🎶 Ohhhhh – O!KLAHOMA!….where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain…. You know the song. And now, we know a small part of the capital city, commonly called OKC. Mike’s mom, and her family, were from a small town near here, Anadarko. But we had never spent any time in OKC.
Our hotel was located in the reconverted, trendy area of town called “Bricktown,” which was the old warehouse district, but we didn’t know that when we booked it. There are lots of bars, restaurants, hotels, breweries, and even the National Banjo Museum! Who knew??
We visited the 1995 Oklahoma Bombing Memorial site, and it is quite lovely and peaceful, as you can see. It was constructed on the site of the bombed Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which was demolished several weeks after the incident. A new federal building was constructed in the next block in 2003 to replace this facility. The set of inscribed empty chairs alongside the reflecting pool, one for each of the 168 people killed, is quite moving and haunting.
Mike’s grandmother and uncle were in downtown Oklahoma City on the day of the bombing, at her doctor’s office. They were not close to the blast site and were unhurt. But it reminds us of what a small world it is and how these incidents can affect any of us, no matter how far removed from us they seem.
The Myriad Botanical Gardens were also very quiet and peaceful as we walked along. The biggest attraction there, the Crystal Bridge Conservatory, is closed for renovations, so we walked around and enjoyed the quiet in the midst of traffic and business. There were murals, sculptures, and statues around the city, as usual. We are displaying a few of them. We were surprised, as we walked through the city, to have several strangers greet us and ask how we were doing. This happens in very small towns, but not usually in larger cities. It was nice. We liked it, we liked it! 🆗
