My Oklahoma City Trip, Part 2

On Wednesday, my second full day in town, Mike picked me up at 9 a.m., and took me for a quick driving tour of the downtown area, at my request.  After I had the streets laid out in my mind, even though I carried a map of downtown, he dropped me off at the Oklahoma City National Memorial - the site of the Murrah Building bombing in 1995.  The museum there is so full of pain and suffering, but also shows the heart and pride of the American spirit.  (I could easily have spent a whole day here.)  The Memorial Park and surrounding area are peaceful - even though they were re-working the reflecting pool, so that wasn't visible. From there, I strolled past skyscrapers and statues until I reached the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Besides their normal displays of beautiful drawings, paintings, and sculpture, they had a special presentation of  500 Years of Italian Masters (on loan from the Museum of Glasgow).  Dale Chihuly's blown glass artwork is also a can't miss at the MoA - his 55-foot tall tower of vines, tendrils, and leaves is breath-taking, as is his Orange Basket glass ceiling, and multiple other exhibits.  Again, I could have easily spent a full day just looking at these artistic works.
   From the Museum of Art, I walked past the public library, and, acting on a whim, stopped in and used their computer to blog and check my e-mail.  From that excursion, I found that my friend, Mary, was due in from Florida at 5:30 that evening.  By that time, it was 1:30, so I was in a race with myself to see as much as possible.  I walked through the ground floor of the 50-story Devon Tower on my way to Oklahoma City's Myriad Botanical Gardens, where I looked at the open park, and wandered down to the pool that lies under the tubular shaped Gardens building.  From there, I decided to head toward Bricktown - and walked pass the Cox Convention Center, where the Barons play hockey; past the AmTrak station on the edge of Bricktown; past the Chesapeake Energy Arena, where the Thunder plays basketball; and had a good look at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, where the RedHawks play AAA baseball.  Then I walked to the Bricktown Canal and wandered along it's mile length.  The canal weaves its way through Bricktown, with wide walkways to stroll upon, lots of trees and bushes and benches, and is lined with all types of shops, boutiques, and restaurants.  There are frequent flying bridges across the canal, and if you don't feel like stretching your legs, water taxis ply the waters with set stops.  I soothed an empty tummy with a stop into an ice cream shop, where I got a large portion of freshly-made ice-cream covered with hot fudge for half the price I'd pay in Boulder.  Then I continued on my journey along the canal - eventually the shops and buildings bled away and there was just park-like surroundings around the canal.
  From the noise, I could tell I was approaching the Interstate, even though I couldn't see it - and there was the collection of statuary I had wanted to see - Paul Moore's "The 1889 Land Run".  It is a collection of 35 statues in bronze, larger than life, and spans over 100 yards crossing the southern end of the Bricktown Canal.  The sculpture was approved for the Land Run Centennial, and shows people on horseback, on foot, in covered wagons, sulkies, and buggies racing toward the free land and a new place to call home.  And talk about big...   Look at my hand inside the hoof of one of the horse statues:

The sculptor says that the people and horses are one-and-a-half times life size.  I've been around horses all my life, and this statue of a riding horse might be one-and-a-half-times the size of a Clydesdale, but I've never been able to fit my entire hand inside the toe of a ordinary horse's hoof.

   After spending a large amount of time photographing thees handsome and incredible sculptures, I looked at my watch, and then hiked back to the closest store - a Bass Pro Shop, where I called my friend Mike.  He picked me up and took me back to the hotel with time enough to refresh with a quick shower before Mary was due to arrive at the airport.

  I'll write about my last 48 hours in OKC tomorrow.