Things to Do in Tulsa

The Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium hosts a bevy of actual aircrafts, hands-on exhibits, and displays highlighting the high points in aerial travel and discovery. The Space Maneuvering Unit gives folks a feel for what it’s like to operate in the weightlessness of outer space, with such workday tasks as laser target practice and wrangling evil sentient computers. Star searchers and skywalkers alike can push a button to run an 18-cylinder radial engine or marvel at the same type of fighter jet that Tom Cruise spun in Top Gun. At the planetarium's ESky Theater, multi-media displays, such as the currently showing Extreme Planets, take viewers on computer-animated journeys through space and time, past a multitude of stars, planets, satellites, and cosmic roadside photo-ops such as the biggest ball of interstellar yarn. BIG show audiences can voyage into the farthest observable reaches of the universe and return to Tulsa with minimal shuttle lag. Check out the planetarium's main page for a schedule of each month's shows.

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.

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.

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.

Inner Peace Yoga challenges newbies and advanced yogis with a bevy of group yoga classes in traditional and modern yoga fusion styles. The custom-designed facility boasts a gleaming, 1,077-square-foot yoga floor built from Lisbon natural cork, a forgiving material ideal for cushioning feet during challenging standing poses or stoppering up an equally limb-loosening bottle of vino. The studio’s diverse staff of instructors teaches numerous yoga styles, including traditional Ashtanga, which hones mind and body by focusing students’ thoughts on aligning breath and movement during a flowing series of postures that tests pupils’ muscles and concentration. Deep-stretch yoga classes accommodate students of all abilities, including those recovering from injuries, with a gentle flexibility-focused session to ease tight areas and leave the body relaxed and humming show tunes. Yoga Jam, which unfortunately doesn't involve canned preserves, fuses energetic, sweat-breaking yoga movements with upbeat music for an invigorating, if toast-free, workout.

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.