In June 2013, I took a week of vacation with no real plans
to do anything. I called my sister and
invited my two nephews, ages 13 and 11, to come up from Bonham and spend the
week with my wife, two-year-old son, and me.
She drove them up and I had several days with the boys.
I don’t have a lot of money. We didn’t make any huge plans. I did know we’d see cheap stuff in Tulsa and
maybe some things along Route 66. Sorry,
I mean HISTORIC ROUTE 66. You know, it winds from Chicago to LA. Goes through St. Louis…. Gallup, New Mexico etc.…
Hey, don’t forget Wynonna.
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| My son squeezed by one of my nephews in front of "artificial cloud" at the Center of the Universe. |
On Sunday, we walked around downtown Tulsa. Saw the “center of the universe”, saw Guthrie Green, and the Deco District.
Monday morning, we went down to Woodward Park and visited
the Children’s museum. For lunch, we hit
up Incredible Pizza Company.
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| Behold! The majesty of the awesome Totem. |
On Tuesday, I did what I did when I make plans. I was ambitious and crammed three days’ worth of stuff into about 12 hours. But we checked everything off my list. We drove down to I think the town of Foyil to see something that’s exactly what you think of when you think Rt 66 off the beaten track attractions. We saw the World’s Largest Concrete Totem Pole. Apparently, that’s a thing.
While in the area, we drove up to the fine city of Claremore to see the Will Rogers Memorial Museum. That place is a gem and worth the drive. On the way back to Tulsa we saw the “famous” Blue Whale in Catoosa. Only worth the drive if you live in Catoosa. It’s like a giant Papier-mâché structure in a nasty pond. For a snack, I took the boys to East Tulsa for some street tacos. There’s this place near 21st and Garnett Road with probably the best tacos in the world. I nearly disowned one of my nephews for having the audacity to declare, “Taco Bell is better.”
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| The mighty Tulsa Golden Driller |
We saw the Golden Driller in mid-town Tulsa. It’s the sixth-tallest statue in the USA! We weren’t done, Oh no!
We swung by Reconciliation Park north of Downtown. It’s a beautiful somber park memorializing
the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. You don’t
even have to know the horrible history to be able to take in what
happened. The fountain and statue are
true monuments to the tragedy.
We took the short drive south to visit the newly opened Woody Guthrie Center. Tickets weren’t expensive but we were paying customers and deserved to be able to enjoy the whole experience. That didn’t happen though. The interactive exhibits were lovely. The lighting gave a nice atmosphere, I assume. The artifacts were nice too. But unfortunately for us, the Tulsa Shock WNBA team were having a photo shoot there. We would be looking at something and a photographer or handler would ask us to kindly step back and wait. We obliged. Over and over. And over. But with a dozen players and multiple photographers, really, they needed us to just leave and come back in an hour. One of my nephews asked, “who are these people?”
“They play for the WNBA team Tulsa Shock,” I answered.
“Are they any good?”
I had to be honest, whether the team heard me or not, “Well,
they don’t win a lot of games.”
During their short run,
the Tulsa shock enjoyed an impressive record
of 59 wins, 145 losses.
A few minutes later we left.
A few years later the Shock left Tulsa too. About five seasons they spent in Tulsa. About five seasons they were the worst team
in the WNBA. When the team got decent
and got a marketable player in Skylar Diggins, they fled to Dallas. Nary a teardrop was shed in Tulsa.
So, we left the Woodie Guthrie Center and got a bite to eat
for dinner. We weren’t done or the day
either. We went to a Tulsa Drillers
baseball game. After searching and
searching for a no-pay parking spot I settled on one down the road about half a
mile away near the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. We walked uphill all the way back. OneOk Field is literally just three blocks
east of where Woodie Guthrie Center is.
We watched a little of the game but they didn’t care about baseball
that much. I bought a cheap pink foam
finger and inflatable bat. What the kids
really enjoyed was the splash pad. After
a long hot day logging many miles, spending the evening running through nice
cool water really hit the spot for them.
We got home and the boys watched an Avengers or Captain America movie on
demand. I passed out.
Wednesday, we took it easy and only went to the Air andSpace Museum.
Thursday, I had to drive them back home. But we had to make a couple stops first. And instead of taking the interstate, we took
old Historic Route 66. We had lunch at
Pop’s. Bought some burgers and chicken fried steak. Their big attraction is that it’s a beautiful
building and they house hundreds of varieties of soda from across the US and
world. Cream corn pop? Check. Blood Orange mineral water? Check.
Saddam Hussein themed Soda?
Check. I told the boys to grab
three bottles of their choice before we left.
What did they come back with? Dr.
Pepper. Mountain Dew Code Red. Vanilla
Coke. I guess you just stick with what
you know? You know?
One of my nephews proudly showing off
a rare bottle of vanilla Coke.
Our last stop before home was the Science Museum Oklahoma. Outstanding place. They rode Segway’s, did flight simulators, solved a murder mystery, sat on giant chairs, etc.… Then we drove back to Texas.
Five days, a couple hundred bucks. An uncle and his two nephews. Wasn’t expensive, but it was priceless. They are all grown up now. I hardly saw them while they grew up. I almost never see them now. But I love them so much. They can come up to Tulsa any time and just
hang out. We don’t even have to worry
about the WNBA ruining the fun anymore either.
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