Oklahoma – Jen's Highways and Horizons Travelogue

Cruising Through Oklahoma – Exploring Route 66 – Part 2 (Arcadia to Texola)

Jen — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 03:22:14 +0000

ARCADIA

The second half of our Oklahoma excursion starts in Arcadia. Here we checked off 2 more “must see” items on our Route 66 list – the Arcadia Round Barn and Pops Soda Ranch. The Round Barn was built by a local farmer in 1898 using native bur oak boards soaked while green and forced into the curves needed for the walls and roof rafters. This was a working barn used to store hay and as a work place for nearly a hundred years. In 1977 it was placed on the National Register of Historic places. Sadly, it was near collapse and a preservation group was eventually created to preserve the barn. Before work could begin, the roof collapsed in June of 1988. Restoration work was performed primarily by volunteers, many who were retirees, who called themselves the Over-the-Hill Gang. Today it sits along the roadside as one of the icons of Route 66. Just up the road is another Route 66 icon, the Pops Soda Ranch. Its hard to miss the large soda bottle out front (which lights up at night) and the retro canopy covering the gas pumps. The soda ranch and diner is a futuristic looking glass structure and the walls are lined with over 700 types of sodas and other beverages in glass bottles. Inside is a classic malt shop and diner with a counter and a handful of booths along with a futuristic convenience store. This is definitely a great place to explore and grab a bite to eat. Bring your appetite – we split a burger and onion rings and they were large portions and delicious! Highly recommend.

: Edward Richardson Building in front of the Round Barn

: Arcadia Round Barn

: Arcadia Route 66 Informational Sign

: Edward Richardson Building in front of the Round Barn

: Large cantilever awning over gas pumps

: The convenience store is futuristic looking

: The glass walls are lined with over 700 types of sodas

: Front wall of sodas by the convenience section

: Front wall of sodas by the diner

: Yacht Club Since 1915 Sakonnet River Grape Soda

: Dr. Tima Honey Kola - All Natural from an old European recipe

: Jack Black's Blood Red Cola scurvy dog - From Black's last raid

: Cool Mountain Gourmet Soda - Orange

: Texas Orang Dream Soda - Where Legends Live on - Dublin Bottling Works since 1891

: Sof Drink - Jamaican Flavour Kola Champaign

OKLAHOMA CITY

Driving West to East thru Oklahoma City on Route 66 takes you through the Capitol building campus which gives spectacular views of the Capitol that was opened in 1917. The Capitol sits on the Oklahoma City Oil Field and has several active oil rigs on the property. The Tower Theater was built in 1937 and still retains its restored marquee and signage. Today it features a stage for live music as well as a screen for movies. The Gold Dome was built in 1958 and was the 5th building in the world to use the geodesic dome design. It was the first building to use anodized gold aluminum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Gold Dome is currently not in use but its still a Route 66 icon. On the original alignment of Route 66 through OKC sits the Braum’s Milk Bottle Grocery. Its a tiny, triangular building built in 1938 located on a small island among several streets. In 1948 the large, metal milk bottle was added to the top of the building making the “Triangle Grocery” a popular photo op. Smurf-vette also found herself in front of a large octopus mural. A few years ago I visited an iconic octopus mural in Bentonville, Arkansas and ever since then we’ve stumbled across several more worthy of photo ops.

: Tower Theater

: The Gold Dome

: Braum's Triangle Milk Bottle Grocery

: A random Octopus mural

YUKON

Yukon is home to Yukon’s Best Flour company. The grain elevator had a neon sign placed atop the roof (in the pic below its above the U in Yukon) in the mid 1940’s. In 2013 this 55 foot tall sign was refurbished and now uses LED lights instead of neon. The building also has a mural that reflects much of the history of Yukon, OK. We also found a mural of the Chisholm Trail depicting a longhorn cattle drive and one of my “must see” murals of a sunset along route 66 with birds, butterflies and flowers. While we saw many spectacular murals, this was Smurf-vettes favorite mural photo op of the entire trip.

