The Adventures of Me & Mom in Oklahoma City

It's 4th of July weekend. John & David are in Chicago on a "brother" trip. So, my mom & I decided to go to Oklahoma City for an overnight trip. Mom had never been and OKC is far enough away to qualify as a "get away" but close enough for an overnight trip.
It's pouring down rain at the start of our adventure. I have to drive in this until we get out of Texas. Then the rain chases us the rest of the way to OKC.

We stay at the Hilton Skirvin Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. The hotel was built in 1911 and was named after the original owner. It operated as a hotel for several years and then was closed. The Hilton bought it and restored it. It's on the National Register of Historic Places. It's beautiful. In retrospect, I wish I'd taken a picture of the lobby. It's completely refurbished.
In the hallway by the elevators. They had a lovely chaise. I wanted mom to pick up the phone but it really works. I picked it up and it started to ring the operator. Ooops!

The plan was to walk to the National Memorial. We were sitting at breakfast and we happened to look out the window. The rain found us. It was pouring!
We sat out under the awning trying to decide what to do. Obviously, walking wasn't really an option. I didn't really want to drive. Then mom saw the trolley. So we went in and asked the concierge about it. Apparently, this is a new thing. It's free for the first year. It goes around the city in a big circle and pretty much will take you where you want to go. So, that's what we did.
This is the third time I've been to this memorial. It moves me every time. I know it sounds silly but it's really peaceful in the rain.
There weren't may people out there and just listening to the rain hit the water in the reflecting pool was very calming. It's been 15 years since this happened.
The museum puts you there at the scene when the whole thing went down. It pains your heart to hear the stories and see the items retrieved from the rubble. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) there are no photographs allowed in the museum. When you walk out of there, all you can do is wonder why.
This is a statue at the church across the street. I didn't have time to run over and get a picture from the front. I believe it's related to the memorial.

Next stop was the OKC Museum of Art. They had a really cool exhibit called 'Sketch to Screen' and it was a display of costumes worn by actors & actresses in various movies along with various sketches of the clothes. You couldn't take any photos in the museum but here's a link to their blog. http://www.okcmoa.com//sketchtoscreen

We walked around and looked at the other art exhibits as well and then it was back to the room for a rest. My poor mom. I made her walk the half mile back to the hotel.

For dinner, we wanted to go to Bricktown. So we went back out and waited for the trolley.
That thing is awesome! It takes you to all the major attractions in the downtown/Bricktown area.
This is our hotel. The trolley picked us up right in front. This hotel was a great location. It was right in the center of town. Everything was within walking distance.
Mom getting on the trolley to head over to Bricktown for dinner.
After dinner we walked around the canal a bit. They had these awesome murals on the wall. Also, it was very windy. That's why my hair looks like it does. I swear.
This was my favorite mural.
One of the other things we did was to take the water taxi for a tour of the canal. It was wonderful. The weather was great. The canal goes way back. I had no idea. They have a bunch of restaurants along the way.
This was supposed to be a picture of the canal at night but it didn't turn out as expected. Still, I thought it looked kind of cool.
Across the street is the ballpark where the Redhawks play. They were out of town the night we were there. Mickey Mantle is from here so there's a lot of restaurants, bars & streets that bear his name. Mom is a huge fan of Mickey Mantle.
Statue of Mickey Mantle outside the ballpark.
I had heard that the National Memorial was lit up at night and that it was beautiful. On a whim, Mom & I went back out to see for ourselves. Beautiful is an understatement. This is the survivor tree. The only tree that survived the blast.
A view from across the reflecting pond.
A closer view.
The tree. I should have brought my tripod. Shooting stuff like this at night requires a very steady hand.
The statue across the street at the church is lit up as well.
I think he's crying for the victims of the bombing. The statue is breathtaking at night.
Waiting for the trolley to come back and pick us up - which it did NOT! We walked back to the hotel. Luckily it wasn't that far and the weather was fantastic.
The stairwell of the hotel. Mom thought it looked cool - which it did.
During the canal taxi ride, we came back here and saw the statues commemorating the 1889 land run. The unassigned lands were opened and you could get 160 acres or a town lot. At noon on April 22, 1889, people lined up in wagons, on foot, on horses, etc. When the cannon went off, people staked their claims and towns were formed.
Also along the canal is a waterfall or two. I love waterfalls.
This was the very end of the canal. The city did a great job. It's wonderful and very peaceful here. Also, the water was very cool.

After this, we headed back home. It was a nice little getaway. I think Mom & I did everything that there was to do. Fabulous!