The Incredible Shrinking Town

When I first moved to Tulsa, it seemed like such a big town. There were so many nooks and crannies to explore, and so many roads to drive. But after a year or two, I started to feel the city limits closing in. Now, six years later, I've been down every road in the city, and many of them I believe I could drive blindfolded.

Or so I thought. Just a couple of hours ago, my friend Denny Gibson from Ohio emailed to wish me a Happy Anniversary. Anniversary? But of course! Doesn't everyone know that today is the 150th anniversary of the Civil War Battle of Chusto-Talasah, also known as the Battle of Caving Banks? Huh? Never heard of it myself. So, I wondered: Who? What? Where? When? Why?

Lets start with Where: The battle was fought right here in Tulsa County.

Who? Creek and Seminole Indians for the Union vs the Confederate States Indian Department. What? An all-out battle, from what I can tell, engaging over four thousand troops. Why? Like the rest of the nation, Indian Territory was divided during the Civil War.

Where? On the very north end of Tulsa County, a place which (for the purposes of this blog) will be referred to as "the boonies".

My father was a dyed-in-the-wool Civil War afficionado, and yet I doubt he ever heard of this battle. And frankly, I still don't have an entirely good handle on exactly how the battle was waged. And yet, of the Confederate troops, 15 were killed and 37 wounded. The Union had 500 men killed or wounded. Those numbers are not to be ignored, particularly on the 150th anniversary of the bloody confrontation.

So, I decided to drive out there and find a monument to the battle that was called to my attention by Denny. The instructions on the website he gave me (Battle of Chusto-Talasah December 9, 1861) were slightly vague, but I decided to drop everything and try to find it. There would probably have been a more convenient time for me to do this, but it seemed that it would mean more if I paid my respects on the anniversary date. So, off I went.

I wasn't expecting to find much, and I wasn't disappointed. But, on a lonely road far from the skyscrapers and traffic of the city, I found the monument. It sits in the front yard of a tiny nondescript rundown house amid sad farmland, occasional cattle, working oil wells, and dry creek beds. I stopped to take a photo (in fact, I took three), but apparently the ghosts of those lost in the battle were hell bent on preventing me from getting a good image. All three are blurred. Therefore, the photo here is from the website mentioned above. The inscription reads:

"The Battle of Caving Banks was fought on December 9, 1861 between 1500 Texas and Indian calvarymen under Confederate Col. D.H. Cooper and 2500 loyal Creeks and Cherokees enroute to Kansas with Chief Opothle Yahola. The struggle centered around a log house near the tip of the horseshoe bend in Bird Creek west of this point. Fifteen Confederate dead are buried on this battlefield. Many others lie in unknown graves.

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Marked by the Tulsa Historical Society of Central High School and the Tulsa Indian Women's Club. April 15, 1045."

And to make a long story slightly shorter, that's how I found a corner of Tulsa I've never known before. Thanks, Denny.

Uh oh! Another restaurant review!

I'm just back from my birthday lunch with Ron M. We went to El Rancho Grande, the cool Tex-Mex place on Route 66 near downtown Tulsa, the one with the awesome neon sign. We've both been there before, but always with big groups. Today, we had a very late lunch, there were very few people there, and the delightful owner John Walden spent some time at our table chatting.

The food was awesome! I had the special steak, and it was huge! Half of it came home with me. It came with beans and rice, and the steak was covered with grilled veggies. Their chips and salsa are the best in Tulsa, in my opinion. Ron had a combo plate, and I know it contained, among other things, some tamales he said were great. All in all, a very pleasant experience. I'd definitely recommend this place to Route 66 travelers in Tulsa. Support our Route 66 businesses! It's at 1629 11th St. (Route 66). Try it!!

Emerging from Hibernation With a Smile

Being snowbound isn't all bad. Isolation can lead to creativity -- in my case, creativity about which I've been procrastinating for months and months. Yesterday, I put the finishing touches on a big project promised to the Route 66 Interpretive Center in Chandler for way too long. The feeling of completion is wonderful!

