the university while visitors remain seated. It’s a fully immersive experience that is sure to please fans of space exploration. The current slate of shows includes a live solar system tour, another of the night sky, and black holes. Other impressive shows also are available and make learning fun.
Tour Tulsa’s Expansive Tunnel Network
During the early 1900s, Tulsa sought to shield its residents from bad weather by building a network of well-lit underground tunnels. The tunnels protected against rainstorms, tornadoes, and wintry weather, and they were much more comfortable to navigate on foot when the outdoor temperature approached 100 degrees with high humidity.
The tunnels connect downtown buildings in Tulsa, but modern improvements in public and private transportation negated the city’s need for the tunnels. Now, they serve as a reminder of the past and are open for tours. Professional guides can help you to learn more about the tunnels while traversing them on foot and without getting lost in the maze-like tunnel network.
Many of the buildings that are connected by the tunnels have outstanding artworks and sculptures that are available to view. The tunnels also retell Tulsa’s history from its days as the world’s top oil-producing city to the current times. No two tours are alike, as they are customized to meet the interests of each group that undertakes a guided tour of the Tulsa tunnels.
Take a Tour of Black Wall Street and Its Dark History
Tulsa’s Greenwood District formerly was home to Black Wall Street, which greatly supported and enabled the endeavors of Black entrepreneurs during the early 20th century. Unfortunately, the infamous 1921 race massacre changed things when locals attacked and murdered many Black Tulsans amid the race riot and massacre.
The episode is a dark and tragic day in local and national history, but it should not be forgotten despite prior efforts to hide it. Visitors can take a self-guided tour of Black Wall Street and learn about its history and the 1921 massacre. Fortunately, the heinous event did not stop those targeted by race-driven murderers and others from rebuilding their lives and restoring their hopes for a better life.
Participants walk from John Hope Reconciliation Park, through the streets in the historic district, and to the Greenwood Cultural Center. A walking tour app plays as you proceed along the tour’s course, and you can go at your own pace. The Black Wall Street tour never closes and always is available at any time of the day or night and on any day of the year.
Fish and Relax in Local Parks
The Arkansas River flows through Tulsa and has many tributaries and lakes in the area that feed it. The city of Tulsa allows fishing at most of the ponds within the system, with Owen Park and Swan Lake Park being the only ones excluded from angling. Tulsa participates in Oklahoma’s Close to Home Fishing Program, which supports bank fishing and angling from kayaks and canoes. The park ponds are stocked with desirable game fish, including largemouth bass, channel catfish, bluegill, green sunfish, and redear sunfish. The program is intended to support urban fishing and offers fishing clinics for locals.
The Arkansas River also supports a variety of fishing and boating activities and contains very large catfish, gar, and other fish species. A very popular location near the river is the Gathering Place Riverfront Park, which spans 66.5 acres along the northeastern bank of the Arkansas River as it winds up and through Tulsa. The Gathering Place is an all-ages park that includes water slides, a beach, walking bridges, a boathouse, several gardens, and scenic overlooks. It includes a manmade pond and other water areas that support swimming and tubing without having to go on the Arkansas River. The river is home to several other parks, which ensure ample opportunities for fishing and other aquatic activities for those who seek them.
Visit the Tulsa Zoo and Tulsa Botanic Garden
The 124-acre Tulsa Zoo is a great place to go for people of all ages, and the bigger the group, the more fun the experience can be. The zoo has exhibits dedicated to African wildlife and African penguins, which survive well in warmer climes. An Aldabra Atoll exhibit features giant land tortoises, many of which are endangered but live long and happy lives at the zoo.
A Chimpanzee Connection exhibit provides visitors with a close look at chimpanzees through indoor and outdoor viewing windows that protect the endangered animals. The zoo also has a children’s section that includes small mammals, miniature horses, red kangaroos, and others that the children otherwise never would see. A petting zoo section lets kids get a close look at and feel for the many wonderful animals kept at the zoo, which is located northwest of the Tulsa International Airport.
Farther west and beyond the northwestern boundary of the Tulsa city limits is the Tulsa Botanic Garden, which provides visitors with an outstanding outdoor experience. The garden is one of the newer places to visit in the Tulsa area and began opening in sections starting in 2015. As the garden became more developed, new sections have opened over the years, and now it features a wide variety of flowering plants, trees, and other fauna that made a beautiful place to visit at any time of the year. The annual spring bloom is one of the most popular times to visit the garden and enjoy all of its spectacular colors and scents.
Enjoy Live Music and Performing Arts
While much of what we have covered so far is located outside of Tulsa, the city and especially its downtown area have much to offer for visitors and locals. Tulsa has a long musical legacy and supports a variety of musical genres and artists. The Mercury Lounge is a converted gas station at the corner of 18th Street and Boston in downtown Tulsa and hosts live touring acts and local musical artists. The venue has been voted the best bar in Tulsa and provides guests with an intimate evening of music that includes jazz, blues, indie rock, and much more.
The LowDown is another popular downtown music venue that specializes in jazz music and is visited often by some of the country’s best touring jazz artists, including Grammy Award winners. The LowDown also has comedy nights and open mic nights that enable aspiring musicians to develop their craft and network with other musicians in the Tulsa area. Another great option is The Vanguard, which hosts performers of wide and varied musical types, including electronic, hip-hop, punk, and alternative rock.
Cain’s Ballroom is another highly revered Tulsa live music venue and has been open for more than 100 years. The ballroom was built in 1924 and seats an audience of 1,800. Many of the best touring acts from virtually all genres have music have made stops at Cain’s Ballroom, which has excellent acoustics and a very distinctive atmosphere due to its long history and iconic design. Those are just a few of the many great venues for live music and performing arts in Tulsa.
Make a Plan and Enjoy the Best of Tulsa
Longtime Tulsa residents and visitors have much from which to choose while in Tulsa. The above suggestions only scratch the surface of the many great options that await when in the city that first was made into a small community by Aboriginal tribes nearly 200 years ago and greatly expanded during the oil boom era of the early 1900s. Tulsa once was the unofficial oil capital of the world, but it has diversified and remains an often overlooked gem in the eastern part of Oklahoma that has much to offer.
