Tulsa World Magazine May-June 2019

TULSA WORLD MAGAZINE

ISSUE 22 / MAY-JUNE 2019

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TULSA WORLD MAGAZINE

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE

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Take a road trip to Arkansas, Wichita, Missouri or find new adventures in your own backyard

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HIDDEN GEMS FOR FOODIES: DISCOVER 12 UNIQUE RESTAURANTS SPECIAL SECTION: THE LATEST HOME TRENDS IN THE TULSA AREA

Dr. Pickens follows his calling back to his hometown.

Few people wind up in the profession they chose as a child, but Dr. Michael Pickens did. “When I was nine, I told my parents I was going to take care of sick kids here in Oklahoma,” he said. A board-certified pediatric gastroenterologist who has trained in several major children’s hospitals around the country, Dr. Pickens has returned home to Tulsa to care for patients at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis.

He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of pediatric conditions related to the digestive system, liver and nutrition concerns.

“Saint Francis Health System is a great medical organization that provides exceptional care,” he said.

“To be back here, doing what I’ve always wanted to do—I think I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”

For more information or to find a Warren Clinic primary care physician, specialist or urgent care location, please visit warrenclinic.com or call 918-488-6688.

Michael Pickens, D.O. PEDIATRIC GASTROENTEROLOGY

SAINT FRANCIS HOSPITAL | THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL AT SAINT FRANCIS | WARREN CLINIC | HEART HOSPITAL AT SAINT FRANCIS | SAINT FRANCIS HOSPITAL SOUTH | LAUREATE PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC AND HOSPITAL SAINT FRANCIS HOSPITAL MUSKOGEE | SAINT FRANCIS HOSPITAL VINITA | SAINT FRANCIS BROKEN ARROW | SAINT FRANCIS CANCER CENTER | SAINT FRANCIS HOME CARE COMPANIES | SAINT FRANCIS GLENPOOL

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The Keeper of the Plains in Wichita, Kansas.

JOHN CLANTON/ Tulsa World Magazine

ON THE COVER: The Wichita Mountains in southwest Oklahoma.

WILLIAM MATTHEY/ For Tulsa World Magazine

@tulsamagazine

MAY-JUNE 2019

facebook.com/tulsaworldmag

FROM THE COVER

The TRAVEL Issue

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Vacation at home: Get a fresh perspective on Tulsa with a trip right in your backyard.

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Have MO fun in Missouri: There’s plenty to do between Tulsa and Kansas City.

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Big time in Big D: We crowd-sourced the best things to see and do when you visit Dallas.

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Wichita wonders: Head up to Kansas and see a Wichita you might not recognize.

Arkansas adventures: Discover the eclectic delights of Northwest Arkansas.

Outdoor Oklahoma: Hiking, biking, climbing and more in the Sooner State.

ALSO INSIDE

Six for OKC: From zip lines to top restaurants, try these tips when you’re in Oklahoma City.

Touring the tribes: Find where you can learn more about Oklahoma’s Indian heritage.

6

How I Got Here: Ricco Wright tries to bring Tulsa together.

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Hidden gems: Find some of northeast Oklahoma’s culinary delights that are somewhat off the beaten path but worth the trip.

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Shades for days: Find the hottest looks in sunglasses for the summer with the coolest frames in Tulsa.

4 Tulsa World Magazine

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Beef vs. chicken: Oklahoma boasts a beef bonanza. Arkansas counters with champion chicken.

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The End: Why wouldn’t tourists take a trip to Tulsa?

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

FROMTHE

EDITOR. Tulsa World Magazine is a specialty publication of the Tulsa World, 315 S. Boulder Ave., Tulsa, OK 74103.

This magazine is published with the May 11, 2019, edition of the World.

All content copyright Tulsa World 2019.

The contents may not be reproduced without permission.

These aren’t your parents’ road trips

ASHLEY PARRISH Editor ashley.parrish@tulsaworld.com NICOLE MARSHALL MIDDLETON Assistant Editor nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com James Royal Lead Designer SARA STEPHENSON Slot Editor Scott Cherry, Jason Collington, Michael Overall, Kelsy Schlotthauer, Jimmie Tramel, JAmes D. Watts Jr. Writers JOHN CLANTON Photo Editor Anna Codutti, John Walblay Page Editors KYLE MARGERUM, Vanessa Pearson, Steve Reckinger Designers Additional copies of Tulsa World Magazine can be found at the Tulsa World or at local retailers. Yearly magazine subscriptions are $29.70 for six issues. To subscribe or to have single issues mailed for $4.95, go to tulsaworldmagazine.com or call 918-582-0921.

ADVERTISE IN TULSA WORLD MAGAZINE To advertise, call 918-581-8509 or email jennifer.carthel@tulsaworld.com.

WANT MORE TWM?

ASHLEY PARRISH Tulsa World Magazine Editor

R

oad trips when I was a kid meant fighting with my brother for space in the backseat of a Toyota Tercel station wagon.

The only amusement was watching for Stuckey’s signs, groaning at Mom’s Patsy Cline cassette tape and begging Dad to stop for the night at a motel with a pool.

My kids have no idea how good they have it in the back of an SUV with their tablets, headphones and bags of snacks.

But those blessed quiet hours on the road with absorbed kids in the backseat make road trips a lot more enjoyable than I’m sure they were in the early ’80s for my parents.

Some of our favorite trips are spur of the moment.

We’ll take off for Pawhuska to spend the day at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. We’ll decide we’re done with housework or yardwork for a weekend and drive to Oklahoma City, hitting our favorite S&B Burger Joint for lunch and The Wedge for dinner with a trip to the Science Museum Oklahoma or a park in between.

We recently realized we’d never been to Bentonville and had to rectify that. We found a good internet rate for a hotel, got the kids in the car and explored Crystal Bridges Museum a few hours later. It was gorgeous. But I remember the butternut squash enchiladas from Table Mesa and hanging out in the town square with ice cream from the Walmart Museum almost as fondly.

With this issue of the magazine, we’re trying to give you those same experiences. These are trips you can plan quickly — all are within easy driving distance. We’re giving you our favorite places to visit and to eat in our favorite cities.

I lobbied hard to include the prosciutto and fig pizza at The Wedge in Oklahoma City. But if that doesn’t sound good, I’ll bet you will find something that does.

Sit back and mark up this magazine. Circle some places that sound fun, pack up the kids and go explore.

If you want to download some Patsy Cline for the car, go ahead. Your kids will thank you later.

Don’t want to miss a copy of Tulsa World Magazine?

Make sure you get them all by subscribing to the Tulsa World at tulsaworld.com/subscribe.

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Tulsa World Magazine 5­​

how I got here.

Ricco Wright Wright owns the Black Wall Street Gallery, 101 N. Greenwood Ave. The gallery’s latest exhibit is called “The Conciliation Series” — featuring one African-American artist and one Caucasian artist. He graduated from Union High School and studied mathematics at Langston University before going to Columbia University for his doctorate.

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Ricco Wright Using 700 square feet to bring Tulsa together Interview by Jason Collington / Photo by John Clanton

> I think the tipping point was when I went around to several different galleries advocating for Black Moon, a collective of black artists in Tulsa, and I wanted their artwork to get on the walls. While I made friends with the gallery owners, I didn’t get far. I became frustrated and decided to start my own gallery. > At Columbia University, we have this arts initiative. It allows for free or reduced prices to everything arts related in New York City. That is when I became fully immersed in the arts. I was really, really lucky. > For me, it’s about curating culture for Tulsa. I wanted to bring the cliques together. That is how you build community. > The Tulsa Arts District’s First Friday Art Crawl goes from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. But not at Black Wall Street Gallery. We go until midnight. People want to be around other good people. > I wanted to be a lawyer. I had hoop dreams. I wanted to be Allen Iverson. I modeled my game after Allen Iverson.

I tried out at Langston and didn’t make it. There went my hoop dreams. So I majored in mathematics and got involved in student leadership, and my life took on a different trajectory. > I was born and raised in Tulsa. We lived in every manor there is — Apache Manor, Mohawk Manor. We ended up in Turley. I had no idea I was poor. My dad hosted all these barbecues and cookouts for the neighborhood. I thought we were rich. > We were in Section 8 housing, and my mom never liked where we lived. She had a certain class about her. > In high school, I was a smart kid who didn’t apply himself and was pretty good at basketball. > I moved to New York City because I thought Tulsa had challenged me enough. If I am going to make it, I need to be challenged in a place with so much music and arts.

I was there for graduate school and to teach. I stayed 10 years. New York solidified for me that I didn’t have to remain ignorant and I could learn things on my own. I took a lot of people’s word about things. My mom’s fears were mine. There were opportunities for me to truly learn histories — whether art or music history — and I delved really deep into philosophy. My dissertation was on mathematics and philosophy. The intersection of the two is logic. > I used to be a people pleaser. I am now a bridge. One could say I am bridging south Tulsa and north Tulsa. A TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

bridge is designed to be stepped on. I accept that. > When people come in to the gallery, I talk to them about white supremacy, white privilege, the history of the massacre. We are having honest, intellectual discourse. > I don’t like the term minority. In a global sense, we are not a minority. I would like to get out of those terms. It’s a person of color. > One encounters a painting. There is an interpretation of that painting. That can do something to the individual. If you are looking at a painting by Alexander Tamahn and it’s a backpack with hope on it and there’s a bullet in there, you are going to look at it and have some thoughts. I hope you are not thinking the kid deserved it and the police are always right. I would hope you would not have that thought. It’s more like that poor kid. You are thinking of children. Can you get to the humanity? > All the talk is about reconciliation. What about conciliation? > The gallery is a space no more than 700 square feet changing the city. That’s astounding to me. > I say to myself that the ancestors deserve more. And I work. In the gallery, I feel them there. One thing that history doesn’t always record is their sacrifices. I stand on their shoulders. I would not be in that space without the ancestors. > I don’t know anything for sure 25 years from now. It reminds me to be hopeful and to keep working. > There is a Tulsa I hope for. It’s progressive. It’s healed. It looks equitable. It looks just. It looks happy. > I became a better man by virtue of reading Bell Hooks. I became a better leader by virtue of reading Bell Hooks. I became more of myself. > I meditate every day. Most days, I wake up at 5 a.m. I have my cigarette and my coffee. > This is what I want the young entrepreneurs to know.

When those invoices start coming in and you have people on your payroll and they want their paychecks and you still have to pay for your everyday expenses, it’s rather costly. It’s going to be more expensive than you think. > Just do something different. There is a lot of education there. > Be willing to rid yourself of your dogma. And learn a new thing every day about a culture to which you do not belong.

Tulsa World Magazine 7­​

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By Nicole Marshall Middleton Photos by John Clanton Tulsa World Magazine

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unglasses do a lot more than shield your eyes from the sun’s glare.

They set the tone for the day ahead. Make a statement for the summer of your dreams with a new set of stunning shades.

This year, the hot colors include vibrant blues and greens blended in with tortoise and earthy tones, said Daniel Brunson of Hicks Brunson Eyewear at Utica Square shopping center.

Nude colors and classic black and gold combinations will continue to thrive, he said.

For shapes, we have seen plenty of cat-eye and oversized frames from which to choose.

Brunson said classic aviators in larger sizes with saddle bridges and double bars are also in high demand.

8 Tulsa World Magazine

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Tulsa World Magazine 9

THE TRAVEL ISSUE W hether you want to hit the road or travel closer to home, we’ve got destinations galore for you to explore.

Want to explore the outdoors? Try a trip to the Wichita Mountains or Black Mesa State Park or one of the other outdoor excursions inside.

Looking for a sweet escape, try visiting Oklahoma’s jelly-making trails. Want an adventure at home? Head to the Tulsa Zoo and see the wonders it has to offer.

And that’s just the start. You can head south to Dallas and get in some shopping and education, or go east to Arkansas to see a world-class museum and eat some world-class food. And there’s plenty to do in Kansas City and in between, too.

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TULSA 5 2 8

TRAVEL ISSUE SPONSORS 1. Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita, Kansas 2. Rockwell RV Park, Oklahoma City 3. Tulsa Zoo, Tulsa 4. Cherokee Nation, Catoosa 5. The Castle of Muskogee 6. Oklahoma Agritourism, see map of jelly-making trails on page 51.

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OKLAHOMA CITY

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AREAS OF INTEREST 6. Black Mesa State Park and Nature Preserve, Kenton 7. Little Sahara State Park, Woods County 8. Wichita Mountains, southwest Oklahoma 9. Ouachita Mountains, southeast Oklahoma

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Black Mesa in Cimarron County is — at 4,973 feet — the highest point in Oklahoma. Courtesy/Kelly Kerr

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE: Staycation

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STAY AND PLAY Get a fresh perspective on the Tulsa area for successful staycation

P

By Michael Overall • Tulsa World Magazine

laced as conspicuously as possible in thousands of hotel rooms across the city, the Tulsa Visitor’s Guide offers 116 pages of things to do and places to see, ranging from downtown Art Deco skyscrapers to suburban shopping malls. But almost all of it would already seem familiar to most Tulsa residents.

The trick to a successful staycation isn’t necessarily to find new territory to explore but to look at the same old places from a fresh perspective. To see Tulsa not as a Tulsan but as a tourist.

FEATURED DESTINATION

The Castle at Muskogee

3400 W. Fern Mountain Road • okcastle.com

Boasting 36,000 square feet of event space, along with a 20-acre Renaissance Village about 70 miles southeast of Tulsa, the famous Castle at Muskogee hosts several festivals throughout the year.

May’s 24th annual Oklahoma Renaissance Festival will re-create 1569 England with a full-contact jousting tournament, Birds of Prey exhibitions and traveling acrobats.

Visitors can also enjoy the spectacle of three pirate ships, a mermaid cove, an “enchanted fairy” boardwalk and a working clock tower, along with a dungeon, “torture chamber” and catacombs.

The festival runs from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through June 2, plus Memorial Day, May 27.

Then, look forward to July Fourth fireworks sales at the castle starting in June.

Marty Hill (left) of Magnolia, Texas, and Kevin Mercer of Kansas City, Missouri, juggle during the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival at the Castle of Muskogee. Ian Maule/Tulsa World Magazine file TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE

FEATURED DESTINATION

Tulsa Zoo

6421 E. 36th St. North • tulsazoo.org

Located in the 2,800-acre Mohawk Park, the Tulsa Zoo features more than 1,500 animals from more than 430 species, with the most popular exhibits including the Giraffe Experience, the Chimpanzee Connection, the Penguin Exhibit and a Sea Lion Cove.

Regularly scheduled “keeper chats” allow visitors to ask questions directly to the people who know the animals best. And giraffe feedings let guests get extremely close to the zoo’s tallest residents, who enjoy a variety of leaves and branches straight from visitors’ hands.

Beginning in June, the zoo will host a temporary art exhibit made from debris collected from the world’s oceans. “Washed Ashore — Art to Save the Sea” will leave Disney’s Epcot Center to come to Tulsa in June and remain on exhibit through December.

Permanent walk-through exhibits include a realistic re-creation of a Central and South American rain forest with steamy humidity and a constant 80-degree temperature. Exotic species include black howler monkeys, piranhas and jaguars. And a newborn baby Diana monkey, a West African species with distinctive black-and-white hair, promises to be a major attraction this spring.

Read the story on page 18.

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STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World Magazine file

Route 66 Installed last year as an eastern “gateway” to the city, the Route 66 Rising sculpture stands three stories tall and measures 70 feet across, ensuring that nobody will ever drive past without noticing it.

Tourism officials hope it will become as iconic as the Blue Whale and the Meadow Gold sign, which are two of the most popular photo ops for Route 66 tourists.

The new Mother Road Market, however, seems to have become Route 66’s biggest attraction in Tulsa. An eclectic mix of more than a dozen restaurants and shops at 11th Street and Lewis Avenue, the market eschews national brands for local flavor, creating an experience that can’t quite be replicated

An oversized highway sign is one of the attractions at the Route 66 Historical Village on Southwest Boulevard in west Tulsa.

MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World Magazine

anywhere else.

Similarly, the Route 66 Historical Village marks a spot unique to Tulsa history with a 194-foot derrick standing at the site of the city’s first oil strike on June 25, 1901.

Located in the historic Red Fork district along Southwest Boulevard, the village also features a restored Frisco 4500 Steam Engine, passenger car and caboose.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

THE TRAVEL ISSUE Breweries When Marshall Brewing took over an obscure Pearl District warehouse in 2008, it became not only Tulsa’s only full-scale craft brewer, but also the city’s first fullscale brewer since World War II. Since then, however, it has become nearly impossible to keep up with all the new breweries opening.

The Tulsa World recently published a list of 15 “best” breweries and tap rooms, which presumably wasn’t anywhere near a complete list of what’s available across the city.

So many have sprung up around Marshall that the Pearl District has pretty much turned into Tulsa’s craft beer district.

Pearl Brewery Tours list more than a dozen stops, albeit not all of them actually lie within the boundaries of the Pearl District, strictly speaking. Aficionados will appreciate the wide variety but also the quality, with Tulsa offering some of the most respected small craft brewers in the country, including Marshall, Prairie, Cabin Boys and American Solera.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S. Rockford Ave. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World Magazine file

World-class museums Situated in scenic hills northwest of downtown, the Gilcrease Museum houses the world’s largest collection of art and artifacts of the American West, including an unparalleled collection of Native American art. But the Vista Room proves to be one of the most popular attractions with a sweeping view of wooded hills.

Similarly, visitors appreciate the Philbrook Museum as much for its architecture as for its art collection. Not that its art collection, including William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s iconic 1889 masterpiece The Shepherdess, isn’t worth a visit. But Villa Philbrook, a 32,000-square-foot Italiante mansion built for oil tycoon Waite Phillips, is a work of art itself.

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FEATURED DESTINATION

Hard Rock

Utica Square 21st Street and Utica Avenue • uticasquare.com

Opened in 1952 as the city’s first suburban shopping center, Utica Square became the heart of midtown as Tulsa grew around it. The original mid-century modern architecture can still be seen despite years of remodeling, but the square has kept its park-like setting with plenty of shade and a variety of outdoor sculptures and fountains. It would be one of the best places in Tulsa to take a leisurely walk even without the wide selection of shops and dining options.

Cherry Street and Brookside Natives tend to think of Brookside as a trendy nightspot, with more than 35 restaurants and bars that only get busier after dark. But the stretch of Peoria Avenue around 36th Street also offers some of Tulsa’s best shopping, anchored by the upscale and locally owned clothing store Abersons. Brookside has also attracted national brands, with Urban Outfitters, Warby Parker eyewear and Lululemon.

Two miles north, Cherry Street used 16 Tulsa World Magazine

777 W. Cherokee St., Catoosa hardrockcasinotulsa.com to be known for antique shops, and it still has some great ones. But revitalization has turned this part of 15th Street into one of Tulsa’s most bustling restaurant and shopping districts, featuring national brands and local entrepreneurs.

Roosevelt’s gastropub has one of the area’s most extensive beer and wine lists, while the Palace Cafe ranks among Tulsa’s finest dining experiences.

Downtown Downtown Tulsa promotes half a dozen separate districts, each distinct in its own way and each worth visiting for different reasons. Revitalization has made the biggest impact on the Tulsa Arts District along the north side of downtown, where vacant lots and empty warehouses have given way to bustling restaurants, shops and loft apartments.

The Woody Guthrie Center, celebrating the folk singer’s role in American history, has not only become one of the city’s top tourist attractions but also the This Land mural on the west side of the building is one of Tulsa’s favorite selfie spots.

The Blue Dome District, named after

Since opening the first casino resort destination in Oklahoma in 2004, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa has gone through several expansions, adding two new hotel towers, a 2,700-seat concert venue, a nonsmoking gaming area featuring a food court and sports bar and more than 23,000 square feet of convention space.

More recent additions include the opening of a luxury spa and an adults-only, resort-style swimming pool in 2017. Earlier this year, the Hard Rock opened Track 5, a modern “honky tonk” with a 1,200-square-foot wooden dance floor.

