Today, arrive in Oklahoma City, OK where you spend the next three nights at a hotel located in Bricktown.  Dinner is included this evening at Toby Keith’s “I Love This Bar” Restaurant.  Named for the country singer’s hit single, Toby Keith’s “I Love This Bar & Grill” offers a down-home dining and entertainment experience right in the middle of OKC’s historic Bricktown.  Come as you are for daily beer specials and good, old-fashioned country favorites like chicken fried steak, pork chops topped with homemade jalapeño peach jam – even calf fries! (D)

This morning visit the new First Americans Museum.  In one place, you will experience the collective histories of 39 distinctive First American Nations in Oklahoma today.  First Americans Museum will share the cultural diversity, history, and contributions of the First Americans.

Only a few tribal Nations were indigenous to what is now the State of Oklahoma.  All others were removed from homelands across the contiguous U.S. to Indian Territory.  In 1907 Oklahoma became the 46th state to enter the union.  The state’s name comes from two Choctaw words “Okla” and “Homma” meaning Red People.

Next, visit the American Banjo Museum, housing the largest collection of banjos on public display in the world and is the only museum dedicated to just the banjo.  Enjoy a self-guided tour through banjo history from its humble African roots through its heyday during the roaring ’20s to its present-day voice in bluegrass, folk, jazz and world music.  Then, take a seat in the performance venue modeled after one of the wildly popular banjo nightclubs of the 1960s, known as Your Father’s Mustache, to enjoy lunch followed with a banjo performance.

This afternoon, visit the Oklahoma History Center, an eighteen-acre, 215,000 square-foot learning center exploring Oklahoma’s unique history of Native culture, pioneers, aviation, commerce, and more.  The Oklahoma History Center is a Smithsonian Affiliate and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

Also included with your visit to the Oklahoma History Center is a Living History Performance.  A local historian will provide an “in character” experience of an individual from a particular era, including period dress, personal history and history for that time period.

Then head to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for a guided tour.   From Albert Bierstadt’s glowing landscape, Emigrants Crossing the Plains, to Native American art, see some of the finest Western art in the country.  The Museum features a superb collection of classic and contemporary Western art, including works by Frederic Remington and Charles Russell, as well as sculptor James Earle Fraser’s magnificent work, The End of the Trail.

Round out the tour with a look at the evolution of the working cowboy to their portrayal in film and pop culture.  The Museum’s Hall of Great Western Performers includes musicians (and Oklahoma native) Gene Autry, Vince Gill and Reba McEntire.

Included this evening with your visit to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum is “A Date with the Duke.”  Enjoy a BBQ dinner, and a private screening of the John Wayne Movie “The Cowboys” in the Museum’s Dub & Mozelle Richardson Theater. (B,L,D)

Start the day with a stop at the Centennial Land Run Monument, commemorating the opening of the Unassigned Land in Oklahoma Territory with the Land Run of 1889.  The frenzied energy and emotion from one instant during the run is captured in bronze by artist Paul Moore. It is one of the world’s largest bronze sculptures featuring 45 heroic figures of land run participants, frozen in motion as they race to claim new homesteads.

Next, visit Stockyards City, where Oklahoma’s Western Heritage lives on – virtually untouched since the middle of the 20th century.  Home to a number of shops specializing in all things western, you can outfit an entire ranch (cattle included) or just find a new pair of boots.  Its home to the Oklahoma National Stockyards, the world’s largest feeder and stocker cattle market, where live cattle auctions take place every Monday and Tuesday and are open to the public.

Lunch is included today at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Oklahoma City.  This world-famous restaurant was won in a craps game in 1945.  It has since grown into one of the best steakhouses in the state with features in Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Man vs. Food, plus countless publications.  The menu is known for its steaks, lamb fries, homemade desserts, dinner rolls and the Cattlemen’s House Salad Dressing.

The rest of the day is spent at the Remington Park Horseracing and Casino for live horse racing and a chance to try your luck at the casino.  Your horse racing experience is enhanced with a trip to the Winner’s Circle where your group presents the winner’s blanket for a race that has been custom-named just for them.

Also included with your visit, is dinner, a cooking demonstration and craft brew tasting.  Sit back and relax with a cooking demonstration where a local chef prepares your meal and receive recipe cards as well.  Then learn about how beer is made and taste craft beers brewed right here in OKC.  (B,L,D)

After breakfast, visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial, dedicated to the victims of the bombing in Oklahoma City of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.  The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial stands on the now-sacred ground where the events of April 19, 1995, unfolded.  What was once the footprint of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, Fifth Street, the Athenian Building and Oklahoma Water Resources Board are now the Field of Empty Chairs, Reflecting Pool and Rescuers’ Orchard.

Following your visit, depart for home. (B)