Day 33 & Day 34 - Oklahoma City, OK

We spent two nights in Oklahoma City staying in the Holiday Inn Express in Bricktown. Oklahoma City was a surprise for us, we didn't expect to enjoy this city so much. We walked everywhere and felt very safe, there didn't seem to be any areas within the main downtown areas that as a tourist, you should avoid. It was a very clean city with an arty/trendy vibe.

It looked like around town they were putting in a Trolley Bus service which would have been useful as it was 97F and a little too hot to be walking around in all day but we stayed hydrated and stopped off where we could for a quick blast of aircon!

We walked from our hotel in Bricktown through the Business district, to Park Plaza, Midtown and then back to Bricktown via the Arts District.

We visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum which remembers the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19th 1995. The memorial and the museum were really thought-provoking and put into perspective the lives that were lost and the impact it had on those who survived, the rescue workers and the families and friends. We hadn't realised the number of children that died or were injured; there was a day care facility in the building which was badly hit by the blast. Each of the chairs in the memorial garden represents someone who died, the smaller chairs are children. One story that stood out for me was of the lady whose leg was trapped by a key beam holding the building up, without any real drugs, a doctor had to cut her leg off from the knee in order to save her. He did so with whatever knives he could find, including a pen knife.

We met Ian, a National Parks Ranger, whilst visiting the memorial gardens. There was actually a really loud siren going off and little worried that no one seemed to be panicking and running indoors, I asked Ian what was going on. He told us it was just a weekly test of the tornado sirens and not to worry until he starts running, then we should run too! Ian was really knowledgeable about the events of the attack, how it unfolded, the motives and what happened after. We really enjoyed his story telling and all the information he provided. Thank you Ian!

We spent the afternoon in Midtown and then the evening back in Bricktown. It was a Saturday night so party night but we struggled to find somewhere to chill out and relax with a drink that didn't require an expensive entrance fee or was so busy that service was slow. We ended up with an early night but we'd had two nights out in Oklahoma City felt we had managed to get a good taste of the night scene, especially around the Bricktown area.