Edmond/Arcadia

Edmond is Oklahoma City’s neighbor to the north and one of Oklahoma’s largest cities, but its location (15.2 miles from downtown and 22.6 miles from Tinker Air Force Base) allows it to be a popular suburb for people who work all across the Oklahoma City area. And thousands of students at Oklahoma Christian University and the University of Central Oklahoma call Edmond home during their academic careers. Even if you don’t live in the area, don’t miss out on all that Edmond has to offer visitors.

If you’re still in the mood for music, enjoy some soul music at the University of Central Oklahoma’s Jazz Lab. Each week, the Jazz Lab features live entertainment, and visitors can order food and drinks from Hideaway Pizza next door. During the week, across the street, you can learn about Edmond’s history at the Edmond Historical Society and Museum.

Want to spend time outdoors? Edmond offers ways to do that, too, especially with several parks. Arcadia Lake offers trails for bicycling, motorcycles and hiking/running, boat rentals and horseback riding, among other things. Edmond has a range of other parks, as well, but two big ones with lots of trails are Mitch Park and Hafer Park. In warmer weather, you can check out two water parks: The Edmond Y Water Park and Pelican Bay Aquatic Center.

Also in far north Edmond is another architectural marvel, the Armstrong Auditorium. It is a luxury venue that hosts premier concerts and performing arts, ranging from the Russian National Ballet to classical, jazz or even bluegrass music, depending on the season.

Further north and east of Edmond, the community of Arcadia will allow you to get your kicks on Route 66 here, starting with POPS, a restaurant and gas station celebrating the original interstate highway – U.S. Route 66 – and all its history as the “Main Street of America” or the “Mother Road.” You can’t miss POPS because of the 66-foot-tall soda bottle and straw that at night lights up in a dazzling show of different colors. POPS is part future, with a bold architectural design, and part past.

Just down the road from POPS is another can’t-miss landmark, the Arcadia Round Barn, which is literally a round red barn that was built in 1898 and restored in 1992. It was used as a barn for livestock and hay storage and for dances around the turn-of-the-century, and today the 45-foot-tall barn again hosts community events.