: Yukon's Best Flour Elevator

: Yukon Mural

: Chisholm Trail mural

: Route 66 sunset, bird, butterflies and flowers mural

EL RENO

El Reno was another town of many great murals. One was the Crossroads of America mural which showed a classic red and white Corvette driving on Route 66. The Welcome to Historic Downtown El Reno had historic buildings, trolleys and train cars on it. A beautiful and touching tribute to our fallen soldiers depicts a burial at a National Cemetery including the playing of taps and the soldiers horse. The sign reads “dying for freedom isn’t the worst that can happen…being forgotten is. When the silence comes and the smoke clears, we will not forget.” Outside of town was a Giants Display – this muffler man art was conceived by a California-based artist who created cut-out paintings of several Route 66 Muffler Men (and woman) and erected along Route 66. They aren’t quite as powerful as seeing a “real” muffler man, but, they are fun nonetheless.

: Crossroads of America

: The Center Theater

: Welcome to Historic Reno

: Very old El Reno mural

: Fallen Soldier memorial mural

: Burial in a National Cemetery

: The playing of Taps and soldiers horse

: Historic El Reno mural with trolleys

: Oklahoma sign with locks of love on it

: American Giants Sculpture Island

: Lumberjack Muffler Man

: Uniroyal Gal

: Gas Attendant with a busted kneecap

ELK CITY

The next few small towns after El Reno were scattered with random buildings in various states of abandonment and disrepair. Elk City has the Parker Drilling Rig #114 which stands at 181 feet (17 stories) making it one of the worlds tallest oil rigs. The rig was originally built in the 1960’s to drill shafts for underground nuclear testing and later was used for discovering oil. The King’s Inn appears to be a traditional motor inn that has been restored and is open for business. The Flamingo Inn is another classic roadside motel that is restored and open. The National Route 66 Museum has the worlds largest Route 66 sign out front and does not disappoint with a whopping 4 museums in 1 location: National Route 66 & Transportation, Farm & Ranch, Old Town, and Route 66 Blacksmith. A 14 foot tall Kachina Doll greets visitors at the museum entrance. Nearby is another museum, the Great Western Cattle Trail is a Farm and Ranch museum featuring a vast collection of tools, tractors, and farm equipment used in early farm and ranch life. A Blacksmith shop and windmill exhibit are among the many exhibits. There is also a Centennial Indoor Carousel at nearby Ackley Park.

: Parker Drilling Rig #114

: Binding Contract sculpture

: A unique mural

: The King's Motel

: The Flamingo Inn

: National Route 66 Museum - worlds largest Route 66 sign

: National Route 66 Museum - 4 museums in 1

: A Kachina Doll welcome

: National Route 66 Museum - Faux Storefronts

: National Route 66 Museum - Eddie's Diner storefront

: Great Western Cattle Trail Museum & Sculptures

: Great Western Cattle Trail Blacksmith Shop

: Great Western Cattle Trail Windmills

: Centennial Indoor Carousel

TEXOLA

The last town in Oklahoma on Route 66 is barely more than a ghost town but it does offer up a couple unique photo ops. There is a One Room Jail built in 1910 with an iron barred door and windows. Outside is a randomly placed tombstone-style memorial paying homage to the graduating high school class of 1938. Inside are displays about notorious outlaws. All-in-all, its a creepy stop! There is Will Rogers Highway marker outside of town (in the middle of nowhere at the edge of a field) that says at that location on June 26, 1952 Route 66 was rededicated as the Will Rogers Highway. This was one of many ceremonies that also took place on the other state lines of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

: 1910 One Room Jail

: "Tombstone" Honoring class of 1938

: Interior of One Room Jail

: Notorious Outlaws

: Notorious Outlaws

: Notorious Outlaws

: Will Rogers Highway Marker

ONWARD TO TEXAS

Oklahoma had many unique sights to see along Route 66. To me, it is certainly much more interesting to see Oklahoma on Route 66 than via the Interstate where it feels like endless fields (I could say the same about Illinois too!). Next stop on our adventure is Texas where we take this trip to the Midway Point of Route 66 in Adrian, Texas. Stay tuned for the last posts in this series!

