Strongly influenced by its Western heritage, Oklahoma City is where you can find cowboy history, festivals, horse shows, museums and more. Although it is slowly becoming more cosmopolitan in feel thanks to an expanding dining and entertainment scene, Oklahoma City is still home to the world's largest stocker-feeder cattle market. And in the Stockyards City district, many leather-scented shops can outfit you with everything from boots, belts and buckles to horse saddles, ropes and 10-gallon hats.

The influx of younger residents in recent years has infused the region with a more energetic, creative and progressive feel than in the past. Once an early-to-bed, early-to-rise, meat-and-potatoes kind of town, Oklahoma City today buzzes with life until the early hours of the morning.