On a recent trip to Big Bend National Park in southern Texas, we planned to make a pit stop in Oklahoma City. Originally, I thought of this stop as a travel break. Simply a chance to stretch our legs and pop into the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. It turned out to be so much more. The memorial and museum is far more than a pit stop. A visit here is a powerful and moving experience.
Oklahoma City National Museum
Our first stop at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum was the grounds. We found an excellent interactive touch screen near the Survivor’s Wall on the Robinson Avenue side of the memorial. It gave descriptions of each of the points of interest on the site, providing incredible details about the bombing. We were moved by the thoughtfulness and attention to details included in the memorial grounds.
Interactive touch screen board of memorial grounds.
Gates of Time and Field of Empty Chairs
Our two favorite spots on the memorial grounds were the gates of time with the reflecting pool and the field of empty chairs. The twin gates that flank the grounds mark the moment in time; 9:02 am, when lives were forever changed. The shallow reflecting pool creates a soothing yet somber atmosphere. Looking out over the reflecting pool is the field of empty chairs, one for each of the 168 victims of the bombing. Here again, the great attention to detail and symbolism is profound. The chairs are placed in nine rows. One row for each of the floors of the Alfred P. Murrah building. A single name is etched on each chair and corresponds with the floor in which the individual was working or visiting on the day of the bombing; April 19, 1995.
Reflecting Pool 
Gates of Time 
Field of Empty Chairs
Oklahoma City National Museum
After our time on the memorial grounds we went to the museum. Visitors follow a self guided tour that offers excellent video and narrative from survivors and rescuers. The stories and images shared will move you to tears, more than once. The museum winds through two floors and follows a timeline of events beginning just before the bombing and follows through to the trials of those responsible; Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. More than just a sequence of events, the museum offers personal stories and anecdotes from survivors, rescuers and family members of those who were lost. The museum is a deeply personal look into the day and the aftermath of the bombing.
Artifacts recovered from the site. 
Window office blinds, a file drawer and a clock from the bombing. 
Getaway car Timothy McVeigh was pulled over in less than 85 minutes after the bombing for an unrelated traffic violation.
A visit to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum is far more than a pit stop on your way to another destination. It is a destination. For more historically significant travel experiences, see our posts on Springfield, IL, Boston, MA and Washington D.C.
Happy Adventuring, Rochelle