FINALE FUN
New attractions and exhibits offer last-minute summer entertainment
And just like that, it's August and the backto-school countdown has begun. Fortunately, families hoping to get in a little lastminute summer fun don't have to look far to find new draws at some of the Oklahoma City metro area's most well-known attractions.
Here's a few ideas for parents and children looking to fit in a little last-minute staycation:
1. Shout `Timber'
Frontier City, 11501 N I-35 Service Road, opened this summer its renovated Timber Town area, which caters to the thrill- seekers as young as toddlers.
“It has been 20 years since we've made any renovations to this part of the park,” said Christin King, the theme park's marketing, communications and promotions manager. “Frontier City is different than a lot of the other Six Flags parks. ... We
have a few of the big coasters. But we're a family park at our core, so this area is the most important to us. Families can come here and make memories together and enjoy their time — and all ages can spend time together.”
The revamped Timber Town features four new rides: the family coaster Frankie's Mine Train, the interactive jumping ride Billy's Frog Hopper, the themed mini Ferris wheel Sheldon's Balloon Race and the classic spinning and soaring Rocky's Ranger Planes.
Frontier City favorites like the Silver Bullet, Renegade Rapids and Diamondback are still entertaining visitors, and through Aug. 12, passholders and members can bring a friend for free on Metro by T-Mobile Mondays.
Information: www.sixflags. com/frontiercity.
2. Grab your `Passport'
On Sunday, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63, will close its 47th annual Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition, which showcases more than 300 paintings and sculpture by the country's top contemporary Western artists.
But the museum already is offering people a “Passport” to new artistic adventures with its new exhibit, which features works by Western artists like Carl Link, Laura Gardin Fraser and Tom Lovell that depict distinctly non-Western imagery: a Thai dancer, medieval knights and even cinematic superspy James Bond.
There's more new attractions coming to the Cowboy, where the Prosperity Junction Western town is closed for the construction of a theater addition due to open in fall.
Information: nationalcowboymuseum.org.
3. Weather the dog days
“Wild Weather” is in the forecast inside Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, where augmented reality technology and hands-on displays give visitors insight into severe weather phenomena from heatwaves to blizzards.
Also through Labor Day, the museum has brought back the beloved animatronic “Red Dirt Dinos: An Oklahoma Dinosaur Adventure.” In its secondfloor SmART Space galleries, the multifaceted “Beautiful Minds — Dyslexia and the Creative Advantage” closes Sunday, while mechanical marvels both vintage and new are on view through Sept. 29 in “Life Imagined — The Art and Science of Automata.”
4. Seek Sanctuary
Next door at the Oklahoma City Zoo, 2101 NE 50, the new Sanctuary Asia ranked No. 7 this summer on USA Today's 10 Best Readers' Choice travel awards for Best Zoo Exhibit. The 14 ½-acre exhibit, which opened last fall, provides beautiful digs for the zoo's Asian elephants, Indian rhinos, Komodo dragons, red pandas, cassowaries, tanuki and more.
Information: www.okczoo.org. 5. Master the classics
Works by the most iconic masters in Western art history are featured in “Van Gogh, Monet, Degas: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,” on view through Sept. 22 at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive.
“The photos do not do the works justice. You really have to see it in person to see the
detail, see the texture. Photos just are not the same,” said the museum's Assistant Curator Jessica Provencher.
The special exhibit also includes paintings and sculptures by the likes of Picasso, Renoir, Matisse, Manet, Gauguin and Rousseau.
Information: www.okcmoa. com.
6. Get splashy
In the Boathouse District, 800 Riversport Drive, Riversport Adventures is embracing a Last Blast of Summer by offering day passes for $29.99 instead of the regular $49.99 Monday-Thursday Aug. 5-15.
Passholders can get into whitewater rafting and tubing, climb the SandRidge Sky Trail, zip-line across the Oklahoma River or get out on the river in a kayak or stand-up paddleboard.
Information: www.riversportokc.org/specials.
7. Don't miss your shot
What better way to help your middle- or high-schooler brush up on American history than with the groundbreaking musical “Hamilton”?
The national tour is continuing its three-week Oklahoma City run Aug. 18 at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker. The Pulitzer Prize-winning show is recommended for audiences 12 and older. Information: OKCCivicCenter.com.
8. Bare bones
Oklahoma City boasts some unusual museums, including the Museum of Osteology, 10301 S Sunnylane Rd., which displays more than 300 skeletons, along with a new “flowing sculpture” titled “How Joy and Pain and Suffering Become Infants of Wisdom” by Wayne Coyne, frontman of Grammy-winning art- rockers The Flaming Lips. The museum offers free admission for two to teachers Sunday-Aug. 10.
Information: skeletonmuseum.com.