Nov. 9, 2008 – Oklahoma City, Ok.
Texas Stadium and the Oklahoma City memorial.
I spent a week with the family in Waco, Dallas, and on base near Ft. Worth and against my will, I felt it was time to move on.
I was going to make a quick stop to tour Texas Stadium (where the Cowboys play) and then I was going to be on my way to Oklahoma City.
While I have been a football fan as long as I can remember and I really like visiting all the stadiums, Texas Stadium is one of a few stadiums that I HAD to tour. I can remember being a kid and lying on the floor in front of the television every Friday night watching the Dukes of Hazzard and then waiting anxiously for the beginning of the show Dallas. While “Who Shot J.R.” swept the nation in those days, I couldn’t have cared less as a young kid.
Texas Stadium
I only wanted to see the intro to the show Dallas so that I could hear the music as the overhead view of Texas Stadium scrolled across the television. Back then, a 19inch television with the high quality mono sound was the norm in most households, but it felt like a movie screen to me when they flashed Texas Stadium on the screen. That was the coolest 10 seconds of television in those days. While everyone else got up to perform their weekly ritual so that they would be ready to sit for the hour show during this time, I watched the opening intro with anticipation for those wonderful 5-10 seconds and then split for the rest of the show.
With all of the above being said, it is clear why Texas Stadium was high on my list of stadiums to see. It is filled with history and happens to be counting down the days until its demise. After 40 years, a new stadium awaits and this would be my last chance to see this facility that has housed football history and had become one of the many symbols of Texas.
I spent an hour touring the place and evening stood on the star at the 50- yard line. My only regret is that I didn’t make some overly dramatic pose for the camera.
I did the stadium thing, which now means I have seen 11 of the current 31 NFL stadiums on this trip.
Off to Oklahoma City….
I arrived in Oklahoma City about an hour before sunset. Sadly, but when I think of Oklahoma now, I think of the bombing that took place almost 15 years ago. It’s sad how a couple of crazy fools with a vendetta can change our lives and memories forever.
Unlike the Alamo, this feel like a memorial and rightfully was very serine and surreal. Whoever designed this memorial should be thanked and commemorated daily. It is gorgeous.
Oklahoma City Memorial
I have seen many memorials in my life, but none compare to this. Most memorials tend to make a person reflect and think about what they are honoring, but few have the ability to make you feel as though the names on the wall or plaque were individuals whom may have been our neighbors. I understand that every name on a memorial represents a person, but this memorial touched me differently. By the time I left there, I felt like I could visualize every person that died that day and the horrific scene that was the aftermath.
I felt as though I could see the victims sitting at their desk on each floor, I could hear the fingers tapping the keyboards along with the sounds of fax machines and copiers. I could then hear the deafening explosions that echoed through the city streets followed by the silence of the world stopping, which was only broken by the family members and friends standing on the street overlooking the rubble crying as they prayed their loved ones survived.
Another interesting thing about the block in which the building used to stand on is the placement of nearby churches. I asked if the churches had stood where they are now before the bombing and the answer was “yes.”
There are churches across the street from where the front and back sides of the block. Now that the building is gone, the churches are very noticeable from every spot within the memorial.
I have NEVER had a memorial put me in the scene and know the victims like this memorial did and that is a credit to the architects. I can only hope that whomever is responsible for designing this will somehow be involved in the designing of the 9/11 memorial.
I left Oklahoma City perplexed and reflective. If you have a chance to see the memorial, make sure you clear your mind and spend ample amount of time at the site because the people that passed that day deserve it.
Jesus weeps
It truly is a beautiful and thoughtful memorial.
I left Oklahoma City and headed east for Arkansas. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any of Arkansas during the daylight hours. I am now running way behind schedule and over budget so I need to speed up.
I drove as long as I could on the small state highways heading south before I had to pull over for the evening to sleep. I figured that weaving, dozing, and nodding were not in my best interest. It was time to pull over to return to my old habits of sleeping in the car.
Overall, it was a good day of travel. Traveling in three states in one day is a sign of things to come.
While traveling out west, I seemed to spend many days in each state, but now things are going to be quicker from here on out. This is a good thing and a bad thing.
It’s a little sad because I’m nearing the final days of the trip, but it’s also good because I’m about out of money and need to return home to start earning a paycheck again.
One thing for sure about today….the Oklahoma City Memorial will remain fresh in my mind forever.