Above, Tanya Tucker performs at the new Track 5 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World Magazine TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

THE TRAVEL ISSUE a landmark building, retains some of its grittiness from the decades of neglect before revitalization took off when McNellie’s Pub opened in 2004. But that just adds to the charm, with a wide selection of restaurants and bars — most of them locally owned — making it one of downtown’s busiest areas. Across the railroad tracks, the Greenwood District mixes recent development with historic architecture and Drillers Stadium.

The East Village doesn’t attract as large a crowd as the Blue Dome. At least, not yet. But a trendy little area is springing up around Hodges Bend, a coffee shop that serves locally sourced and roasted blends, along with hand-picked wines and expertly mixed cocktails.

The Deco District at the heart of downtown preserves some of the best historic architecture from the glory days of Tulsa being the Oil Capital of the World. And the Cathedral District includes half a dozen of the biggest and most beautiful churches in the state, including the historic Art Deco masterpiece known as Boston Avenue United Methodist.

Gathering Place has drawn national and international praise. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World Magazine file

Gathering Place “Park” doesn’t quite describe it. Gathering Place is like several parks rolled into one, featuring a 5-acre Adventure Playground, a lodge, a boathouse, sport courts, biking and skating areas, natural trails, ponds and wide-open lawns.

And that still doesn’t really describe it.

Gathering Place has to be seen to be understood, and more than 300,000 people flocked to see it in just the first month after it opened last year, instantly making it one of the city’s top attractions.

The Mercantile 532 Kihekah Ave., Pawhuska • themercantile.com

An hour northwest of Tulsa in Pawhuska, the Pioneer Woman Mercantile attracts visitors from all across the country, even the world. Opened in a meticulously restored century-old mercantile building, the shop offers a wide selection of comfort foods, fresh-made pastries and coffee. The Mercantile’s owner is its biggest attraction — Food Network star Ree Drummond.

Featured destinations brought to you by our sponsors.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE: Tulsa Zoo

Interactive encounters Tulsa Zoo visitors get up-close and personal with animals

I

t’s a cool, breezy day and a passel of excited preschoolers are chattering away, hoping to catch a glimpse of the baby giraffe, Ohe, from the Mary K. Chapman Giraffe Experience deck at the Tulsa Zoo. The raised platform brings kids eyeto-eye with the giraffes, who gather close. It’s giraffe feeding time, and they eat out of a visitor’s hand calmly, grabbing lettuce leaves and branches with tongues that can stretch nearly 2 feet – and are a dark blackish-blue to protect the giraffe from sunburns while foraging on the savanna.

Children squeal. Adults laugh. And zookeepers keep going back for more branches. It’s as up-close and personal as the public can get to a zoo animal.

Little moments, like a giraffe’s whiskers tickling a toddler’s hand or watching the male sneak his long tongue into the zookeeper’s bucket to get more lettuce are things you just can’t experience anywhere else but the zoo.

Across the park, families love watching the antics of the two sea lions in the Helmerich Sea Lion Cove. A zookeeper keeps the fish coming as she gives the audience tidbits about the intelligent creatures.

No, they’re not seals, the children hear. There are important differences.

Who can name one? The sea lions clap and almost seem to bark with laughter at each fact.

And did anyone know that things they do every day can save our ocean’s animals? What are some things we can do, the zookeeper wants to know.

It’s as entertaining as it is educational. And as the children crowd around the glass enclosure that lets them see

Halle Bertovich Moore works with a California Sea Lion at the Tulsa Zoo. The sea lion show is popular with families.

the sea lions gracefully glide underwater, they can see how those front flippers they heard about work up-close.

These are the moments – along with that first train ride of the day, of course – when everyone lights up with excitement.

And these visitors probably aren’t even thinking about how that giraffe feeding or ticket they bought helps the Tulsa Zoo save endangered species and habitats around the world.

Since 1997, the zoo has supported more than 360 conservation projects for creatures of all sizes and from all locales, ranging from the monarch butterflies here in Tulsa to snow leopards in the Himalayas.

Among the zoo’s ongoing partnerships is one with the Wild Nature Institute to save giraffes in Tanzania. The giraffe conservation organization is committed to discovering where giraffes are doing well, where they are not, and why.

With that same commitment to the future of giraffes in the wild, the zoo also committed to the future of the species here in Tulsa. The new Osage Casino & Hotel Giraffe Barn has more than doubled the indoor space, just in time

A grey crowned crane (top), a Malayan tiger, Diana monkeys and a siamang are among the animals you can see at the Tulsa Zoo.

SPONSORED BY THE TULSA ZOO / 6421 E. 36th St. North / 918-669-6600 / tulsazoo.org 18 Tulsa World Magazine

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE: Tulsa Zoo

for an expanded herd. On July 22, 2018, the Tulsa Zoo welcomed giraffe calf, Ohe, meaning “to win” in Osage. The barn’s renovation and expansion included a large indoor viewing window so zoo guests can see giraffes on the warmest summer day or in the depth of winter.

The commitment to conservation extends to the zoo’s daily practices as well.

For example, the zoo has reduced singleuse plastic products, such as cups, lids and bags, to prevent pollution. Some species, including turtles, mistake pieces of plastic trash for food, while others get tangled up in the waste.

It’s a lesson that ties back to the keeper chat at the sea lion exhibit, and it hits home for families who watched the show.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Other conservation efforts have ties to the zoo’s partnership programs. Special events like Conservation on Tap raise funds for the zoo’s education partners, in this case the South Africa-based Mabula Ground-Hornbill Project, which is working to reintroduce the bird into areas where it had gone locally extinct.

To help protect local birds in Tulsa, the zoo uses decorations on windows and glass to prevent potentially deadly window strikes, which is when a bird flies into a stationary glass pane.

To support the zoo’s conservation and education-focused mission, zoo fans can sign up for any of a number of classes and camps, or even come by a free story time, said Curator of Conservation &

Johnny Wheeler from the Tulsa Zoo helps a visitor feed Hekaya the giraffe at the Tulsa Zoo. Check the animal feeding schedule at tulsazoo. org/calendar before your visit.

Scientific Advancement Ric Kotarsky.

“Children visiting the zoo are sometimes read the same books as kids in Africa, learning about animals. We support outreach programs around the world and use that experience to shape Story Times, and other programs, here in Tulsa,” Kotarsky said.

“Our education department does a great job with teaching kids about conservation and saving species. They do a great job teaching all different ages ... about the role they play in the environment.”

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE: Cedar Rock Inn

Couple’s getaway

Cedar Rock Inn bed and breakfast offers retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city

The Cedar Rock Inn in west Tulsa has become a regular stop for guests visiting Tulsa or for those who want to disconnect for a night away from home.

Not far from downtown Tulsa is a luxury bed and breakfast nestled on 45 acres of tall trees, gentle hills and a red brick driveway that leads guests away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Offering a place where couples can get away together was Sandi Dittmann’s plan all along when she purchased the house in 1998 previously owned by Tecumseh Perryman, a member of the Creek Nation and part of the historic Perryman family that founded Tulsa.

“The history of this house is amazing. I think it’s one of the oldest homes in Tulsa County. It would be a waste to keep it as a private residence,” Dittmann said about converting the 1890-built home into the Cedar Rock Inn. “For the past 13 years, it’s been a place CEDAR ROCK INN where guests can have a romantic getaway 4501 W. 41st St., Tulsa Rates: $169 to $229 and enjoy time with each other.” for two people per day, The labor of love with the home-turned-bed including snacks, beverand breakfast included the addition of new ages and breakfast spaces and updates prior to opening Cedar For more: Call Rock Inn, 4501 W. 41st St., in 2005.

918-447-4493 or visit From anniversaries to weddings and weekcedarrockinn.com end retreats, Cedar Rock Inn has become a regular stop for guests visiting Tulsa or for those who want to disconnect for a night. The original stone archways, floors and tile work, combined with the antique ceiling fans — some more than 100 years old — that decorate each of the spaces, custom furniture and decor, create the home’s rustic one-of-a-kind feel.

Each of the five suites offers guests a unique ambience and range of amenities, from a private terrace and a cedar sauna to Jacuzzi tubs and more. The suites can be booked individually or the entire bed and breakfast can be booked for larger events, such as small weddings and family reunions.

“A lot of memories happen here. This home absorbs a lot of emotion, and it has such a strong energy,” Dittmann explained.

Maybe it’s the several quiet common areas within the two-story home or the serene landscape that make it a special place to celebrate or catch up with longtime friends or reconnect with family, she added. The surrounding landscape makes it easy for couples to enjoy time together away from electronics and the rest of life’s demands.

Many guests take advantage of the property’s wilderness areas — a pond, wooden bench swing, picnic area and hiking trail just north of the inn are just a few highlights.

“It’s a walking trail that is about a half a mile that goes up a hill,” Dittmann said. “I’ve heard from plenty of guests who walk the trail before breakfast, and they just love it. Once you’re out there, it’s so pretty in the Oklahoma woods.”

Guests can take a short drive from the inn to visit Tulsa’s thriving downtown, enjoy Gathering Place, Gilcrease or Philbrook museums. In May and June, the inn hosts its “On The Lawn” series every Wednesday, when it opens to the public from 6-8 p.m. for live music, wine and artwork.

“The nice part is that couples will be here for a few nights, and they may run into other guests or they may not. You can truly enjoy your privacy or you can chat with other guests during breakfast,” she said.

SPONSORED BY Cedar Rock Inn / 4501 W. 41st St., TULSA / 918-447-4493 / cedarrockinn.com 20 Tulsa World Magazine

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Cedar Rock Inn offers a staycation Get-A-Way. A Bed Breakfast nestled in west Tulsa with beautiful grounds and views. Historic 1890’s home with beautiful rooms and living spaces to meet your needs. Experience the beauty and tranquility of the Inn only 10 minutes from downtown Tulsa.

The perfect setting for celebrating couples, anniversaries, honeymoons, small weddings, memorial celebrations and gatherings of 25- 50 people.

This unique historic luxury getaway is a must see in Green Country. The charm of the 115 year old main house has been partnered with modern amenities to create an atmosphere that leaves guests of its fully equipped suites without want.

TULSA’S LUXURY BED & BREAKFAST 918.447.4493 www.cedarrockinn.com

THE TRAVEL ISSUE: Wichita, Kansas

Hea nor

The Delano District has a variety of shops, restaurants and local businesses. Courtesy/Mickey Shannon 22 Tulsa World Magazine

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ad orth

See a Wichita you may not recognize

By Vanessa Pearson • Tulsa World Magazine

O

n paper, Wichita isn’t all that different from Tulsa: population about 400,000, seated along the Arkansas River, similar climate and demographics, a few colleges, a handful of Division I and minor league teams, a drive-in movie theater, cool museums and a variety of event venues.

But it’s changing and growing, with a different vibe and a unique collection of sights to see for all ages.

You can ride a trolley from Old Town to Delano, visit a brewery or catch the Shockers play at Wichita State. Make a day of seeing all the animals at a worldclass zoo. Spend the morning exploring what living on the frontier was like and the afternoon examining science and technology.

One of the best parts is always finding something new, whether it’s this year’s Wichita Riverfest lineup (May 31 to June 8), a new restaurant or redevelopment along the river bringing a new baseball team in 2020.

Wichita is an easy drive from Tulsa — take U.S. 412 west to Interstate 35 and head north and you should arrive in less than three hours.

Riverside The riverside area where the Big Arkansas meets the Little Arkansas holds some of the city’s best attractions — Wichita Art Museum, Botanica, Old Cowtown Museum, Exploration Place, Mid-America All-Indian Center.

But the fork itself holds Wichita’s most iconic symbol: the Keeper of the Plains.

Keeper of the Plains 650 N. Seneca St., Wichita

The 44-foot-tall steel sculpture by Native American artist Blackbear Bosin

The Keeper of the Plains is surrounded by a “Ring of Fire” nightly at the fork of the Arkansas River. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World Magazine TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE

is elevated on a 30-foot-high rock installation surrounded by a “Ring of Fire” nightly — fire drums burn for 15 minutes at 9 p.m., weather permitting, during daylight saving time. Visit the plaza via one of the pedestrian bridges (try parking at the nearby Exploration Place) and learn about Native American traditions.

Botanica Wichita

701 Amidon St.; botanica.org

Dozens of themed gardens cover 17 acres with thousands upon thousands of blooms, sculptures and fountains.

Old Cowtown Museum

1865 Museum Blvd.; oldcowtown.org

Step into the Old West and wander through original period buildings and see demonstrations of what life was like in 1865 at this living history museum.

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Exploration Place

300 N. McLean Blvd.; exploration.org

Delve into science at this museum along the river. Examine oral health in a 7-foot-tall mouth, learn about the river, invent something in the Creatorspace or build a bridge over a moat in a medieval world. Outside, there’s an 18-hole mini-golf course and the Exploration Park.

Visitors can go behind the scenes with a penguin encounter at the Cessna Penguin Cove at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas.

Courtesy/Sedgwick County Zoo

Wichita Art Museum

1400 Museum Blvd.; wichitaartmuseum.org

This museum gets better every year and has free general admission Saturdays. The 8,000-piece collection includes classic art, pre-Columbian pieces and two colorful Dale Chihuly installations you can walk over and under. Don’t miss the surreal sculptures

by Tom Otterness’ “Dreamers Awake” in the Art Garden, accessible 24 hours a day.

The Wichita Art Museum’s Art Garden is accessible 24 hours a day. Courtesy/Wichita Art Museum TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

THE TRAVEL ISSUE ANIMAL ATTRACTIONS TANANYIKA WILDLIFE PARK

1000 S. Hawkins Lane, Goddard; twpark.com

Get up close and personal with some of the animals at nine interactive stations.

The family-owned park, about 15 minutes west of downtown, is Kansas’ third-largest animal collection and has more than 40 exhibits including cheetah cubs, exotic cats, lemurs, pygmy hippos, colorful birds and a sloth named Chewie.

Tananyika Wildlife Park has more than 40 exhibits and several animal encounters.

COURTESY/Visit Wichita

FEATURED DESTINATION

Sedgwick County Zoo 5555 W. Zoo Blvd.; scz.org

There’s so much to see and do at this premier zoo. Hang out with the great apes — and see their newest babies. Take the boat tour to float past Lemur Island and the gorilla forest, see some of the animals from a different angle and share the water with the African elephants in the nation’s third-largest elephant habitat. Get roared at in Pride of the Plains or the Tiger Trek. Stop by the giraffe feeding station. Feed and pet sheep and goats or get close to horses, cows, camels and other farm animals in the Children’s Farm. And if it’s hot, pop into one of the airconditioned buildings to see reptiles or jungle animals or stop in the Plaza Beastro and grab a bite.

If you’re a member of the Tulsa Zoo, make sure to take your card and enjoy some reciprocal benefits at the Sedgwick County Zoo.

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Wichita State University has 76 sculptures on campus.

Courtesy/Wichita State University

Exploring the city

Milkfloat, 535 W. Douglas Ave., is a dessert restaurant in Wichita’s Delano District.

Don’t miss the pop tarts or the lemon chess pie.

Old Town

Off Washington Street between Douglas and Central avenues; oldtownwichita.com

Shopping, dining, entertainment and nightlife abound in the heart of the city. Brick-lined streets and repurposed warehouses give the area character and a lot of space. Think about staying at one of the hotels here. Play classic arcade games at The Arcade or explore the Museum of World Treasures. Grab a bite to eat at Sabor or a drink at the Pumphouse. Catch dinner and a show at the Warren Old Town or at Mosley Street Melodrama.

Historic Delano District

Along Douglas Avenue west of the Arkansas River

Once a cowboy epicenter of saloons, gambling and gunfights, Delano is a thriving and unique area with shopping and dining mixed with other local businesses a mile from the museums along the river. Buy a hat from Hatman Jacks. Browse art during Final Fridays. Don’t miss ordering dessert at Milkfloat — try a made-from-scratch pop tart, a soda float or slice of lemon chess pie.

Vanessa Pearson/ Tulsa World Magazine

housed in the restaurant’s original building, as well as student theater and music productions.

Music Theatre of Wichita mtwichita.org

Tulsa natives Kelli O’Hara and Kristin Chenoweth spent summers early in their careers at this theater. This season’s lineup of Broadway-scale shows is “Sound of Music,” “An American in Paris,” “A Chorus Line,” “Chicago” and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights.”

Wichita State University

Orpheum Theatre

Aside from seeing the Shockers play basketball and baseball, the campus offers museums (anthropology and art) with an outdoor sculpture collection and the Pizza Hut Museum,

This theater opened for vaudeville acts in the 1920s and still offers concerts, movie nights and live acts beneath its ornate arched ceiling.

21st and Hillside streets; wichita.edu

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200 N. Broadway; wichitaorpheum.com

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE Quick bites Wichita has a trio of fast-food chains with yummy, less expensive options all over the city.

• NuWAY Cafe’s slogan is “Crumbly is better” — and it is. The signature NuWAY is like a burger, just crumbly. Order one with homemade root beer in a frosty mug, a side of homemade onion rings and don’t skimp on the napkins. Five locations, nuwayburgers. com • Taco Shop has four locations serving up the usual Mexican fare with daily specials. Try the crispy flour taco and the super taco burger.

• Spangles is the biggest of the three with 27 Kansas locations.

Burgers and fries make up the base of the menu, but try the breakfast options or a Mudslide for dessert.

Central Standard Brewing

156 S. Greenwood; centralstandardbrewing.com

Central Standard is a relaxing place to hang out and enjoy the 10 or so beers it has on tap. It has a friendly, welcoming atmosphere with a high, open ceiling and exposed brewery. It’s easy to pass the time here. CSB offers outdoor seating when the weather is right.

Beers to try: Wizard of Hops, Red Cicada and Stand Up Tripel.

Wichita Brewing Co. and Pizzeria

8815 W. 13th St., Suite 100, and 535 N. Woodlawn St.; wichitabrew.com

NuWAY Cafe’s signature sandwich is crumbly and delicious.

Vanessa Pearson/Tulsa World Magazine

If you’re looking for a place to grab a bite with your brew, Wichita Brewing Co. is the perfect place. But even if you don’t like pizza (or you’re not hungry), they have nearly 20 beers on tap. If you’re feeling adventurous (and you’re with a group), order the Beer-A-Mid, which is a flight of 16 beers. Beers to try: Valleyview Vanilla Porter, 5:02 Amber, One Hopper Pale Ale.

HUTCHINSON

Smith’s Market

About an hour northwest of Wichita, Hutchinson has been the home of the Kansas State Fair for more than 100 years. Set in September, it offers some of Kansas’ coolest attractions.

A quaint little place with fresh produce, homemade fudge, grind-it-yourself peanut butter, an interesting array of goods that can be bought bagged or in bulk, plus an old-timey selection of novelty items.

211 S. Main St.; smithsmarketks.com

Kansas Cosmosphere

Allie’s Deli and coffee shop

1100 N. Plum, cosmo.org

The Hall of Space Museum gives a detailed chronology of the space race and the German WWII rockets that were a precursor to space travel. The only Smithsonian affiliate museum in the state contains artifacts, real and replica, including a Gemini Titan II rocket outside and a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury spacecraft inside. The Carey Digital Dome Theater TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is flanked by a pair of early American rockets in Hutchinson, Kansas. The museum’s U.S. space artifact collection is second only to the National Air and Space Museum’s.

Charlie Riedel/AP file

and planetarium educational presentations are fun, too.

Strataca, The Kansas Underground Salt Museum

3650 E. Avenue G; underkansas.org

Go beneath the Earth’s sur-

face and check out the inner workings of a salt mine. Take the Safari Shuttle for a deeper voyage through the dark tunnels. Look for special events such as bike races through the mines and an interactive murder mystery.

101 N. MainSt.; alliesdeli.com

Downtown restaurant with sandwiches, many named for school mascots, salads, quiches and a variety of baked goods. Try the Dragon.

The Tulsa World’s Cynthia Hernandez and Mike Carrels contributed to this story.

