Touring Tulsa

 & the kicks on Route 66

This is the Blue Whale located in Catoosa, Oklahoma, about 15 miles east of downtown Tulsa.  The Blue Whale is one of the most recognizable attractions on old Route 66.  It was built in the 1970s by Hugh Davis as a surprise for his wife, Zelta, who collected whale figurines.  The pond where the whale rests is spring fed.  When the attraction originally debuted, it was open to the public for swimming.  While swimming is no longer allowed, you are able to fish and picnic.  There is a great souvenir shop onsite, and the proprietor is a treasure-trove of local history.

This is The Outsiders house located in west Tulsa.  The Outsiders is a novel written by S.E. Hinton, a native Tulsan.  She started the book when she was 15, and finished it at the age of 16.  The book was first published in 1967 when Hinton was 18.  The book has been banned in some schools because of the portrayal of gang violence, underage smoking and drinking, strong language, and dysfunctional families.  It is also the recipient of the Margaret Edwards literary award.  Here's a recommendation from me to you:  Read the book.  You can thank me later.  

Meadow Gold milk and ice cream sign built in 1934 located on Route 66.

Across the street from the Meadow Gold sign is Buck Atom's Cosmic Curios.  Buck began his life in the 1960s in Calgary, Alberta, as the space cowboy muffler man and ended up bashed and shattered in a junkyard in Edmonton, Alberta.  Buck was found, restored, and installed on the old Route 66 in May of 2019.

Decopolis Discovitorium and TulsaRama on Route 66.  Love the sinage!

Black Wall Street, Greenwood District, Tulsa, Oklahoma

The Tulsa Race Massacre occurred on May 31 and June 1, 1921.  It was the worst race massacre in American history.  The riot began when a 19-year-old Black male shoe shiner was accused of assaulting a 17-year-old White female elevator operator.  It is an horrific story.  The massacre has been in the Tulsa daily news recently as the City, after nearly 100 years, has begun searching for mass graves of victims that were said to be secretly buried.  Yesterday, the City uncovered ten unmarked graves in a trench.  The wooden coffins were laid out side-by-side.  The search continues for additional remains of victims.

The Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church is the only standing, Black-owned structure from the historic Black Wall Street era in Tulsa.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August 2018.

Views of downtown Tulsa.  Two bottom photos are of ahha Tulsa, an art gallery.

This is the Center of the Universe located in the Brady District of Tulsa.  The Center of the Universe is a little-known mysterious acoustical phenomenon.  If you stand in the middle of the circle and make a noise, the sound is echoed back several times louder than it was made.  The theory is that the sound hits the concrete walls that surround the Center of the Universe and reverberate back creating the echo effect.  Consort and I tried recording the echo standing in the echo zone, and also outside of the echo zone, but were unable to capture the strange phenomenon.  

Tulsa Union Depot, a former central railway station, is now home to the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.

Fat Guy's Burger Bar, where we stopped for lunch.

It is, without a doubt, a Tulsa favorite of both consort and I.

These two photos are of the Abundant Life building in downtown Tulsa.  The circular tower in one photo is  the University Club Tower.  

The Abundant Life building was constructed in 1958 as the world headquarters for the Oral Roberts ministry.  It was in use by the ministry until the early '70s at which time it was abandoned for new headquarters located on the Oral Roberts University campus in south Tulsa.  It is a huge, windowless, seven-story, concrete block setting in south downtown Tulsa.  Abandoned, dark, and in a state of decay, the Abundant Life building does not live up to its name. 

The gold diamonds that adorn the building are beginning to fall off.  The City is in a dilemma as to what to do with the building:  Tear it down, or preserve the at-risk mid-century architecture.  

Interesting note.  Unless you have the ability to walk through walls, there is no way in. 

This is the Cave House, a quirky little house just a few blocks west of downtown Tulsa.  The house dates back to the 1920s and was known as the Cave Garden Restaurant.  It served fried chicken outside at picnic tables during the day and became a speakeasy at night.  Patrons of the speakeasy would enter the house and then follow a secret tunnel through the fireplace that led to a large room under a hill.  The current owner of the house, who lives onsite, offers tours of the house for the curious.

So there you have it, our brief trip through Tulsa.  There were a few things on our list that we had not seen before, like Buck Atom and The Outsiders house; there was at least one thing we wondered about but had never checked out, the Abundant Life building; and a major historical event of which we were completely ignorant, the Tulsa Race Massacre.  We really enjoyed our journey through Tulsa as tourists.  Although we lived in the Tulsa metropolitan area for nearly 40 years, we've found there's always something more to discover in our own backyard.