OKC is OK (Not Terribly Original But True)

September 10 – Oklahoma City




Today was our travel day from beautiful Avon Lake to OKC. Continental did it’s usual good job of getting us and our bags through Houston to OKC.

Hertz is another story. After being ‘told” by the on-line booking system that the appropriate type of vehicles for a Route 66 trip – a Mustang, a Corvette or something similarly sporty – was unavailable for a one-way trip to LA, we settled for a slightly roomier RAV4. We ordered the Serius radio option just for kicks. We got our RAV4 and headed happily to the parking garage to start our trip. Once we put our stuff in the back and climbed in the front seats, we realized that we did not have the satellite radio that we ordered. We trooped back to the Hertz counter for them to find us a car with that feature. Ultimately, they offered us a vehicle – a Mustang. Red. With racing stripes. We took it. We’re trying to figure and over/under on how many times that we will get pulled over.

Ready to get our kicks

After a “minor” mix up (we left some stuff in the RAV 4 and they couldn't find the guys with the keys – 90 minutes total to get our car), we zoomed off to Greater OKC. Our first stop was the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and Hall of Fame. It’s a real potpourri of western stuff. It has a fantastic collection of western art, including an impressive collection of Russells and Remingtons. The Russells are particularly interesting, if only for the titles of the works: e.g., “Meat for the Wild Man;” or “Red Man Wireless.” Since Russell did his work in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, he named his works in particularly un-PC fashion.

The highlights of the museum are five stunning trip-tiks by Wilson Hurley: one of the Pacific Ocean near Carmel; one of the Grand Canyon,; one of the falls on the Yellowstone; one of the Sandia Mountains; and one of Monument Valley. Each is 18 by 46 feet. It's worth the trip just for the western art and perhaps just for these trip-tiks.

The End of theTrail
by James Earle Fraser

Canyon Princess
by Gerald Balciar

The museum also has interesting exhibits on barbed wire (a whole roomful), the calvary, Native Americans, cowboy gear and attire, and rodeos. We spent a lot of time in the exhibit on western performers: everyone from John Wayne to Gene Autry to James Arness to Walter Brennan to Tom Selleck. We never knew that John Wayne was in so many movies before 1939 when he supposedly got his big break in “Stagecoach.”
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John Wayne



Charlton Heston

They also have a hall of fame (it’s literally in a hall of the museum) for western performers. Some were real head scratchers – Melissa Gilbert was the weirdest member.

We them went off to see our friends Mike and Cathi Perri at their newly entirely renovated house. Over a year in the making (from demo to tomorrow when they move in), it is wonderful. The master bedroom, bathroom and closets (add in an attached work out room) were particularly well done.

A gang of us (Joe and Norma Menefee) then went out to dinner at Stella’s in the Midtown area of OKC.  Stella’s has a subtle retro 50’s vibe and serves mostly modern Italian fare. Martha had chicken risotto. I had the penne with a “rustic meat ragu.” Both were great. We all shared the menu of desserts. The gelato plate and the palenta and blueberries won out over tiramisu and an expresso chocolate concoction per a straw poll of the group.

After dinner, we went to the Oklahoma City Memorial, almost in the heart of downtown OKC. It commemorates both those who died and those who survived the April 1995 bombing of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building. It is very well done, in almost every respect. In short, it is beautiful. It features two walls that have the time before and after the blast. The walls frame a reflecting pool.

The Memorial pays appropriate tribute in an artful way to those who died. They have placed a chair in a field almost on the very spot of the Murrah building for each person who lost their life in the bombing. Smaller chairs represent the children who died. A tree on the property that still stood after the blast represents those who survived. There is a chain link fence to the west of the Memorial with tokens of sympathy and remembrance throughout the fence. The Memorial was particularly moving at night.

9:03 am

Chain link fence Memorial

We are staying at the Renaissance Hotel. This weekend the hotel is the headquarters for the Florida State University Football team. FSU plays Oklahoma this weekend in Norman, a few miles up the road. The lobby (a huge 15 story atrium) was lousy in Seminole red when we came in. So far, however, things have been kept to a dull roar. No doubt because the team needs to get their beauty rest.

And so do we. Signing off.