Featured destinations brought to you by our sponsors.

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE: Kansas City/SOUTHweST MISSOURI

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The Time Traveler is a new and historymaking roller coaster at Silver Dollar City. Courtesy/Silver Dollar City

MO. fun

Head northeast to Kansas City

By Jimmie Tramel • Tulsa World Magazine

Y

ou can get “robbed” on a train and be happy about it.

You can get a roll thrown at you and be happy about it.

You can eat so much that you’re borderline miserable and, of course, be happy about it.

You can get away from it all — or be right in the middle of everything, costumed characters included.

Now, dare you to tell me Missouri isn’t an interesting place.

The mission here is to introduce Oklahoma readers to things they might wish to experience in the Branson and Kansas City areas.

If you board the train at Silver Dollar City, be wary of robbers. Fortunately, they only exist to steal a laugh from you.

If you stop at Lambert’s Cafe on the way to Branson, you hope like heck hot rolls will be thrown in your direction.

Pass the butter?

In Branson and Kansas City, dining, shopping and entertainment choices are plentiful.

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE For an appetizer, before we ever make it to the state line, let’s mention a sandwich you need to eat on the way.

One of the great hidden food gems on the path is a throwback meat counter inside Nott Grocery, a 100-year-old mom-and-pop store at 604 S. Main St. in Miami, Oklahoma.

Step up to the meat counter inside and order the lunch meat, cheese and bread of your choice. Ask the sandwich builder to customize it with the condiments and veggies that you prefer. The end result is a jumbo sandwich that will remind you of lunch counter sandwiches from another era.

The price is right, and you’ll be much happier with your food choice than you would have been if you had gone to a fast-food joint.

Now let’s move on to Missouri...

Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium 500 W. Sunshine St., Springfield; wondersofwildlife.org

Gathering Place in Tulsa was voted by USA Today readers as the nation’s top new attraction in 2019.

The year before, the winner of the same poll was Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri.

The museum and aquarium, located next to Bass Pro Shops national headquarters, features a 1.5 million-gallon “aquarium adventure” showcasing 35,000 live fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds.

Immersive wildlife galleries bring visitors eye-to-eye with the greatest collection of record-setting game animals ever assembled, according to the attraction’s website, wondersofwildlife.org.

The attraction, created by conservationist and Bass Pro Shops founder and CEO Johnny Morris, opened in 2017. In the first year of operation, it drew 1.6 million visitors.

Lambert’s Cafe 1800 W. State Hwy J, Ozark; throwedrolls.com

Lambert’s Cafe, located in Ozark, Missouri, between Springfield and Branson, is called the “home of throwed rolls” for a reason. Servers walk around the dining area armed with dinner rolls that are about the same size as softballs.

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Who wants one? Raise your hand (or give a yell) and a server will fire a hot roll in your direction. Catch it, and it’s yours to eat.

“Throwed rolls” is the gimmick. But the real reason people flock to Lambert’s is the food — and an unwritten rule that you will not leave hungry.

Here’s why: Entrees come with four (four!) side items, and servers walk around doling out helpings of all-youcan-eat “pass around” items like macaroni and tomatoes, fried potatoes and onions, black-eyed peas, and fried okra.

Comfort food is king here, so go ahead and eat like one.

Branson Landing 100 Branson Landing Blvd., Branson; bransonlanding.com

Historic downtown Branson has oldschool charm and a new-school attraction, Branson Landing.

A shopping and dining development with a 1.5-mile scenic boardwalk along Lake Taneycomo, Branson Landing features nearly 100 stores and restaurants with a thoroughfare in between the center’s halves.

At the midpoint of Branson Landing is a $7.5 million fountain attraction that entertains visitors with hourly displays that merge water, fire, light and music.

Wet Design, which created the fountains at Bellagio in Las Vegas, created the Branson Landing fountains.

Dick’s 5 & 10 103 W. Main St., Branson; dicks5and10.com

The five-and-dime stores from days gone by went extinct.

Or did they?

The view is tremendous at the aptly named Top of the Rock south of Branson.

Courtesy/Top of the Rock

Entering the Dick’s 5 & 10 store in downtown Branson is like stepping back in time — and maybe that’s because it has been around for 58 years.

The 10,000-square-foot store boasts more than 250,000 items. Retro toys and retro candy can be found on shelves, along with items reflective of Americana and pop culture.

You’ll find things there that you probably forgot ever existed and, of course, you’ll find something you want.

Don’t forget to look up and see displayed collections, including 100-plus signed aviation prints, a baseball “wall of fame,” a White River arrowhead collection, collector trains, cap guns and aviation models.

Dick’s 5 & 10 is open from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

The Branson strip The strip is the primary route through Branson. Stop at a visitor’s center or hotel to pick up a visitor’s guide with a map of the strip and all the attractions along the strip. Branson is a smorgasbord for music and entertainment. The Presley family and the Baldknobbers were entertainment pioneers in Branson. Growth was sparked after Tulsa’s Roy Clark (RIP) became a presence in Branson.

Strip options (theaters, mini golf, go karts, museums) are seemingly endless, but among the more popular shows on the strip is Dolly Parton’s Stampede, a dinner attraction billed as Branson’s TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

most fun place to eat.

During busy periods, the strip can be jammed with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Be sure and see all the strip has to offer but, afterward, familiarize yourself with color-coded secondary routes to save time.

Rocco’s pizza 2722 Missouri 248, Branson; roccosbranson.com

There are a jillion places to eat in Branson. Because kids love pizza, kids were, for this story, consulted on where to go for pizza in Branson. A thumbs-up was given to Rocco’s NY Style Pizza.

Rocco’s, on the north edge of town, is away from the sensory overload of the strip. Wallet-minded parents will like it because of the affordable lunch specials.

Silver Dollar City 399 Silver Dollar City Parkway, Branson; silverdollarcity.com

What happens when you mix craftsmanship from yesteryear with the latest in amusement park rides?

Silver Dollar City happens.

More than 40 rides and attractions are part of the theme park. Among them is the Time Traveler, the world’s fastest, steepest and tallest spinning roller coaster. The $26 million coaster reaches a speed of more than 50 mph and includes a 10-story, 90-degree vertical drop.

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If the Time Traveler is a bit too adventuresome for your tastes, there are much tamer rides, plus crafts demonstrations, live shows, on-site food options and Marvel Cave. Christopher Cross, the Lovin’ Spoonful, Sawyer Brown and Shenandoah are among performers in 2019.

Visit Silver Dollar City in the warm months to enjoy the waterworks but return during the Christmas season for a different experience.

Big Cedar Lodge/Top of the Rock 190 Top of the Rock Road, Ridgedale; bigcedar.com

Big Cedar Lodge south of Branson is a wilderness resort that is better experienced than explained.

Nearby is the Top of the Rock Ozark Heritage Preserve, which features the Top of the Rock Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail, the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum and a stunning par 3 golf course.

While staying at Big Cedar, take a day trip to a sister property, Dogwood Canyon Nature Park, a 10,000acre nature lover’s paradise that can be explored on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle, Segway or wildlife tram.

You never know what member of the animal kingdom might be looking back at you if you visit the Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri.

Courtesy/ Wonders of Wildlife Museum

Royals and Chiefs For the first time since maybe forever, the Kansas City Chiefs are blessed with the most exciting quarterTulsa World Magazine 31­​

THE TRAVEL ISSUE back in the world. In his first year as a starter, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs were oh-so-close to reaching a Super Bowl.

Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium are side-by-side. Before the NFL season arrives, catch a Royals game and have yourself a hot dog.

Planet Comicon One of the Midwest’s most revered comic book and pop culture conventions is staged in Kansas City.

Planet Comicon celebrated a 20th anniversary in March. Unless you have access to a time machine, it’s too late to go to Planet Comicon 2019, but start making plans now to attend in 2020, which sounds sort of like a science fiction type year.

Costumed attendees and vendors pack Bartle Hall for the convention, which grew so large that it was moved from Overland Park to downtown Kansas City in 2013. Celebrity guests at the 2019 show included Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Dean Cain and Tom Welling. Go to planetcomicon.com for updates.

Bonus for con-goers: The Power & Light District is a short walk away.

Schlitterbahn 9400 State Ave., Kansas City, Missouri; schlitterbahn.com

Float the summer days away at Schlitterbahn in Kansas City (it’s on the Kansas side of the border).

Schlitterbahn is a 40-acre water park that features slides, chutes, rivers and beaches. If you prefer chill over thrills, you can continuously ride a raft wherever the current takes you.

There are other Schlitterbahns, but you’ll have to travel south to find one.

The Kansas City park is the only Schlitterbahn that isn’t in Texas. For tickets and information, go to schlitterbahn. com/kansascity.

Crown Center 2450 Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri; crowncenter.com

Located in the heart of downtown Kansas City, Crown Center is full of locally owned shops and restaurants. And because of two luxury hotels (Westin Kansas City and Sheraton Kansas City), you can stay at the center of it all.

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Maybe a train will deliver a burger to your table at Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant inside the Crown Center. For a roll call of all of Crown Center’s shops and restaurants, visit crowncenter.com.

The area the Crown Center now occupies once was filled with rutted parking lots, abandoned warehouses and a limestone hill cluttered with signs, according to crowncenter.com. Crown Center reversed the decline and became one of the nation’s first mixed-use redevelopments. The 85-acre complex welcomes more than 5 million visitors each year and has sparked redevelopment.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum/ American Jazz Museum 1616 E. 18th St., Kansas City, Missouri; americanjazzmuseum.org

You won’t have to make two trips to visit two fascinating museums in Kansas City. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum share a connecting space and are in the historic 18th and Vine district of Kansas City, Missouri.

The American Jazz Museum pays tribute to jazz greats and is equipped with a jazz club. Go to americanjazzmuseum.org to see a list of upcoming performers and events.

Established in 1990, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African-American baseball and its profound impact on the social advancement of America.

Bartle Hall was again packed when Planet Comicon celebrated a 20th anniversary in 2019.

Planet Comicon is one of the most popular comic and pop culture conventions in middle America. Jimmie Tramel/Tulsa World Magazine

Garozzo’s Ristorante 526 Harrison St., Kansas City, Missouri, and 9950 College Blvd., Overland Park, Missouri; garozzos.com

The stereotype is sports writers know as much about food as they do about sports. Oklahoma sports writers make an annual pilgrimage to Garozzo’s while in Kansas City for the Big 12 basketball tournament. Garozzo’s is known for chicken spiedini, but if you want to overwhelm a first-time visitor, order the three-way pasta and dare them to try to eat it all.

You also can’t go wrong with the bistecca modiga. If asked if you want salad with your entree, the answer is absolutely yes.

Stroud’s Restaurant Multiple locations; stroudsrestaurant.com

The home of pan-fried chicken, Stroud’s Restaurant makes the kind of chicken dinner that puts home cooking to shame.

A Kansas City staple since 1933, Stroud’s dinners include choice of potatoes, choice of homemade chicken noodle soup or salad, gravy, green beans and cinnamon rolls.

For the full Stroud’s experience, the Stroud’s at Oak Ridge Manor is housed in an expanded 1829 log cabin and farmhouse at 5410 NE Oak Ridge Drive.

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE Country Club Plaza 4706 Broadway Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri; countryclubplaza.com

A favorite of shoppers, Country Club Plaza can perhaps be described with numerals: 15 blocks, 100 shops, 30 restaurants. Leave plenty of time for your expedition there. You’ll need it.

For a complete list of stores, events and dining options, go to countryclubplaza.com. It’s literally an A-to-Z list, Aldo (high-quality fashion footwear) to Zocalo (Mexican cuisine and tequileria).

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 4525 Oak St., Kansas City, Missouri; nelson-atkins.org

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is

meant to be a gathering place for people to share and contemplate the greatest creations of humankind. The museum maintains collections of more than 35,000 works of art and welcomes half a million visitors a year.

The museum owes its existence to two people who shared a dream of providing a public art museum for Kansas City and the region.

William Rockhill Nelson, founder of The Kansas City Star newspaper, believed art and culture were necessities for a city to be truly civilized. He died in 1915, and the bulk of his estate was used to establish a trust for the purchase of works of art. School teacher Mary McAfee Atkins had similar goals and

provided the city with approximately one-third of her million-dollar estate to purchase land for a public art museum.

The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and the Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts opened to the public in 1933.

Admission is free. The museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, so plan accordingly.

Zona Rosa 8640 N. Dixson Ave., Kansas City, Missouri; zonarosa.com

Shoppers might like to head north of Kansas City to check out Zona Rosa Town Center, an open-air, mixed-use shopping center with upscale retail, restaurants and entertainment options.

A drone photo shows the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

Don Ipock/Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE: Northwest Arkansas

Eclectic delights

Grapes are a big draw in Tontitown, Arkansas, which features a Grape Festival in early August.

STEPHEN PINGRY/ Tulsa World Magazine file

Arkansas’ unique shops, restaurants are draw for travelers

N

orthwest Arkansas in general — and the unique hamlet known as Eureka Springs in particular — has been a traveler’s destination since the mid-1800s, when word began to spread of the supposedly miraculous healing qualities of the waters bubbling up from underground springs.

Today, people are less likely to travel to Eureka Springs to “take the waters.”

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By James D. Watts Jr. • Tulsa World Magazine

Instead, they’re more interested in strolling the historic downtown, with its dozens of unique shops and restaurants; admiring the Victorian-era architecture that has been lovingly preserved through the hamlet; challenging their skills as motorcyclists along the twisty mountain roads that lead into and out of town; or relaxing along the shores of nearby Beaver Lake.

For many years, the trip from Tulsa to Eureka Springs was just that — a trek

from Point A to Point B because there wasn’t much to capture a traveler’s interest along the way.

But that’s no longer the case, thanks to the rapid and wide-ranging development that has taken place in this corner of the Natural State. These days, a journey to what has been called “The Little Switzerland of the Ozarks” can be augmented with side trips to a variety of intriguing places all along the Interstate 49 corridor.

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE SPRINGDALE U.S. 412 out of Tulsa leads directly into Springdale, Arkansas, and if it’s meal time, the question to ask is, “Italian or chicken?”

This area of Arkansas has a long and proud ItalianAmerican history, which is manifest in such things as the nearby Tontitown Grape Festival and in the authentic Italian restaurants run by local families. One of the favorites is Fratelli’s Italian Grill (1008 W. Sunset Ave.), which features large portions of pasta, veal and chicken dishes at reasonable prices.

If the answer is chicken, there’s only one place to go: AQ Chicken House (1207 N. Thompson St., on U.S. 71B), which has been serving up its lemon-peppered, pan-fried chicken since 1947. You can order it straight from the pan, grilled over the coals or topped with a tangy barbecue sauce. And if you can’t decide between Italian and chicken, AQ Chicken offers a combo of fried chicken with a side of Tontitown spaghetti.

To build up an appetite for

either eatery, or perhaps to burn off some excess calories, visit the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks (4703 N. Crossover Road), right on the border between Springdale and

Fayetteville. This compact yet well-maintained garden park features 12 themed gardens spread out over six acres, a 20-acre arboretum and the region’s only butterfly house.

The well-maintained Botanical Garden of the Ozarks features 12 themed gardens spread out over 6 acres.

Courtesy/Mike Price Photography

FAYETTEVILLE Fayetteville is best-known as the home of the University of Arkansas, and the neighborhood around the campus is filled with all sorts of innovative eateries and libation stations.

But there’s more to Fayetteville than collegiate high-jinks. Those who prefer a more elevated form of entertainment should check out Theatre Squared, the region’s only year-round professional resident theater company that has been presenting acclaimed productions of contemporary and original comedies and dramas since 2005. The company’s work earned it recognition in 2011 from the American Theatre Wing, the organization that hands out the Tony Awards, as being one of the nation’s top 10 emerging theater companies. It will open its 20192020 season in a new theater complex at the corner of West and Spring streets.

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Mockingbird Kitchen serves up memorable meals in Fayetteville.

Courtesy/Arshia Khan/Arkansas Life

Bibliophiles will need to make a sojourn to Dickson Street Bookshop (325 W.

Dickson St.), which has literally miles of aisles of second-hand books of all types, from fiction and poetry to history and cookery.

Those searching for the mythical “Bluebird of Happiness” need to look no further than Terra Studios (12103 Hazel Valley Road), which has been creating glass versions of this creature for years.

While there, check out all the ways the studio endeavors to “use art to create a better world.”

Speaking of birds, for a memorable meal make a trek to Mockingbird Kitchen (1466 N. College Ave.), where chef Chrissy Sanders’ take on new American cuisine, utilizing local and seasonal ingredients, earned her a place in USA Today’s “50 States: 50 Female Chefs.” We suggest the fried chicken or the “Duck Two Ways.”

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE

Above, the Amazeum offers families some 50,000 square feet of indoor exhibit space and 1 acre of outdoor property with an interactive “playscape.”

COURTESY/Visit Bentonville

At right, The Hive, run

by James Beard Awardnominee chef Matthew McClure, is located in the 21c Museum Hotel.

COURTESY/GLINTstudios

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE BENTONVILLE Bentonville is where Sam Walton and the phenomenon that is Walmart got its start. And regardless of one’s opinion of Walton’s legacy, the Walmart Museum (105 N. Main St.) is a fascinating look at mid-20th century consumerism and capitalism. The displays begin in the space that was Sam Walton’s original “five & dime” store and expands into a fascinating time capsule of mid-century America — the things we consumed and the way we obtained them.

One of Sam Walton’s progeny, Alice, funneled a great deal of her wealth into creating one of the more unique museums in the American landscape — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (600 Museum Way). It is at once a highly idiosyncratic collection of American art, designed to appeal to brows high and low, with temporary exhibits that challenge one’s conception of “American art.” The museum’s architecture is a work of art in and of itself, and on the museum grounds is the Bachman-Wilson House, an example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Usonian” style of dwelling that was moved from its original site in New Jersey and meticulously reconstructed. Definitely worth spending the day.

And, once one has immersed oneself in either museum experience, seek out Table Mesa Bistro (108 E. Central Ave.), with its unique, and extremely tasty, take on Latin cuisine.

Favorites are the Korean Barbecue Tacos and the Oaxacan Salmon, but seriously — you cannot go wrong with anything on this menu.

If you’re wanting to make it a day and a night in Bentonville, the only place to check in for the night is the 21c Museum Hotel (200 N.E. A St.). This downtown Bentonville site is a boutique hotel, an art museum with ever-changing exhibits, and home to one of the region’s top-rated restaurants, The Hive, run by James Beard Award nominee chef Matthew McClure. Enjoy the house-made pimento cheese with bacon jam, followed by the sorghum roasted duck or the Berkshire pork chop. You won’t leave disappointed or hungry.

For the young, or the young at heart, check out the Scott Family Amazeum (1009 Museum Way), some 50,000 square feet of indoor exhibit space and 1 acre of outdoor property with an interactive “playscape.” Exhibits cater to all ages and interests; highlights include a tinkering hub, an art studio and a science lab where children can do experiments with Hershey’s candy.

At center, The Walmart Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas, is a fascinating look at mid-20th century consumerism and capitalism.

Don Shreve/ Shreve Imaging

At left, Table Mesa Bistro features a unique, and extremely tasty, take on Latin cuisine in Bentonville, Arkansas.

COURTESY/Visit Bentonville

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE EUREKA SPRINGS This hamlet is chock full of unusual things to do and places to visit that appeal to people of all backgrounds and tastes, to the point that it’s difficult to select just a few highlights. But these are some Eureka Springs highlights that one should seek.

One landmark that is difficult to miss is the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa (75 Prospect Ave.), which stands atop one of the town’s highest hills. Recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations, this full-service hotel features 72 rooms with upscale suites and four luxury cottages that combine Victorian-style appointments with modern conveniences.

In recent years, the Crescent Hotel has earned a different sort of fame, when a ghost-hunting TV series described it as one of the most haunted buildings in the country.

The hotel has since capitalized on this notoriety by offering daily “Ghost Tours” that highlight the Crescent’s chequered past.