I am very fortunate to have a large collection of Route 66 postcards (about 5000 at last count). A subcategory of collectible postcards, called "real photo cards", is just what it sounds like -- real photos! These are the black-and-white images from the early to mid-20th century which are printed directly on photographic paper. They were often the product of itinerant photographers who would come into a town, take photos of landmarks and businesses, then sell them to the people of the town. They are quite rare and reasonably valuable. I have quite a few real photo cards, and it's with these that I created my display. The display consists of four big frames which, when hung together, show all of Route 66 as depicted on these real photo cards. It consists of images of filling stations, motels, and cafes. I hope everyone will come to the Interpretive Center this summer to see the display. Meanwhile, here are a few of the cards I used in the display, so you can see what I'm talking about. Carter & Lawson's Underpass Cafe and Service Station, U.S. Hwy 66, Phillipsburg, MO

Coronado Court, Kingman AZ Rare view from North Terrace of Oklahoma State Capitol, showing gas station across the street and many oil well derricks in the background. Route 66 at one time ran directly in front of the Capitol in Oklahoma City.

Here's a bad photo of part of one of the frames, complete with glare. :-(

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For those who have been following my winter saga, I'm happy to announce that I had my driveway shoveled last night, and this morning I had no trouble driving to and from the dialysis center. So I'm back to being my normal, calm self and can stop exhibiting the annoying traits of the highly stressed. But don't get me wrong. I still hate snow! My driveway, or as much as you can see from my front door

One more update

I've been dug out! It only took about 25 calls to plowers and shovelers, but I found some delightful young men who are painters in "real life" and are making a little money during the blizzard by shoveling. They did a great job and were as pleasant as could be.

Onward and upward! I'm not sure about trips to Afton this weekend, though. Apparently they got even more snow than we did, and Miami (15 miles down the road from Afton) was named as having the highest snow accumulation in the state. Could be ugly up that way.

Stay tuned.

Just an update. . .

The snowstorm is finally over. The sun is out. Tulsa, OK racked up over 14 inches of snow, breaking all records for a continuous snowfall here. I have stayed warm and dry (and hungry), and have made many calls to folks to see about getting shoveled out. The problem is that the snowplow people can't get out of their own driveways! Many main roads are closed. I have drifts of at least 4-5 ft. in my driveway, so I'll have to skip dialysis tomorrow morning. I do have a nice person telling me that he can probably come late tomorrow to do the plowing.

Oh, we also may break records for cold temperatures! This is quite the bummer! I'm watching my young, fit neighbor try to get up the steps to his house. He's struggling. Ah Spring, where art thou?

I Am Not Amused!

It's no secret that I HATE snow! I don't consider it pretty or fun or even interesting. In fact, I consider it a pain in the ass, period! Today, here in beautiful downtown Tulsa, we are having a good old-fashioned blizzard! Tulsa isn't famous for big snowfalls, so they're predicting this one will break records. I grew up in lake-effect snow country (Cleveland, OH), and then spent most of my adulthood in snow country (Connecticut), but I never got used to it. I really hoped this would never happen here in Oklahoma, but here it is. The photo below was taken 5 minutes ago from my front porch. If it looks familiar to you, the second photo was taken almost exactly a year ago, Jan 29, 2010 to be exact. But this year, there's a lot more snow!!

Feb. 1, 2011Jan. 29, 2010

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I'm sure this looks like nothing to my friends on the East Coast after the mess they've gone through this winter, but please forgive my grumbling. Part of my bad mood comes from the fact that I have to semi-fast today since there's a chance I might not get to dialysis tomorrow. Nothing like being stuck in the house during a snowstorm and unable to eat or drink. If you don't hear from me again, it's because I've chewed my fingers off.

Here's my brown car. Maybe when the snow stops, I'll be able to test Subaru's claims of building the #1 best car for handling in the snow. I'll be back with a report tomorrow.

Aging Googie and other matters

Architecturally, "Googie" is the term for structures and signs that are distinctive due to their '50s look, featuring sharp angles, stars, arrows, and anything that connotes "space age". Think of the recently restored Munger Moss Motel sign, with which most of you are familiar, and you've got the idea. http://tinyurl.com/4cbrk6g

Although most signs of this genre are long gone, some are still standing in good shape and in working order. Others are still standing but fading, dying, rusting, broken or at best, repurposed.

This morning I went seeking Googie signs on or very near Route 66 alignments in Tulsa, specifically those which have seen better days. There are still a few standing, and although all that I've photographed here have definitely seen better days, one can catch a glimpse of their googie past in their shape and design. I was rather moved by this self-imposed assignment, because seeking out this signage easily threw me back to memories of my childhood travels, when these brightly lighted neon wonders were a highlight of the roadside. Today, they are mostly sad.

