Just an Update

This is just an update, to let you know what county I'll be exploring next. I've decided to head for McClain County. Right now I'm in the process of doing a little background research before I take off down the road. McClain County is south and west of Cleveland Co., sort of like an L shape. It also has a lot more towns than Cleveland County, so there will be more things to cover. Also, the largest casino in Oklahoma, RiverWind, is in McClain County. Woohoo! Check back here soon to find out how much money I lose.

As I was driving south from Moore to Norman, I saw the entertainment center called HeyDay, and I had to stop and snap this picture.

Hey Day has become a tradition for me and my siblings. It's not the food that entices us in there, nor the arcade games, rope climbing, or miniature golf. No, after long periods of time being apart, what draws me and my family to this place is laser tag. Teams are formed, strategy is discussed and then, with music blasting, we step out into the black lights, and the swirling, fog-filled, 7,000 ft arena of darkened passageways, ramps, bridges and archways and hunt each other down. A perfect way to spend a Christmas holiday

And, just a little further down the road, is the city of Norman. It is the county seat and the third largest city in Oklahoma. In 2008, CNN/Money Magazine ranked it as the sixth best small city in the United States. It is a trendy, and most definitely, a college town, home to the University of Oklahoma, the largest university in the state, the biggest employer in Norman, and the prettiest university in the state. It has 3,000 acres of heavily landscaped gardens, walkways, courtyards and Gothic architecture. I tried to take a pictures to show some of the Gothic architecture. It kind of reminds me of castles all over the campus.

A couple of Norman's best cultural attractions are also located on the campus. The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art made national and international news in 2000 when it was given the Weitzenhoffer Collection, the largest collection of French Impressionist art ever given to an American University. The collection includes works by Mary Cassatt, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pissaro. Other collections include American, Native American, European and Asian art. I really liked the way they set up the artwork. The walls the art hangs on is an off-white color, for the most part, and doesn't distract from the actual painting, letting the art speak for itself.

The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, on campus as well, is one of the world's largest university-based natural history museums. According to its brochure, it has over 50,000 square feet of exhibits ranging from archaeology, paleontology, ethnology, herpetology, ornithology, and Native American studies. The museum features many complete collections of dinosaur fossils and is also noted for its Paleozoic collection, considered to be one of the largest and most important in existence. You'll be totally immersed in the state’s long history and the kids will have so much fun playing in the Discovery room they won't even realize it's educational. And, I don't want to spoil it, but, trust me, and ride the elevator with the glass wall.

Although the University of Oklahoma tends to dominate the town, there are other things to see and do in Norman. Just don't try and do them on a football game day. Traffic comes to a stand still on those days and every restaurant, bar, and hotel is packed as dedicated Sooner fans roll in to support their team. You've been warned.

But on non-game days, you might venture off campus and check out the historic district on Main Street. A picture of historic Main Street is below.

The Sooner Theater, built in 1929, was the first movie theater in the region to show "talking" pictures. It's still in business today, but now serves as a community performing arts center. On any given weekend, you might catch a play, a ballet, opera, concert or musical. My son took an acting class here, where the kids got to write the play and then perform in it. A picture of it is below.

Just a little further down Main Street is one of my favorite places to shop for food, called Native Roots. If you like to buy locally, this is the place to shop. You can buy Oklahoma raised meat, vegetables, fruits and cheeses. A lot of their items are organic, too, and that makes me happy. Once you bite into an in-season, locally grown, organic strawberry you'll never want one from a chain grocery store again.

One of the nice things about Norman, is that it's almost impossible to stay bored here. It hosts twenty-five festivals a year, so there's always something going on in town constantly. The Medieval Fair was just a few weeks ago and last weekend was a free music festival.

A little further down the road, is a smaller town, Noble, OK. I tried to take a picture of Main Street, below, but all I really got was my Jeep

Anyway, it is the third largest city in Cleveland County. Noble calls itself, the "Rose Rock Capital of the World". For those who haven't seen a rose rock, I've taken pictures of clusters of them. (See below) The concentration of barium sulfate in the soil is higher here than anywhere else, causing the formation of rose rocks. They also come in small single "flowers" as well as the clusters.

