2023 Road Trip: Route 66: Oklahoma I (5/11-12/2023)

Thursday, May 11, 2023 (continued)
We are already in Oklahoma! Route 66 covered 432 miles/695 km in this state.

Dairy King in a former Marathon Service Station (1925)
in Commerce, OK; across the street is ...

... Allen's Conoco Filling Station (c 1929-1930) is built
against the wall of another building

Also in Commerce, OK is Mickey Mantle's
Childhood Home (c 1940)
(a Roadside America attraction) (KSS)

A peek inside Mickey Mantle's Childhood Home

Mickey Mantle Memorial Statue (2010, by
  Dr Nick Calcagno and Joe Schaefer)
(a Roadside America attraction)

Waylan's Ku-Ku Bird and Burgers (1965) is the only
location left standing of the 1960s fast food drive-in chain
(a Roadside America attraction)

Waylan's Ku-Ku, in Miami, OK

Coleman Theatre (1929, by the Boller Brothers
in Spanish Colonial Revival style)

Route 66 Gateway (replica of 1900s sign) in Miami, OK

Marathon Oil Company Service Station (1939) with a
visible handcrank gas pump, where one could see how
much gas they pumped ( a Roadside America attraction)

A section of the original nine-foot wide road aka
Sidewalk Highway, built because in 1926 Oklahoma
could not afford a full-width version

A Will Rogers Highway marker at a
crumbled section of the 9-foot wide road
that once ran 15.5 miles/25 km
between Miami and Afton, OK

Afton (DX) Eagle Service Station (1930s)

McDougal Filling Station (1941, using local sandstone
in the Ozark Giraffe pattern) in Pensacola, OK

Clanton Café (1947) in Vinita, OK

Friday, May 12, 2023

Pryor Creek Bridge (1926) is the only remaining unaltered
example of a Modified Pratt Through Truss
design in Oklahoma, near Chelsea, OK

Chelsea Motel (1936-1939) with the neon sign added in 1947

The only remaining accessible pedestrian underpass on
 Route 66, at a once busy intersection in Chelsea, OK;
this is the NE entrance to the underpass

A mural (2016, by Kenneth Hollingshead) in the underpass 

The SE entrance to the pedestrian underpass

A U-Haul truck blocked a photo view of the other
side of the pedestrian underpass, but I guess it's okay
because of the Route 66 graphic

Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park (created 1937-1961, as
a tribute to the "American Indian"); the totem on the right
(1941-1948) is said to be the world's largest concrete
totem pole (a Roadside America attraction)

This totem features wildlife ...

... and appears to have opening for bird nesting

The Fiddle House (1994, as studio and showroom)
once displayed the homemade fiddles of Ed Galloway

Oh, my! Two baby turtles on the road
had to be rescued by Kent

Now the turtles are headed toward a small creek

After a visit to the Will Rogers Memorial Museum, we continued on Route 66 in Oklahoma.

H Tom Kight Jr Bridge or Bird Creek Bridge (1936,
originally carried westbound traffic of Route 66 over the
Verdigris River, but this one span was relocated north)
was a three-span Parker Through Truss with
three Camelback Pony Trusses, near Catoosa, OK

Through the relocated bridge truss, you can
see the eastbound H Tom Kight Bridge
(1957) that was a 3-span Through K-truss
with three Camelback Pony Trusses

Catoosa Blue Whale (1972) was once part of a water park,
but swimming is no longer allowed

You can still walk through the whale with its fins for
water slides and a diving platform at the tail
(a Roadside America attraction)

Tulsa Route 66 Rising (2019, by Eric F Garcia)
(a Roadside America attraction)

Tally's Good Food Café (est 1987, in the former
Mark & Mary's Restaurant, by a Lebanese immigrant
who knew an American Diner would be special)

Tally's Café is decorated in 1950s style

Tally's world famous chicken-fried steak with white gravy,
spinach and fried okra, and a dinner roll)

The bread crumb coating is two-thirds of the thickness!

Four-Way Chili (spaghetti noodles, cheese, beans, and
onions, with garlic toast)

The Golden Driller (1953) is one of the tallest
freestanding statues at 76 feet/23 m tall
(a Roadside America attraction)

Next: Will Rogers Memorial Museum.