It's interesting that the arrow seems to be the main feature of most Googie signs. Although most neon is long gone and rust has taken over most, one can still see shards of light bulbs, flashes of paint, and of course the shapes remain. Those that have been repurposed generally have been done by simply repainting a new logo over an old. Here are a few I found. You should be able to click them to enlarge.This sign, on 11th St., is still in good order and I've often wondered if it's always been a used car dealership or whether it has been repurposed. Anyone know?

A definite Sign of the Times. See how the word "RADIO" has been painted over to say "VCR".

Here's one that has no paint remaining, and yet almost all the bulbs on the arrow are still intact.

This was a Piggly Wiggly Market until just a few years ago. I hope anyone who leases the building will consider keeping the sign.

Whoever repurposed this sign has left the arrow but painted over the message. Unfortunately, the day-glo '60s repainting is in direct contrast to the Googie arrow.

It's amazing how many old Googie signs on 11th St. or Admiral are now owned by used car dealers. At least they use them instead of tearing them down.

Another one in decent shape, but painted over.

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I treated myself to an amazing breakfast this morning at a place called The Wild Fork in Utica Square in Tulsa, four blocks off Route 66. It's definitely NOT a greasy spoon diner, my usual choice, but instead it's one of the few upscale restaurants in town that serve an early breakfast. Here's what I tried to eat, and managed to get through half of it. Taquitos with cheesy grits and fresh fruit. The taquitos themselves were loaded with huge chunks of sausage, cheese, jalapenos, onion, and sour cream. (I hope my dietitian isn't reading this!)

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Two more observations from this morning's outing:

Remember the heap of bowling balls on Admiral which were gathered there as a monument to world peace? Thoughts from a Route 66 Business Owner: Who Knew? It appears that someone or something has knocked part of the fence over and made off with most of the balls, but now there's a truck parked there which is a wonderful throwback to the Peace and Love '60s. I like this and I love the devotion with which the constructor of this "monument" perseveres in his quest for peace. Good for him! (There's even a Googie arrow on his sign!)

Finally, hiding behind another building and hard to find unless you're really looking for it is the remains of an old motel at 5318 E.11th St. (Route 66). Clearly it was once a motel, but I feel that most of it has been torn down, leaving two double units now known as the 11th St. Inn -- Weekly Sleeping Rooms. Definitely NOT recommended for travelers, but interesting nonetheless.

Early Morning Tulsa Prowl

I just can't stay at home. The first thing I think about on a morning like this, since I decided yesterday not to open Afton Station today and I have no particular other plans, is to hop in the car and go somewhere. So, I did. By the time I left the grocery store by 6 a.m. and breakfast at a diner by 6:30, the sun was just beginning to make the sky glow a little bit. There was a haze in the air and I was pretty sure it would lend itself to some good photography once there was a little more light in the sky, so naturally I went for a drive. Here are a few of the pictures I captured in the chilly pre-sunlight.
It's mornings like this that make me renew my love for this town. Tulsa is the perfect combination of industry, green spaces, commerce, beautiful homes, wonderful people, and Route 66!

R.I.P. Admiral Twin Drive-In

I got word from Marian Clark, via our Route 66 Yahoo group, that the iconic Admiral Twin Drive-In on Route 66 here in Tulsa was on fire. Although I'd just walked into the house, I grabbed my camera and drove across town to the site. Sure enough, it was a smoldering superstructure by the time I got there. They weren't letting us mortal humans anywhere near the site, but I managed to get this shot from my moving car through a chain link fence. The blackened uprights being sprayed are the bones of the huge two-sided screen. This picture is from a news report that was just posted.

Here is the drive-in in better days.
To the best of my knowledge, it was still a vital business this summer, with double features on both screens on weekends. I have also heard that it was quite well-attended.

I took this picture last year because I wanted to see how the Admiral Twin would look at dusk. The fact that I never actually attended a movie there is making me very morose. How many times have I said, "I really need to get to the Admiral Twin before they close for the winter"? As with most people in my age group, I grew up going to drive-ins, both as a child with my parents and later on dates in high school and college. I mourn the loss of yet another of these pieces of our country's entertainment history.