If the darkness of ghosts and hauntings isn’t your style, then one can visit a unique structure that’s all about light and uplift.

Thorncrown Chapel (12968 U.S. 62) is the result of a vision of Arkansas native Jim Reed, who decided to build a chapel made of glass to provide a place where people would be able to contemplate the beauties of the land and the mysteries of the universe. The chapel was designed by architect E. Fay Jones, a protege of Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Crescent Hotel has a couple of mascot cats that roam its hall, but for a true cat experience, head out to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (239 Turpentine Creek Lane), an accredited organization devoted to rescuing abused and neglected big cats, such as lions, tigers, leopards and cougars. If you wish, you can even spend the night on the grounds in one of the facility’s lodges, suites, tents and treehouses.

38 Tulsa World Magazine

Thorncrown Chapel sits amid the trees in Eureka Springs. The chapel was designed by architect Fay Jones of Fayetteville, Arkansas, a protege of Frank Lloyd Wright.

April L. Brown/Associated Press

Fans of Italian food must stop at Ermilio’s Italian Home Cooking (26 White St.), which takes the concept of “home cooking” to its logical end, as this full-service restaurant is housed in one of the Victorianstyle houses that make up much of Eureka Springs. Start with the

Gorgonzola Bread Rounds, then opt for one of the 10 sauces to top your choice of pasta, or select one of their Italian specialties, such as chicken marsala or the pan-roasted pork chop with a porcini demiglace.

Another longtime Eureka Springs favorite is the Bavarian Inn Restaurant (325 W. Van Buren), which serves award-winning, authentic German and Czech dishes. You can sample a bit of everything with the Bavarian Plate, which includes bratwurst sausage, roast pork, potato pancakes and sauerkraut, or indulge in the roast duck served with duck gravy, Bohemian dumplings and sweet-and-sour cabbage.

The restaurant is open for dinner only.

If you’re looking for an inventive dining experience, Oscar’s Cafe (17 White St.) is always coming up with unique twists to breakfast and lunch. The menu changes often, with specials such as the Nordic waffle plate — a whole-wheat waffle topped with smoked salmon mousse, avocado, hard-boiled egg and lemon-dressed arugula.

At Ermilio’s Italian Home Cooking in Eureka Springs, you can opt for one of 10 sauces to top your choice of pasta.

COURTESY/ Cary Pollock

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE: Dallas

Tyrannosaurus rex bones are on display at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. LM OTERO/AP

DISCOVER

DALLAS Go south and explore Texas

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE

T

ulsans have an interesting relationship with Dallas.

How many times has a new restaurant come to town to rave reviews, mainly because “they have one in Dallas?”

There’s a reason that’s a thing. Tulsa is coming into its own, with our own great restaurants, shopping and entertainment. But there’s no escaping the allure of one of the nation’s most cosmopolitan cities being easy driving distance from us.

We used crowd sourcing to find the Dallas that Tulsans love. We asked people their favorite things about the city and got a lot more than the stereotypical chain restaurants and In-N-Out Burger.

Here we go: First off, if you’re going to Dallas from Tulsa, you’re probably going down U.S. 75. And there’s more to this drive than the speed trap in Stringtown.

The Dallas World Aquarium draws you into an undersea world full of exotic creatures.

COURTESY/Brandi McComb Photography

The Peanut Shoppe 26 Spivey Drive, Calera; nutsofallkinds.com

No road trip is complete without snacks. So make sure to pull over when you see the Peanut Shoppe sign in Calera.

Shop a dizzying array of gummy, sour and chewy candies, chocolate nuts and caramels, jerkys and jams. And, of course, peanut brittle and nuts of all kinds.

It’s a hard right off the highway just past Durant, so be looking for the sign.

Choctaw Casino Resort 4216 S. U.S. 69, 75, Durant; choctawcasinos.com/durant

Speaking of Durant, the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant is an oasis on the highway near the Texas border. Find gaming for the adults and an arcade and movie theater for the kids.

40 Tulsa World Magazine

The educational Dallas Dallas Museum of Art 1717 N. Harwood St.; dma.org

The collection is one of the largest in the country and has something for everyone, plus plenty of special events and exhibitions (“Dior: From Paris to the World” opens May 19). Don’t miss the rooms that re-create European villas and ancient temples.

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza 411 Elm St.; jfk.org

The museum documents the life and death of John F. Kennedy at the site of his Nov. 22, 1963, assassination on the floor where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots that killed the president. The displays fuse photographs and newspaper clippings with videos and artifacts to explore the aftermath of Kennedy’s assassination and the conspiracy theories.

Outside, you can walk Dealey Plaza and stand where history was made.

Perot Museum of Nature and Science

2201 N. Field St.; perotmuseum.org

It’s all hands-on science at this attraction.

With 11 permanent exhibit halls and rotating special exhibits, visitors can investigate the giant prehistoric creatures that called Dallas home millions of years ago, test athletic prowess, touch a tornado and learn how the human body works. The cafe is operated by Wolfgang Puck and offers pizzas, sandwiches and salads — and an all-important kids menu.

A traveling exhibition called “The Art of the Brick” brings a huge display of LEGO art to the museum until the end of summer.

Dallas World Aquarium 1801 N. Griffin St., Dallas; dwazoo.com

Start at the rainforest exhibit, then venture into an undersea world that features everything from giant river otters to Antillean manatees and penguins.

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE

The exhibit “Dior: From Paris to the World” opens May 19 at the Dallas Museum of Art. COURTESY/Dior/Dallas Museum of Art

Arlington

Dallas for families

Of course, you know Six Flags, sixflags.com/overtexas. If you live in Tulsa, you probably made the trip many times over the years. Don’t forget to introduce your kids to the roller coasters, water rides and hot, sticky tar smell that can only mean miles of asphalt on a hot Texas day.

Grapevine is the place to head if you want a kid-centered trip south. If you are lucky enough to go May 17-19, check out Main Street Fest, with a carnival and craft brew experience (grapevinetexasusa.com). If your trip is later this summer, also keep in mind Grapevine’s historic downtown and wineries to balance out the kid stuff.

Texas Rangers

1000 Ballpark Way, Arlington; mlb.com

Head to Globe Life Park and take the kids to a major league ballpark for a Rangers game.

With 48,000 open-air seats, they can be as loud as they want while consuming large amounts of ice cream and fried s’mores or explore the Kid’s Zone, with its baseball bat slide and climbing wall.

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Legoland Discovery Center 3000 Grapevine Mills Parkway; dallasfw.legolanddiscoverycenter.com

Legoland has everything a kid-builder would love. See amazing brick sculptures, visit interactive exhibits and take a spin on a few LEGO-themed rides. And bring money for the gift shop because there’s sure to be a must-have set for the hotel room later.

Grapevine Vintage railroad

705 S. Main St., Grapevine; grapevinetexasusa.com

Take a one-and-a-half hour train ride from Grapevine Depot to the Fort Worth Stockyards or take a shorter route to thrill the train-lover in your family. Prices start at $10.

Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden at the Dallas Arboretum

100 Great Wolf Drive, Grapevine; greatwolf.com/grapevine

8525 Garland Road, Dallas; dallasarboretum.org

Speaking of hotels, the Great Wolf Lodge has a well-earned reputation for being the place for families to stay. This hotel has a huge water park and themed rooms and is conveniently located in Grapevine, near Legoland.

See daily science labs, explore an edible garden and play more than 150 interactive science games in this special space. And bring an extra change of clothes because the water features are perfect for cooling off.

Great Wolf Lodge

Tulsa World Magazine 41­​

THE TRAVEL ISSUE Dallas for foodies Babe’s Chicken Dinner House

Multiple locations; babeschicken.com

This family-friendly restaurant has several Dallas-area locations, including one in Arlington. All feature fun buildings, the hokey-pokey and fried chicken. But each one is unique, too. Go for the chicken, the pies and the home-style sides.

Baboush

3636 McKinney Ave., Dallas; baboushdallas.com

This is the place to go for mezza — small plates with such delicious options as hummus, beef cigars made of phyllo dough and dolma.

Or go for the complicated flavors of a tagine with chicken, lamb, beef or myriad seafood.

Al Markaz

1205 W. Trinity Mills Road, Carrollton

If you love Indian or Pakistani food, try this spot in Carrollton. The menu is extensive, and the prices are a steal. Try favorites like saag paneer and flaky naan and branch out with a goat dish. Then visit the market for ingredients to take home.

Kuby’s Sausage House

6601 Snider Plaza, Dallas; kubys.com

This European market and restaurant features sausages, potato pancakes, housemade sauerkraut, hot potato salad and schnitzels.

Eat, then head over to the market to take home fine cheeses, meats and more.

Jack’s Burger House 6913 Hillcrest Ave., Dallas; burgerhouse.com

This is the place for old-fashioned burgers, fries and malts. It’s also the place to experience real vanilla Cokes the way they used to be made. The original location on Hillcrest is the one you want to visit first.

Mia’s Tex-Mex

4322 Lemmon Ave., Dallas; miastexmex.com

If you like Tulsa’s Mi Cocina, try Mia’s. Get brisket tacos made 42 Tulsa World Magazine

No meal at Babe’s Chicken Dinner House is complete without a biscuit.

COURTESY/Babe’s Chicken Dinner House

with grilled onions, peppers and Monterey Jack cheese, housemade chile rellenos and more. And don’t miss the swirl margarita.

El Fenix

1601 Mckinney Ave., multiple other locations; elfenix.com

This Tex-Mex brand is the longest-running Mexican restaurant chain in the country. The downtown location is across from the Perot and blocks from other attractions.

Spaghetti Warehouse 1815 N. Market; meatballs.com

If you miss the Tulsa location, hit up the original in Dallas’ West End and tuck into some spaghetti and meatballs. The building started as a pillow factory in the 1800s and has an original East Dallas trolley car in the dining room. It may just be the original “There’s one in Dallas” restaurant.

Gloria’s Latin Cuisine 3715 Greenville Ave., Dallas; gloriascuisine.com

Inspired by the food of El Salvador, this Texas chain feels slightly upscale. Try it for brunch, when you can get Huevos con Platano, eggs over fried sweet plantains with black beans and sour cream, or crepes with cajeta and caramelized fruit with orange-honey syrup.

Or go after hours when the vibe becomes considerably more upscale and the restaurants turn into salsa clubs. No matter when you go, look through the extensive cocktail and margarita menu.

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE Dallas for shoppers IKEA

7171 IKEA Drive, Frisco; 1000 IKEA Way, Grand Prairie; ikea.com

Yes, it’s a furniture store. But it’s a destination, too. Try out the furniture and find inspiration on the showroom floor, then find too many good deals to bring home. And don’t forget that you can eat on a budget here. Everyone talks about the meatballs, but the cinnamon rolls are just as delicious and inexpensive. And don’t forget to visit the wall of Swedish gummies on your way out.

Galleria Dallas

13350 Dallas Parkway, Dallas; galleriadallas.com

Take your kids to visit the shopping mall you probably remember best in Dallas — the Galleria.

With three levels of shopping and an ice rink at the bottom, it’s still an impressive place to spend the afternoon. It’s also the place to find the American Girl Bistro.

Northpark Center

8687 N. Central Expressway, Dallas; northparkcenter.com

Any serious shopper should be able to find what they need at Northpark — with anchors Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, along with hundreds of other retailers.

Shops of Legacy

5741 Legacy Drive, Plano; shopsatlegacy.com

This Plano outdoor shopping center is a muststop for many Tulsans. Find upscale boutiques and a ton of restaurants, including Cru Food and Wine Bar, RA Sushi and other bistros.

Legacy West

5908 Headquarters Drive, Plano

Tulsa’s own Rustic Cuff has a place at Legacy West, along with Fabletics, MAC, Lululemon and other fun boutiques. Also find restaurants like Shake Shack, Sprinkles and Tommy Bahama.

Go farther south to Waco There is more to see in Waco than Magnolia, home to HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines. But it’s a good place to start. Visit the silo, the bakery and see the places “Fixer Upper” made famous.

Find the “Magnolia Trail” at wacoheartoftexas. com.

Close to every Oklahoman’s heart should be the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute.

Dr Pepper was born in Waco, and this museum celebrates with floats and a classic 1950s soda fountain, along with exhibits.

With three levels of shopping and an ice rink at the bottom, the Galleria in Dallas is still an impressive place to spend the afternoon. COURTESY/Galleria TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

The Tulsa World’s Vanessa Pearson contributed to this story.

Tulsa World Magazine 43­​

An RV park in Oklahoma City earned accolades from an RV organization not just because of the indoor swimming pool or the complimentary muffins in the morning. It was the resident bison that sealed the deal.

THE TRAVEL ISSUE

RANGE ROVERS Rockwell RV Park is ‘working man’s oasis’ with bison to boot

O

KLAHOMA CITY — If David Miller wants to see the bison roam, he just has to step outside of his office.

The owner of Rockwell RV Park on Oklahoma City’s west side, Miller shares his property with more than a dozen bison.

“I get people telling me that they can’t believe I’ve got buffalo in Oklahoma City,” Miller said. “You can get closer to them here than at Yellowstone.”

Located at 720 S. Rockwell Ave., the park is just south of Interstate 40 and is adjacent to the municipal bike trail system. It has 170 70-foot-long spaces for recreational vehicles, with about 120 regularly occupied by long-term guests.

Each space has connections for water, electricity, sewer, Wi-Fi and cable, plus access to two laundry facilities and two bathhouses.

“It’s a lot like an apartment complex or

a hotel, except everyone owns their own unit,” Miller said.

The park also features an indoor heated swimming pool and hot tub, a dry sauna, shuffleboard, a basketball court, exercise equipment, complimentary homemade muffins, newspapers and coffee. In good weather, the park also sets up a mini drive-in with outdoor movie nights.

With all of the additional amenities, though, Miller knows that the bison and their 10,000-foot corral are still one of the bigger draws at his self-described “working man’s oasis.”

The park’s owner since 1992, Miller started with five bison about a decade ago when he purchased them at auction at the Wichita Mountains in southwestern Oklahoma. Over the years, calving has become an annual sight in the park’s 10,000-foot custom-made corral, which is surrounded by an additional fence as a

safety measure for guests and bison alike.

The pen’s occupants have also changed over the years due to bull trades with the nearby Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, a few purchases and a few being butchered and stuffed.

“I’ve got the back end of a buffalo mounted in the men’s room,” Miller said.

“It took the taxidermist a year and a half to get it right because he had never mounted the back end before. It’s pretty common to see men and women taking pictures with it.”

Earlier this year, the mini herd earned Miller’s park a Weird and Wonderful runner-up award from the Good Sam Club. The international organization of RV owners looks at more than 400,000 parks across the United States and presents its Weird and Wonderful awards annually to the quirkiest facilities.

The winner? “Llamas. I got beat by a guy with llamas,” he said with a chuckle.

SPONSORED BY Rockwell RV Park / 720 S. Rockwell Ave., Oklahoma City / 405-787-5992 / rockwellrvpark.com 44 Tulsa World Magazine

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THE TRAVEL ISSUE

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE Hiking, biking, climbing and more: Oklahoma is filled with outdoor adventure opportunities

By Bob Doucette • Tulsa World Magazine

46 Tulsa World Magazine

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Shelley McManaman and family friend Zuri Lewis, 4, watch as friends and family members fly past on ORVs at Little Sahara State Park.

JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World Magazine file

RES TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Tulsa World Magazine 47­​

THE TRAVEL ISSUE

L

iving in Tulsa, we’re blessed with ample opportunities to get our outdoor fix close to home. Hiking and biking the trails at Turkey Mountain, nature treks at Oxley Nature Center or hanging out at one of the many lakes surrounding the city come to mind.

But when you’re itching for outdoor adventure and want to get out of town, don’t fret. As it turns out, Oklahoma is loaded with options. Whether you’re looking for a trail to hike or bike, a stream to fish or a crag to climb, there is no shortage of destinations in the state to explore.

What follows is a breakdown of places to go and things to do. If you’re up for some Oklahoma adventure, then this read is for you.

Best place to climb Being a prairie state, Oklahoma is not the first place you’d think of when it comes to rock climbing. But the places it does have are some of the finest in the region. On top of the list is the Wichita Mountains. These ancient granite crags offer some of the best and most plentiful climbing around. Test your skills on the flanks of Mount Scott, Elk Mountain or in the Narrows. If you’re up for a real challenge, try a crack climb on Crab Eyes’ east face — rated as one of the toughest climbs in the entire range. Or, if you want to tackle something bigger, head to the range’s western edge and climb Quartz Mountain. It will be as close to big-wall climbing as you can get between the Rockies and the Appalachians. Even if climbing is not your thing, you can spend days exploring the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge’s many hiking trails to see prairie dogs, eagles, deer, elk and bison, not to mention the remains of old mines from decades past.

Angling for adventure Oklahoma’s lakes are loaded with bass, crappie and catfish, especially around northeast Oklahoma. But if you’re looking for a unique experience that doesn’t involve the horsepower and high tech of bass fishing, then pack your chest waders and your fly rod and head to the 48 Tulsa World Magazine

Above, the Wichita Mountains offer excellent climbing opportunities, including Mount Scott.

Lori Duckworth/ Oklahoma Tourism

Black Mesa in Cimarron County is — at 4,973 feet — the highest point in Oklahoma.

Courtesy/ Kelly Kerr

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FEATURED DESTINATION

Rockwell RV Park

720 S. Rockwell Ave., Oklahoma City, 405-787-5992

The Mountain Fork is widely considered one of the top places in the state to catch trout. Lisha Newman/Oklahoma Tourism

Mountain Fork River near Broken Bow. The Mountain Fork is widely considered one of the top places in the state to catch trout, among other fish, and it’s hard to beat the scenery of the wooded rolling hills of the Ouachitas. Bass boats more your thing? Then head to the border and spend some time at Lake Texoma, known for its bounty of high-quality largemouth, white and striped bass.

Find your solitude Popular hiking trails are great, but when you need to find some alone time, drive the extra miles to the northwest corner of the Panhandle to Black Mesa.

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You can camp or rent a cabin at Black Mesa State Park, stateparks.com, or find one of the bed-and-breakfasts near Kenton. Then drive to the lonely trailhead at Black Mesa. The out-and-back trail to the highest point in Oklahoma is 8 miles round-trip, and from the western rim of the mesa, you can peer deep into New Mexico. Hit it at the right time of year and you won’t see another soul, and you’ll get a great feel of the land that is truly where the West begins.

Zip through the sky Zip line tours have become increasingly popular, and Oklahoma has

RV enthusiasts know there’s no better way to travel to state and national parks.

There’s shelter when it’s raining, pitch a tent outside if you want the best of both worlds, and experience the community that comes with the RV lifestyle.

A quirky RV park in Oklahoma City has homemade muffins for breakfast, an indoor pool and more than a dozen bison to hang out with.

Check out the story on page 44.

numerous places to enjoy this high-flying activity. Good news: You don’t have to go far to experience one of the more scenic zip line tours in the state. Just head northwest of downtown Tulsa to Post Oak Lodge, postoaklodge.com, and enjoy nearly 3,900 feet of cable line that glides over the forest canopy and prairie grasslands of the Osage Hills.

Take a dip When the heat is on, there’s nothing quite like a jump in the pool to cool off. But if you’re looking for something more scenic and interesting than the neighborhood splash pad, take a drive to Tulsa World Magazine 49­​

THE TRAVEL ISSUE: Oklahoma Jelly-MAKING Trails

WE BE JAMMIN’ Buffalo Creek Berry Farm has blackberries at 9211 Sloan Road in Mustang. Call 405-412-4515 for availability.

Taste your way through Oklahoma’s jelly-making trails

W

ith a hastag like #JellyIsMyJam, you know these tours are going to be fun.

“I’ve never met a jelly I didn’t like,” said Meriruth Cohenour, director of market development for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry.

So what better than jelly to highlight Oklahoma’s great fruit crops? From prickly pears and sand plums in the panhandle to peaches in Porter, Oklahoma has thriving fruit farms.

