So when everyone talks about Norman, Oklahoma, the big thing they talk about is the University of Oklahoma and of course, the football team. But that is not ALL what Norman is! So I want to share four quiet activities that I really love to do in Norman, Oklahoma (besides football).

Hi there, I’m Marcie Billen with Rüya Team Realty and Keller Williams Mulinix and I’m here in Norman, Oklahoma. I’m an introvert and I have a few things that I like to do on a Sunday afternoon or a Saturday afternoon, or whatever day that I can take off, because let’s face it: I’m a realtor and I do work a lot. I’ve compiled a list for you of four things that I like to do on a lazy day. So these are four things that I really like to do in Norman and as a bonus, these four things are also either FREE or very low cost!

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Museums

To start, one of my favorite activities to do by myself or with a fun group of friends is to go to Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art on the University of Oklahoma campus. The University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art is one of the best university art museums in the U.S. There are more than 20,000 objects in the permanent collection which is the Weitzenhofer collection of French Impressionism, 20th century American paintings and sculpture, traditional and contemporary native American art, art of the Southwest, and then ceramics, photography, contemporary art, Asian art and graphics from the 16th century all the way up to the present. There are of course temporary exhibits in the art museum as well. And the best part about this art museum is that it’s free. It’s free because the art museum got a special endowment a few years ago that allows us to go and check it out without paying an entry fee.

Recreation

Another fantastic activity, especially if you’re a nature lover and you don’t have a ton of time, is you want to head out to Sutton Wilderness Area. So this is, I think, technically a park in Norman um it backs up to Griffin Park in Norman, but it’s really just this wonderful little wildlife nature preserve. It has a lake, it has a nice trail, lots of trees you don’t even feel like you’re in the middle of the city when you’re in it. The park that it backs up to is Griffin Park. It does have disc golf and a dog park as well.

Coffee & Books – My Favorite!!

Next, I’m heading to downtown Norman. If you haven’t seen my series on downtown Norman, you can check that out right here. So one of my favorite spots in downtown Norman is Gray Owl Coffee. I’ve been going here since I was in university, and it’s by far, one of the coolest places to hang out in Norman. I really, really recommend their vanilla latte, it’s definitely the best in the state. And they also have amazing baked goods, loose leaf teas, and it’s just the greatest atmosphere to hang out in. And a really fun fact is that where the coffee shop is located now, used to be the library stables here in Norman, back in the day.

I’m also a huge book nerd, and while we do have a Barnes & Noble in town, I think one of the best places to go hang out is the Norman Public Library. And I’m talking about the Norman Central Library. We do have three public libraries in Norman; they’re all in the same system, so they’re all connected, but there’s three separate buildings. The way our library system works here, is that you can order books from whichever library that you want, not even just the ones in Norman, but from surrounding areas. But the Norman Public Central Library is incredible, and you can see by this building that um it’s definitely added some pizzazz to our downtown.

So this library includes three floors, designated to specific genres. The first floor holds DVDs, newer books, and a children’s area. The second floor is teen and fiction books, and then the third floor is non-fiction, large print, and genealogies. This library did open in November of 2019. We also have a Norman West Library and a Norman East Library And this Norman Central Library has a ton of places to have um different classes, if you want to like rent out a room or something, and of course, it has tons of places to read and even reading outside.

For more information or to book a free consultation, call or message Marcie Billen: [email protected] | 918.691.8982 today!