Tulsa: Weird and Wonderful

Coming into Town: Cars, Whales, and Babe Ruth

Shortly after leaving Joplin, Galena, KS lifted our spirits with the sight of ‘Tow Tater’, the inspiration for the Tow-Mater character from the movie Cars.  Sadly, it was already late in the afternoon so we missed the proprietor, who Janean from back in Missouri called the ‘Mouth of the South.’

Dad, this is when I said i was talking to you...

The Route wound through Kansas for only a short few miles before we entered Oklahoma.  At the border, we made sure Dorothy could hop out of the car for a photo and the opportunity to utter the line ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore!’ 

Red shoes not required.

Shortly before entering Tulsa, we came upon one of the Route’s most famous landmarks.  Naturally, it’s a big, blue, concrete whale sporting a ballcap in the middle of a small pond. 

Hugh Davis built the Blue Whale of Catoosa in 1970 as a surprise gift for his wife Zelta, who collected whale figurines.  Luckily, Lindsey doesn’t collect any figurines (just stray animals). 

 

We coasted the final few miles into Tulsa, a city that has embraced the travelers the Route brings into town.  66 signage is everywhere, and the city has included development along the route as a strategy in its 2025 Plan. 



Elvis enjoying sunny Tulsa.

Discovering Tulsa

We stayed at the Mayo Hotel, an 18 story tower opened in 1925 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The Mayo hosted some of Tulsa’s most famous visitors - Mae West, Babe Ruth, JFK and Bob Hope.  While the hotel sat abandoned for two decades, it was renovated in the early 2000s and now boasts uber-luxurious rooms larger than any DC apartment I’ve ever seen.  Quite a stark contrast to some of the motels we’ve stayed in so far, and a testament to how far a dollar goes in Tulsa compared to DC. 

For dinner, Linds and I discovered Eloté, described online as ‘odd’, ‘weird’ and ‘delicious.’  It was all those things and more.  When we walked in, the first thing we noticed was the Mexican wrestling ring in the corner, and the roomful of Tuslans happily scarfing down Mexican cuisine. 



Wrestler Macho Taco at work on some enchiladas.

 Lindsey order the puffy tacos (pictured below, and described by Lindsey as so tasty she wanted to ‘swim in it’) from a waiter who was ½ ZZ Top, ½ Skinhead, and all hipster.  We asked him about the best thing to do in Tulsa.  He replied, “I don’t know.  Ride a bike?”  He had lived in Tulsa his whole life except for a brief stint in New York described as “awesome” and “too expensive.”


Puffy tacos.



We started our morning at the Blue Dome Diner, where breakfast was served with a side of breakfast (no joke, see the photos) and Lindsey got a kick out of her ‘fat cat capsizing’ coffee mug.  After dining, we saw Tulsa’s famous landmark, the Golden Driller.  Built in ’53 for the International Petroleum Expo, the driller rests on an actual oil derrick and signifies Tulsa’s rich oil history.  For much of the early 1900’s, Tulsa was known as the “Oil Capital of the World’, a legacy still present in the city’s art-deco architecture mostly constructed in the 20’s and 30’s.  The driller stood in front of the Tulsa Expo Center, which today was hosting the “Tulsa Roundup Dog Shows!” complete with dog portraits.

Breakfast with a side of breakfast.

Note the miniature version in front of the compact.

Err?

Not too far down the road from the Golden Driller was another unusual landmark, the CityPlex Tower, situated across the street from Oral Roberts University.  Originally known as the City of Faith, CityPlex is a 600 foot tall former hospital turned corporate complex.  In 1977, Oral Roberts claimed to have a vision to build the City of Faith, and directed its construction after having more visions of Jesus telling him to continue.  One vision in 1980 included a description of a 900 foot tall Jesus looming 300 feet taller than the completed City of Faith.  The hospital opened in 1981, and after going $25 million into debt, it closed in 1989. 



Former City of Faith



Our last stop out of town was a t-shirt stop right on the route.  The proprietor, a scruffy dude in his late 20’s, grew up in Chicago and "somehow ended up in Tulsa." Ringing us up he said, "[Tulsans] are either the sweetest people I’ve ever met, or the complete opposite.  Everyone’s an individual, not like Chicago where it was more communal.  The radical religion takes some getting used to.” 

We brought up our experience meeting Europeans on the Route.  “Yeah, I lived in Europe for a while.  All of them want to drive a motorcycle across Route 66.  I live on the Route, what’s the big deal?” 

And, onward we go. Next stop: Oklahoma City.