Day 3: December 23, 2022
North to Tulsa

Comment via blog

Previous Day
Prev
Next Day
Next
Site Home
Trip Home

I had breakfast at the OK Cafe before I even left Glenwood. Apparently it was once called the Lux Cafe but the renaming budget ran out before reaching the rooftop sign.

Baker's Fab is also in Glenwood but I didn't remember that. I vividly remember stopping here on a warm May day in 2015 and I remembered it was west of Hot Springs but I didn't recall it being in Glenwood. On that earlier stop, I enjoyed walking around and chatting with the owners but today I just snapped a few pictures from the and still nearly froze my fingers just by rolling the window down at 9° F.

These photos show how scenic the Ouachita National Forest is an how little snow it got. One also shows that US-270 parallels a very active Kansas City Southern track.

In Heavener, OK, I pulled over when I spotted what turned out to be a retired Kansas City Southern car turned restaurant. It was too close to breakfast for another meal but I did manage pie (homemade coconut cream) & coffee. The Southern Belle Restaurant tells its story on its menu.

I knew that the Bob Dylan Center had opened in Tulsa earlier this year and even checked its schedule for when I was most likely to be in the area. That was Christmas Eve and Christmas Day which happen to be days that the center is closed. But with my schedule being all turned around, I would be in Tulsa on Christmas Eve Eve and that worked out fine for a visit.

A tour starts with a sort of biographical movie in a decidedly non-theatrical setting. The rest of the first floor is filled with displays on various Dylan songs and periods of his career. Visitors are provided with earphones and a smartphone-like device which can access lots of information through touch points at individual displays.


The incredible memorabilia collection on the second floor contains, among many quite interesting artifacts, THE tambourine even though it's actually a Turkish frame drum as explained here. As a not overly deep Dylan fan, I quite enjoyed the place and someone with more detailed knowledge -- and more detailed questions -- would no doubt enjoy it even more.

Seeing that Welltown Brewing was just three blocks away, I walked there. That's about as far as I would care to walk with temperatures in the teens but the really good spiced amber ale made it worthwhile.

I then drove to the Desert Hills Motel on Historic Route 66. At present, you have a choice between fully and partially lit neon. The nine rooms nearest the office are marked as Route 66 room and are probably a bit better maintained than some of the others. My room was number 108. It's really tough to read that shower curtain in that picture so here's a closer view. I suppose a bath tub could be considered "a long, narrow open container for animals to eat or drink out of" but I'd never seen one labeled as such.

Sometimes the three blocks to Tally's Cafe would be a pleasant walk but not now. I drove. There is lots of neon outside and in and plenty of other decorations inside too. I have eaten at Tally's once before several years ago. I don't remember what I had but know it was not "Tally's World Famous Chicken Fried Steak". Tasty but way too much for me even after I declined the included bowl of gravy.

[Prev] [Site Home] [Trip Home] [Next]
democrat