“Is there even anyone here?”
As if to answer Ibrahim’s question, one lone car drove down the street and by our group. Ok, so there was one person.
But really, where WAS everyone?
We were making a rest stop and pee break in Oklahoma City on a Saturday afternoon, in the midst of our spring break road trip. Only problem was, we couldn’t find any place to go to the bathroom.
Why? Everywhere we looked was closed. ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON. Yeah, I didn’t quite get it either.
Coming across the mall in the center of the city, we figured that if anything, this place should be open. The clothing stores, the yogurt shop, and the cafe were all closed, but a mall is always open on Saturdays.
So we tried the doors.
LOCKED.
A man then appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and seeing our confused looks, answered the question lingering in our brains. “Sorry kids, it’s Saturday. The mall is closed.”
Hmmm. Puzzling.
And so began our adventure around the city, partly in search of a bathroom, but also just for the heck of seeing what this place had to offer, because it certainly wasn’t people. Just as long as we didn’t find it had been taken over by zombies, because the eerie silence in this big city was kind of reminding me of something from I Am Legend or The Walking Dead.
And so we ran.
We posed in front of random, cool sculptures, looking in the windows of every building we passed to see if some businesses were open. No luck yet, however.
And just to switch things up, sometimes we even posed inside of the sculptures.
When we finally came across the first open door, at a Hilton hotel, we practically burst out shouting in triumph….but our triumph was short-lived. For as we walked through the door, we found that we had just stumbled right into a bride’s wedding photo-shoot. WHOOPS.
Maybe she was a zombie bride?! Well, I guess we’ll never know seeing how quickly we jumped back out that door we had so triumphantly walked through.
Moving on.
I soon found myself doing gymnastics in front of metal flower sculptures, and handstand-walking down the sidewalks of downtown.
We began taking group photos in whatever reflective surface we happened to walk by.
And you truly know that a city is boring you when you find yourself climbing the fire escapes to pass the time, because you have nothing better to do.
Finally, after running around and being ridiculous for a solid hour, we discovered a bathroom, in an even swankier hotel than that Hilton. SUCCESS.
And without the bride, too. DOUBLE SUCCESS.
And there were people in this hotel, a lot of them! This was where the greatest concentration of people in this city were, it seemed, scared to venture out the front doors of their hotel.
Maybe they were all just hiding out from zombies.
Who knew that a bathroom break could turn into such an unusual adventure? Oklahoma City was only the first of many adventurous stops to come on our journey out west.
Memoirs of an Adventurer 
Wow I’ve never heard that a mall is closed on Saturday. It’s like, Saturday is the great time for people to hang around, right? But anyway, you sounds like having a great silly time 😉
Haha I thought that same thing! Saturday is usually when most things are open. But we definitely still made it into a fun time 🙂
I live in OKC. There’s not a shopping mall downtown. 🙂 I think you were trying to shop at a bank.
There are zombies, though. Glad they didn’t eat you.
Hey Brian!
Phew, that’s a relief that we didn’t get eaten or anything. If I’m ever in the city again, I’ll have to venture out of that downtown business area where all the zombies are, and into the more human-populated, fun parts of the city I hear about :).
Hahaha I probably was trying to shop at a bank! It actually said on the door that there was some kind of food court inside, so I assumed there was a mall attached, but guess not. It must’ve been a food court in a bank lol.
Thanks for stopping by, and happy travels! 🙂
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Glad you stopped in! You pretty much nailed the most ‘quiet’ part of OKC on the weekends. It’s just commercial office buildings. No mall though downtown, not sure what you meant there. As a huge Walking Dead fan, I did laugh at that part. I agree, its creepy-eerie on those couple of blocks.
A block south from where you were is the Myraid Gardens and the Devon Tower. Lots of people usually out and about there on the weekends. Of course Bricktown is our entertainment district just to the east of the CBD (Central Business District), where you were.
I hope you make it back. My wife and 3 kids love living downtown and there’s lots to do. But I’ll be the first to admit, OKC isn’t very at wayfinding and locating these destinations.
Come back soon and enjoy your travels!
Hi Sid!
Haha yes, I figured we must have ended up in a quieter part of the city! We were only there for a short time, and didn’t really get a chance to explore any other areas, but I wish we could’ve. It would’ve been great to have a local there with us, to show us the more exciting and fun parts of the city and help us get to know it a little better 🙂
And I am glad you enjoyed my Walking Dead reference! That is kind of what the streets of the CBD reminded me of, except for the few cars that did pass by. So of course it was still less eerie than the show, but I thought it would make the post a little more funny and interesting to put that zombie spin on it haha! Especially since, because I wasn’t there very long, I didn’t have very much to say about my time in OKC.
I wasn’t sure if it was a mall or not, thanks for clarifying! There was a sign that said there was a food court inside, so I guess I just assumed it was a mall of some kind. It must have just been a food court was all.
And thank you! If I am ever back in the area, I will definitely have to give the city another go which it rightfully deserves, seeing from all the good things I’ve heard :). Happy travels to you as well!
First off, there’s no mall in downtown Oklahoma City. Second off, OKC is still a city where most of the action is in the suburbs during the weekend..unless Thunder basketball is happening.
Next time you pass through..be a little more adventurous and Google Map a mall in OKC so you can really see where everyone hangs out!
Hi Braden!
Thanks for stopping by! Yeah, I figured our group must have ended up in the quietest part of the city, with our luck haha. I just thought it would be amusing to put the whole zombie spin on it haha. Our time there was very limited – really just a bathroom break, but it ended up being an interesting story! Otherwise, I would have loved to have done a little more exploring and ventured into the more populated parts of town. It would’ve been great to have a local in the know let us know where all the fun and the action is happening!
Oh and I guess it wasn’t a mall! I was just assuming, because on the door it said it was a food court. So it must have just been a food court, no mall attached. My mistake!
If I’m ever in the area again I’ll definitely have to give the city another go, and venture out of the CBD 🙂
As a resident of inner-city OKC, and having also went on random tours of my downtown during what seemed a zombie-apocalypse, I can totally relate to your post!
No biggie about mistaking the food court for a mall, as I’ve done the same as a teenager a few years back. We tried all the doors as well and the really old, Empire building look-alike was open! Me and my friends rode the elevator all the way to the top, looked out the window of a bathroom for the view, and rode back down without seeing a soul. There was even a cigarette in the ashtray in the open window at the top. So creepy!
Definitely come back and visit Bricktown, or one our other downtown districts that’s not just giant buildings full of office workers. Oh and contrary to the above poster, the suburbs are most definitely NOT popping on the weekends. As are any suburbs in any American city. Lol.
Have fun!
Wow!!! That sounds like it must’ve been so much fun haha. And it does sound a lot like our little zombie apocalypse adventure downtown. I wish we had tried the doors to the same building you did, that would have been awesome to go up on that elevator in a completely empty bulding. So creepy but so cool!
If I am ever back in the area, I’ll have to take your advice and check out Bricktown. Thanks!
Happy Travels!