Moving North – Dallas and OKC

Mid-April we raised our jacks and after hugs and “see you later’s,” with Cori and Greg, we headed north.

Our first stop was Arlington (DFW area) TX Elks Lodge. We had visited this lodge before, back in late December of 2019. At that time, it was a quick one-night stop but this time we had a couple of days planned.

Great sites at the Arlington Elks Lodge

First thing was dinner with Gary, a long-time friend from High School. Sadly, his husband Ernesto wasn’t feeling well and didn’t join us. There was a highly rated Mexican restaurant very close to the Elks and we enjoyed a wonderful evening catching up.

The following morning we ventured into downtown Dallas to visit the George W Bush Presidential Library. Bill and I were both impressed with the displays.

George W Bush Presidential Library and Museum
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gorgeous red dress worn by Mrs. Bush while First Lady
piece of steel from NYC Twin Towers

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Bill for President!
at the far side of the pic, inside the little fence, is where President and Mrs. Bush will be laid to rest when the time comes

Dallas is also home to the site where President John F Kennedy was shot back in November 1963, and we wanted to see it and the surrounding area. We found on street parking nearby and it was a quick walk. While we both had learned a lot about JFK assassination in school, actually seeing the site was not what we expected. There is actually an X on the street on the exact spot where it happened, and the street is actually an on ramp to a busy highway. After looking at pictures, the highway wasn’t quite so big back then.

the grassy knoll on the far side of the street, taken from Dealey Plaza
There are signs asking people not to do this because Elm Street is busy, but there is a traffic light so it was easy to step out and snap a pic while the light was red.
John Neely Bryan Cabin

Afterward, taking advantage of the beautiful sunny day, we walked along Elm Street in the West End District and headed back to the car on Main Street and the Main Street District.

Dallas County Courthouse
Loved this mirrored building – so cool looking
the Giant Eyeball
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Oklahoma City was our next stop, parking up at the Midwest City Elks Lodge. I originally tried to get us a spot at the Edmond Elks Lodge, but their sites with electric hook-ups were all full. They had room for boondocking, but since the weather was to be hot, we preferred to have electric. The parking at Midwest City was fine with one exception, it was directly below the flight path for planes landing at nearby Tinker Air Force Base. Thankfully they stopped before it got too late in the evening, nor did it start too early in the morning, but when they were overhead, it was very loud.

We had two places we wanted to see in Oklahoma City area. The first was the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. I remember very clearly the day of the bombing, the day they caught the perpetrator, and also the day he was executed. As we entered the Memorial, we could easily see how it was set up with chairs in rows on a lawn. There were 168 chairs, one for each of the victims that were killed that day. The chairs are arranged in 9 rows, which represents how many floors there was in the building and within each row, they are arranged with their location within that floor taken into account. As I walked along, I saw how some of the chairs were much smaller than others and realized they were for the 19 children that were in the day care center. They were grouped together in the row for the second floor, along with their caregivers. I had to pause, as the impact was palpable.

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Before we entered the museum, we had read to allow between 1 1/2 and 2 hours for a visit. We took almost 3 hours. There was so much information and I didn’t want to miss any of it.

there was a lot of other information in the museum, but the most important was remembering the victims

While checking out TripAdvisor for other things nearby, we learned there was an underground walkway that was home to local art. It sounded interesting and we wanted to walk off the heaviness of the Memorial and Museum. We found an entrance easily and walked along. To be honest, as interesting as it sounded, it wasn’t all that in person. Didn’t help that once we were back on the street we got turned around a bit and dare I say a little lost? Those who know me, being lost is one of my worst things. Thankfully we didn’t waste too much time and made our way back to our car.

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loved this one

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For day 2 in OKC, friends had recommended we see the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, telling us how great it was, so that was our original plan. However, when scrolling through “Things to Do” on TripAdvisor, I noticed a different type museum, the First Americans Museum. It sounded different than other museums we had been to (the Buffalo Bill Center of the West for example) so we decided to visit there instead.

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The pictures I’ve chosen tell about the things I found most impactful, so rather than retell, you can easily read the displays.

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this one in particular was a point of view I had not considered

While I obviously can’t compare The First American Museum to the cowboy museum with first hand knowledge, I think it was a great alternative. If you read the displays above, they tell the cliff-notes version of how European settlers and early Americans treated the people who were already here when they arrived, and how that continues to effect those First American descendants to this day. It was thought provoking, very well done, and was definitely worth a visit.

Previous posts: Back in TX and Israel Visit

Next time: Family Visit is Manhattan KS

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10 thoughts on “Moving North – Dallas and OKC

  1. Those are some interesting stops. All those chairs must really hit home. 😢 Safe travels!

    1. Thanks Steve! It was difficult to think that someone could do something so horrific.

  2. We loved our time there! I wasn’t a fan of that Elks but you couldn’t beat the location. I really liked how meaningful they made the memorial.

    1. Assuming you mean the OKC Elks, it wasn’t our fav one either but location was very convenient. The memorial was very well done.

  3. I’ve got to join the Elks! You find some beautiful campsites in some great locations.
    Thanks for capturing the power of the OC memorial, I worked there before the bombing and have not been back. The Native American displays are certainly demonstrate their culture and lives.

    1. If you seriously decide to become an Elk member, let me know as Bill would be happy to sponsor you!

  4. You made some great stops in Dallas and OKC! I was bummed to miss OKC last year and had all the places you went on my list. Looks like I definitely need to plan to get back there! I know I’ll love the First Americans Museum, thanks for sharing the beautiful exhibits.

    1. Hi Jodee! I know you will LOVE the First Americans Museum. I’ve always known the stuff we learned in school was not the whole truth – it’s good there are places to get it.

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