Vegan by Valerie

Oklahoma City

As if I wasn’t having enough fun flying across the Atlantic Ocean and across the country to Spain, Portugal, and California, I recently got back from yet another vacation to Oklahoma City to visit an old friend, Molly, from high school.

I flew out of O’Hare with my friend Lisa, and was overjoyed at the fact that the flight ahead of me was a mere 1 hour and 50 minutes instead of a backbreaking 10 hour flight to Europe.

You all know my love for all things Argo Tea, but sadly we weren’t in the right terminal so I couldn’t get my hands on a chickpea salad and chocolate chip muffin.  For any vegetarians flying out of the United terminal at O’hare, I did find a really delicious grilled portabello and veggie wrap at one of the kiosks, which I rounded out with a strawberry banana smoothie from Jamba Juice.

After arriving in OKC and subsequently melting in the 109 degree heat, we headed out for Mexican.  Oklahoma isn’t known for their healthy dining and its crawling with BBQ joints, but I always find great options at Mexican restaurants.  As you would expect in a state so close to the border, Oklahoma knows how to do Mexican food!

Molly was voted Most Likely to be the next Martha Stewart in high school.  Ok not really, that’s just what I call her… and true to form, she was the ultimate hostess and was well-prepared for our arrival.  Aside from stocking her kitchen with avocados (I can’t imagine why….), Molly bought herself some Earth Balance and made a delicious vegan apple crisp.  It was absolutely delicious, and paired nicely with [many] glasses of fruity wine.

The next morning, Molly again rose to the occasion and baked a vegan apple spice cake which of course was delicious. 

After breakfast, we headed over to the Oklahoma City bombing memorial.  It sounds like a very somber and morose thing to do on vacation, but it was actually incredibly interesting albeit very sad.

This tree miraculously survived despite catching on fire.

I like this quote!  Judge Murrah is the man that the Murrah Federal building was originally named for.

School children from across the world sent artwork to the memorial, and this one is my favorite:

As hot as it was there, I would love to run the OKC Marathon one day…

Back in high school, our group of friends used to love going to the Cheesecake Factory on Michigan Avenue in Chicago where we would happily wait two hours to get a table.

These days we are far less patient (or at least I’m not!) so luckily the OKC Cheesecake Factory wasn’t as crowded.  I ordered the portabello burger (having been craving a good veggie burger for weeks) topped with avocado instead of cheese, which was outstanding.

For dessert we stopped by Peach Wave, where I got a pineapple sorbet topped with fruit and sprinkles, and we walked around the OKC riverwalk area before heading to a movie.

The last full day we were there we ate at the restaurant in the Art Museum, which is Molly’s favorite place to eat brunch in OKC.  Nothing on the menu stuck out to me (it was a lot of quiches and sausage dishes) but the waiter was very accomodating and made me a delicious salad with various types of vegetables and avocado.

We walked along the riverwalk some more before it started to rain, saw another movie, and called it a night.  All in all, a great weekend excursion to see old friends!

Do you still keep in touch with any friends from high school?  (I feel so lucky that I do!)

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