Day 2: Pool, Route 66 & Oklahoma City National Memorial

The good thing about the 2nd day you always feel well rested and are ready to do anything (I say that but I fell asleep trying to type up this post).

A bit of an easy day to begin with. A brunch and natter with the internship gang. Then a few games of pool in the common room which thankfully had air conditioning (I still can't get over how still hot it is). It was very nice having a bit of free time before starting the internship but looking forward to seeing what Oklahoma has to offer.

For dinner we traveled along route 66 and went to Pops which had this huge 66ft bottle with a straw.Inside they have a wide range(a wagonload one could say) of soda to choose from. And for dinner, I tried my first chilli dog (well first time I have ever tried chilli) and it was gorgeous (don't even want to know how many calories it had).

Afterwards, we went to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. Its there to honor the victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were affected by the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. There is a lot of symbolism in the memorial.

Just before entering the memorial you see this statement on the entrance:

'We come here to remember Those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.'

The gates of time symbolise the minute before and after the event. The 9:01 represetns the innocence of the city before the attack

The 9:03 represents the moments everything changed

The survior tree which is a 90 year old American Elm tree which withstood the violence and is a sign of human resiliance.

There were other features of the memorial which symbolised an aspect of the statement written at the entrance of the memorial.