And they want you to visit.

“Our most popular crops are strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and peaches,” Cohenour said. “We have some apple orchards, quite a few grape vineyards. A couple places that do herbs like mint and lavender.”

Some of the farms have jelly-making classes.

But most have fruit you can pick yourself, then take home to enjoy or make that jelly.

Just make sure to call or check out the farms on social media before you go. Each fruit has its season — from strawberries in late spring to early-summer berries and late-summer peaches.

“Be aware of the quick-changing seasons,”

Find different varieties of peaches at Livesay Orchards in Porter. Check livesayorchards.com for availability.

Cohenour said. People “have to take advantage of the opportunity in the short time they’re available.”

“Berry picking is just a great way to spend time with family away from electronics and in nature. And if the fruit makes it home and you don’t eat it all on the way, you can spend time learning traditional recipes and canning with your family.”

Find your choice of six jelly-making trails with farms of all kinds grouped by geographical region at bit.ly/jellytrails.

Berry picking tips Strawberries: Available May through June Picking tips: Select firm, fully red berries — strawberries do not continue ripening after picking. Grasp the stem above the berry and pull with a slight twisting motion.

Storage: To syrup pack the berries, wash and remove the caps, then place the berries in containers, covering with cold 50% simple syrup (½ cup sugar to 1 cup water, dissolved over low heat in a saucepan, then cooled.) Leave a ½-inch to 1-inch gap between the liquid and the lid. Seal tightly and freeze.

Blueberries: Available June through July Picking tips: Place your hand under a bunch of berries and gently rub them with your fingers. The ripe ones will drop into your hand, leaving the unripe ones on the vine.

Storage tips: For freezing, spread the berries out on a tray or cookie sheet, then place them in the freezer — this keeps them from freezing together. After they’re frozen, transfer them to a container or bag.

Blackberries: Available July through August Picking tips: Look for berries that are plump and black.

Although shiny berries may appear the most attractive, those that are slightly dull will be the sweetest. All it takes is a gentle tug to pull them from the stem.

Storage tips: Treat these like blueberries. Freeze them spread out on a tray or cookie sheet for ease of transfer to a container or bag.

Peaches: Available June through October Picking tips: Color isn’t always a good indicator of ripeness in peaches. Good signs of ripeness are a slight give to the surface when pressed and whether it releases easily from the tree when pulled.

Storage tips: You can store peaches whole in the refrigerator. They will become softer after picking but won’t get any sweeter, so eat, freeze or preserve peaches shortly after picking.

SPONSORED BY JELLY-MAKING TRAILS WITH OKLAHOMA AGRITOURISM / bit.ly/jellytrails 50 Tulsa World Magazine

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

JAM-N-JUICY 1. Black Mesa Bed & Breakfast, Kenton 2. Hitching Post Bed & Breakfast & Ranch, Kenton 3. Hoot Owl Ranch, Kenton 4. Island Guest Ranch, Ames 5. Little Robe Creek Lodge, Oakwood 6. Mesa Valley Guesthouse, Kenton SWEET-N-STICKY 7. Berryhill Blueberries, Tulsa 8. Cabin Creek Berries, Big Cabin 9. Oklahoma Christmas Tree & Mum Farm, Gore 10. Canyon Berry Farms, Claremore

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

11. Endicott Farms, LLC, Liberty-Mounds 12. Huldy’s Farm, Inola 13. J5 Farm, LLC, Stilwell, 14. Joe’s Farm, Bixby 15. Livesay Orchards, Porter 16. Meadow Blackberry Farm, Sapulpa 17. Outback Farms, Pryor 18. Owasso Tree & Berry Farm, Owasso 19. Rock Creek Farms, Sand Springs 20. Shepherd’s Cross Inc., Claremore 21. Three Fruits & A Veggie Family Farm, Osage 22. Thunderbird Berry Farm, Broken Arrow

23. Uncle Buck’s Berries, Schulter 24. Wild Rose Strawberry Farm, Adair LUSH-N-LIVELY 25. Agape House Berry Farm, Mustang 26. Buffalo Creek Berry Farm, Mustang 27. Growing Paynes, Mustang 28. My Raggedy Herbs, Tuttle 29. N40 Berries, Stillwater 30. Rejoice Farm, LLC Mustang 31. Sorghum Mill Christmas Tree & Blackberry Farm, Edmond 32. Tatanka Ranch, Stroud

33. Wind Drift Orchards, Harrah PLUMP-N-PERKY 34. Barrow Berries, Checotah 35. Bridal Path Farms at Lukfata Creek, Broken Bow 36. Creekside Berry Farm, Red Oak 37. Grandpa’s Berry Patch, Wilburton 38. Maple Creek Berry Farm, Poteau 39. Wild Things Farm, Pocola

43. Redbud Farm & Vineyard, Washington 44. Stratford Pullen Peaches, Stratford 45. The Farm on Fishmarket, Wanette BRIGHT-N-BOUNCY 46. Buffalo Creek Lodge & Guide Service, Sweetwater 47. Lavender Valley Acres, Apache 48. Old Caldwell Trail Stables & Guest, RanchFay Make your own

Make your own agritourism adventure and share it with #JellyIsMyJam

RIPE-N-READY 40. Canadian Valley Farms, Lexington 41. Peach Tree Farms, Ada 42. Prairie Wind Nursery, Norman

agritourism adventure and share it with #JellyIsMyJam

Tulsa World Magazine 51

THE TRAVEL ISSUE

the southern Oklahoma town of Davis and visit Turner Falls Park, turnerfallspark.com. Turner Falls is home to numerous pools and what is described as Oklahoma’s largest waterfall. If one day is not enough, you can get camping and RV permits or rent a cabin. Best yet: Admission for children 5 and younger is free.

Get your paddle on Kayaking has become an increasingly popular water sport in Oklahoma, and with an abundance of lakes and rivers to choose from, it might take several years to explore them all.

The Illinois River near Tahlequah has long been a popular place for canoeing and rafting, so not surprisingly, kayakers like it, too. Up for a drive? You’d be hard-pressed to beat the scenery at Broken Bow Lake in McCurtain County.

Mountain biking hot spots Arkansas gets all the publicity for mountain biking, and northeastern Oklahoma has plenty 52 Tulsa World Magazine

of singletrack of its own. But if you’re looking for some new places to explore, consider heading west to ride the rugged hills and lakeside trails of Roman Nose State Park near Watonga. Or take it from those in the know: Head southwest to the Seminole County town of Konawa to the Trails at St. Crispin’s. Flowing singletrack, technical climbs and challenging terrain make St. Crispin’s a go-to destination for cyclists who like to play in the dirt.

Full-throttle thrills If you’re a fan of ATVs, dirt bikes and dune buggies, you don’t have to travel too far to find the perfect place. Little Sahara State Park, near the northwestern Oklahoma town of Waynoka, boasts more than 1,600 acres of sand dunes up to 75 feet high and has become a Mecca for off-road enthusiasts across the region.

You can ride there for just $10 a day, and the park has numerous RV and tent sites if you want to make more than a day trip of it.

Be sure to check the park rules

for riders before you go.

Backpacking adventures For some, the idea of a long trek through the hills with nothing but you and whatever you can fit into a backpack is the ideal adventure.

The good news is you don’t have to block off the time and expense of traveling to the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail.

Just drive down to Talimena State Park near Talihina, and you’ll find the western-most trailhead of the longest through-hike in this part of the country, the Ouachita Trail. The trail winds its way up hills, through valleys and deep into mixed pine and hardwood forests for 192 miles, all the way to Pinnacle Mountain State Park in Arkansas. Even if you’re not up for a trek that long, there is plenty of backpacking to do on the Oklahoma section of the trail, featuring the biggest hills and largest expanse of national forest land in the state. Go for a few days, or if time and endurance are in your favor, see just how far the trail can take you.

The Illinois River near Tahlequah has long been a popular place for canoeing and rafting, so not surprisingly, kayakers like it, too.

MATT BARNARD/ Tulsa World Magazine file

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

THE TRAVEL ISSUE: Oklahoma City

Be on top of the world at sunset: The Wheeler Ferris Wheel gets popular at the end of the day, thanks to offering the best place to be when the sun goes down. It stands 100 feet above ground on the south bank of the Oklahoma River. 1701 S. Western Ave., wheelerdistrict.com/ferris-wheel

I

f you have a day trip to Oklahoma City in mind, here are the six things to do that make for a great time: Eat at one of Bon Appetit’s top restaurants: Here is the magazine’s headline when Nonesuch was named the best restaurant in 2018: “How did a 22-seat tasting-

Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman

menu spot from three chefs whom no one has ever heard of, in a city that no national critic has ever paid attention to, become America’s best new restaurant?” All the chefs are younger than 30 and have no professional culinary training. To eat, you buy a ticket and eat what they are making that day. 803 N. Hudson Ave., nonesuchokc.com

Interesting things to do in Oklahoma City and where to eat while you’re there

By Jason Collington Tulsa World Magazine TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Nonesuch is on everyone’s must-try list after being named a top restaurant by a national magazine.

Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman

Tulsa World Magazine 53­​

THE TRAVEL ISSUE Take a 700-foot zip line: The SandRidge Sky Zip takes you across the Oklahoma River and back. It’s one of the exciting things to do in the cool part of town called the Boathouse District.

With a Riversport Adventure Pass, you can canoe, kayak, paddleboard and more.

Riversport Rapids lets you see some whitewater as you raft. If you want to stay on land, the district has 13 miles of trails.

725 S. Lincoln Blvd., boathousedistrict.org

Georgia Read/OKC Boathouse Foundation

Get some shopping done: The Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City offers the more popular shops where you can find some deals. It’s an outdoor mall but has plenty of shade as you go from one place to another. Popular spots include the Nike, Under Armor, Kate Spade and Michael Kors outlets. 7624 W. Reno Ave., okcoutlets.com

Jim Beckel/The Oklahoman

See 800 skeletons: There really is a Museum of Osteology where you see skeletons, from small animals to a 40-foot humpback whale. The idea of this museum came from someone who sold skulls in his spare time. There are only two of these museums in America: the one in Oklahoma City and one in Orlando, Florida. It’s a hand-on kind of place the kids and adults will get engaged. 10301 S. Sunnylane Road, skeletonmuseum.com

NATE BILLINGS/The Oklahoman file

Make the impossible happen: Of all the things in OKC, Max’s Magic Theatre is one of the highest ranked by travelers.

You will get on stage and help make the show happen. You are not lost when you go to the theatre. It is in a residential area. 8312 NW 118th St., maxsmagic theatre.com

If you go Best brunch: Packard’s New American Kitchen, 201 NW 10th St., for the tomato pie, praline bacon and killer coffee. Or Waffle Champion, 1212 N. Walker Ave., for waffle breakfast sandwiches or the Banana Cream Pie Waffle with banana pudding, speculoos syrup and Nilla wafers.

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Best casual pizza and drink: Get just a little outside Bricktown and visit The Wedge, 230 NE First St., for the Proscuitto e Formaggi pizza with fresh mozzarella, Parmesan, figs, prosciutto and arugula. And make sure to ask what’s on tap.

Best chain you wish we had in Tulsa: S&B Burger Joint, 20 NW Ninth St., Oklahoma City. There are plenty of locations, but we like the one in Automobile Alley for its eclectic decor, peanut butter and bacon sweet potato fries and the delicious sliders. Try the Columbian with the sea salt and coffee-encrusted patties or the bacon-wrapped burger stuffed with blue cheese.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

THE TRAVEL ISSUE: Tribal Tourism

Touring the Tribes Learn about the state’s nations in northeastern Oklahoma

By Kelsy Schlotthauer Tulsa World Magazine

O

klahoma is unique in that we have many sovereign nations within our borders, each with a complex history and beautiful traditions.

Explore the different Native American headquarters and landmarks within easy driving distance of Tulsa this summer.

Cherokee Nation (Tahlequah) The Cherokee Nation has been rooted in its capital, Tahlequah, and 14 surrounding counties since the early 1800s.

The Cherokee Nation is the largest sovereign tribal nation in the U.S., with more than 240,000 citizens in Oklahoma.

The Cherokee National Capitol 101 S. Muskogee Ave., Tahlequah

The Cherokee National Capitol, which will become the Cherokee National History Museum, was built in 1869 to commemorate the Cherokees’ achievement of overcoming the struggles of removal and relocation. The building is currently closed and undergoing renovations, which should be complete this year.

Cherokee National Prison Museum

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday Adults, $5; seniors and students, $3; younger than 5, free 124 E. Choctaw St. Tahlequah

The Cherokee National Prison Museum, built in 1875 to hold “the most hardened criminals in Indian Territory,” now houses a site exploring the history of Cherokee law enforcement and famous outlaws.

Cherokee Heritage Center

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, Sept. 16-June 14; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, June 15Sept. 15 Adults, $8.50; seniors and college students, $7.50; children K-12, $5; younger than 5, free 21192 S. Keeler Drive, Park Hill

The Cherokee Heritage Center was TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Native American art is on display at the Osage Nation Museum in Pawhuska.

MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World Magazine

built on the original site of the Cherokee National Female Seminary in 1967.

Muscogee (Creek) Nation (Okmulgee) 45th Muscogee (Creek) Nation Festival

June 21-22. Free to attend.

Muscogee (Creek) Nation Claude Cox Omniplex, various locations in town.

The festival has concerts and a carnival, one of the largest all-Indian rodeos in the country, craft and food vendors and sporting events.

Muscogee Dome

6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Saturdays. Free for citizens and employees of any Native American tribe.

200 Preston Drive, Okmulgee

The newly renovated Muscogee Dome serves as a recreation center for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Muscogee (Creek) Nation Council House

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Free.

106 W. Sixth St., Okmulgee

After a fire destroyed a two-story, log council house built in 1867, a stone structure was built in 1978 to hold the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s new government. It now houses a museum and gift shop.

Osage Nation (Pawhuska) Osage Nation Museum

8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Parking and admission are free; donations are accepted.

819 Grandview Ave., Pawhuska

Dedicated in 1938, the Osage Nation Museum is the oldest tribal-owned museum in the United States. The museum is dedicated to the history and culture of the Osage people.

Osage Nation Visitors Center 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturdays. Free admission.

602 E. Main St., Pawhuska

Completed in November 2018, the Osage Nation Visitor Center serves as the gateway to the reservation. Visitors can get information and see tribal art.

Tulsa World Magazine 55­​

WHERE’S THE B (AND TH Beef is king in Oklahoma, but if it’s chicken you want, Arkansas is the place to go

By Judy Allen / for tulsa world magazine

W

e all know that in Oklahoma, beef is king, so Westward Ho we go to try the best off-the-beaten-path spots for a burger, chicken fry, BBQ or steak. But lest we forget our friends to the east! If the Northwest Arkansas area is known for one thing, good or bad, it is perhaps the fact that chicken is raised there.

Lots. Of. Chicken. So it is only natural that there are dozens of places to enjoy fried chicken. Whether your travels take you east or west, we would happily and hungrily make the trip for any of these spots.

56 Tulsa World Magazine

Westward Ho for beef J&W Grill

6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday 501 W. Choctaw Ave., Chickasha, Oklahoma; 405-224-9912

The small town of Chickasha, just southwest of Oklahoma City, may not be known as a dining destination, but folks have flocked to the J&W Grill for more than five decades. There are only a handful of barstools and no tables, so don’t tarry or you’ll be forced to stand around and wait on the infamous onion burgers (griddled with fresh Angus beef and piled high with thinly sliced and fried onions) and cheese coneys topped with homemade slaw. Manager Brandi Terry runs the line with friendly precision, and she will have your drink refilled before you realize you had a sip out of it. Breakfast is popular as well and includes homemade biscuits and gravy; thick, grilled ham; pancakes and eggs.

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BEEF THE CHICKEN)?

Chicken to the east

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Chicken Country

10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 1922 W. Main St., Jacksonville, Arkansas 501-982-2424, chickencountryjax.com

Chicken Country is one of those unassuming roadside spots you might just pass by, but the smell lures you in. A word of advice? Stop. Chicken Country serves your choice of crispy fried chicken pieces, warm rolls and jalapeno cornbread, as well as an assortment of classic Southern sides buffet-style. Fried catfish and St. Louis-style ribs are also popular, but guests also stop in for the daily specials, including chicken and dumplings every Friday.

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Cattlemen’s Steakhouse opened in 1910 in Oklahoma City. Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman

Cattlemen’s Steakhouse

6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 6 a.m. to midnight Friday-Saturday 1309 Agnew Ave., Oklahoma City 405-236-0416, cattlemensrestaurant.com

Oklahoma City’s Stockyards City has been bustling since just after statehood. The Cattlemen’s Café opened the same year, in 1910, to feed hungry ranchers, cowboys and beef haulers. Gene Wade won the restaurant in a 1945 dice game and continued to expand the café until he ran out of space. Since 1945, Cattlemen’s Steakhouse has been host to celebrities, politicians and thousands of locals looking for an amazing USDA Prime steak, including the presidentially approved T-Bone, enjoyed by President George H.W. Bush when he visited back in the ’90s.

Monte Ne Inn

5-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, noon to 7 p.m. Sunday 13843 E. Arkansas 94, Rogers, Arkansas 479-636-5511, monteneinnchicken.net

William Hope Harvey was an economic adviser to William Jennings Bryan during Bryan’s presidential bid in 1896. Harvey had visited the Rogers area during the campaign and was impressed with the beauty of the area, which reminded him of his native West Virginia. He returned in 1900, bought some of those hills and valleys and springs and built Monte Ne, which became many things: a health resort, a political headquarters and a publishing house, just to name a few. The property is in ruins today, thanks to a flood at Beaver Lake, but the Monte Ne Inn restaurant nearby has featured one menu for more than 40 years, which is served family-style — all-you-can-eat fried chicken, bean soup, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, coleslaw, homemade rolls and apple butter.

58 Tulsa World Magazine

The Monte Ne Inn restaurant has featured one menu for more than 40 years, which is served familystyle — all-you-can-eat fried chicken, bean soup, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, coleslaw, homemade rolls and apple butter. Courtesy/Kitling Photography TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

AQ Chicken House

11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. every day 1207 N. Thompson St. (U.S. 71B), Springdale, Arkansas 479-751-4633, aqchickenhouse.net

AQ Chicken House in Springdale, Arkansas, is the most well-known of the Northwest Arkansas fried chicken palaces. Tulsa World Magazine file

AQ Chicken House, opened in 1947, is the most well-known of the Northwest Arkansas fried chicken palaces. Once upon a time, chickens were raised, killed and processed right behind the building — the original founder, Roy C. Ritter, was a pioneer in the poultry industry and one of the first to build large poultry houses in the area. The family-friendly joint offers boneless pan-fried chicken, Southern-style catfish and award-winning hickory-smoked ribs. Meals are served with feather-light cloverleaf rolls and hearty side dishes — spicy sweet potato casserole, batter-dipped french fries, seasoned green beans, smoky baked beans and mashed potatoes are faves. When ordering, be sure to plan for dessert. AQ’s batter-fried peaches need a 15-minute lead time and are worth the wait, served warm under vanilla ice cream.

Smokin’ Joe’s Rib Ranch

11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Friday-Saturday 3165 Jollyville Road, Davis, Oklahoma 580-369-2818, smokinjoesribranch.com

Joe Wells decided to try his hand at barbecue out of a gas station as a hobby, bringing in family members to help. Eventually, he turned it into a full-time business, opening a restaurant and adding an RV park for guests. Joe’s son Coby runs the joint now, and hungry barbecue aficionados drive across the state for the famous smoked ribs. Pulled pork, brisket, chicken and pork ribs are smoked all day, and the potato salad and coleslaw are homemade.

