Oklahoma
It wouldn’t have felt like a trip to Oklahoma without a stop at a county fair. Here are the canned goods with their prize ribbons (just one of many categories of flora, fauna, art & other contests).
It’s state #42 – Oklahoma!
30-Aug-2014
On the road to Stillwater to visit the Payne County Free Fair. Yes, it is hot, but we hope to do something fun and “country” Temp is in the high 90s, but luckily most of the fair is inside in the a/c. Everyone is very friendly and intrigued by our 50 by 50 visit to OK.
City slicker at the Payne County Free Fair.
There are judges’ ribbons on all sorts of things: art work from little kids to adults, photography, one aisle of pickled produce flowers, quilts, baked goods, sewing, etc. In the barn the 4-H kids had “Petting zoo” consisting of Guinea pigs and baby goats. A cat and rooster were in a holding pattern in cages. I was so tempted to tell the kids that we feasted on deep fried rabbit last week AND had it served with wild fennel and smelling of licorice in Italy, but we withheld. Even more devastating would be the knowledge that South Americans turn Guinea pigs into their own personal s’mores / kabobs / corn dog, take your pick.
Pulled pork and beans at The Smokey Pokey, authentic pit bbq just off the highway near Stillwater, OK.
En route back we stopped at the truck stop that advertised “Best Pork Butt” in the county and a “Beer Cave” with their huge billboards along the highway. Therefore, lunch was at the “The Smokey Pokey” at the Cowboy Travel Plaza, brought to you by Conoco Oil. Walk to the back, seat yourself. Pulled pork sandwich and roasted chicken with hand-cut fries of perfect texture, homemade baked beans and a pickle bar.
Great visit to the National Cowboy And Western Heritage Museum, which is bright, clean, and large. A Marlboro Man exhibit shows old photos / paintings used for advertising. Well, he was a cowboy and sold the dream as well as the cigarettes On wing dedicated to fine art, including not only bronzes by Remington but also intricate and stunning drawings.
A tiny 3 row movie theater plays a video on the history of Western movies from silent to sound and their stars. There’s a rodeo setup with real fences with rodeo history. Another room is full of rifles and ammunition.
A lot of fun is an old west town, complete with US Marshall’s office, bank, horse renting building, general store. The church was playing “Bringing in the Sheeves,” known to us through “Little House on the Prairie.”
YeeHaw! National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, which has a comprehensive art and artifacts collection as well as lovely grounds.
Many fountains and water features grace the museum’s grounds. Inside experience a repro of a western town.
Dinner at Cattlemens Steakhouse Restaurant in Stockyards City, a fun area with Western apparel stores, a gift store selling old time candy and sugar laced micro brew sodas. Menu lists the t-bone as their Presidential cut, eaten by some Bush, as well as Lamb Fries. Yes, lamb fries are breaded and fried lamb testicles, “only place in town you can get them” beams Jose, our waiter.
31 Aug, 2014
Myriad Botanical Gardens in downtown OK City is a delight for the senses. A huge cylinder constructed of glass and cement straddles a small valley outfitted with stone steps and grass. We get in for free because of reciprocity with Winterthur (and its horticulture gardens program).
Must be very fun in winter, but it’s a giant greenhouse and even hotter than outside so we didn’t last too long.
The OK City Museum Of Art also has reciprocity as part of the NARM (North American Reciprocal Museums). Outstanding exhibition of Paris’ Ecole de Beaux Artes. The permanent collections include a large Dale Chihuly exhibit.
Wise choice to have lunch in the Asian District (ironically we read an article about this in the new September 2014 “Food & Wine” magazine after we return home), with banh me at Le’s Sandwiches. Crispy, fresh baked baguettes, sesame balls and other treats are tasty and enjoyed while observing elderly Vietnamese ladies, pan-Asian family groups, and local white people.
We spend the afternoon OK City National Memorial & Museum, which details what happened that day in April 1995 when some nut parked a Ryder truck full of explosives and blew up half a Federal building that housed a daycare, social security office, etc. 168 people died. The outside is a huge reflective pool between 2 walls labeled 9:01 and 9:03 (the explosion happened at 9:02). Emotional place. Quite a few elderly couples perished, and we can only assume they had gone to the Social Security office to take care of their accounts.
Next stop is the Art Fair at Oklahoma City Community College. Live music, varied arts and crafts, and of course no such event would be complete without a truck selling foot-long corn dogs.
During our rest at the hotel we stumble upon TCM showing the movie “The Big Land” (1957), about early days of The Bad Lands (i.e. Oklahoma).
Iron Starr is our dinner destination, a nice place — casual, but not grungy. Waitress is very knowledgeable about beer, recommends Moose Drool beer. Salad with chipotle spiced buttermilk dressing was great with cornbread croutons. Juicy roasted chicken half, with corn pudding and collard greens, beef brisket, ribs, sweet potatoes and mac and cheese.
1-Sep-2014
Morning drive through the Bricktown neighborhood, home to Mickey Mantle baseball stadium, a brick road, restaurants, etc and then through Automobile Alley and the Paseo District. We make an obligatory stop at a yard sale, where the seller’s mom invites us in to her daughter’s bungalow. We love the fireplace, built-ins, woodworkand it kills us that we could by this for less than $75K. True to friendly form, the lady gave us a CD of her music.
Snack stop back in the Asian District at Super Cao Nguyen market (also mentioned in the “Food & Wine” article). Huge place filled with of Asian groceries, fruits, sweets, not so clean. My favorite is vacuum packed frozen cooked Silkworms in some juice.