On the Road: Oklahoma

In Tulsa, we stayed at the Super 8 Motel close to where Skelly Drive met Peoria Avenue. The room cost $49 a night before tax. The cost included free parking, a small breakfast and use of a swimming pool. The hotel was managed by a Hindu family who had come to the US from Kenya via the UK. We found to our surprise that Tulsa had two mandirs. Amazing.

Super 8 Motel, Tulsa

Tulsa was one of the trip’s surprises for all the right reasons. There were some excellent early 20th century buildings in downtown that had benefitted from the region’s past oil wealth. Once we had identified an interesting building (e.g. Atlas Building on South Boston. South Boston and Brady had about a dozen interesting buildings), we entered the lobby to explain to the people on reception that we were interested in architecture. On every occasion, we were allowed to examine the interiors and their elaborate decoration. Lavish use was made of marble, bronze, stained glass, mosaic tiles and oil paint, the latter to immortalise an important historic event associated with the region.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

For lunch, we tried New Atlas Grill in the lobby of Atlas Building (mains cost from $7), and for drinks and snacks with a difference, we went to Kokoa Kabana, 507 South Boston. Kokoa Kabana specialised in all things to do with chocolate. The ice cream was amazing, as were the sweets.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

The suburb of Mapleridge, south of downtown and surrounding the Philbrook Museum of Art, was a very attractive area in which to drive or walk, and the blocks along South Peoria Avenue close to 41st Street had some interesting shops, cafes and restaurants all easy to access from nearby free car parks. The district around 41st Street was called Brookside and one of the best places for food and drink was Charleston’s Restaurant, 3726 South Peoria Avenue. Because steaks, seafood, pasta, burgers and sandwiches were available, there was something for almost everyone. Burgers and sandwiches cost from $8, ribs and steaks cost from $17 and specials (which included fish) cost from $12. Starters, soups and sides were good value. The atmosphere inside was lively and the bar was excellent.

Brookside, Tulsa, Oklahoma

If seeking a more conventional diner, try Goldie’s Patio Grill, which has eight branches across the city (we ate at 4401 South Yale Avenue). Starters cost from $5, burgers cost from $6, platters cost from $9 and sandwiches cost from $7. Goldie’s serves beer and is excellent value for food and drink.

Another district worth visiting, not least for food a little less ordinary, is along East 15th Street (especially in the area known as Cherry Street), which is not far from downtown. Although not quite as appealing as Brookside, there are three good cafes for tea, coffee and light snacks. Kilkenny’s Irish Pub, 1413 East 15th Street, serves Irish and English beers and lots of food at prices between the ones at Goldie’s and Charleston’s. One last location for interesting food is Brady Street just west of downtown. The area is emerging as one with art galleries, cafes, restaurants and specialist shops, all of which are located in old buildings with an industrial or commercial character.

One of Tulsa’s nicknames is “the buckle of the Bible Belt”, but we found the city a wonderful place to visit, and not just because of the cost effective accommodation or the excellent eating and drinking options. Downtown has some stunning buildings and, along the Arkansas River, a pretty park attracts people who like to walk, run or pick up a free bike to peddle along the extensive cycle paths. If you have a car, you should cross the Arkansas River, preferably on Interstate 44. The views are excellent.

Near the Philbrook Museum is a large modern synagogue.