Save room for its signature dessert — Strawberries on a Cloud, sweet heavy cream, cream cheese and marshmallows whipped together and served on a meringue crust with strawberry topping — and grab a bag of fried pork skins, seasoned with the house rub, for the ride home.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Andrew Comte cuts the Meersburger into fourths to make it easier to handle at Meers Store and Restaurant north of Lawton. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World Magazine file

Meers Store & Restaurant

10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Monday, Thursday; 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday 26005 OK-115, Meers, Oklahoma; 580-429-8051

The town of Meers in the Wichita Mountains has been boarded up since the end of the gold rush days at the turn of the century, but the Meers Store, opened in 1931, still remains as the only building in town. According to the restaurant’s website, the population of Meers includes one family of six people, eight cats and a dog. Travelers down Interstate 44 go out of their way for the signature Meersburger, a 7-inch diameter burger crafted from the restaurant’s own grass-fed Longhorn herd. On another note, in May 1985, the Oklahoma Geological Survey installed a seismograph in the Meers Store to monitor the Meers Fault — the Meers Observatory is one of the most sensitive stations in the country recording earthquakes in the Indian Ocean more than 10,000 miles away, Russian nuclear tests and other occurrences.

Tulsa World Magazine 59­​

Lambert’s Café

10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day 2305 E. Malone, Sikeston, Missouri (other locations in Ozark, Missouri, and Foley, Alabama) 573-471-4261, throwedrolls.com

In 1942, Earl and Agnes Lambert opened their 41-seat café during a trying time of post-war rationing. Despite the hardship, they churned out meat, vegetables and dessert every day. Fast forward to today, and the Lambert family is still going strong and has become world famous, in part due to the custom of throwing freshly baked hot rolls to customers. “Pass arounds,” or side dishes, are served alongside hearty helpings of fried chicken, catfish and the like — every year, close to 200,000 pounds of chicken breasts, legs and livers are fried and served to hungry customers.

Myrtie Mae’s

7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday 207 W. Van Buren (Inn of the Ozarks), Eureka Springs, Arkansas 479-253-9768, myrtiemaes.com

Lambert’s Café serves almost 200,000 pounds of chicken breasts, legs and livers each year.

Courtesy/Lambert’s Cafe

Myrtie’s story began in the 1920s, when Myrtie May nailed a sign announcing “Home-style Chicken Dinners” to a maple tree along the highway to the campground where visitors to the area flocked and where the Inn of the Ozarks is today. Myrtie served in her own dining room, on a table for eight. For more than 20 years, lunch and dinner consisted of just one entree item — Myrtie’s fried chicken, surrounded by bowls of creamy mashed potatoes, rich cream gravy, vegetables, homemade jams, jellies and relishes, plus homemade bread piping hot from the oven and fresh-churned butter.

Myrtie Mae’s namesake continues as one of Eureka Springs’ oldest dining traditions, offering hearty breakfasts, Myrtie’s mouthwatering fried chicken, homemade desserts and the most bountiful salad bar in Eureka Springs.

Ken’s Steak and Ribs

4:30-9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday 408 E. Main St., Amber, Oklahoma; 405-222-0786

Courtesy/Ken’s Steak and Ribs

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There isn’t a menu at this small-town family-owned steakhouse, but you don’t need one. Plain and simple, choose from smoked chicken, steak, prime rib or ribs. The mesquite-smoked sirloin is a bargain, coming in under $20, especially when you add on the complimentary basket of ribs, loaded baked potato and a salad bar that boasts fried okra, ranch-style beans and a giant wheel of cheddar from which to carve. The restaurant is open only three days a week, so plan on waiting a bit for a table during the weekend. Founder Ken Morrison is no longer a fixture in the restaurant, but there is still plenty of personality among the staff to fill in for the longtime owner, who put a helipad out in the parking lot, just in case.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

The Butcher BBQ Stand

11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (or until sold out) Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (or until sold out) Sunday 3402 West Oklahoma 66, Wellston, Oklahoma 405-240-3437, butcherbbqstand.com

Barbecue fans are willing to drive for their ‘cue. Some even plan road trips around their favorite barbecue joints.

Fortunately, we have one just up the turnpike, churning out award-winning ribs, brisket and pulled pork. Levi Bouska and his pit crew won the World Championship Barbecue title with their pork, making the stand a destination for the entire country. Get there early, for the Butcher’s fans get in line up to an hour before opening. And like many spots catering to low-and-slow cooking, but specifically one utilizing a converted rail car smoker, they sell until the food is gone. On the fence about what to order? Grab the Meat Locker, a selection of ribs, pulled pork, brisket, chicken, sausage and a hot link, as well as three sides, bread and the stand’s only dessert offering, Twinkies.

Baked beans, macaroni and cheese, ribs, sausage, sliced turkey, brisket and burnt ends are served at the Butcher BBQ Stand in Wellston.

MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World Magazine

Sid’s

7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday 300 S. Choctaw Ave., El Reno, Oklahoma 405-262-7757, sidsdinerelreno.com

Ask anyone what food defines Oklahoma and you will often get “fried onion burgers” as the response. Travelers have driven hours out of their way to the self-proclaimed onion burger capital of the state, El Reno, and Sid’s has been the go-to stop since Marty Hall opened the diner in 1990. Sit and enjoy the signature onion burger, with loads of sliced Spanish white onions fried directly into the meat, or a trio of coneys topped with chili, cheese and Sid’s trademark crunchy slaw while taking in the visual history epoxied onto the tables and countertops. Finish off the meal with a thick cherry shake and head out before naptime kicks in.

Sit and enjoy the signature onion burger at Sid’s in El Reno. COURTESY/Sid’s

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

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The Rock Cafe is on Route 66 in Stroud. Tulsa World magazine File

Rock Café

7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day 114 W. Main St., Stroud, Oklahoma 918-968-3990, rockcafert66.com

Southern Living magazine recognized Neal’s Café as “one of the top places in America to eat fried chicken” in 2004. Courtesy/Neal’s Café

Neal’s Café

6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday 806 N. Thompson St. (U.S. 71B), Springdale, Arkansas; 479-751-9996

Since 1944, when Toy and Bertha Neal opened the café with the motto “the best of better foods,” serving fried catfish, chicken and dumplings and homemade rolls, Neal’s has been popular among locals. But it was in 2004, when Southern Living magazine recognized Neal’s as “one of the top places in America to eat fried chicken” that others took notice. It’s hard to miss the pink building with the big neon sign on U.S. 71B — it’s pink on the inside, too. Micah Neal is the family’s fourth generation to run the restaurant, alongside his father, Don. The cafe is renowned for its comfort food, specifically fried chicken and coconut cream pie, and is one of the few places, if not the only, that serves the pulley, the v-shaped chicken piece including the wishbone that is created by cutting the whole breast into three pieces. Some say it is the juiciest piece of white meat you’ll find on a chicken. The walls are adorned with family mementos spanning four generations, and the cafe features a long table unofficially reserved for the morning coffee crowd, which includes regulars who have come for years, if not decades.

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The Rock Café, named for the local sandstone used in its construction, opened on Route 66 in 1939. The café flourished during the next few decades, as traffic made its way down the Mother Road, but fell into disrepair after commuters shifted to the interstate. Dawn Welch purchased the restaurant in 1993, and the restaurant survived a tornado that leveled much of the town. But a devastating fire in 2008 nearly destroyed it. Reopened in 2009, the Rock Café has flourished again, and if this story sounds familiar, know that Welch was the inspiration for the Sally character in Pixar’s “Cars” movie. History aside, the food at Rock Café is really good — housemade spaetzle, buffalo burgers and chicken-fried steak are longtime favorites.

Venesian Inn

5-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 4-9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 582 W. Henri de Tonti Blvd., Springdale, Arkansas 479-361-2562, thevenesianinn.com

The Venesian Inn has been a treasured destination in Northwest Arkansas for more than 60 years and was inducted into the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame in 2018. Germano Gasparotto, a native Italian, opened the restaurant in 1947 and sold it a few years later to John and Mary Granata, also native Italians, who passed it on to their daughter, Alice Leatherman, who passed it on to her nephew Johnny Mhoon and his wife, Linda, in 1992. The Mhoons run the inn today, and the food continues to reflect the rich heritage of the Italians who settled in Tontitown. Fried chicken and spaghetti dinners are still made from scratch and are served with soaked salad (greens tossed with

The Venesian Inn is more than 70 years old and pairs traditional Italian specialties with fried chicken or steak.

STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World Magazine file

signature house dressing) and homemade rolls. Guests enjoy their meals at the same wooden tables installed by Gasparotto in 1947.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

MOOOOOVE OVER BEEF Crystal Prairie’s grass-fed beefalo meat offers health benefits

C

rystal Prairie is the only farm in Oklahoma that raises and sells grass-fed beefalo meat, which provides major health benefits.

Beefalo is a special breed of animal that looks like a cow but is three-eighths bison and five-eighths beef cow, and it produces a delicious brand of meat that is considerably lower in calories, cholesterol and fat, compared to buffalo meat and regular beef.

“If you’re looking to cut calories, looking to reduce your fat intake, and yet still have something that you enjoy to eat, choose to have beefalo beef,” said Tamara Gearhart of Crystal Prairie. “The additional benefit from ours is that we raise them grass-fed and finished. We’re a USDA-certified grass-fed farm, and as part of that program, we do not feed grain or grain by-product or artificial proteins to the animals to enhance the omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s have been shown in some studies to have antiinflammatory properties.”

Crystal Prairie only sells the beefalo meat in bulk amounts, by whole, half or quarter size of the animal. The quarter portion equates to about 200 pounds of meat and is considered the typical amount to feed a family of two for about a year. The half animal is a year’s worth of meat for a family of four and the whole animal for a family of about five to six.

The meat is usually processed in the

summertime only, which is why the portions are so large — to last until the next season the meat will be available again.

Customers can order directly from Crystal Prairie by phone or by email.

“Someone would just call or email me and let me know what they’re looking for and get on our schedule for the summer, when we take the animals in for processing to our local, small, independent packing plants that we have close to us,” Gearhart said. “When our grass is greenest and healthiest is when they’re ready to be processed, so that’s when we take them in. The meat is frozen, vacuumsealed and packaged by custom order, so the customer has a choice in how they want theirs cut, and then the customer goes and picks it up, right from the packer.”

Crystal Prairie uses a couple of different packers in the Oklahoma City area.

The farm itself, which is southeast of Chickasha, doesn’t offer official tours, but customers can visit by appointment.

Gearhart acknowledged that the beefalo meat does cost more than regular beef, but the health benefits outweigh the price increase.

“Because of the way we raise ours, and the bison genetics, they take longer to raise to market weight, to get to the right size,” Gearhart explained. “Traditionally, if you were grain-feeding and using cheaper feeds, which most everybody else is — ours costs about double because ours are kept in our pastures for twice as long, and we maintain their health, and feed them, over twice as many winters, so it costs more to raise it this way.

“But it’s clean, nutritious, great-tasting meat.”

SPONSORED BY CRYSTAL PRAIRIE / 405-320-2543 / crystalprairiebeefalo@gmail.com TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Tulsa World Magazine 63

Yoneg (left) and Red Dog wait for owner Deborah Rucker outside Jincy’s Kitchen. “Red Dog is 21 or 22 now,” Rucker said. “He was my father’s last dog.”

Tulsa World Magazine file

By Scott Cherry Tulsa World Magazine

F

ew things will get a foodie more excited than finding that “hidden gem,” a unique restaurant that often is somewhere off the beaten path.

That’s not to say hidden gems don’t have strong followings. They do. Otherwise, they wouldn’t stay in business.

We’ve rounded up some hidden gems we’re kind of crazy about, each for its own reasons. Most are around Tulsa. A few are a short drive away.

64 Tulsa World Magazine

gems Hidden JINCY’S KITCHEN

31392 S. Qualls Road, Park Hill 918-457-5515 5-9 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday The story of Jincy’s Kitchen begins in the 1930s, when Deborah Rucker’s greatgrandmother, Jincy Powers Lane, opened a mercantile store in Qualls, an unincorporated town between Tahlequah and Webbers Falls.

“She built Qualls Mercantile Grocery here in 1936, and it ran until 1965,” Rucker said. “It had groceries, children’s clothes, cattle feed, a lot of stuff. She also applied to have a post office here, and she became postmaster.”

Rucker’s father, Jack, took over the store in 1968.

“It still was stocked with a lot of things, and it was used as the grandfather’s grocery in the movie ‘Where the Red Fern Grows,’ ” Rucker said. “After the movie, it became a storage building for family and friends.”

About 30 years ago, Rucker cleaned up the building and started serving meals to visitors during hunting season. In 2001, she put in a full kitchen, open three days a week, serving such comfort food as chicken-fried pork tenderloin, hamburger steak with green peppers and onions cooked in, chickenfried steak, pan-fried chicken, chicken-fried chicken and house-made pies. Steaks are a Friday night special.

Rucker’s niece, Tonya Ballard, and grandniece, Brook Ballard, help with the cooking. It used to be cash and check only. It now takes credit cards, too.

It’s located in the countryside off of Oklahoma 82 south of Tahlequah. The address is listed in Park Hill, just up the road from the old Qualls community.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

The ham dinner with Amish casserole and green beans is popular at the Amish Country Store.

MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World Magazine file

AMISH COUNTRY STORE & RESTAURANT 2410 N. 32nd St., U.S. 69, Muskogee 918-686-0243 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday When Pam Villines’ candle-making business began to flicker, she started considering ways to expand into other areas.

“A few years ago, I was driving around Chouteau and saw an Amish bakery and wondered if Amish items would go over here,” Villines said.

At first, Villines added Amish jellies and jams to augment her candle business, on U.S. 69 on the north side of Muskogee. Then came sandwiches, then breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Today, Amish Country Store & Restaurant is about half restaurant and half food and gift store. Almost all of the food items, including some used in the restaurant, come from Amish providers. Villines said Amish women make the breads, pies, candy and cookies. Family and friends make the fudge and fried pies.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Tulsa World Magazine 65

KITCH CAFÉ & BAKERY 377 E. Main St., Jenks 918-528-6766 Kitch: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday Cookiedoodle: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon to 3 p.m. Saturday The muffuletta sandwich (left), street tacos, and fruit and pecan salad are among the offerings at Kitch Cafe & Bakery in Jenks.

TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World Magazine file

Not many customers would have recognized Bernadette and Toby Feickert the first time they came to Cookiedoodle or Kitch Café & Bakery, neighboring businesses in Jenks. A lot of folks in Muskogee would have.

They were the longtime owners of the popular Miss Addie’s Tea Room, which morphed into Miss Addie’s Café & Pub when a bar was added and more masculine dishes were put on the menu. It was in the former Smith Drug Store in downtown Muskogee.

They moved to Jenks six years ago. That’s also when they opened Cookiedoodle, while they continued to commute to Miss Addie’s, which closed about a year ago. Cookiedoodle offers cookies, cupcakes, cakes and pies.

Last fall, the Feickerts acquired the space next door and opened a diner called Kitch Café & Bakery. They knocked out a wall between Kitch and Cookiedoodle so it appears to be one shared space.

Kitch serves breakfast from 7-11 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

Menu choices include sandwiches, soups, salads and chef’s specials, with everything from banh mi, cranberry club and muffuletta sandwiches to street tacos and a vegetarian tostada.

MELTDOWN DINER 4377 Southwest Blvd.

918-906-9546 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday Meltdown is the right word when confronting one of the many variations of grilled cheese from Jim Hardcastle’s grill.

Almost all of the sandwiches at Meltdown Diner are based on a classic grilled cheese, starting with buttered Texas toast or toasted sourdough and a mound of cheese on the flattop grill. Fillings include such items as jalapenos, bologna, meatloaf, bacon, ham, pulled pork, portobello mushrooms, peppers, onions, peanut butter and pepperoni. Then there are the Monte Cristo, BLT, Reuben and recently added hamburgers, fries, malts and shakes.

Hardcastle, a former Webster High School quarterback, and his wife, Sara, formerly operated the Meltdown Gourmet Grilled Cheese food truck before opening their tiny, 20-seat restaurant in west Tulsa.

Conversations can be briefly interrupted when trains cross 33rd West Avenue and blow their horns, which just adds to the charm of the place.

Parking is limited. Overflow parking is available at the O’Reilly Auto Parts across the street.

66 Tulsa World Magazine

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

LEVAIN KITCHEN & BAKERY 10021 S. Yale Ave. Shops of Seville 918-518-6711 Breakfast-lunch 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; dinner 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

Remember this: agnolotti.

Agnolotti is an off-menu dinner special most nights and sells out quickly at Levain Kitchen & Bakery. Chef-proprietor Trey Winkle preps them in the afternoon, rolling out the scratch-made dough and filling the

pasta, like little ravioli, with a variety of items.

The roasted carrot and Brie cheese filling is hard to beat, but all are heavenly.

Even more popular among Levain fans are the artisan pizzas, served only on Wednesday nights. Two pizzas are offered those nights, and one always is vegetarian.

Choices from the regular menu include such items as gnocchi, lamb sausage over pork schnitzel, butternut squash soup and lamb ribs.

Levain opened as a breakfast-lunch spot in 2017, and dinners were added last year. It has full bar service, too.

Levain is tucked out of site from the main thoroughfares in the Shops of Seville.

Coffee frappe is among the pretty and tasty drinks at Zogam Cafe.

MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World Magazine file

ZOGAM CAFE 6930 S. Lewis Ave. 918-551-7005 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday Zogam Café, one of several ethnic restaurants in the Spectrum Center, offers an appealing mix of Thai and Malaysian dishes in a modern, shiny setting.

Owner Suan Mang developed his style of cooking throughout his travels in Malaysia and the U.S., where he has lived for the past eight years.

He is a native of Burma, the country now called Myanmar, and a member of the Zomi ethnic group. It is the Christian faith of the Zomi that has drawn an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 to Tulsa over the past 30 years. Some originally came to study at Oral Roberts University and most reside in that area.

Mang had been cooking in Malaysia, where he also learned to make beautiful and delicious milkshakes, smoothies, frappes and teas, for about three years before coming to Tulsa.

The Whole Hog grilled Cheese at Meltdown Diner includes pulled pork, ham and bacon on Texas toast with blueberry barbecue sauce.

STEPHEN PINGRY/ Tulsa World Magazine file

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Tulsa World Magazine 67­​

Lisa Becklund (left) and Linda Ford are co-owners of Living Kitchen Farm & Dairy, a working farm near Depew that does dinners most weekends.

Dinners are scheduled three months at a time and sell out fast.

Tulsa World Magazine file

LIVING KITCHEN FARM & DAIRY 25198 S. 481st West Ave., Depew 918-284-8169 The first public dinner Lisa Becklund and Linda Ford created at Living Kitchen Farm & Dairy 13 years ago had a unique and perfectly sensible purpose.

“It was a lavender dinner, and we had it as a fundraiser to buy goat feed,” Ford said. “We had to support our goat habit. It just went on from there.”

Today, Ford and Becklund, a chef who came to Oklahoma 16 years ago from Seattle, stage weekend dinners from April through December. Each is themed — “Red Dirt,” “Shades of Summer,” “Ancient Table,” “Wood, Smoke, Fire,” etc. — and all cost $110 per person, plus tax, except for December, when it’s $140, plus tax. And they sell out faster than you can say “heirloom tomato.”

The dinners are limited to about 30 guests.

They are served on the screened-in back porch of a two-story log cabin on a working farm near Depew, about 50 minutes from Tulsa just off old Route 66. The dinners are booked three months at a time. The April-June dinners are sold out.

Reservations for the July-September dinners can be made starting at 7 a.m. June 1 at livingkitchenfarmanddairy.com. One must sign up on the website. Phone calls and emails are not accepted.

Dinners generally have nine or so courses. Diners have the option of arriving 30 minutes early to take a tour of the farm and gardens.

Becklund said she had to dig a little, figuratively and literally, to figure out the roots of Oklahoma cuisine.

“I love chicken-fried steak and barbecue, but I wanted to go deeper than that,” she said. “I read the Angie Debo historical novels about what folks were doing when settling Oklahoma. It was fascinating.”

68 Tulsa World Magazine

Smoked chicken is a popular entree at Christy’s Bar-B-Que & Good Food.