Cruising Through Oklahoma – Exploring Route 66 – Part 1 (Commerce to Chandler)

Jen — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 03:06:38 +0000

COMMERCE

Since the sun was setting in Missouri, and it was darker in Kansas, then it stands to reason that it was full on night when we crossed into Oklahoma. The bad news is you can’t see much in the dark and there certainly isn’t much open. The good news is you get to see some of the historic buildings that have neon lights. Commerce had a few cute places that had neon glowing and putting on a show for us. One was the Dairy King…that’s right King, not Queen. This used to be a 1930 cottage style gas station but is now known for its soft serve ice cream, burgers and cookies shaped like the Route 66 shield (I’m bummed I missed out on those!). The other location we saw was Allen’s Conoco Fillin’ Station. This started as a Conoco in 1929-30 and later switched to a Phillips 66 in 1938. It’s also known as the “Hole in the Wall Conoco Station” which seems apt as that is exactly what it looks like.

: Dairy King

: Allen's Conoco Fillin' Station

CATOOSA

By the light of a new day we made our way thru Catoosa looking for the infamous Blue Whale. It’s not every day you see a whale in Oklahoma, so it was definitely on my bucket list. It was pretty hard to miss and it didn’t disappoint. The Blue Whale was built in the early 70’s as an anniversary gift to Hugh Davis’s wife. It started as a swimming park but was closed to swimming in the late 80’s. Its been restored and you can walk out on it for a great photo op. On the same property is the ruins of the Ark of Catoosa. The property was originally called Nature’s Acres and the ark was built and named “A.R.K.” which stood for Animal Reptile Kingdom (eeek! – no reptiles present that I could tell). Across the street from the whale and the ark is the former Arrowood Trading Post which dates to 1952 when the owner moved his business from Tulsa to Catoosa, across the street from his sisters blue whale and alligator farm (note, no whales were farmed, only alligators). It was previously the Catoosa Trading Post and the Chief Wolf Robe Hunt Trading Post.

: Blue Whale of Catoosa

: Staring down the mouth of the Blue Whale of Catoosa

: Standing in the Tail of the Blue Whale

: Smurf-vette posing with the Blue Whale

: Welcome to the Blue Whale

: History of the Blue Whale

: Directional whales

: Directions from a whale

: ARK of Catoosa

: ARK of Catoosa

: Arrowood Trading Post

: Random Roof Art - looks tornadoish

TULSA

While some large cities had very little sights to see for Route 66 (I’m calling you out Chicago and St. Louis), Tulsa felt like hitting a jackpot. They had some really neat things to see! The Golden Driller Statue (its technically but 1 mile off Route 66 but worth the detour) is 75 feet tall and weighs 43,500 pounds (relatable). This oil worker statue is a steel frame covered in concrete and plaster and is the 6th tallest statue in the US. Its been located in front of the Tulsa Expo Center since 1966 (I hope I look that good in another 10ish years). There were several cool sculptures and some neon signs that were ridiculously placed at Cyrus Avery Plaza with absolutely no way to pull off and take pics (however, if you do enough U-turns and wait for traffic to clear, you’ll eventually get them). This park is a tribute to the Father of Route 66 and the park has an East Meets West sculpture of a Model T encountering a horse drawn wagon. There are also replica signs of famous hotels from Tulsa. Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios was a fun looking location with the Buck Atom “Space Cowboy” Muffler Man out front. I read that the Stella Atom giant was installed about 2 weeks after I was there so y’all will see a new giant if you visit. There is an open air historic village on the far side of town modeled after a 1930’s gas station, has a steam locomotive and an oil derrick that stands 194 feet high on the historic site of the first oil strike on June 25, 1901 that made Tulsa the “Oil Capital of the World.”

