Following my failed attempt to sneak into an abandoned amusement park on a Kansas road trip, the Great Plains road trip carried on into Oklahoma, a state I had visited once before, for just two hours.
It was time to check out some of the most fun and unique Oklahoma City attractions!
While writing about Topeka, I mentioned my state capitol building fetish. So of course in Oklahoma City I stopped by to see the capitol building.
That makes 21 capitol buildings I’ve seen in person. Not that anyone’s counting. This may have been my favorite, with the Native American warrior atop the dome.
Unique Oklahoma City Museums
Oklahoma City is a very quirky city. My first stop was the American Banjo Museum, an entire facility dedicated to the instrument beloved by everyone from Mumford & Sons to Kermit the Frog.
It turns out that the Banjo Museum was one of the most normal places I visited during my time in Oklahoma City.
Because up next was the Museum of Osteology, which collects skeletons of wild animals and puts them on display together in one large room. If you cared to count them all up, you’d find more than 300 skeletons here.
Thanks to some clever museum employee, the best skeleton on display is the raccoon. Even dead raccoons can’t stop eating trash!
In the gift shop you can purchase your own skeletons. Get your porcupine skulls here… only $125. Yes, that’s one hundred and twenty five dollars.
Wandering around OKC was fun. Bricktown was a cool neighborhood.
As a huge indie rock fan, I headed straight for the intersection where a certain local rock band has its own street, next to the street of a certain Hall of Fame baseball player. Flaming Lips Alley meets Mickey Mantle Drive!
The sidewalks were home to several bison statues, ranging from UPS workers to tie-dye colored beasts.
The Oklahoma City National Memorial
Finally, I spent quite a bit of time at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, the site of the 1995 bombing by Timothy McVeigh that killed 168 people at the federal building.
The land has been turned into a somber and tasteful memorial, as well as a museum documenting the act of domestic terrorism and the city’s response and perseverance after the blast.
The centerpiece of the memorial is a reflecting pool. It’s surrounded by the Survivor Tree, the Survivor Wall, and the Rescuers’ Orchard.
The most powerful feature might be the Field of Empty Chairs. Each chair represents someone killed in the attack, and each has an actual victim’s name etched on it. The 19 smaller chairs among the group represent the children who died.
The weeping statue across the street sums up the feeling of the city on that tragic day.
Outside the memorial stands a fence adorned with personal items from victims, their families, and others who just want to pay tribute.
Stay tuned as my Great American road trip continues on Day 4.
