36 Hours in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

When I told people I was going to spend some time in Oklahoma City on my way home from our trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, I got some weird faces and comments.  Apparently, people do not think that there was much to offer in Oklahoma City, but let me tell you we enjoyed our trip to the city.  The city was modern, full of history, citizens were nice and helpful, and we had a lot of fun!

Oklahoma City National Memorial

We started our first morning, visiting the Oklahoma City National Memorial.  It was a somber experience especially since the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was the first terrorism attack that I remember.  

To enter the memorial, you will more than likely go through one of the two Gates of Time they represent the minute before and after the explosion of the bomb.  The 9:01 gate demonstrates the last moment of innocence for the city, country and world.  The 9:03 gate represents all that came after.  The hope, recovery and healing.  The memorial located between the two times, is one minute of devastation and chaos which was 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995.

Each chair in the memorial represents someone who died during the bombing (small chairs for children, large chairs for adults) and where they died.  The chairs are arraigned on the original footprint of the building in rows based on which floor the person was on at the time.

Children were a very big part of the healing process after the bombing including tons of painted tiles that were sent by schools showing their compassion for the community.  The Children’s Area at the memorial feature walls displaying a collection of those tiles.  There are large chalkboards in the ground to allow for continued expressions of hope and love from young and old.

There is much more to the memorial including the reflecting pool, survivors wall and tree, the rescuers orchard and the memorial fence where you can still leave tokens of your love.

The memorial is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and free to enter.  You can see the memorial without seeing the museum which is what we did.  To see the current fees and hours of the museum, check out the National Park Service’s website here.

Oklahoma State Capital

If you visit the Oklahoma State Capital on a Saturday, there is only one door open to be able to tour the inside (if facing the front of the building, the left side of the building will be open).  We went ahead and took our Oklahoma state photo in front of the capital.  You can learn more about my photo map project here.

One of my favorite areas of a state capital to check out is the rotunda (yes, I know not every state capital has a rotunda including Louisiana).  Isn’t it beautiful!

There is so much to explore inside the Oklahoma capital including an art museum.  Which S loved looking at all the different pieces.

The gift shop was pretty amazing too with lots of Oklahoma themed gifts.  It also has a lot of travel brochures.  The employees at the state capital were super helpful and made some suggestion for lunch.  

Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill 

We had lunch at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill.  The atmosphere was fun with truck tailgates attached to the walls and Toby Keith memorabilia throughout.  The food was really yummy too!

Myriad Botanical Gardens

The Myriad Botanical Gardens is made up of a Children’s Garden, water splash pad/fountain area, the Crystal Bridge, a dog park, numerous plazas, sculptures and paths.  

The Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory is a long cylinder made out of acrylic panels that houses two different climate zones: Tropical Wet Zone and Tropical Dry Zone.  While it was fun to see the numerous plants it was extremely hot into the conservatory!  Most of the Myriad Botanical Gardens is free, however the Crystal Bridge does have a fee.

If you are traveling with children, I cannot recommend enough the children’s garden at the botanical gardens.  It is amazing and my daughter would have stayed forever!  I love that the area encourages children to discover ways to play, to make music, to explore and have fun in a beautiful environment.  I would love to live in a city with a play area like this for children.

We had so much fun in Oklahoma City and hardly scratched the surface of all that there is to do in the city.  It was a great end to our wonderful summer vacation!