: Tulsa Fire Station with historic Pirsch 750 Pumper

: D.W. Cordell Museum Mural

: Route 66 Arch

: Golden Driller Statue

: Wings Expo Center

: Route 66 Arch

: Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza

: Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza

: Will Rogers Motor Court sign

: Tulsa Auto Court sign

: Oil Capital Motel sign

: Tulsa mural

: Meadow Gold sign

: Route 66 Historical Village sign

: Historical Village - outdoor museum

: Buck Atom's Curios

: Buck Atom's Space Cowboy

: Murals

: Tulsa sign leaving town

SAPULPA

Sapulpa had several great sights to see. The TeePee Drive In was built in 1950 and had a capacity of 400 cars. Its last season was 1999 but it has recently been restored and had its grand re-opening in 2023. The Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum has the world’s tallest gas pump (plus a new electric charging station…probably not original to the Route though). The Main Street America Mural is on the side of Torchy’s club. Torchy is the only one in the US to own 3 different clubs along Route 66. We also saw an interesting building that screams OKLAHOMA – the Mid America Above Ground Tornado Shelter.

: TeePee Drive In

: Worlds Tallest Gas Pump

: Sapulpa Mural

: Old Gulf Gas Station

: Main Street Mural on Torchy's Club

: Crossroads of America Sign

: Old style mural

: Happy Burger

: Tornado Shelter

STROUD

Stroud was another town with some special highlights. The Skyliner Motel is an operating, classic 1950-60’s motor lodge with no frills rooms and a huge sign that reflects the periods architecture. A black and white mural represents Stroud circa 1898. The Rock Cafe is a historic restaurant on Route 66. Its name comes from the buildings construction of, you guessed it, stone. Most of the stone was leftover sandstone from the construction of Route 66. It was originally built in 1936, opened in 1939, restored from a fire in 2008-09 and is still open today. Stroud was also the site of a daring bank robbery on March 26, 1915 at the First National Bank by the Starr gang.

: Skyliner Motel

: Route 66 mural

: Route 66 mural

: Rock Cafe

: Coca Cola mural

: Stroud circa 1898

: Shadow Figures Bank Robbery

: Shadow Figures get-away horses

: Robbery details

CHANDLER

Chandler is the last town for this half of Oklahoma, and like the towns before it, we saw plenty of interesting Route 66 goodies. The 66 Bowl is a Route 66 themed bowling alley, fun center and restaurant and their parking lot had lots of vintage signs. The Lincoln Motel was built in 1939 and the historic signage was added in the late 1950’s. The Route 66 Interpretive Center was built in the mid 30’s as the Chandler Armory that included offices, a service garage and an ammunition vault. It was headquarters for the Battery F, Second Battalion of the 160th Field Artillery of the Oklahoma National Guard 45th Infantry Division that served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy during WWII. The Phillips 66 station was built in 1930 and operated as a gas station until 1992. In the 50’s the added the garage to the left and in 1967 it became Skelly station then it was a Getty station in 1983 and a Texaco after that. Its been restored back to its original Phillips roots. On the way out of town is the Nostalgic Chandler OK Visitor Center and Gift Shop which has a cute travel trailer and flamingos.

: 66 Bowl - Bowling Alley

: Signs at 66 Bowl

: Signs at 66 Bowl

: Lincoln Motel

: Interpretive Center

: Phillips 66 Station

: An interesting Main Street USA building

: Visitor Center with flamingos

NEXT STOP...

Arcadia! That will be where we pick up our Oklahoma adventure in the next post. I can’t wait to share that with you as we had a really neat experience there to recommend to y’all. I hope you enjoyed this half of Oklahoma! Leave me a comment down below and let me know what you think.

Cheers!