It’s a “get out on the water” theme for The Better Life OKC this week. With a location fairly equidistant from both the east and west coasts and one and a half states between us and the Gulf of Mexico, you may be surprised to know how much OKC residents appreciate their water-related activities. But given OK’s plethora of rivers and lakes, and the accompanying 55,646 miles of shoreline along lakes and ponds in the state (yes, that’s more than the Atlantic, Gulf, or Pacific coasts of the U.S.), residents here love some time in, on and around the water, whether that’s sailing on Lake Hefner, rowing a shell or kayak down the Oklahoma River, swimming or boating at a lake at a nearby state park, or even whitewater rafting and surfing (and snow skiing!) in downtown OKC.
The Oklahoma River is in many ways the center of water-based recreation and paddlesports in OKC and has a history unlike any other – it went from proper entertainment venue to the paterfamilias of mercurial flooding to dry drainage ditch/ignored weed-filled wasteland to elite Olympic training ground and paddlesport palace – in other words, “we used to mow it, now we row it.” You can read more about that history here in the “A River’s Rise” multi-chapter, multimedia feature on greateroklahomacity.com.
Now, if you’re looking at all this rowing and rafting and kayaking and surfing and climbing and sliding and biking and people standing up on paddleboards and zipping themselves across the river and back and Olympians walkin’ around being all tall and super in-shape and what not and thinking, “I don’t even know where to begin or how to get involved, and quite frankly, I’m a teensy bit intimidated,” the folks at the Boathouse District have your back. First of all, these are all things virtually anyone can enjoy down at the river – being of Olympic-level genetic extraction is not required. Second of all, check out some of their “Discover Experiences.” These generally give you a short, guided in-person lesson and exposure to some of the basics of whatever discipline you’re interested in, giving you the confidence to go forth and paddle/row/swim/etc. on your own.
For example, two Discover Experiences you might be interested in as either a new resident or a long-time OKC citizen are Discover Surfing and Discover Skiing (OKC’s got a lot of things, but until recently it was pretty hard to surf waves or snow ski here on the reg). These are both held at the Whitewater Center in the Boathouse District on Saturday mornings and give you the skills you need to enjoy both of these new features and develop even more confidence and competence in each discipline – and ultimately more fun and fitness! And that’s what it’s all about. So check it out!
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