Things to Do in Tulsa

The Gift Garden tends a diverse patch of trinkets, apparel, gift baskets, and more to resolve any tricky coefficient that confounds your gifting formula. Colorful candles line the store's bright walls. Because scent is hard-wired to memory, grab an Original Man Candle ($9.99) to attach the fragrance of bacon, french fries, or football to your thought bubble, or craft your own signature aroma at the bath and body Scenting Station, where any mixture of 150 scents can be branded into bath and body wares. Bequeath a fashionable gambler with the Lolita Bunco Game ($24.99), which outfits the classic game with a feather-boa bell and pink dice. Babies and their bearers go gaga for The Gift Garden's onesies and Pacimals, which join medical-grade pacifiers with soft stuffed animals to help boost an infant's coordination and promote giraffe relations ($19.99). The microfiber, monogrammable quilted tote bag ($21.99) looks elegant with a purse hanger ($8). Upon completion of your gifting journey, The Gift Garden's friendly staff will provide a decorative gift bag free of charge.

Located within the Art Play Center Tulsa Stained Glass has been transforming glass into colorful window treatments for more than 35 years. Brandishing this finely-honed craft, they restore slices of history by repairing antique church windows as well as mending household pieces. In addition to forging custom designs for customers' abodes, Tulsa's glassworkers impart knowledge on a new generation with classes where budding artists learn to build door panels, fashion kaleidoscopes, and add cheery color to prison visiting-room windows.

The newly renovated Oilers Ice Center provides visitors with a regulation-size indoor rink designed for ice hockey, figure skating, curling, and public skating sessions. Four curling rings sit beneath the frozen carpet, which is kept smooth with frequent passes of a zamboni blasting classic R & B hits from its stereo. The venue doubles as the official practice space for Oklahoma’s Central Hockey League team, the Tulsa Oilers, and offers adult hockey leagues throughout the year. Busy families of dexterous ice veterans can take advantage of the center’s flexible hours, and adventurous couples can spend Friday nights using their skates to trace the shape of hearts or prenuptial-agreement fine print into the ice.

Check out the seating chart and call ahead to reserve the best available seats. Your two tickets will be waiting at will call on the date of your chosen performance.

Whiling away their vacation in a Swiss Alps chalet, Joe and Beth Henretty noticed a peculiar sound: nothing. The entire town moved at a pace much slower than that of their home in the States; without a car in sight, residents simply strolled to their destinations. Inspired by this way of life, Joe and Beth imported the car-free philosophy to Tulsa in 2005, buying their own bicycle cab and christening their new business Golzern Pedicabs after the chalet in which they'd stayed. Today, the duo and their two fellow drivers shuttle riders to and from concerts or obedience-school reunions while working solely for tips—both as an accommodation to any budget and as a further homage to Switzerland's laid-back lifestyle.

For a flat fee, the business—also known as Tulsa Pedicabs—captains tours that bounce among Tulsa's local eateries, where passengers sample fare at each stop and, sometimes, carry out agendas of their own. Once, on one of Joe's tours, a man proposed, and the Henrettys honored the occasion by pedaling the couple to their hotel on their wedding day—much like the Swiss nuptial tradition of dragging cans behind a saddled yak.

In 1926, oilman Waite Phillips commissioned a Renaissance-style villa on his 23 acres of Tulsa land. Finished in 1927, the structure served as his home until 1938, when Phillips decided to focus on a different kind of oil: oil painting. He converted his 72-room mansion and all 23 acres into the Philbrook Museum of Art, which houses an extensive collection to this day.

Its international pieces range from African word sculptures and an 18th-century Chinese porcelain docai vase to funerary objects flanking an Egyptian mummiform coffin. From its homeland, the Philbrook showcases Native American basketry and paintings spanning the 18th through 21st centuries, including 15 works by Andrew Wyeth. Outside, the museum's remaining acreage hosts a lush garden whose trails run alongside native Oklahoma plants and plants that relocated to Oklahoma after college.

Along with permanent and rotating exhibitions, the Philbrook stakes its claim as a cultural hub with interactive, enlightening programs and events. In the summer, these include daytime art camps for six- to 12-year-olds and a nighttime film series that screens features in the garden.