Oklahoma City (Seeing the Sights)

(Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City, OK)  Hi 87 Lo 68 – The local weather report calls for rain all weekend, starting tomorrow. So we knew if we wanted to see downtown Oklahoma City in good weather we’d better do it today. It was overcast when we headed out around 10am, but it stayed warm and dry all day.

The north gate of Tinker AFB is right at the entrance to I-40, and it’s only seven miles to downtown OKC (that’s what the locals call Oklahoma City).


We were told by some readers that there’s a free trolley service that stops at a Bass Pro Shop and runs all over the downtown area. The Bass Pro Shop is just off the exit of the interstate, and there was plenty of parking. We waited about 15 minutes and a trolley arrived. We jumped on and enjoyed the ride through Bricktown, which is the trendy shopping and dining district.

The main thing we wanted to see today was the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The Memorial is dedicated to the 168 victims of the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. The trolley left us off right at the Memorial Plaza.


The first thing that caught our attention was the chain link fence outside the plaza, with personal items left by the victims’ loved ones.






What struck us as particularly sad was the number of children who perished. There was a child care center on the second floor of the building, right above where the bomb exploded.

Inside the Memorial is a long reflecting pool, with a gate at each end. They’re called the "Gates of Time,” with 9:01 on the east gate, the minute before the bombing…


… and 9:03 on the west gate, the minute after. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)


On the south side of the reflecting pool is the most moving portion of the Memorial, the “Field of Empty Chairs.” There are 168 chairs arranged on a beautiful green field, each with the name of a victim on its front.




The Field of Empty Chairs sits on the exact site of the Murrah building. It was very moving to see, and they did a beautiful job of capturing the emotion of such a tragic event.

Across the street from the Memorial was a touching display. A statue of Jesus was erected on the site of a church that was destroyed in the explosion. Jesus has his back turned toward the site of the tragedy.


From the front he’s covering his face in horror.


And the words on the base say simply, “And Jesus wept.” So simple, so beautiful, and thank God it’s on private property and immune from the constraints of church/state restrictions.

Well, after all that emotion we were ready to lighten the day a little. We caught the next trolley and rode it back around and got off in Bricktown right next to the Chicksaw Bricktown Ballpark, home of the Oklahoma City Redhawks minor league baseball team.


We had our sights set on a pizza restaurant that’s inside the ballpark. However, when we got there it was closed for some reason.  :(  But right near it was Coach's Bar and Grill.


We got a table right next to the large windows looking out onto the playing field.


After lunch (Dee a BBQ sandwich, me a personal pizza), I walked out onto the patio deck to get a shot of the ballpark.


The Redhawks are on a road trip this week, or I’d be going to a game.  :)  I never realized how many great pro baseball players were from Oklahoma. On the plaza outside the ballpark are statues of Mickey Mantle (one of my boyhood heroes)…


… and Johnny Bench, the great Cincinnati Reds catcher.


I found out later that Warren Spahn has a statue on the other side of the stadium, but I didn't make it to that side to see it. There were also smaller statues of other great players with Oklahoma roots, including Bobby Murcer, Pepper Martin, Carl Hubbell, and four others.


After lunch we decided to walk back to the car, which was only a few blocks away. We walked along the river walk, which winds along a man-made tributary of the Oklahoma River.


There are plenty of restaurants and hotels along the river walk.








Back on the surface streets we saw some pretty murals.



Including this one on the side of a silo.


The large building on the left is the new Devon Building, which opened this past March. It’s over 800 feet high and 52 stories.


We weren’t expecting to see more buffalo statues, but there were several around town.






This one had UPS sponsorship (?)


We got back to the car and, before heading home we drove a couple of miles north to see the Oklahoma State Capitol Building. We’ll add this photo to our collection of state capitols.


We made it out of town before rush hour started. When we got back on base we decided to stop at the commissary to do some grocery shopping. We finally got home for a rest before dinner and a relaxing evening. It was a great day, and an emotional day. We’re so glad we got to see downtown Oklahoma City before the bad weather moves in this weekend. It’s a nice and friendly city!