Solomon’s ‘road trip’ to OKC’s Omni Hotel

This is what happens when his GiGi is out of town on business and Papa is left in charge of entertainment on a Friday for our grandson, Solomon.

I’ll preface this with the fact that 5-year-old Solomon received a nice, “Lilo and Stitch” rolling backpack this week when some visiting relatives presented it to him.

So, when it was just us two early Friday, Solomon said he wanted to go on a road trip. He suggested “the beach” and then Branson.

I said we couldn’t do either of those today, but maybe we could drive up to Guthrie and find a place to eat.

Solomon sort of accepted that, but later told me he wanted to go to that “nice Thunder hotel downtown.” All of us had stayed the night at OKC’s Omni Hotel last year when my wife, Paula, was booked there for a convention meeting.

A visit to the Omni seemed the perfect time-killer. So, I said ‘sure.’

Next thing I knew is that Solomon was loading his backpack up with shirts, shorts and underwear for our trip. Three complete outfits.

He insisted I take my overnight case, too.

So, we loaded up the car and headed downtown about 9:30 am and found a parking space along the street just north of Scissortail Park.

I got Solomon’s backpack out of the trunk, and he immediately began marching toward the hotel. I trailed along behind.

Anyway, we entered the lobby of the hotel and found a nice couch to lounge on and soaked up the cool air for a while. Solomon was great for a few minutes, then got a little restless.

I suggested we walk around and explore the hotel. We took the escalator the second floor and discovered the massive meeting spaces the hotel offers (I was surprised at the amount of meeting space because the hotel sits adjacent to OKC’s new convention center).

Then we headed back downstairs and found the hotel coffee shop, Park Grounds. I got a coffee and Solomon enjoyed a cup of ice cream.

We sat there for several enjoyable minutes. I met a young woman from St. Louis who was here in town for a national sorority meeting next door at the convention center.

My serenity was broken when Solomon finished his ice cream and walked over to my chair.

“Papa, I’m ready to go up to our room now.”

I had to break it to him that we had no room at the Omni. We were merely loiterers who were taking advantage of the hotel’s cool air and nice ambiance

So, we closed out our visit with another few minutes of lounging and people watching in the lobby.

Finally, I told Solomon we had to go. He grabbed his backpack and rolled it back onto the sidewalk outside.

We had killed most of the morning at the Omni. And that’s a winner!