The Admiral Twin was featured in the movie "The Outsiders", but that didn't mean as much to me as another fact. One of my all-time favorite books, "TheFlamingo Rising", was about a family that lived in the structure between the screens of a two-sided drive-in. The author of the book, Larry Baker, got the idea for the location because he ran the Admiral Twin for a time in the '60s and '70s and often fantasized about what it would be like to live between the screens. I knew this long before I had any thoughts of moving to Tulsa, and when I did relocate here, the Admiral Twin was one of the first places I had to visit.

I am mad that I never attended a movie there. I'm sad for Tulsa and for Route 66. We cannot afford to lose another drive-in. This is not a good day.

SNOWklahoma!

This was sent to me by a friend who lives in Mesa, Arizona -- along with a taunt and a description of their lovely weather there today. Thanks a bunch, Mike! (LOL!)

SNOW....klahoma!
Where the cold front's sweepin' down the plain
And the piles of sleet,
Beneath your feet
Follow right behind the freezing rain.
We know we belong to the land
But it could use some more salt and sand
That's why we say.....
WHOA! We're sliding the other way.....
YIKES! We're ...only sayin'
You're slick as snot SNOWklahoma
SNOWklahoma
SNOW-K-L-A-H-O-M-A
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I'm sorry to say that it's a perfect description of Oklahoma today. Right now we're having a virtual blizzard, which is doing a fine job of covering up the 1/2 inch of ice and the 1/2 inch of sleet beneath it. Everything is at a standstill, including me. I spent an hour this morning first melting then scraping that 1/2 inch off the windows of my car. I couldn't go anywhere, I just wanted to get ahead of things.

There will be no Afton Station tomorrow, and unless a miracle occurs, no Afton Station on Sunday either. So instead, here's a photo of what I'm seeing out my front door in Tulsa right now. Just lovely.... NOT!
From what I can tell by reading their Facebook page, apparently the Extreme Makeover project I told you about yesterday is going ahead today despite the inclimate weather. I'm sure they have a schedule they have to stick to as closely as possible. It will be interesting to see today's report.

Extremes in Tulsa

Extreme Makeover weather has come to Oklahoma. Well, actually both! Those of you who are familiar with the ABC reality show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" know that it involves going to various towns in the U.S., choosing a deserving family, and in the course of one miraculous week, demolishing their house and rebuilding a beautiful new home for them. I've always been fascinated by the speed with which the homes are built. I was skeptical for a long time, but having followed the progress of another one of the homes built in this area, I know that there's no TV "magic" involved. They really DO build, decorate, landscape, and furnish a whole house in seven days. Amazing.

This week, Extreme Makeover is building a house for a Tulsa family, and the house happens to be less than a half block off Route 66 (11th St.) and easily within view when driving past. Ron M. had signed up to be a volunteer helper, but due to the huge response, apparently he wasn't chosen, so we decided to drive down and check things out today.

Since we have a BIG ice storm arriving today at just about the same time that first day filming was to begin, we found out they've pushed back the actual filming until tomorrow. Nevertheless, there was plenty of activity going on at the site today. The big "Move That Bus!" bus is there, lots of people milling around, and of course lots of roadblocks and police presence. But we managed to take a few pictures on the fly driving past on Route 66, and I'll try to get some more photos as the week progresses.

The bus that brings the "stars" to the site.
People gathering at the house to be demolished.

In the meantime, wish us luck. The ice storm is predicted to be pretty severe. I'm not happy! If I don't lose power, I'll be posting updates.

Who Knew?

I didn't know until today, while driving down Admiral Place (one of the old alignments of Route 66 in Tulsa), that we were the home to the World Peace Monument! Furthermore, who knew that it was made out of BOWLING BALLS? As I stopped and gazed in awe at this magnificent tribute to harmony in the world, I couldn't help but wonder: What the heck do bowling balls have to do with peace? But hey, anything that tries to bring people together all over the world is just fine with me.
If you wish to contribute your old bowling ball to what I suspect is intended to be an ever-growing heap, the contact information is below.Here's Jimmy Kimmel's interview with the builder from late last year. This is great! The builder even mentions Route 66!

YouTube - Jimmy Kimmel - Bowling Balls For Peace

And here is further explanation from the Tulsa World.

Tulsa World: Monument of faith

Admiral Place

Instead of going to Afton Station today (still bad roads and closed schools up there), I decided to cruise Admiral Place right here in Tulsa and see if I could uncover some gems.

