Oklahoma City

Our first stop in Oklahoma was the national memorial in Oklahoma City for the bombing of the federal building. You walk through huge walls which are the gates of time that represent the time of innocence before the bombing, 9:01am, and 9:03, a time of hope and rebuilding. The bombing killed 168 people, including 19 children, and chairs represent the lives lost. The chairs reflect in the pool as do the gates of time and the only tree that survived the attack.

We found it interesting that one tree survived here as well as at the 9/11 site in New York. We returned to the park in the evening to see the chairs lit.

Oklahoma city is home to the only osteology museum in the country. As we walked into the skeleton museum we were greeted by beetles cleaning a skull. When animals arrive here the meat is cleaned off as much as possible and then they turn to the beetles to finish the job- quite interesting. This place has been featured on Dirtiest Jobs in America. The founder of the company started collecting skulls as a young boy. His wife encouraged him in his hobby and now they have a booming business. After cleaning the skeletons they are sold to museums, etc. We had an enjoyable afternoon seeing hundreds of skeletons.

The Trail of Tears is the trail the Cherokees took as they were forced to relocate west. Many suffered from disease and starvation as they moved into new areas. I love this sculpture depicting this sad event at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage museum.

We’ve never seen this crossing sign before- have you?