Living Wright: Metro area has lots to offer outside heart of city
BY JASON ASHLEY WRIGHT World Scene Writer
Thursday, November 01, 2012
11/01/12 at 4:49 AM
Go to Jason Ashley Wright's BlogOriginal Print Headline: Metro area has lots to offer outside heart of city
After years of relative stagnation, it's so exciting to see so much happening downtown.
From a new, free trolley service that starts Friday in the Blue Dome, Deco and Brady Arts districts to the plethora of bars and restaurants now available, I'm just proud as spiked punch to be a Tulsan. Finally, we're throwing down some entertainment options as a city our size should.
But as a formerly professed "midtown snob" who often joked about "packing a lunch whenever I travel past 41st and Yale," I need to remember there's more to see and do in our community than the sights and sounds within our skyline's immediate shadows.
It's an awareness of mine that's grown since moving from my beloved Maple Ridge garage apartment to a house in north Tulsa - or "far north midtown," as a friend calls it. I commute quickly to work, have a best friend who lives in Broken Arrow, another in the Pearl District, yet another smack-dab in the heart of midtown - it's rather stupid to limit myself to Riverside-to-Yale, Admiral-to-41st borders.
A couple nights ago, I rode with Lord V in his convertible for a quick errand that turned into a two-hour drive to Jenks and south Tulsa. He hadn't seen most of the new development in Jenks, so it was cool to play tour guide.
Going to Jenks is like a staycation - the antique shops, the aquarium, ambling RiverWalk. It's even part of my exercise goal for spring 2013: to be able to run from 41st Street on Riverside down to 96th, across the river and collapse at a restaurant or inside darling Sherry Bonner's The Pink Lily at 112 S. First St.
Brookside is always a fun spot - great for a daylight weekend stroll from 31st to 41st streets and back. Or, better still, that progressive-supper fantasy I've had about chips and queso at Cafe Ole, salad at Keo (the Vietnamese, of course), dinner at Oui3 and dessert at Wolfgang Puck.
It would be cool to have a trolley service that ran between the south Tulsa and Bixby shopping centers at Christmas, wouldn't it? You can see The Plaza at 81st Street and Lewis, The Shops of Seville at 101st and Yale, The Farm at 51st and Sheridan, The Shoppes of Regal Plaza at 105th and Memorial.
We can't forget Broken Arrow, which will be fun to watch as its downtown grows and Shops at Aspen Creek opens.
It's always more fun with friends, and you could draw straws to see who's designated driver if you imbibe on your excursion. And, depending on which part of town you visit, you might even want to pack a lunch.
Associated Images:
Shopping for antiques in downtown Jenks would be part of a nice staycation. MATT BARNARD / Tulsa World file
|
