This week’s article highlights the Little River Zoo.

“You can pet a porcupine, feed a kangaroo and get friendly with a 17-foot albino Burmese python at Norman’s Little River Zoo.”

This week’s article highlights the National Weather Center.

“When the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain, the meteorologists at Norman’s National Weather Center, 120 David L. Boren Blvd. on the University of Oklahoma campus, are on high alert to anticipate Mother Nature’s sometimes-nasty moods.”

This week’s article highlights the Oklahoma Museum of Telephone History.

“Alexander Graham Bell might be surprised by how much his invention has changed since that first telephone call to Mr. Watson. Lucky for him, he could track his machine’s evolution at the Oklahoma Museum of Telephone History.”

This week’s article highlights the art and architecture at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

“The Capitol’s art collection serves as a visual textbook of Oklahoma history. Paintings and sculptures scattered about its floors celebrate the people and events that shaped the state. No artistic commemoration is more important than the painting marking the moment President Theodore Roosevelt signed Oklahoma’s statehood proclamation. Visitors can view the original state constitution near the Supreme Court chamber.”

This week’s article highlights The Ninety-Nines Museum of Women Pilots.

“They pushed the boundaries of human flight and sometimes pushed the boys out of their way to get there. The female pioneers of aviation still soar at the Ninety-Nines Museum of Women Pilots.”

This week’s article highlights Fort Reno.

“Our state’s history is flavored with tales of land runs, cattle drives and Buffalo Soldiers. But the story of Oklahoma’s Fort Reno, 7107 W. Cheyenne, four miles west of El Reno, can’t be told without also talking of German prisoners of war and a renowned Western artist. “

This week’s article highlights the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art.

“With Egyptian pottery dating from 6000 B.C. sharing the spotlight with modern art from Pablo Picasso, the museum boasts that its eclectic accumulation of art and artifacts spans a greater breadth of time and human culture than any other Oklahoma museum.”

I jumped on the plane to Beijing, China, not only looking for a cultural adventure, but in search of a culinary one as well. You bet I was excited about walking atop the Great Wall and exploring the Forbidden City, but I was equally interested in chop sticks and chop suey, egg rolls and egg foo young.

My target for real Beijing cuisine was the famous Wangfujing Night Market and its infamous assortment of crazy street eats.

Not far from Tiananmen Square, the market is a hodgepodge of street vendors with skillets and stew pots cooking up a menu of sauteed serpents, roasted reptiles, grilled gills, fried fungi and crispy, crunchy creepy crawlies. The market is a must-see attraction for any visitor to Beijing and a perfect study of how tastes can differ halfway around the world.

This is the place for sick on a stick, and I was planning to man up and chow down.

I saw stalls offering silk worms, sea snake, sheep penis (seriously), sea horse, centipede and scorpions complete with claws and stingers. There were cups full to the brim with some mysterious smoking liquid, and huge, boiling pots of who-knows-what.

This ain’t Pei Wei folks.

There were even deep-fried starfish but no ranch dressing. Really now, who eats a fried starfish without dipping it ranch?

I walked the market down and back and found nothing remotely appetizing, and it wasn’t just the look of the food that freaked me out. If it’s true that half of taste is smell, then this stuff, I deduced, must taste like crap. The market was permeated by a severely unflattering stench, which, for me, was more off-putting than anything I saw stuck on a skewer or stewing in pots.

I quickly discovered that the palate may be willing, but the stomach is weak.

This week’s article highlights the National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum.

“From Sunday softball heros to Olympic gold medalists, the museum’s collection includes memorabilia from generations of players at all levels, whether big time or beer league.”

This week’s article highlights the Jim Thorpe Museum and Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.

“After Jim Thorpe captured gold medals at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, Sweden’s King Gustav V proclaimed the Oklahoman as the greatest athlete in the world.

Chronicling the sports legend’s athletic career from school days to his sports’ highest accolades, the Jim Thorpe Museum and Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, 4040 N. Lincoln, honors him and other Oklahoma athletes with an impressive collection of history and memorabilia.”