[shane453]

Opening Night 2007 was a blast! Great performances from music to dance to plays to comedians to improv to magic shows and finally fireworks... It's always the most eventful night of the year. We got a much better fireworks spot this year- last year we had to watch the reflection of them... haha. Opening Night is just such a great atmosphere and there's something to do for everyone.

Ice Sculpture... HAPPY NEW YEAR, and also HAPPY CENTENNIAL!
http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_01_01_07_4_30_06.jpg

Canal... (This was right after midnight, I guess everyone is still downtown- it was super quiet. We booked it out of there to stay out of traffic!)
http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_01_01_07_4_20_52.jpg

Japanese Drum Performance, and the skyline.
http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_01_01_07_4_27_39.jpg

A stroll through the Myriad Gardens...
http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_01_01_07_4_29_04.jpg

A fun tropical-sounding band was playing in the Crystal Bridge.
http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_01_01_07_4_38_03.JPG

Ice Rink in front of the Civic Center
http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_01_01_07_4_31_06.jpg

Entering the CBD from the Arts District...
http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_01_01_07_4_32_30.jpg

In front of First National...
http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_01_01_07_4_34_41.jpg

Here's the stage and the ball. It was such a fun atmosphere for the last 30 minutes especially. Great experience!
http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_01_01_07_4_33_48.jpg

So many people! This was the warmest part of the night because everyone was in one place...
http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_01_01_07_4_23_29.jpg

The nightmare of a traffic jam that always follows Opening Night... Even the horse-drawn carriages got caught in it! I don't think I've ever heard so much honking at once...
http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_01_01_07_4_35_59.jpg

Hope you enjoyed the pictures... I'm getting better with this nighttime photo feature... ;)

[mikeelm]

Oh yeah.

Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Up untill Alaska and Hawaii were admitted

OK. along with New Mexico and Airizona were the only states founded durring the 20th Century. Funny considering the other neighboring states came about earlier.

[phillyskyline]

Thanx for the tour!

[j korzeniowski]

Oh yeah.

Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Up untill Alaska and Hawaii were admitted

OK. along with New Mexico and Airizona were the only states founded durring the 20th Century. Funny considering the other neighboring states came about earlier.

i am sure oklahoma having been promised to native americans had something to do with its late statehood.

nice pictures, though. oklahoma city looks bigger than i would have imagined it to be.

[shane453]

Yeah, the late statehood was definitely because of the whole Indian Territory situation. Controversial move to ever make Oklahoma a state. But by 1907, central Oklahoma was very settled already as a result of the land runs on April 22, 1989, when 50,000 people moved into what is now the OKC metro.

If you're interested, the final numbers came in, and 68,000 people attended the New Years Party downtown, down a bit from 70,000 last year because of colder weather (plus last year there was an NBA game and a hockey game going on downtown on NYE.)

Also something interesting to note... In OKC the ball goes up instead of down. I don't know why, but I'm sure there's a reason... It's a tradition, I guess.