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Day 2 of my cross-country roadtrip had me driving from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Amarillo, Texas. Scenically, this was not the most exciting drive as I spent nearly the entire day driving through Oklahoma. The land was flat and predominately brown as I passed by small farming communities scattered across the Oklahoma plains. The most exciting part of the drive was trying to keep my car from blowing into the wrong lane thanks to the strong Oklahoma winds! I guess without a lot of trees and buildings there is nothing to block the wind.
Every day of my drive I was planning to stop in at least 1 major city as I passed through the state. This day of my trip brought me through Oklahoma City, so naturally I stopped. Since OKC was about the halfway point of my daily drive, I only had a few hours to spend here before I needed to get back on the road. I gave myself 3 hours to see as much of the city as I could, and I feel like I was successful in this. In this short amount of time, I managed to do 5 fun things that provided me with a great glimpse of Oklahoma City.
1: Watch a Race on the Oklahoma River
I started off my quick OKC visit with a stop along the banks of the Oklahoma River, the one place in town I have previously visited. My sophmore year of college my rowing team competed in a regatta here. I don’t remember a lot about that trip, other than that it was very windy and difficult to row, but we managed to place and take home a medal! I walked along the river and saw the same places where we rowed, warmed up, and watched the competition. Even though there was no race taking place while I was here, it was fun to revisit a place I didn’t think I would ever return to.
2: Wander Around Bricktown
From the river, I drove into the Bricktown district of OKC for lunch and to wander around a bit. Bricktown was a nice mix of old and new – old brick buildings that have been converted into new restaurants, breweries, and musuems, mixed in with newer office buildings. Along the walls were murals depicting the history of the state. I love murals, so I spent time walking around looking at as many as I could find. I think murals provide a nice insight into what locals think is most important to their city, and add a nice pop of color!
3: Visit a Museum
I was surprised by the number of museums in OKC that came up in my research. I cannot tell you why I choose the museum that I did (I honestly don’t know why it interested me), but I decided to visit the American Banjo Museum. Yup, you read that correctly. There is an entire museum dedicated to the banjo. I was surprised, but also intrigued enough to visit! I didn’t know a lot about banjos before visiting, and honestly, I still didn’t know a lot after leaving, but I did really enjoy looking at all of the different banjos on display. Some were plain, some were decorated, some were large, some were small. There was even an exhibit showcasing everyone’s favorite banjo playing frog – Kermit!
4: Honor Victims of the OKC Bombing at the National Memorial
From Bricktown, I drove up the hill a little ways to the Oklahoma City National Memorial honoring victims of the 1995 tragedy. The memorial is a very nice, quiet place to learn about and reflect on this event. A gate at one end of the reflecting pool shows the time right before the bombing began and the gate at the other end shows the time after it ended – 9:01 to 9:03. In the field next to the reflecting pool are empty chairs with engraved names for each person who lost their life in the bombing. A museum has been constructed in the building next to the memorial, but I choose not to visit the museum during this trip. The memorial was very touching and provided a great amount of information about this horrific event.
5: Learn Local History at the State Capitol
My last stop in the city was a short visit to the state capitol building. I love visiting state capitol’s whenever I find myself in a capitol city. These buildings provide so much insight into that city, and each has it’s own uniqueness. During my visit, portions of the building were under construction so I was not able to walk around as much as I would have liked, but I did manage to spend sometime inside, see images of Oklahoma politicians (people I really know nothing about), and visit the gift shop.
And with that, my visit to Oklahoma City was complete. In only 3 quick hours I was able to visit a good chunk of the city. I have heard that Oklahoma City has a vibrant life that millenials really enjoy, but I did not get to experience this during my visit. Will I return to OKC? I honestly don’t know. I am glad to have had the opportunity to visit during my drive through the state, but will probably seek out other cities the next time I have the chance to go exploring.