We drove from Tulsa to Bartlesville via Sperry, Spiatook, Hominy, Barnsdall and Okesa, thereby taking in some of the delightful scenery around Woolaroc. Along the way, we saw buzzards and herds of wild horses, the latter an unexpected treat. In Bartlesville, we found the Price Tower by Frank Lloyd Wright a disappointment (we were fans of most of Lloyd Wright’s architecture, but the Price Tower was rather ugly and could have done with less external detailing). The tower reminded us of the brutalist buildings that disfigured many UK towns and cities in the 1960s and 1970s. Consequently, it was good that buildings associated with Phillips Oil (Phillips Oil was once a mighty force in the region’s economy) were notable and attractive structures. The best of the structures were the old Phillips Oil Headquarters and the Frank Phillips Home. Moreover, opposite the old headquarters was the outstanding Phillips Petroleum Company Museum (admission was free), which told the story of the company’s humble beginnings in the late 19th century to its global presence today (e.g. in China and the North Sea). The museum had excellent photos, memorabilia, reconstructions, handbills and advertising signs, all of which evoked the recent past. Many displays were interactive. The staff, most of whom were retired Phillips Oil employees, were not only friendly; they also chipped in with anecdotes about their working lives, sometimes on the oil rigs in the seas and oceans. The state-of-the-art museum’s address was 410 South Keeler.

Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Bartlesville, Oklahoma

One last curio to examine in Bartlesville is the Community Centre, 300 SE Adams Boulevard. Designed by Wesley Peters, chief architect of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the centre has flourishes reminiscent of the master himself. It contains a large concert hall. There is also a cloisonne mural depicting the north-east Oklahoma countryside, but in a stylised manner.

It is worth looking at the Visitor’s Centre, which occupies part of what used to be Bartlesville’s small railroad station. The station has been restored with considerable care.

Remove its tallest buildings and Bartlesville’s downtown resembles that of an overgrown small town (in some ways, this makes the downtown more fun). Nonetheless, a few good places exist for breakfast, lunch and/or non-alcoholic drinks. Local people are especially keen on Weeze’s Home Cooking, 328 South Dewey.

It had not got any warmer as we set off for nearby Guymon, one of only two towns of any size in what used to be called No Man’s Land (Boise City was the other town of substance). In Guymon, a digital clock that measured the temperature revealed that it was 29 degrees fahrenheit.

No Man’s Land, Oklahoma

Had it not been so cold and windy, Guymon would have struck us as yet another interesting town, one worthy of a lengthy look around, but the weather discouraged anything but the most cursory exploration. A sign on Main Street said, “The fastest bondsman in the West.” There was a railroad beside large silos and elevators. A freight train blew its horn repeatedly to warn road traffic of its approach. The courthouse was the town’s most substantial structure other than the silos and elevators, and Main Street benefitted from some businesses that still functioned, although without many customers. An African American male aged about 40 stood beside an intersection waving a large plastic container at every vehicle that went by. He was begging, but in the freezing cold. None of the drivers wound down a window to throw out a few coins.

Guymon, Oklahoma

We drove to Black Mesa, the highest point in Oklahoma at 4,953 feet above sea level. A very pretty drive through the hills and the unusual rock formations took us to within a few miles of the New Mexico border.

Some of the hills were mesas. Trees, bushes, cacti and wild flowers enhanced the appearance of the canyons below the summits.

The road to Black Mesa crossed a wide valley surrounded by hills. About 200 yards from the road, a terrace of wooden buildings lay in splendid isolation below a rounded hill. The terrace looked like buildings in a Western film portraying events in the late 19th century. We wondered if the buildings had been assembled as part of a film set, or if someone had come up with the idea of providing people with hotel accommodation redolent of the Old West. If the latter, it looked as if the project had yet to be fully realised. However, a nearby farm offered bed and breakfast accommodation to people looking for somewhere very quiet to stay. Along the river were many trees. The new leaves of the trees were vibrant despite the overcast sky. Below the summit of Black Mesa, vultures, buzzards and a few eagles used air currents to glide in wide circles.

On the way to Black Mesa and Kenton, Oklahoma

Near Black Mesa, Oklahoma

We drove the short distance to Kenton, the last settlement in Oklahoma before arriving in New Mexico about 3 miles away. Perhaps we should have driven the few miles just to say we had been to New Mexico, but we did not bother. Why did we not bother? Because the widely dispersed settlement of Kenton was a minor gem so it detained us for about half an hour.

