Take a weekend and introduce your children to essential Oklahoma culture. The area in and around Tulsa offers small historical museums, a family-owned amusement park, the largest gun collection in the world, a dairy, the home of Will Rogers, a Broadway-style show, and a world-class aquarium. The old and the new, the traditional and the cutting edge all converge for an easy, laid-back weekend. Here's your itinerary.

Friday: Sand Springs
Oilman Charles Page originally developed Sand Springs as a planned industrial town for orphans and widows. The unusual history of the city of Sand Springs is preserved in the Sand Springs Cultural & Historical Museum. Built as a library in 1929, the museum (9 East Broadway) is a striking example of Art Deco architecture. Permanent exhibits include a retrospective of Charles Page's life, the story of the Orphan's Home and Widow's Colony, and a view of domestic life in the early 20th Century town. Allow at least 1.5 hours to tour the museum and visit the gift shop which features reproduction antique toys. Museum hours are Tuesday-Wednesday 10am-4pm, Thursday 10am-7pm, and Friday 10am-5pm; admission is free. Call 918-246-2509 or visit their web site for more information.

That evening, check into the Best Western Sand Springs Inn & Suites (888-297-7466). Located only five minutes from downtown Tulsa, it has a free breakfast bar and a nice outdoor pool. After checking in, relax in the pool area or take the short drive over to Lake Keystone. There is a wide variety of restaurants within a short drive of the Inn & Suites' I recommend dinner at Ron's Hamburgers & Chili. The special sausage cheeseburger is worth every calorie. Try the Spanish fries where onions and jalapeno bits are fried into French fries.

Saturday: Claremore
After grazing at the breakfast bar, head north on Highway 75 to Claremore. Make your first stop the Will Rogers Memorial Museum to learn all about Oklahoma's most celebrated son. The museum features nine galleries and three theaters and is especially suited for children because of its interactive nature. Young children will enjoy the interactive theater area where they can sit on a saddle, try to lasso a straw calf, and watch short videos of Roger's life. Older children will enjoy the video performances and newsreels of his exploits. Will Roger's humor and wit are evident in each exhibit. Allow two hours for the museum and grounds.

Across the street is the not-to-be-missed Hammett House Restaurant. An Oklahoma institution, the Hammett House lunch menu features a Chicken Sweddar Sandwich (seasoned chicken with Swiss and cheddar cheese), and a Pamper-fried Steak Sandwich. Start lunch with the beer-battered onion rings and end it with a Sizzlin' Apple Delight which is served with vanilla ice cream and a warm brandy butter sauce order one and ask for extra spoons.

Want lunch with a little extra Western flavor? Try the True Grit Restaurant near the J. M. Davis Arms & Historical Museum. True Grit Restaurant is famous for home cooking and walls covered with John Wayne memorabilia.

Guns, Outlaws, Statuary, and Steins
Those fascinated by firearms, outlaws, Native American artifacts, antique music boxes, or Early American decor shouldn't miss the J. M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum at 333 N Lynn Riggs Blvd. This is not only a firearms museum it is a museum that just happens to house the world's largest collection of firearms. Two of the more unusual collections are the 1,200 steins from all over the world and the statuaries collected by John Rogers. You will need at least two hours to see the major exhibits. Admission is free, and the museum is open Monday-Saturday 8:30am-5pm; Sunday 1-5pm. For more information, visit their web site or call 918-341-5707.

Afternoon on the Farm
To finish off the day, stop by family-owned and operated Swan Brothers Dairy Farm. The farm, (938 E 5, 918-341-2298) invites visitors to stop in anytime for fresh milk and a variety of cheeses. On Fridays and Saturdays from 3-5pm, visitors can watch the family milk the dairy cows and sample the cheese made right on the farm.

Discoveryland! Finale
Finish off your Saturday by heading back to Sand Springs and following the signs on Highway 64 to Discoveryland! There, you'll see a Broadway-quality production of Rogers and Hamerstein's Oklahoma! The Discoveryland! amphitheater presents the musical Saturday-Wednesday, and performs Seven Brides for Seven Brothers on Thursday and Friday. Be sure to make reservations 24 hours in advance for both the production and the Ranch Dinner. The park opens at 6pm and Ranch Dinners (rib-eye sandwich, potato salad, corn on the cob, and cowboy baked beans) are $9.95 for adults and $6.95 for children, including drink and gratuity. Save some room for the desserts berries  'n cream, snow cones, and Oklahoma Mud Pies. After eating, take time to go through the Indian Trading Post, featuring authentic art, beadwork, and crafts. The entertainment kicks off at about 7pm with Native American Dancers followed by a Western Musical Revue. Oklahoma! begins about 8pm and includes horses, buggies, wagons, haystacks, and large-scale dance productions. The $16.95 ticket price seems small for such a full evening of entertainment. Children 10 and under are free, and senior citizens receive a discount. Call 918-245-OKLA or visit their web site to purchase tickets.

Sunday: Tulsa
Tulsa offers families enough diversity to fit any interest. First choice for many is the Oklahoma Aquarium located in Jenks. The aquarium has over 150 exhibits with 4,000 varieties of fish. Not to be missed is the Ray and Robin Siegfried Families Shark Adventure, or the œtunnel of sharks, where you can walk under the largest bull sharks in captivity even teenagers are impressed by this exhibit. Younger children will love petting the stingrays in the touch tanks. The Hayes Family Ozark Stream Exhibit shows beavers, otters, and raccoons interacting along a natural-looking stream. The fishermen in your family will not want to miss the Karl and Beverly White National Fishing Tackle Museum or the state's largest flathead catfish. While at the aquarium, stop for lunch at Corkie Snack Bar. Taking your kids for a dental check-up before your trip? Download the Show Your Smile Club certificate, have your dentist sign it, and your child gets in free. Admissions is $14 for adults; $12 for seniors and military (I.D. required); $10 for ages 3-12. Open 10am-6pm everyday (10am-9pm on Tuesdays); call 918-669-6600 or visit their web site for more information.

If you've already seen the Aquarium, take a trip to the Tulsa Zoo, rated among the top 20 zoos in the US. The most popular exhibit houses 16 African Black-Footed Penguins in a rocky coastline setting. There are underwater windows where you can watch these playful creatures swim and play. The children's zoo provides close encounters with familiar farm animals, and the restored animal carousel is always a big hit. Adults will be impressed with the Chimpanzee Connection where only glass separates the visitors from the chimps. There are great cat exhibits, bear and lemur grottos, an African savanna, a tropical rainforest, Aldabra Tortoises, sea lions, and any other animal you might hope to see. The Macaw Landing Grille offers lunches every kid loves' pizza, hamburgers, fries, hot dogs, and ice cream. The zoo is open 9am-5pm daily; admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 3-11. Learn more at their theirTulsaZoo.org.

If you want a little more excitement on your Sunday afternoon, stop at Bell's Amusement Park>/strong>. A third-generation family-owned park, Bells offers family entertainment and rides like Zingo, Oklahoma's largest wooden roller coaster, and the new Chili Pepper Plunge, a great water flume. Others include the log rides, go carts, chair lift, the Himalaya, and Pharaoh's Fury. Bell's is open Monday-Thursday 6-10pm; Friday 6-11pm; Saturday 1pm-11pm (closed June 24 for private party); and Sunday 1-9pm. Admission is $3 and an adult ride wristband, allowing you to ride everything but the new Mind Melt, is $17; a child's ride wristband is $13. Visit their web site for details.

Pam Washington is the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Central Oklahoma. She and her husband Mike have been married for six years and have traveled Oklahoma with their blended family of five children.