Oklahoma City is OK!

As the song goes, Oklahoma, where the winds come blowing down the plains…”

Well, Oklahoma also offers some great Walking Tourists attractions. From the famous Route 66 to urban oil wells, we took in quite a bit during a long weekend visit.

We hit the major tourist attractions – Bricktown, Oklahoma City National Memorial, Myriad Botanical Garden, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City Zoo, and much more.

We always plan to get in as much as possible when visiting a city for a short time. We were in Oklahoma City late on Friday and left for home early Monday. That gave us essentially two and a half days to sight see as much as possible. We accepted that challenge.

We started the OKC trip with a stop on the famous Route 66. Having done our research, the nearest sites on the Highway to OKC were in Arcadia. The small town is home to two major attractions – the Round Barn and Pops.

The Round Barn is just that, a round barn. It is believed to be the only circular barn on Route 66. It was built with this design to withstand tornadoes. The thought was that a tornado would go around the barn rather than through it. The barn is a tourist attraction and available to be rented for receptions and parties.

Pops was much more interesting to us. The gas station/restaurant/tourist attraction has its windows lined with shelves of classic soda pop bottles, from floor to the high ceiling. It was neat seeing the variety of pops on display, from Sioux City Root Beer to Orange Crush.

The major point of interest is the giant pop bottle outside that lights up at night.

Another attraction the evening we were there was the couple who became engaged. The man had a bottle made with a special label, “Will you marry me?” After looking at the bottles he had bought, the woman saw the right one and accepted. We had employees standing around our dining table watching with excitement.

Our Saturday had a full itinerary – the Oklahoma City National Memorial, Oklahoma State Capitol, Myriad Botanical Garden, downtown OKC and Bricktown.

We started with the Oklahoma City Memorial. I had visited the site before while in OKC on business, but I had wanted Lisa to see it.

The site of the worst domestic terrorist attack – 168 men, women and children were killed and hundreds more injured – when Timothy McVeigh parked a rental truck loaded with explosives outside the Murrah federal building.

The memorial’s grounds, where the federal building had stood, are home to the reflection pool, survivor’s tree, and the chairs that represent each person killed that fateful day on April 19, 1995.

Gates greet visitors at each end of the memorial. The eastern gate has the time of 9:01. This marks the last time people enjoyed innocence before the attack. The bomb exploded at 9:02 a.m. The western gate has 9:03 marked at its end. This notes the time recovery started.

Walking through the memorial is a somber experience. You do not do a lot of talking. Just looking at the chairs is an emotional experience. Each represents a person killed in or just outside the building. There are nine rows, each representing the deaths per floor of the Murrah Building.

The Survivor Tree was named that because the tree withstood the explosion. The elm tree was in a parking lot across the street from the building. Some people believe it has a special meaning since it survived the blast. People meet there regularly to pray and meditate.

A museum is located next door that covers the explosion and more information.

Our next stop was the state Capitol building. We like to take guided tours of state capitols because you can learn additional information. Unfortunately, due to the holiday weekend, there were no tours, so we were on our own to check out the building.

The Capitol’s entrance recognizes the state’s Native American and cowboy influences. “As Long as the Water Flows” and “Tribute to Range Riders” are located on each end of the entrance. The dome is topped by The Guardian, a Native American statue.

The rotunda area honors the state’s history and people, including recognizing Kate Barnard, the first woman elected to state office in Oklahoma. Others noted are: Mickey Mantle, Will Rogers, Carl Albert, Robert Kerr (of Kerr-McGee oil fame), and Jim Thorpe.

The capitol grounds housed an oil field, monument to the state’s Native Americans and a veteran’s memorial.

The Native American monument displayed each of the state’s tribes’ flags in a circular design. This was done so to recognize the Native American view of the circle of life.

The veteran’s memorial was one of the best I’ve ever seen. The sculpture work created a 3D effect, because something stuck out of the wall. Names of the men and women from Oklahoma who died in action during war are marked on the back wall. There is also a tribute to the men who died on the USS Oklahoma, having been destroyed during the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941.

The memorial has an eternal flame, to remind our leaders that we should never forget the sacrifices made.

Moving along on our visit was a stop at the Myriad Botanical Garden, between downtown and Bricktown. The botanical garden is well laid out. It is a nice walking area with a nice view of flowers and plants. It has a children’s area, where youngsters can play, while surrounded by floral and plant attractions.

The park has a nice small pond, which is home to ducks and geese. It located below street level, and has the conservatory just above it. There are steps at each end of the pond for visitors.dBefore heading east to the Bricktown area, we walked around downtown, among the corporate buildings. The newest addition to the OKC skyline is the Devon Tower. The 52-story building towers over downtown. You can see the building from almost anywhere within a few mile radius. The Devon Tower was completed and opened in October. It is the 36^th tallest building in the United States.

