Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

We stayed in Oklahoma City for three days, so there was plenty of time to see many sights. The first thing we did was go to an Oklahoma University football game against Kansas City. I'm not the biggest football fan, but I figured this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see how serious football is for people in the "South." And, let me tell you, it is serious. The 68,000 seat stadium was sold out. The streets surrounding the campus, at least three blocks on each side, were closed to traffic and had major tailgating parties going on. It was an 11:00am game and we got there around 10am and people were already drinking. All the homes and churches, etc. rent out parking spaces on their grass. INSANE!!!



The main place I visited was the Memorial to the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995. They museum was very touching remembering those who died and those who survived. The saddest part was the display of memorial chairs set up to represent each person who perished in the attack, and the small chairs represent the children who had been in the daycare center. What really resonated with me is that since 9/11, I had kind of forgotten that the OKC bombing was also an act of terrorism and that we need to not forget those who perished here too.

 

Then I went to the Western Heritage Museum to learn more about cowboys and those who settled Oklahoma. My favorite part was learning more about the Oklahoma Run, where settlers participated in a land rush that started at high noon and 50,000 people were there. Because some people snuck out early to seize the land, The Sooners were born and that is how Oklahoma got their motto. I also like to see images of famous Western Movie stars like Ronald Regan and John Wayne.