Day 15 - JHA 2018 Conference at DennyGibson.com

Day 15: May 1, 2018
Some Familiar. Some Not.
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Gravel and dirt became my companions almost immediately today as I drove several unpaved sections south of Vinita. One section, a little south of Big Cabin, led right up to the entrance of a one one time exotic animal drive-thru.

Although I can't relocate the source as I write this, some online information about a fountain in Wagoner, Oklahoma, prompted me to put it in my POI list. I'd also saved the following text:

"We frequently get questions about the double-sided fountain at the southeast corner of the intersection of Main and Church Streets. The city paid $53.65 for it when it was installed. One side had city water, the other had germicide water, contrary to public opinion that it was a segregated fountain. The germicide water had a high salt content and the pipes eventually rusted out."

Those words were written by Liz McMahan. During my searches today, I learned that Liz passed away on April, 18.

With help from both Glenn Smith and Roger Bell, I found the old JH bridge over the Verdigris River in Okay. I carefully moved around the railing to get a somewhat better view of the bridge and the collapsed connector. Mind the gap.

Back on the highway, I picked up a lot of history on a single stone, then soon entered Muskogee and rolled over the Arkansas River. During the 2015 JHA Conference, the tour bus stopped near this bridge and we were able to walk to and on it.

Some of the directions to the bridge in Okay came as we coordinated lunch at Club Lunch. Roger told me that some sort of eatery has been operating here since 1917. Club Lunch is one of those places with a regular schedule of daily specials. Tuesday's is chicken fried steak so, after probably twenty years without it, I had chicken fried steak two days in a row. As we ate, I got a lot of local history and a new hat. The hat came when Roger officially declared me an honorary "Okie from Muskogee". How do you like me now?

The cool McEntees sign, which I remember from 2015, is just down the street from Club Lunch. I also grabbed drive-by shots of a couple other places I remember from the 2015 JHA Conference as I headed out of town.

I also remember this spot from 2015 but it looks a little different. There was a gate across the road when the tour bus stopped. Mike Curtis reported seeing the road open when he drove north to the conference. At lunch, Roger told of talking with the owner who intended to replace the gate but didn't seem overly concerned about casual explorers. The consensus was that it was probably safe for a guy with JH signs on his car doors to take a peek. I did. About a half mile in, I turned around at a sign I thought might have been put there especially for guys with JH signs. On the way back, I paused to grab a picture of the small bridge on the road along with the adjacent railroad bridge.

Here are some more places from 2015 that I snapped pictures of today just to prove I was there. First is the muffler man at Cagle Used Cars and Salvage, then the Jefferson Highway sign in Checotah, and Leak's Garage in Crowder .

In addition to a really big semi-ghost sign, McAlester, where I would end the day, has three very cool restored gas stations.

The lunch time discussion had produced McAlester as a possible overnight stop and Roger had suggested a place for dinner if that proved to be the case. Well before I'd hit the city limits, he had sent me some information on the restaurant and a motel idea. As you might expect, the Happy Days Hotel, including my room, if filled with 1950s kitsch but it's reasonably priced, clean, comfortable, and not too far from Pete's Place. Pete's was about three miles from the motel in the town of Krebs which has a couple other highly touted Italian restaurants as well. As a solo, I sat in the bar area which means I had a slightly different menu and did not experience the "family style" service but I did experience the same great food and had ready access to their house brewed Choc brand beer.

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