Most buildings in Kenton had an impermanent air to them, even the ones that have stood for many decades, and none of the few businesses were open. Wood was the building material exploited most readily, but corrugated iron was also popular. Most of the houses were within fenced-off square or rectangular plots of land on the gently undulating terrain both sides of the road. Some houses were little better than shacks. There were also trailers that had been parked up years ago and left to grow old and decrepit with repairs undertaken as rarely as possible. There was barely a town centre, more a cluster of older buildings quite close to one another along the very quiet road from the western extremity of No Man’s Land to New Mexico. In New Mexico, no community of any size seemed to exist until people had travelled about 40 miles.

Kenton, Oklahoma

There were not many roads to chose from for journeys between places in this part of Oklahoma, so, even though about 40 miles separated the settlements, we drove from Kenton to Boise City along Highway 325, the only road but one between the two towns (the other road necessitated a lengthier journey along a more circuitous route via Castaneda). In Boise City, I had a quick look around downtown (the wind was still bitterly cold. On the way from Kenton, dry grains of snow had fallen from the sky and were blown horizontally across the road). Downtown was little more than the large square dominated by the courthouse and the four streets leading to it. Some landmark structures faced the courthouse, but fewer than in many towns in Texas of comparable size. An old brake car had been carefully restored and placed at the point where Highway 64 entered the square. The brake car formed part of the town’s museum, the main part of which lay some way north of downtown. A few businesses struggled to make a living, but the shops, gas stations, cafes and restaurants that attracted the greatest number of customers (even they were not doing particularly well) were along Highway 64 not far from the town’s motels. On a street corner merely 50 yards from the square, a building had burnt down. The fire had probably been quite recent because no effort had been made to clear the site.

Boise City, Oklahoma

Boise City, Oklahoma

Boise City, Oklahoma

We drove the short distance along Highway 385 to Cimarron County Museum on the northern edge of Boise City. Modest houses lay along the highway, then there was a small RV and trailer park. The RV and trailer park was home to some of the town’s poorest citizens. We could not enter the museum because it was about 8.00pm, but outside were pieces of old agricultural machinery, a large rusty steel statue of a dinosaur and a model of the Tin Man in “The Wizard of Oz”. The museum must have had an unusual collection of exhibits. The dinosaur was meant to catch the eye of drivers passing on the nearby east to west highway, but I got the impression the museum attracted very few visitors.

It often feels in the US as if you have washed up in a place that time has forgotten. Boise City is one such place, but it has a strange appeal.

Near Cimarron County Museum, Boise City, Oklahoma

Cimarron County Museum, Oklahoma

Why was the Oklahoma Panhandle once called No Man’s Land? To keep things brief, I will quote from a leaflet we picked up at No Man’s Land Museum in Goodwell:

“From 1850 to 1890, the region now known as the Oklahoma Panhandle had no local authorities under United States law: no law officers, no civil or criminal courts, no statute laws, and no offices for filing homestead claims or registering property deeds. Simply because no man could own its land, it was known after 1885 as ‘No Man’s Land’. Officially, it was the ‘Neutral Strip’ or ‘Public Land Strip’, names federal agencies used from 1850 to 1890.

“The old pioneers of No Man’s Land built ranches, farms and towns which they could not own. Their lives were harsh: about two-thirds of Old Pioneers (pre-1890 pioneers) died within four years or left for milder places. The Old Pioneers helped one another survive a sometimes brutal environment and organised themselves to keep order in a land without law. They met nature’s challenges with plain grit and courage. They met outlawry with legendarily stern and abrupt measures, either in one-on-one confrontations or as vigilante groups. Ne’er-do-wells usually did not survive long in No Man’s Land.

“Today, the name No Man’s Land honours those Old Pioneers who brought order and prosperity to a land they said was owned by ‘no man, only God’.”

During the years when the effects of the Dust Bowl were at their most severe, Boise City was deemed by the federal government to lie at the heart of the vast afflicted area, an area which stretched from Nebraska to southern Texas.

Roadside building, Oklahoma, on the way toward Van Buren, Arkansas