Tulsa World Magazine file

CHRISTY’S BAR-B-QUE & GOOD FOOD 9516 E. Pine St. 918-835-9922 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday Tony Alkhouri had received his degree in agricultural engineering in his native country of Syria and came to the United States to visit his brother.

“That was in 1985,” Tony Alkhouri said.

“I loved it here and decided to stay. Who wouldn’t want to live in the No. 1 country in

the world?”

His brother, Milad, owns Jake’s Cafe in Broken Arrow. Tony opened Christy’s in northeast Tulsa more than 20 years ago.

Probably not many Tulsans have heard of Christy’s, but workers at the airport and surrounding industrial complexes certainly have. Regulars have been dining there for years.

In addition to barbecue, Christy’s offers decked-out spuds, spaghetti dinners, gyros sandwiches, deli sandwiches, salads, subs, burgers and a few entrees, such as chickenfried steak, hamburger steak, charbroiled chicken breast and boneless chicken strips.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Featured destination

ESPERANCE 610 W. Main St., Jenks 918-528-6544 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. TuesdayFriday, 7:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, or until sold out.

Esperance in French translates to “hope,” and the bubbly owner of the bakery is Hope Alexander.

“I’ve had a lot of jobs, but I wanted to do something that really makes me happy,” she said. “I like to feed people. That makes me happy. I was a baker a long time ago, but what I did then was nothing like what I’m doing now.”

What she is doing is putting out an array of pastries daily. The lineup is focused on croissants, but the shelves also hold a variety of scones, cake rolls, cakes, bread puddings, cookies and cheesecakes.

The flavors range from savory to sweet, and the offerings change daily.

A delicate pear pastry is topped with a light gingercaramel sauce at Esperance, a boutique bakery in Jenks.

STEPHEN PINGRY/ Tulsa Magazine World file

Former caterer Cheri Ann Humpleby cooks traditional Italian fare at Cheri Ann’s Trattoria in Broken Arrow.

MATT BARNARD/ Tulsa World Magazine file

CHERI ANN’S TRATTORIA 423 N. Main St., Broken Arrow 918-251-0221 4-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday The little yellow building with green awnings and red door is an eye-catcher as one enters the TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Rose District in downtown Broken Arrow. At first glance, it could pass as one of the gift shops or boutique clothing stores that dot the downtown area. Closer inspection reveals it is a quaint, Italian restaurant — Cheri Ann’s Trattoria.

The cozy restaurant is open only for dinner and Sunday lunch for now. Beginning Wednesday, May 15, weekday hours will be 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch and 5-10 p.m. for dinner.

Cheri Ann Humpleby, a former caterer who supplied hotels with desserts, is the cook behind the restaurant’s name. Look for dishes such as spaghetti and meatballs, bruschetta, pork loin chops in an herb wine reduction, farfalle with white wine cream sauce and herb-crusted chicken.

A selection of red and white wines also is available.

Tulsa World Magazine 69­​

MONTY’S BBQ & CHICKEN 6150 E. Tecumseh St. 539-664-4099 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday The Dawson neighborhood, named after postmaster W.A. Dawson, was a thriving coal mining community founded in 1895. It incorporated as a town in 1923 and was annexed into Tulsa in 1948.

Dawson School, built of sandstone block in the Romanesque style in 1908, was the anchor of the community until it closed in 1929.

It still stands at 2039 N. Kingston Place and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The present-day Dawson neighborhood, a largely industrial area, is bounded by Apache Street to the north, Pine Street to the south, Sheridan Road to the east and Yale Avenue to the west.

“People here still don’t think of themselves being from Tulsa,” Monty Williams Jr. said.

“They say they’re from Dawson.”

Last year, Williams Jr. and his father, Monty Williams Sr., opened Monty’s BBQ & Chicken in the heart of the neighborhood.

As its name implies, Monty’s features some of the best fried chicken around and a line of barbecue that includes long, meaty ribs that are almost, but not quite, falling off the bone.

Monty’s BBQ & Chicken is located in a mostly industrial area in the old Dawson neighborhood in northeast Tulsa. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World Magazine file

PHO NHI 11514 E. 21st St. 918-947-4388 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday When Nam-Hai International Market moved to its enormous new building in October 2014, Linda and Quan Do decided to take advantage of some of the leftover space.

“We saw an opportunity to open a restaurant attached to the store,” Linda Do said.

Linda and Quan had an inside track to acquire the space. Linda’s parents, Loi and Le, who came to the United States in the first wave of Vietnamese immigrants in 1975, own Nam-Hai. Linda and Quan named the restaurant Pho Nhi after their teenage daughter, Julia, whose Vietnamese name is Nhi (pronounced nee).

Noodle bowls, rice platters and pho (soup) are among the outstanding choices at Pho Nhi. It has an open feel with rows of bamboo helping divide the room into different areas.

Vintage photos of Vietnam grace the walls, and an ornate street noodle cart, imported from Vietnam, is the centerpiece decoration.

Featured destinations are brought to you from our sponsors.

Featured destination brought to you by our sponsor.

70 Tulsa World Magazine

Pho Nhi offers an array of mostly Vietnamese dishes in front of the massive Nam-Hai International Market in east Tulsa. Tulsa World Magazine file

Monty Williams Jr. (left) and Monty Williams Sr. operate Monty’s BBQ & Chicken in the old Dawson neighborhood in northeast Tulsa.

Owner Quan Do shows a street noodle cart, imported from Vietnam, that is the centerpiece decoration at Pho Nhi.

STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World Magazine file

Tulsa World Magazine file

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Special supplemental advertising section | TULSA WORLD MAGAZINE

HOME TRENDS 2019

Gray and white are hot colors for bedrooms.

This Flexsteel Vogue bed is available at Sunshine Furniture, 7178 S. Memorial Drive.

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Tulsa World Magazine 71­​

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o freshen up a room or even the whole house, the latest home decor trends focus on fun, versatile furniture and home accent pieces.

And say goodbye to the browns and heavy looks, while saying hello to whites, grays and bright, lively accents, according to Giovanni Rundo, owner of Sunshine Furniture, 7178 S. Memorial Drive.

“There have been several changes in the industry.

Within a very few years, we went from very traditional looks to much more eclectic looks,” Rundo said.

“The typical browns, coffee and beige colors have been largely replaced by the gray and neutral colors to be accented by the bright colors of the chairs and pillows.”

Fabrics have also become more family-friendly and cleanable, he said, which opens up many more interior design options.

“People are choosing lighter colors because they are not afraid anymore of the cleanup. The fabrics are more pet- and kid-friendly.”

Young families aren’t looking for the heirloom furniture looks or the shiny, dark brown piano wood finishes. Farmhouse

Add a pop of red with a gorgeous leather recliner or accent rug.

Farmhouse-style furniture, such as this dining table, is a popular home decor trend, and gray chairs make a perfect match in a neutral tone.

and industrial styles and reclaimed woods remain the top design trends in the region. Glam and metallic finishes aren’t quite as popular as they have been, but those luxe looks are still in demand, especially for young girls, he said.

“It is not your grandma’s furniture anymore by any means,” Rundo said. “Customers like to change the colors, replace the pieces every few years.”

Bright accent chairs and pillows complement stylish and bright accent rugs with abstract designs.

“Everything is more fun than what it used to be,” Rundo said. “It’s not all matchy, matchy anymore.”

In the living room, coffee tables don’t have to match

the end tables and the sofa tables. In the bedroom, the nightstands don’t have to match the bed or the armoire.

“It is more like a treasure hunt. The style is to look for the perfect conversation pieces and then find pieces that work with them,” Rundo said.

And if a treasure hunt is not your of cup tea, not to worry. Sunshine Furniture has a team of on-staff designers who can do the hunting for you, said Cindy Flores, sales trainer.

“They will work on any project, nothing is too big or too small. They will work on any price point, and they will come out to your house and measure your house for you,” Flores said.

“Basically, they will make all of your dreams come true, and the nice thing is that it makes it fun again.

It takes all of the grunt work out and makes it fun again.”

With summer in full swing, outdoor living areas might need some updating, too.

Sunshine Furniture began selling outdoor furniture last year. It offers many styles in powdercoated aluminum and woven resin, which has the appearance of a woven material but is more durable, Rundo said.

“The new arrivals will be eucalyptus wood, basically it has the look of teak without the cost and also is a sustainable type of wood.”

SPONSORED BY Sunshine Furniture / 7178 S. Memorial Drive / sunshineok.com TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

Tulsa World Magazine 73­​

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Go bright, gray and white

Ruhl Properties currently features homes throughout the metro and has floor plans that range from 2,000 to more than 4,000 square feet.

Special supplemental advertising section | TULSA WORLD MAGAZINE

HIGH DEMAND Home builders staying busy in Tulsa and suburbs

I

By Tim Landes FoR TULSA WORLD MAGAZINE

n 1931, as Tulsa’s population grew south, an increase in traffic forced the city to begin construction on the 21st Street bridge.

Really, ever since oil was discovered, Tulsa has seen slow and steady growth toward the south. It started along the banks of the Arkansas River and spread south and to the east.

Nearly a century later, the southward expansion has reached distances farther than the eye can see from the BOK Tower.

“Everything is going farther south toward 151st Street in Bixby and Jenks,” said Chris Burton, a home builder since 2005. “All the land is being developed as fast as possible.”

Burton, who oversees Chris Burton Homes, says he’s currently constructing houses in the Estates of Forest Hills, an 80-lot development near

74 Tulsa World Magazine

131st Street and Peoria Avenue. He’s a partner in the 77-lot Gray Oaks development at 135th Street and Harvard Avenue. He also continues to do some work in the Tulsa Hills area.

Chris Burton Homes is constructing houses in the Estates of Forest Hills, an 80-lot development near 131st Street and Peoria Avenue.

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A kitchen is seen inside a Silvercrest Homes property.

“Sales are really ticking up. This year will be really good,” Burton said. “I’m selling out of inventory. Sold signs feed sold signs.”

One recent rainy Friday, Burton was working at his office at 81st Street and Memorial Drive. The conference room was covered in architectural renderings of his numerous job sites.

While Burton started building on his own nearly 15 years ago, he said he has spent his entire life watching houses be built. His father, Gary, built 40 subdivisions during a 40-year career.

“I’ve been around it my whole life,” Burton said. “I spent a lot of time in cars at job sites across Tulsa. I’ve watched it grow.”

Burton said he focuses on houses in the $300,000 to $399,000 range that typically average around 3,000 square feet. He said the average time for construction is four to five months.

Allen Jenkins, home builder and owner of Silvercrest Homes, said he is working in the same areas, the same price ranges and seeing the same results.

“You get more bang for your buck in south Tulsa,” said Jenkins in a phone conversation as he drove between job sites on the outskirts of Tulsa. “It’s some of the most affordable housing in the country.

“A lot of people who have lived for years 76 Tulsa World Magazine

in midtown are downsizing and moving south into Jenks and Bixby,” Jenkins said.

“We’re seeing a lot of people whose kids are gone, and they don’t want all the space.

There are some who are getting older and don’t want to deal with how busy it is.”

Jenkins chaired the annual Greater Tulsa Home & Garden Show in March where he said more than 30,000 people visited the four-day event at Expo Square. He said the

Key Homes & Design builds homes ranging from 1,800 to 7,400 square feet.

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PROUD TO REPRESENT CHRIS KEY

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80 Tulsa World Magazine

Above, a home from Ruhl Properties makes great use of the popular open-concept floor plan.

At right, a kitchen from Key Homes & Design uses accents for a pleasing design.

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“I am selling 2-to-1 single over two stories, so I would have to agree there is a huge downsizing trend going on,” Lee said. “I do believe we are going to continue seeing the downsize trend with upper-end amenities becoming more and more popular.”

To help make people’s dream homes come true, all three home builders work with Chinowth & Cohen Realtors, which also works with Ruhl Construction and Key Homes and Design.

Ruhl Properties currently features homes throughout the metro and has

floor plans that range from 2,000 to more than 4,000 square feet.

Key Homes & Design builds homes ranging from 1,800 to 7,400 square feet, as well as completed homes.

By the time you’re reading this story, these home builders will be completing the first new homes of the year, and buyers will be moving in as prospective developments continue to pop up around them.

“I recently attended a broker’s open at the Winchester development and 400 Realtors showed up,” Burton said. “Things aren’t slowing down anytime soon.”

Tulsa World Magazine 81­​

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said he’s seeing another trend, which is the popular design elements featured on the long-running HGTV reality series “Fixer Upper.”

“In the beginning of 2018, we started to see the Joanna Gaines effect hitting Tulsa with a lot of what I call urban farm designs,” Lee said. “I think we are now seeing that element being blended with a modern twist, which allows for a lot of creativity.”

Lee continues to devote most of his work to the Jenks, Bixby and Broken Arrow areas, where he too is seeing the trend of relocation and downsizing.

Differing views

By James D. Watts Jr. Tulsa World Magazine

T

wo unique views of Tulsa and its citizens — a 1971 portfolio as notorious as it is influential, the other created in 2018 by an acclaimed actor — will open May 31 at Philbrook Downtown, 116 E. M.B. Brady St. “Larry Clark: Tulsa” and “Jason Lee: Oklahoma” will remain on display through Nov. 10.

Philbrook recently acquired the complete 50-image portfolio of Clark’s 1971 book, which chronicled in unflinching black-and-white images the “outlaw” lives of Clark’s friends and acquaintances in 1960s Tulsa, for whom drugs, sex and violence were simply a part of life.

This will be the first museum showing

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of Clark’s photographs in Oklahoma.

“Clark’s position as a member of the community he photographed had a profound influence on artists who came after him,” says Sienna Brown, Nancy E. Meinig Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. “Approaches to photography and the depiction of communities were never the same after ‘Tulsa.’ ” Clark’s influence can be seen in contemporary photographers like Nan Goldin and Richard Prince and filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Gus Van Sant, who cite Clark as a visual influence on their films “Taxi Driver,” “Rumble Fish” and “Drugstore Cowboy,” respectively.

“It’s a very stark view of Tulsa,” said Philbrook Director Scott Stulen. “But it’s also very much a snapshot of youth at this particular time. It’s truly one of the most important photographic portfolios out there. These photographs look as fresh today as they did nearly 50 years ago, and they are just as relevant.”

Lee, best-known for his role as the title character of the TV series “My Name is Earl,” became acquainted with Philbrook when museum officials invited him to attend its recent exhibit of photographs

by Lusha Nelson.

Lee has pursued photography seriously and began talking with Philbrook officials about doing a show for the museum.

“Jason has spent much of a summer

“Dead 1970” is part of Larry Clark’s “Tulsa,” chronicling the “outlaw” lives of Clark’s friends and acquaintances in 1960s Tulsa.

Courtesy/Larry Clark/Luhring Augustine

here in Tulsa and the surrounding area,” Stulen said. “He’s a true road photographer — he’ll drive around until he is struck by an image. He doesn’t use any tricks; he shoots on film rather than digital, and the image is what he sees through the viewfinder.”

In a statement on his website, Lee writes, “When I’d set out to start photographing for the project, the idea was to just document Tulsa, but after spending two weeks there at the beginning of June, it became clear to me that it would mean more, and be more fulfilling for me, to document Oklahoma as I’d done Texas for (the exhibit) ‘A Plain View.’

There’s something about roaming new places by car, being on unknown highways and approaching unknown towns, that has a certain allure and excitement to it.”

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

arts the

Tulsa in

> Through 7/14, ‘Pulitzer Prize Photographs’ Some of the most iconic images ever captured on film, from the raising of the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima to the fall of the Berlin Wall, make up this exhibit from the Newseum in Washington D.C. WHERE: Gilcrease Museum, 1400 N. Gilcrease Museum Road FOR MORE: gilcrease.org

Current and upcoming events around the area >>Through 9/15, ‘Bob Dylan: Face Value and Beyond’ The first major exhibit drawn from the Bob Dylan Archives is centered around 12 pastel portraits by the Nobel Prize winner, as well as a variety of memorabilia ranging from hand-written lyrics to clothing.

WHERE: Gilcrease Museum, 1400 N. Gilcrease Museum Road FOR MORE: gilcrease.org

“Skip Sharpe” is one of the portraits from the “Face Value” series by Bob Dylan. The complete series of 12 pastel portraits is the centerpiece of the upcoming exhibit “Bob Dylan: Face Value and Beyond.”

Courtesy/Bob Dylan

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

>>5/17, ‘Hanson: String Theory’ Tulsa’s homegrown pop powerhouse joins forces with the Tulsa Symphony in a concert that casts Hanson’s music in an entirely new way — arranged for, and accompanied by, a full symphony orchestra.

WHERE: Tulsa PAC, 101 E. Third St. FOR MORE: tulsasymphony.org

Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler plays music while at Tulsa Ballet in November.

IAN MAULe/ Tulsa World Magazine file

>>Through 05/12, ‘Signature Series’ Tulsa Ballet closes out its season with a program that mixes Broadway with ballet, featuring the world premiere of the first ballet

by Andy Blankenbuehler, the Tony Award-winning choreographer of “Hamilton” and “In the Heights.”

WHERE: Lorton Performance Center, 550 S. Gary Ave. FOR MORE: tulsaballet.org

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>>5/18, ‘The Brunch’ Arts Alliance Tulsa’s annual fundraising event will feature as special guests S.E. Hinton, author of the landmark novel “The Outsiders,” and actor Ralph Macchio, who starred in the 1983 film version.

WHERE: Hyatt Regency, 100 E. Second St. FOR MORE: artstulsa.org >>5/18, ‘One-Man Pride & Prejudice’ and ‘One-Man Star Wars’ Canadian actor Charles Ross brings two iconic works to the stage all by himself, playing all the characters from a galaxy far, far away and from a time when a man of fortune must be in want of a wife.

WHERE: Tulsa PAC, 110 E. Second St. FOR MORE: tulsapac.com >>5/17-26, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ Theatre Tulsa presents this award-winning adaptation of Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel about a young man dealing with autism who decides to play detective when he finds a neighbor’s dog that has been killed.

WHERE: Tulsa PAC, 110 E. Second St. FOR MORE: theatretulsa.org >>6/8, ‘The Tempest’ The Tulsa PAC Trust’s Orbit Initiative brings together people from communities throughout the city to take part in a special musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”

WHERE: Tulsa PAC, 101 E. Third St. FOR MORE: tulsapac.com >>6/18-23, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ This classic musical about Tevye, a milkman in a small Russian town, and his attempts to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon the family’s lives.

WHERE: Tulsa PAC, 101 E. Third St. FOR MORE: tulsapac.com

>>5/31-06/1, ‘The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical’ Based on the first novel of the series, “The Lightning Thief” is about 12-year-old Percy Jackson, who discovers that he is in fact the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, and in possession of certain power he must learn how to use properly to defeat monsters and prevent a cosmic war.

WHERE: Tulsa PAC, 101 E. Third St. FOR MORE: tulsapac.com

The University of Tulsa’s Institute of Bob Dylan Studies and the Bob Dylan Archives will host “The World of Bob Dylan,” an international conference May 30-June 2. Courtesy/Cinemax 84 Tulsa World Magazine

“The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” stars Chris McCarrell (center, with sword) as Percy. Courtesy/Jeremy Daniels

>>6/23-10/6, ‘Wondrous Worlds: Art and Islam Through Time and Place’ This exhibition will surprise viewers with dazzling works that span over 1,400 years of art in media ranging from carpets and dress to jewelry, ceramics, glass, metal, paintings, prints, calligraphy and photographs.

WHERE: Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S. Rockford Road FOR MORE: philbrook.org >>6/30, The Tulsa Awards for Theatre Excellence The best local dramatic theater will be honored at this annual event, where the winners will share in $20,000 in prize money.

WHERE: Tulsa PAC, 110 E. Second St. FOR MORE: tulsapac.com

>>5/30-6/2, ‘The World of Bob Dylan’ The University of Tulsa Institute for Bob Dylan Studies hosts this wideranging symposium, which will feature sessions with rock legend Roger McGuinn and noted rock music critic Greil Marcus.

