BRICKTOWN AND A CAPITOL VISIT

Warren Spahn

I spent the night at what appeared to be a rather new Comfort Inn on East Reno Avenue. The hotel was clean and the employee were friendly and professional and it served my purpose. The only thing that I didn't like about it was it was located in an industrial area right next to a large intermodal facility and a large Petro Truck Stop and you have the usual issues that come with those types of areas. I'll leave it at that.

The hotel was only about a mile from the the upscale Bricktown area. Bricktown is a very trendy area with a bunch of shops, cafes and restaurants that is centered around the Bricktown Ballpark, which is home to Oklahoma City's Baseball Team, and the Chesapeake Energy Arena that the city's main sports and entertainment venue and home of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder.

It was early in the morning when I left the Hotel and made the short trip down to Bricktown. Nothing was open but I did make a quick stop and walked around the baseball park. Oklahoma has a rich baseball history and that history is highlighted here at the Ballpark.

Johnny Bench

Around the ballpark are statues and busts of a number of Major League Greats who were born in the Sooner State.  There are statues of Three Oklahoma natives who are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. A statue of the great pitcher Warren Spahn stands near the right field gate and if you walk up the street to the home plate entrance you will find statues of Hall of Fame Catcher Johnny Bench. Just a short distance away stands the statue of The Commerce Comet, Mickey Mantle.

There is also busts of a number of other Oklahoma Natives who played in the Major Leagues, including Bobby Murcer, Allie Reynolds, Pepper Martin, Carl Hubbell, Paul and Lloyd Waner and Joe Rogan.

After my quick stop at the Bricktown Ballpark, I made my way up Lincoln Avenue to the Oklahoma State Capitol. Arriving at the Capitol, it was surprisingly easy to find parking. During my visit the capitol building was undergoing a massive renovation and there were construction platforms around most of the building and all visitors had to pass through a temporary entrance on the west side of the building.

I had been here before back in 2006 but wanted to go through the building again as some of the art work and sculptures were covered as there were some work being done on the rotunda and the interior of the building. After passing through security, I made my way up the steps to the beautiful statue of "The Guardian." A 17-foot tall, 6,000 pound statue of The Guardian was placed atop the Capitol Dome in 2002. A smaller version of "The Guardian" stands at the top the stairs and is the first things that visitors seen when entering through the west entrance.

The Guardian

There are some wonderful murals around the interior of the dome depicting great moments in Oklahoma History, including a scene of the Oklahoma Land Rush. Just like the last time, many of the things that I wanted to see including the Governors Office, and the House and Senate Chamber were
not available because of the ongoing renovations.

After wrapping up my tour of the Capitol I decided to make my way on toward Tulsa which would be my home for the weekend as I was going to attend the NCAA Basketball Tournament at the BOK Center.

How ever shortly after leaving the Capitol I was involved in an accident which end up totaling my car. The rest of the Morning and most of the afternoon was spend getting my claim started with my insurance company and finding a rental car.

The accident happened about 10:30 a.m.  and thank to my insurance company, who arranged for towing and a rental I was able to leave Oklahoma City and Head toward Tulsa by about 3 p.m. I arrived at the Comfort Inn in Tulsa about 5:30 and was able have a nice supper and then spent the rest of the night reading through the information that my Insurance had sent me.

Needless to say it was not my best day, but thanks to my insurance company I was able to continue my journey.