Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Everything is OK in Oklahoma!

Kay, Delbert & Mom

When I think about Oklahoma, I think about Native Americans. The "Five Civilized Tribes" were resettled in Oklahoma are considered to be the Creeks, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Seminoles. Oklahoma's history sounds like the epitome of Cowboys & Indians.



There are many places to go to learn about the Western Heritage of both Indians and Cowboys throughout the state. Indian City USA is an outdoor museum where you can experience reconstructed villages to learn about Indian life. Or, maybe we attend Rodeo Weekend in October which is an event affiliated with National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.



While we're in Oklahoma City we can visit the Oklahoma City National Museum and Memorial as my mom, aunts and uncles did this summer. The Chairs are made of stone and hand-crafted bronze. The nine rows represent the nine floors of the Federal Building and each of the 168 chairs represents a life that was taken. The chairs sit on a glass base with the name of the victims etched into it.



The Gates of Time Memorial- one marked 9:01 and the other marked 9:03 representative of how the memorial frames the time of the bombing at 9:02. The other part of the Memorial is the Survivors Tree. The tree survived the blast and it is now surrounded by more fruit trees planted to represent the people who rushed in to help those who needed it. I'm sure I'm not explaining that as well as I should. Maybe we should just go.



Before we leave Oklahoma City, let's stop in at Deep Deuce Jazz Cafe. We can eat some tasty Cajun food, have some yummy drinks and listen to jazz, soul and blues. It's not far from Bricktown that features restaurants, shopping and AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. Sounds like fun!



If we head over to Tulsa we can go to Cherry Street- a farmers market with organic fruits and vegetables, herbs and breads all for the purchasing. Just down the street, there are antique shops and galleries to stroll in to. Or, how about going to Linnaeus Teaching Gardens where they share their knowledge and love of gardening. Lord knows I could use their help. And, there's always the Oklahoma Aquarium and the Zoo and Living Museum.



There you have just a small samplings of things to do in Oklahoma. What's your favorite "Taste" of Oklahoma? Can anyone tell me about the place pictured below?



I have to say hello to my crazy friend from high school, Angie- she is the Red Cross Queen! Angie lives in Elmore City and is everything country! She has three kids and they go to rodeos and catch chickens and rabbits in the corral and whatever they catch, they get to keep. She's also very good at shoo-ing off those pesky raccoons! (Angie, I hope you stop by today and post a hello but be sure to come back on Friday to post you're favorite thing about OK!)



The fun facts for Oklahoma include the floral emblem is mistletoe, the state flower is the rose and the state wild flower is the . I guess they like flowers. And where would we be without the parking meter? It was invented in Oklahoma City!



All Sooners meet on the mistletoe deck on Friday, June 27th to tell us what makes Oklahoma the Taste of USA!

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