WHERE: Various locations FOR MORE: dylan.utulsa.edu

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SUMMER FESTIVALS

Summer is here, and with it comes festival season.

Mark your calendars for some of the biggest events of the year. >>Rocklahoma May 24-26 1421 W. 450 Road, Pryor rocklahoma.com A three-day rock music festival featuring more than 70 entertainment acts on three stages, featuring some of the top names in hard-rock music, as well as 1980s-era classic rock and metal bands.

This year’s lineup includes Korn, Disturbed, Shinedown, Bush, Seether and many others. >>Sunfest May 31-June 2 Sooner Park, Bartlesville bartlesvillesunfest.org Bartlesville’s SunFest is known as one of Oklahoma’s biggest outdoor picnics, featuring live music, arts and crafts, children’s games, storytellers, food and much more. >>World’s Largest Calf Fry Festival & Cook-off

The Oklahoma Renaissance Festival at The Castle of Muskogee features a royal court, jousters and jesters, magicians, musicians and minstrels. Ian Maule/Tulsa World Magazine file >>Oklahoma Renaissance Festival Through June 2 The Castle of Muskogee, 3400 W. Fern Mountain Road, Muskogee okcastle.com Step back in time to the 16th century with Queen Elizabeth I of England, King James of Scotland and more than 600 costumed performers and artisans as they create the boisterous village of Castleton at the annual Oklahoma Renaissance Festival. Held at the Castle of Muskogee, this festival will feature a royal court, jousters and jesters, magicians, musicians and minstrels. Browse more than 135 handcrafted booths for one-of-a-kind items.

etables, parsley, mint, olive oil and lemon juice. >>Stilwell Strawberry Festival May 11 Downtown Stilwell, Division Street strawberrycapital.com Held since 1948 as a way to promote the strawberries grown in the area, the annual Strawberry Festival in Stilwell has become one of Oklahoma’s most-loved hometown festivals. With games, live entertainment and free strawberries and ice cream, the annual festival will also feature a 5k run, helicopter rides, carnival rides, plenty of food and merchandise and vendor booths.

>>Rooster Days Festival

>>Tulsa International Mayfest

May 11-12 Central Park, 1500 S. Main St., Broken Arrow roosterdays.com Rooster Days Festival in Broken Arrow is one of the oldest continually running festivals in Oklahoma. Rooster Days includes amusement rides, carnival food, wine garden, music and entertainment, and a market place.

May 17-19 Tulsa Arts District tulsamayfest.org In its 47th year, Tulsa International Mayfest will move from the city’s central business district downtown to the Tulsa Arts District. The annual arts festival features juried artists from across the country, live music, food vendors and more.

>>Tabouleh Fest

>>The Hop Jam

May 11 Main Street, Bristow bristowchamber.com The annual Tabouleh Fest celebrates Bristow’s Middle Eastern ancestors who arrived in Oklahoma during the late 1800s. Immigrants brought with them tabouleh, also spelled tabouli, a fresh salad dish made with bulgur wheat, fresh veg-

May 19 Tulsa Arts District thehopjam.com A unique celebration of beer and music, The Hop Jam celebrates the artisanal beer movement in Oklahoma, as well as the Oklahoma music scene.

Pop-rock trio Hanson will once again headline this year’s festival.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

June 1 Craig County Fairgrounds, 915 E. Apperson Road, Vinita vinita.com Experience the ranching history of the Vinita area by tasting the festival’s namesake — calf fries — also known as a local delicacy. >>Black Gold Days June 20-23 Black Gold Park, 95 W. 145th St., Glenpool glenpoolchamber.org The annual Black Gold Days festival in Glenpool celebrates the city’s rich oil history with familyoriented activities and fun. The city honors the history of the local Glenn Pool oil field, named after Ida Glenn. >>Green Corn Festival June 27-29 Charley Young Park, 50 W. Dawes Ave., Bixby bixbyoptimist.com The Green Corn Festival is an old-fashioned family festival and picnic in downtown Bixby. See the Green Corn Parade, an antique tractor pull, corneating contest, watermelon seed-spitting contest, balloon toss and more. >>Muscogee (Creek) Nation Festival June 21-24 Claude Cox Omniplex, 2950 Warrior Road, Okmulgee creekfestival.com This annual celebration includes cultural exhibitions, a golf tournament, concerts featuring local and national acts, arts and crafts, food, a parade through downtown Okmulgee and activities for all ages.

Tulsa World Magazine 85­​

LET’S GO. > Through 5/19, TULSA CRAFT BEER WEEK Tulsa Craft Beer Week highlights the growing craft beer community in Tulsa with the help of breweries and local business owners. This year’s event will feature a Tulsa Craft Beer Invitational, along with beer dinners, pint nights, brewery tours, a beer-themed brunch, tap takeovers, outdoor festivals and more in places all over the city.

WHERE: various locations in Tulsa FOR MORE: facebook.com/tulsacraftbeerweek

The Avett Brothers will return to perform at the BOK Center. IAN MAULE/Tulsa World Magazine file

> 5/11, Chicks with Hits Country icons Terri Clark, Pam Tillis and Suzy Bogguss — touring as “Chicks with Hits” — will perform at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. Clark is known for dozens of singles, including “Better Things To Do,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” “Girls Lie Too” and “I Just Wanna Be Mad.” Tillis’ hits include “Maybe It Was Memphis,” “Shake the Sugar Tree” and “Spilled Perfume.” Bogguss is known for hits like “Outbound Plane,” “Someday Soon,” “Letting Go” and “Drive South.”

WHERE: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, 777 W. Cherokee St., Catoosa FOR MORE: hardrockcasinotulsa.com > 5/14, The Avett Brothers Revered bluegrass/folk rock/Americana band The Avett Brothers will return to Tulsa to make its BOK Center debut. The Grammy-nominated group is known for such songs as “I and Love and You,” “January Wedding” and “Swept Away.”

WHERE: BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave. FOR MORE: bokcenter.com > 5/14, Violent Femmes and X Punk band Violent Femmes, with a discography that dates to a platinum debut in 1983, will bring its co-headlining tour with legendary punk band X to Cain’s Ballroom.

WHERE: Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N. Main St. FOR MORE: cainsballroom.com > 5/18, Earth, Wind & Fire Grammy award-winning group Earth, Wind & Fire will perform at the River Spirit Casino Resort.

Described as one of the most innovative and commercially successful groups of all time, the band has released 23 albums with such hits as “September,” “Boogie Wonderland” and “Shining Star.”

WHERE: River Spirit Casino Resort, 8330 Riverside Parkway FOR MORE: riverspirittulsa.com > 5/18, Good Charlotte American rock band Good Charlotte will perform at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. The group has released seven studio albums with such hits as “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and “The Anthem.”

WHERE: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, 777 W. Cherokee St., Catoosa FOR MORE: hardrockcasinotulsa.com

86 Tulsa World Magazine

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> 5/21, Pentatonix Three-time Grammy Award-winning and multiplatinum-selling artist Pentatonix will perform with special guest Rachel Platten at the BOK Center. The a cappella group from Texas won season 3 of NBC’s “The Sing-Off” and is known for producing cover versions of pop songs.

WHERE: BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave. FOR MORE: bokcenter.com > 5/21, Todd Snider American singer-songwriter Todd Snider will perform at Cain’s Ballroom. His musical style is a combination of Americana, alt-country and folk.

WHERE: Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N. Main St. FOR MORE: cainsballroom.com > 5/22, ‘Rookie Of The Year’ Circle Cinema will present a 35mm retro screening of “Rookie of the Year,” with special guest Thomas Ian Nicholas. Nicholas stars in “Rookie of the Year” and is also known for his role in the “American Pie” franchise.

WHERE: Circle Cinema, 10 S. Lewis Ave. FOR MORE: circlecinema.com > 5/22, Colter Wall Canadian singer-songwriter Colter Wall is set to perform at Cain’s Ballroom. He released his selftitled debut album in 2017, and his second album, “Song of the Plains,” was released last year.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

A cappella group Pentatonix will return in May to perform at the BOK Center in Tulsa.

KEVIN PYLE/for The Tulsa World

WHERE: Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N. Main St. FOR MORE: cainsballroom.com > 5/23, Taste of Bixby Sample delectable appetizers, entrees and

drinks at the annual Taste of Bixby. The event is open to the public.

WHERE: 10441 S. Regal Blvd., Bixby FOR MORE: bixbychamber.com

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A color guard group waves flags during their routine in the Tulsa Pride Parade last year. IAN MAULE/Tulsa World Magazine file >>5/23, Rocktopia Direct from its hit run on Broadway, international music sensation Rocktopia is coming to River Spirit Casino Resort. Performed by an elite lineup of vocalists, a five-piece rock band, a 30-person choir and an orchestra, this explosive musical concert event fuses the most iconic 20th-century rock with world-renowned classical masterpieces and features the works of Journey, Mozart, Queen, Beethoven, Aerosmith, Handel, Led Zeppelin, Tchaikovsky, U2, Heart, Puccini, The Who and more.

WHERE: River Spirit Casino Resort, 8330 Riverside Parkway FOR MORE: riverspirittulsa.com >>5/28, ‘Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church’ Circle Cinema will present “Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church,” a documentary about Jimi Hendrix’s historic July 4, 1970, performance in front of more than 300,000 fans.

WHERE: Circle Cinema, 10 S. Lewis Ave. FOR MORE: circlecinema.com >>5/31, John Hiatt American singer-songwriter John Hiatt will perform at the Brady Theater. The Grammynominated musician’s tracks include “Have a Little Faith in Me” and “Sure As I’m Sittin’ Here.”

WHERE: Brady Theater, 105 W. M.B. Brady St. FOR MORE: bradytheater.com 88 Tulsa World Magazine

>>6/1, Nickelodeon’s JoJo Siwa D.R.E.A.M. The Tour Nickelodeon superstar JoJo Siwa is bringing her D.R.E.A.M. tour to the Brady Theater. A YouTube personality, singer and dancer, Siwa is known for her hugely popular singles, “Boomerang,” “Kid in a Candy Store,” “Hold The Drama” and “High Top Shoes.”

WHERE: Brady Theater, 105 W. M.B. Brady St. FOR MORE: bradytheater.com >>6/1, ROUTE 66 BLOWOUT Held in downtown Sapulpa since 1989, the Route 66 Blowout celebrates the nostalgia of the Mother Road with a car, motorcycle and truck show. The event features an art show and sale, historic walking tours of Sapulpa, live music, crafts and commercial vendors.

WHERE: Downtown Sapulpa FOR MORE: route66blowout.com >>5/31-6/2, Tulsa Pride Block Party & Parade The longest-running LGBT festival in Oklahoma features live music, food, various vendors in a marketplace setting, a children’s zone and more, along with the Tulsa Pride Parade, presented by the Oklahomans for Equality.

WHERE: Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, 621 E. Fourth St. FOR MORE: okeq.org

>>6/4, Jimmy Buffett Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band will perform at Tulsa’s BOK Center as part of a Son Of A Son Of A Sailor Tour 2019. Buffett released his famous “Son Of A Son Of A Sailor” album in 1978, and last year marked the record’s 40th anniversary. The album also includes the hit “Cheeseburger In Paradise,” as well as “Livingston Saturday Night” and “Cowboy in the Jungle.”

WHERE: BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave. FOR MORE: bokcenter.com >>6/7, The Steel Woods Country music group The Steel Woods will perform at Cain’s Ballroom. The quartet of Southern rockers has released two studio albums, “Straw in the Wind” and “Old News.”

WHERE: Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N. Main St. FOR MORE: cainsballroom.com >>6/6, Top of the Town Top of the town grants exclusive access to some of Tulsa’s most iconic structures and benefits the Child Care Resource Center. See for miles from some of the tallest buildings in the state.

In addition to touring downtown hot spots at your own pace, you’ll be provided some tastes of Tulsa along the way, as well as beverages and live music.

WHERE: Downtown Tulsa FOR MORE: ccrctulsa.org TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

> 6/9, Brit Floyd World Tour 2019 Pink Floyd tribute band Brit Floyd will bring its world tour to the Brady Theater. Formed in Liverpool, the group attempts to re-create the sound of Pink Floyd’s live shows.

WHERE: Brady Theater, 105 W. M.B. Brady St. FOR MORE: bradytheater.com > 6/9-15, Oklahoma Freewheel Oklahoma Freewheel is a weeklong bicycle tour through the state. The route changes each year but typically begins near the Red River, Oklahoma’s southern border with Texas, and travels north to end just across the Kansas state line.

Distances traveled each day can vary from 50 miles to 75 miles.

WHERE: across Oklahoma FOR MORE: okfreewheel.com > 6/13, Trace Adkins Grammy-nominated country artist Trace Adkins will perform at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. With 11 million albums sold, a slew of hit singles and multiple TV and movie roles, Adkins’ influence can be felt throughout the music industry. He has won three Academy of Country Music Awards, including the 2009 single of the year award for “You’re Gonna Miss This” and vocal event of the year with Blake Shelton for “Hillbilly Bone” in 2010.

WHERE: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, 777 W. Cherokee St., Catoosa FOR MORE: hardrockcasinotulsa.com

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

> 6/14, Kidz Bop Kidz Bop, the No. 1 music brand for kids, will bring its Kidz Bop World Tour 2019 to Tulsa’s BOK Center. The Kidz Bop 2018 tour was the most successful tour in franchise history. The Kidz Bop kids played to hundreds of thousands of families across North America.

WHERE: BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave. FOR MORE: bokcenter.com > 6/15, Eddie Izzard British stand-up comedian and actor Eddie Izzard will perform at the Brady Theater. His numerous awards include a Primetime Emmy for his comedy special “Dress to Kill.” He has also appeared in such films as “Ocean’s 12” and “Across the Universe” and was among the voice talents of “The Lego Batman Movie.”

WHERE: Brady Theater, 105 W. M.B. Brady St. FOR MORE: bradytheater.com > 6/15, Steve Miller and Marty Stuart Steve Miller and Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives will bring their tour to the River Spirit Casino Resort. A Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Miller is best known as the leader of the Steve Miller Band, which produced such hits as “Fly Like an Eagle” and “Take the Money Run.” Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Stuart’s hits include “Arlene” and “Tempted.”

WHERE: River Spirit Casino Resort, 8330 Riverside Parkway FOR MORE: riverspirittulsa.com

Actor/comedian Eddie Izzard is bringing his unique brand of humor to the Brady Theater in June. COURTESY/Amanda Searle

Tulsa World Magazine 89

>>6/27, Tom Segura Actor, comedian and accomplished podcaster Tom Segura will bring his comedy tour to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.

Segura is best known for his three Netflix specials — “Disgraceful,” “Mostly Stories” and “Completely Normal.” Additionally, his hit podcast, “Your Mom’s House,” which he co-hosts with his wife, comedian Christina Pazsitzky, was a finalist for Best Comedy Podcast at the Stitcher Awards.

WHERE: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, 777 W. Cherokee St., Catoosa FOR MORE: hardrockcasinotulsa.com

6/18, Peter Frampton

Classic rock legend Peter Frampton is embarking on a final tour that will launch at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. Frampton won a Grammy Award for best pop instrumental album for “Fingerprints” in 2007 and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2014.

His hits include “Show Me the Way,” “Baby, I Love Your Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do?” WHERE: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, 777 W. Cherokee St., Catoosa FOR MORE: hardrockcasinotulsa.com

>>6/29, Father John Misty and Jason Isbell Father John Misty is teaming up with Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit to co-headline a national tour that will end at Tulsa’s BOK Center. Father John Misty is supporting “God’s Favorite Customer,” his acclaimed release from 2018 that landed on best-of-2018 lists. Isbell, a four-time Grammy winner, and The 400 Unit are touring in support of their album “The Nashville Sound,” which won a Grammy for best Americana album last year.

WHERE: BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave. FOR MORE: bokcenter.com

Courtesy/Dean Dixon >>6/29, Rodney Carrington Actor and comedian Rodney Carrington will perform at Paradise Cove inside the River Spirit Casino Resort. He has recorded eight major record label albums resulting in more than 3 million in sales.

Carrington, who continues to rank among the highest-grossing comedians, starred in the set-in-Tulsa ABC sitcom “Rodney” from 2004 until 2006.

WHERE: River Spirit Casino Resort, 8330 Riverside Parkway FOR MORE: riverspirittulsa.com >>Through 8/25, Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers’ season is underway and continues through summer, with the last home game set for Aug. 25 at ONEOK Field.

Enjoy ballpark fare, beer and fireworks throughout the season.

WHERE: ONEOK Field, 201 N. Elgin Ave. FOR MORE: tulsadrillers.com >>Through 10/19, Tulsa Roughnecks The Tulsa Roughnecks’ season kicked off in March and continues through October, with the final at-home match set for Oct. 19 at ONEOK Field.

WHERE: ONEOK Field, 201 N. Elgin Ave. FOR MORE: roughnecksfc.com 90 Tulsa World Magazine

TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World Magazine file

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

The End. The colors of the sunset reflect in the BOK Center. One of the premier venues in the country, it’s right here in Tulsa. TULSA WORLD MAGAZINE FILE

MICHAEL

OVeRALL A transplant from Ponca City, Overall has now lived in Tulsa for more than 20 years and has been writing for the Tulsa World just as long.

He is a projects team reporter and proud father of two.

Why would tourists come to Tulsa? Why wouldn’t they?

D

uring the long, rancorous debate in the early 2000s over building a downtown arena, a project that supporters promised would attract thousands of out-of-town visitors each year, some Tulsans scoffed at the idea of our city ever becoming a tourist destination.

“We don’t have the Gulf Coast,” they said, mockingly. “We don’t have the Rocky Mountains.”

Spending millions to build a concert venue wouldn’t suddenly make Tulsa a vacation spot.

They were right, of course. But you don’t have to be Russell Westbrook to play basketball. And you don’t have to be Disney World to attract tourists.

When the naysayers belittled Tulsa as a place to visit, they were really belittling Tulsa as a place to live. We had a chronic shortage of selfconfidence, and we couldn’t expect out-of-town visitors to be impressed by Tulsa if we didn’t seem impressed by it ourselves.

Since then, the BOK Center opened in 2008 and has been repeatedly recognized as one of the premier venues of its size in the country.

Downtown embarked on more than a decade of steady revitalization. And Gathering Place gave Tulsa one of the largest and most innovative public parks in the United States.

TULSAWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

A lot has changed since the arena debates.

But the biggest change has been Tulsa’s attitude.

When the George Kaiser Family Foundation announced in 2018 that it would pay people $10,000 to spend a year in Tulsa, I braced myself for the self-deprecating jokes.

“We’re so lame, we have to bribe people to come here.”

But nobody laughed at the idea. More than 100 people accepted GKFF’s offer. And the only wisecrack I’ve heard flipped the punchline around: “People ought to pay us for the privilege of coming here.”

And when the Route 66 Commission started working in 2016 to promote Tulsa’s stretch of Route 66 as a tourist destination, nobody scoffed. People wondered why the city hadn’t been doing this for years already.

Tulsa no longer asks itself why tourists would want to come here. We’re asking, why wouldn’t they?

Tulsa World Magazine 91

WARREN CLINIC URGENT CARE

Save time.

Schedule online.

For sudden illnesses, minor injuries and after-hours care that can’t wait, visit the convenient Warren Clinic Urgent Care near you.

Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (all locations) Saturday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Springer location only) 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (all other locations) Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (all locations)

TULSA Springer Building 6160 South Yale Avenue

Tulsa Hills 7858 South Olympia Avenue

South Memorial 10506 South Memorial Drive

Online scheduling is available at warrenclinic.com/urgentcare.

For additional information, call 918-488-6688.

SAND SPRINGS 102 South Main Street

BROKEN ARROW Elm Place 2950 South Elm Place, Suite 120 (101st Street and Elm Place)

Kenosha 1801 East Kenosha Street (71st Street and OK-51) warrenclinic.com/urgentcare