January 15, 2020 Oklahoma City

Today we made the short drive of 3 hours to Oklahoma City.  The plan was to do a tour of the State Capitol Building, our 39th since we began 7 years ago.  The building was completed in 1917 without a dome although the plans did have a dome in them.  According to sources, politics, shortages of materials due to the war, and budget constraints all prevented its completion at the time.  Currently, the building is in the middle of a renovation which will last until 2022.  All of the artwork has been taken down amd moved to another location.  The Rotunda has staging set up from the bottom floor up into the rotunda area.  The only things that we really had to see were the Senate and House Chambers that have already been completed to start their sessions.

 There are 101 House members.  In the back of the chamber there is a glass enclosed area for the media.  All voting is promptly displayed on the screen in front for all to see.

 The Senate, comprised of 48 members is arranged in a very similar fashion.

 On top of the building is a statue named "The Guardian" which stands almost 23 feet and weight 5980 pounds.  It does not represent any specific tribe but rather represents all Native American cultures.

After the tour, we  went down to a section of the city better known as Bricktown.  After we parker the van, the first attraction we came upon was the Banjo Museum.  Besides the many banjos exhibited, it focused on the different eras of the Banjo.

Just down the street is the Bricktown Brewery which claims to be the States first brewery.

Bricktown now has been transformed to an entertainment area for the people of Oklahoma.

To help improve the area, much artwork has been done to show the city's history over the years.

The city is home of the Oklahoma Dodgers.  A statue of one of the more famous athletes... Johnny Bench is out front of the ballpark.

Johnny's contributions to the game.

Another Oklahoma native... Mickey Mantle

Certainly the most famous Native American athlete,  

Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States. 

Outside of the Bricktown area, transportation has been modernized, but still has many users, especially on the days there is a game at the stadium.

It was a good day for being on the road.

Thanks for keeping an eye out for Grammie.  We got her in 2 pictures today.