Bricktown was next on our itinerary. It was lunch time, so we looked for a nice sports bar/restaurant to catch up on college football games.

We found Coach’s Bar and Grill next to the Chickasaw Ballpark at Bricktown. The restaurant has the usual sports bar food menu, but also has some good barbecue. I had the best burnt ends I have ever tasted. Next time I am in OKC, I will make Coach’s a must-stop.

After lunch and watching some good football, we started our tour of the Bricktown area. The former warehouse district has been transformed into an entertainment district. It has some stores, but hosts several restaurants, bars and clubs.

We walked along the Riverwalk area of Bricktown. It is a nice canal. We later took advantage of the water taxi for a short guided tour of the Bricktown area.

After the water taxi had to shut down due to those Oklahoma winds – we had gusts of 50 mph, we went back to walking around Bricktown. We decided to stop in and visit Coyote Ugly. We saw the movie (on DVD. Do not hold that against us), so we thought it would be cool to visit one of the bars. Since there was no cover charge and football was on the TVs, we couldn’t resist.

Being primarily non-drinkers, the bartender did not care much for us ordering pop (it’s free). Lisa added a mixed drink. Well, let me tell you, the girls at Coyote Ugly actually do dance on the bar. It was cool to see. The bartender, waitress and other bar visitors were very friendly and fun to be around.

After a long day of touring, we decided to hit a restaurant for dinner before heading back to the hotel. A co-worker from OKC had given me some names of local places to try. We chose Mutt’s Amazing Dogs for dinner. The diner is on an original part of Route 66 inside the city. That added to the ambiance. The hot dog joint serves hot dogs in a variety of styles. Lisa had a philly dog – sautéed onions, green peppers and queso on top of the hot dog. I had the Primanti dog (based on the famous Primanti Brothers sandwich in Pittsburgh PA) – provolone cheese, French fries and coleslaw atop the hot dog.

Lisa recalled reading about a giant milk bottle in the area. We found it on our way to the hotel. It was a couple of blocks away from Mutt’s. The Braum milk bottle is atop a very small building, which is home to a Vietnamese baguette sandwich shop.

What a day! We took in a lot of sites and had a great time.

Our second day had a much more relaxing itinerary – Cowboy Museum, OKC Zoo and then a movie at Winchester Drive-in. Or you would think so.

Our first stop was the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. We spent about three hours there. It was worth every minute.

The museum has the life-sized sculpture of “The End of the Trail” marking the impact of western movement on Native Americans. The same sculptor made another statue of president Abraham Lincoln looking over the Lincoln highway (Highway 30 – the first transcontinental highway in the United States).

The east wing houses almost all of the museum’s art collection. There are hundreds of paintings and sculptures highlighting the American West – from cowboys to Native Americans. I appreciate the fact that everything displayed is respectful of all cultures.

The museum has an outdoor plaza and sculpture garden. The plaza has a statue of cowboys shooting up a town, “Making it Through the Rye,” and flags of the 14 western states.  The sculpture garden has a statue of Buffalo Bill Cody, in addition to animal sculptures.

The garden also has grave markers for several horses and a bull, who were buried on the grounds. The Oklahoma City Zoo is considered one of the Top 10 zoos in the US. It is a nice layout for visitors, which makes it easy to navigate. The day we were there, unfortunately, it was chilly, so not a lot of animals were out.

The zoo has a great elephant viewing area. The enclosure is large and has 4-5 areas for the pachyderms to roam and play. The exhibit has a boardwalk that takes visitors above the elephant area, which allows for better viewing as well as lets the animals move freely.

The open area for a lot of the enclosures caught our eyes.  Lions, tigers, apes and rhinos all had nice areas to move about.

The OKC zoo has a large lake as part of its attractions. People can rent paddle boats or take “safari voyages.” Again, due to the weather, both were closed.

We appreciated the sun coming out midway through our visit, which helped warm things up a bit. But, it was not enough for the main animals to come out.

Afterward, we realized we had plenty of time before we had to be at the drive-in, so we decided to stop and look at a working oil field in the middle of a parking lot near a hospital.

We then headed back to the Memorial to see the chairs lit at night. The 168 chairs have lights beneath the seats. At night, when illuminated, they appear to be floating in air. Again, the memorial is a somber visiting experience.

We then grabbed dinner and then to the drive-in. It was an interesting experience at the drive-in, having not been to one since my high school days. We enjoyed watching the movie from the car. I was impressed that about another 10 cars were in the lot on a work night.

Monday morning, we headed out for home, having enjoyed a fun, long weekend.

As I mentioned earlier, the winds come blowing down the plains. I know that’s not the only thing that will make its way back down to Oklahoma and its attractions. The Walking Tourists would enjoy another trip to this area.