Today was all about Oklahoma City. After our plush night at the Crowne
Plaza – which we got a major discount on – we were ready to hit the city. As Keisha checked us out of Crowne Plaza, she met Vincent, a hotel employee who told her about the “must see” of the city.

Vincent looovvveeedddd Keisha!  Work it girl, get that insider info!!!

Breakfast = FREE (fruit at the hotel)

Our day started off with somber memories dating back to April
1995. The must see of the city is the Oklahoma City National Memorial, honoring the victims of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Keisha and I were deeply
touched by what we saw. The memorial evokes so many emotions as you walk through it, learning more about the
tragedy and the individual lives affected. The memorial is architecturally stunning and its import will bring chills to your
spine.

This is where the building once stood.  All that is left is a paved courtyard seen as a brick wall in the background.  These grounds house nine rows of 168 chairs representing each life taken on April 19, 2005.  The nine rows represent each floor of the building, and each chair bears an inscription of the person’s name killed on that floor.  The nineteen smaller chairs represent children.  So sad and powerful.

There are two giant structures that read 9:01 and 9:03.  The times represent the moments before and after the bomb detonation.  You walk in the empty space between them which represents 9:02, the moment the explosion took place.

This statue stands across the street where a church once stood before the tragedy.  It reads, “And Jesus Wept.”  Notice how his back faces the site.  WOW!

It was lunchtime afterward, and what better way to find out where
to eat than to ask a local – which we did and got a recommendation to head to Bricktown. We had a very memorable lunch at a
small mom and pop restaurant called Bricktown Burgers. Words can’t describe how happy I was that we were referred to this place – BB is amazing!

Their trademark burger is the onion burger.  It’s a mess of
fresh meat and grilled onions and tastes like everything you’d want an onion
burger to taste like.

Emily the owner was the sweetest of the sweet. Emily, thank you so much for making our lunch so memorable. We loved meeting and chatting with you!  The next time you do Disneyland with the family, drop me an email so I can recommend some great places to eat in LA!

You don’t get more domestic than this!

Lunch = $11.20

Oklahoma City has lots of free activities (including visiting the National Memorial).  Here are a couple pics:

Me walking through Bricktown (Get it?  Bricks.  Yeah, I know.)

The Botanical Gardens.

Did I mention everyone is so freakin’ nice?!!  Keisha and I had the
most fun of any city we’ve stopped in yet, and we only spent $11.20 on
this day!  We both agree, four thumbs up, OKC is a great place to visit!  Just do what the locals do.

Next up:  St. Louis, Missouri.

Oh yeah, the picture of me in front of the Welcome to Oklahoma sign was taken as we left the city.  We missed it coming in, and Keisha insisted we back track. Uh huh.