Betz RV Travels: Happy 235th Birthday to the US Marine Corps!

Wednesday, Nov 10

Today is the 235th birthday of the US Marines! Founded Nov 10, 1775. Semper Fi!

After enjoying our breakfast and taking long hot showers we headed into Oklahoma City to visit a couple of places. Our first stop was the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. We were warned that this museum could take a long time to see. Boy were they right! It is a beautiful place and the exhibits were well done. Sculptures, pictures, Indian bead work, and other items were showcased.

The various rooms are setup in collections. We really enjoyed the Western Performers Gallery which included the about items of John Wayne's. They had interactive screens where you could test your knowledge of Western TV and movie history. They had a collection of saddles and silver work you could purchase, made by the best artists today. I saw some items I loved but could not afford. Everything started at around $1,000. They didn't allow photography in this room.

There is also an amazing garden area in back. There are larger than life sculptures there, too. You can also see memorials to horses and bulls, some of which are buried there. The meandering water is very soothing. because of a grant from Ford Motor Company we got in free. They have every Wednesday in November free. Tomorrow, all Veterans get in free. I heartily recommend this place if you visit OKC.

After we finished roaming the museum we headed to a specific restaurant for lunch. Here is a picture -

We had a pretty good lunch here. For us, it was actually dinner. I had chicken fried steak with loaded mashed potatoes and Bill had BBQ rib and chicken. We both enjoyed our meals. I took a few pictures inside but not all of them are great. It was a little dark in there and it is very big. The only bad part was trying to find the parking lot! I went around a couple of times before finding the right street.

After lunch we headed over to the Bass Pro Shop a couple of blocks over. We didn't go in until later as we were catching a trolley to go to the OKC Memorial at the site of the Murrah building. This site is very emotional. The Gates of Time frame the moment of destruction with the East Gate representing 9:01 AM and the innocence of the city before the attack. The West Gate represents 9:03 AM, the moment we were changed forever.

There are also 186 chairs in a field representing those killed in the destruction. There are 19 small chairs representing the children lost. The glass base is etched with the name of a victim. The base lights up at night as beacons of hope.

Walking around the memorial has a big impact on a person. They also have a portion of the original fence they erected. This fence is full of items people have placed there. It is hard to believe this happened over 15 years ago on April 19, 1995.

After catching the trolley back to the Bass Pro Shop we strolled through the store. My goodness it is big. They have everything you would ever want for fishing, archery, camping (but no RV items), shooting and other stuff. Outside was a painted buffalo. There were many of these around town.