The other day, someone suggested to me that Route 66 folks should put more emphasis on Admiral Place. It's part of the 1926-1932 alignment, but isn't as well known as 11th St ., which runs parallel to it on the east side of the city. In my own opinion, there are a couple of reasons for this. For one thing, it's not very picturesque. In fact, it's pretty darn ugly. It's a strip of run-down stores and motels, and interspersed with fast food joints. At first glance, it would seem that there wasn't anything left of value there from the golden age of Route 66 in Tulsa. Also, it's just not that well-known, either to Tulsans or to Route 66 fans. But it must be remembered that Tulsa is also known as the Art Deco capital of the U.S., and thus there was a time in our history when even the smaller, insignificant buildings in town were built with touches of the deco or craftsman style.

My mission was to drive slowly and look for what might be left of significance on Admiral Place. I admit I wasn't very successful. There really weren't any gems. And yet there were a few structures with architectural elements, and of course there were quite a few "ruins" of the old motels that once were the lifeblood of the road. Here are a few pictures I snapped. Please remember that it was a gray, cold, rather dark day. Atop "Affordable Furniture" Co.
The Newton Building, built in 1934

Some art deco detail around the door of this otherwise nondescript building

Remains of a sign, and the vertical stone so popular in the '20s

More light brick and decorative detail, some crumbling on the tower

The Circle Inn is closed and deteriorating.

Hank's Hamburgers has been around since 1949 on Admiral, and is still popular, thriving, and a Route 66 icon. Hank's Hamburgers

That's a mere fraction of interesting detail on Admiral Place. They don't jump out at you -- you must seek them out yourself.

Roadie without a road

This has got to be a new record for this roadie, and frankly, she is going insane! Except for my 1-mile drive to dialysis and back yesterday, I haven't been out of the house for more than 72 hours. Generally, my restlessness begins after around 72 minutes without a steering wheel in my hands. I've made the decision to stay in one more day, although the roads are clearing and I'm sure I'd be ok out there. But now, this staying home thing has become a challenge. I'm learning how to use my time wisely. Hmm... well, maybe not TOO wisely. So far, I've rearranged the freezer, updated my address book, watched part of the movie "Knocked Up" (pretty good!), watched a little more Julia Child, and did my weekly load of laundry.

But then, I heard my Route 66 postcard albums calling, and that brought any really constructive work to a complete halt. I was just browsing through some of the albums I haven't looked at for a while, and here are a few things I found.

Here's a postcard of a motor court on Route 66 east of downtown Tulsa in the '50s. Individual cabins, big pool, very inviting place. It was called the Tulsa Mo-tel, and it had a wonderfully space age sign.

Here's the site now -- an abandoned used car lot. Sorry to bum you out, but it certainly did so for me.Photo from Google Images Street View

Here's another motel that was also on Route 66 in Tulsa in the 50s. Note the murals, which the back of the card describe as depicting the history of Tulsa. In it's place now is the Bama Pie manufacturing plant where they make the pies for McDonald's and other food establishments. Oh, well....

I'm fortunate enough to own an original copy of Rittenhouse's "A Guide Book To Highway 66", which is considered to be the first guidebook to the Mother Road. . . Copyright 1946, price: $1.00. It's in pretty good shape, too. The entry for Afton simply says: "A similar [to Narcissa] small community is AFTON. . . (population 1,261, alt. 290', Baker's Cafe, Northeast garage, and Eagle Service Station garage; Acme Court.)" The Eagle Service Station is now my Afton Station, so felt good to see it recognized in Rittenhouse, especially since there were about 8 service stations in Afton at that time.

You've heard me write about the mining district of Ottawa County (Picher, Cardin, Miami) several times in the past. I thought this was an interesting postcard which is captioned, "Birdseye View of Miami, Oklahoma Showing Mines in Distance". If anyone can see the mines in the distance, please let me know. That little puff of smoke, perhaps? I love old postcards that are ridiculously useless. This is one of them.
Here's one that actually shows the mining district. Note the pile of lead filings on the left. It's still there. :-(

(My other ramblings about the mining district can be found by doing a search of "Picher" on my blog.)

I guess that's all for today. I hope to get to Afton one day this week, hopefully Tuesday, to check on things and perhaps catch some folks traveling home from Christmas family visits.