Joe Stine, a geologist, and his wife opened the Timberlake Rose Rock Museum in 1986. It houses the largest collection of these barite rose rocks. I should mention she graciously allowed me to take the pictures inside her museum of the rose clusters. The museum is free, but good luck, getting out of there without spending money in the gift shop! They have an assortment jewelry, knickknacks, paper weights, key chains and art made out of the rose rocks. If you want a gift that is truly made in Oklahoma, this is the place to go. Besides the rose rocks, they also sell fossils, polished rocks, and just about anything that has anything to do with stuff you dig out of the earth. Honestly, I was more fascinated with the gift shop than I was with the museum.

Noble sets aside the first Saturday each May to celebrate this unusual geological formation with an annual Rose Rock Festival, which just happens to be this next weekend. There will be a parade, a car show, a Rose Rock Poker run, the Rose Rock Queen and her court will be there, along with several music bands. There will also be a carnival with rides, arts and crafts vendors, and plenty of food.

And, speaking of food, I can't leave Noble without mentioning Kendall's restaurant. I lived in Noble for awhile and had driven by the restaurant many times, without ever stopping. I'm so glad I finally found it! The outside is pretty unassuming on Main Street, so I took a picture of it so you wont' miss it if you go.

The inside is bigger than it looks on the outside with a strong country vibe and lots of autographed pictures of celebrities on the walls. I only get the chicken fried steak when I go. The portions are huge, big enough for dinner that evening and lunch the next day. The green beans are well-seasoned and remind me of the way my Grannie used to make them. And did I mention, free cinnamon rolls after the meal? And it's all washed down with a perfect glass of ice tea.

Now when I made the comment in an earlier blog Kendall's had the best chicken fried steak I'd ever eaten, a friend of mine pointed out I had never tried the chicken fried steak at Broadway Joe's restaurant in Muldrow, OK. And, that's true, I haven't. So, I'll just say that up to this point, it's the best I've had. I'm looking forward to trying their chicken fried steak when I visit Sequoyah Co. and doing a comparison test.

And, we can't leave Cleveland County without mentioning its' own cryptozoological mystery. Rumor has it that a creature the size of a horse with long tentacles and leathery, reddish-brown skin is pulling unsuspecting swimmers to their doom at Lake Thunderbird, south of Norman. No physical evidence exists of this freshwater, monster octopus but there have been numerous sightings, many unexplained drownings, and the lake does have an unusually high mortality rate. Of course, no one can explain how an octopus got into a man-made lake built in the 1960s, but I'm sure someone has a theory somewhere.

And that wraps up Cleveland County.

One down, 76 more to go!

Exploring Cleveland County

I decided to start exploring Oklahoma in my own backyard in Cleveland County. It turned out to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be. There's just not much territory in this county I haven't covered so finding new things was hard. But I did find a couple of new things, and rediscovered some others, that I thought I'd pass on.

There are about nine cities and/or towns, in Cleveland County. I wasn't able to go to all of them, so I narrowed my choices down to Moore, Norman, and Noble.

We'll start with where I live now, Moore, OK.

Oh, but first, I need to tell you how Moore got its name because I love this story. A lot of towns are named after presidents or famous men, but not us. Our town was founded during the land-run of 1889, like so many other towns in this area. Before it was actually a town, and still more of a tent-city, the railroad company had designated the area to be called "Verbeck". Now, the railroad company had an employee named Al Moore, who was living in a boxcar at the camp, and because of that had difficulty receiving his mail. So, he painted his name - "Moore" - on a board and nailed it on the boxcar. When a postmaster was appointed, he saw the sign and continued to call the settlement Moore. When the town incorporated in 1893 the name was legalized. So, we're named after a guy, living out of boxcar, who had trouble getting his mail.

So, what else makes this town so special? Well, I live here. This is a picture of my house where I will be basing my explorations of Oklahoma. I'm also kind of experimenting with how to post pictures, so bear with me.

I also discovered Moore is ground zero for tornadoes in Tornado Alley. Moore sits between the heat put out by Oklahoma City on one side and the coolness of the Canadian river on the other, creating a perfect magnet for tornadoes along the Tornado Alley corridor. Sometimes I learn a little more than I want when exploring a new area.

But there's more to Moore than just being a buffer between Oklahoma City and Norman. One of the things I love about Moore is the Warren Theater, quite possibly the best place to see a movie in Oklahoma. People drive from all over the state to go to the movies here. The seats in the regular theaters are soft and comfy with plenty of leg room, and the extra large screens and great sound system are hard to beat, but the adults-only balcony option is pure luxury. That's right, adults-only. You have to be 21 or older to get access. No restless toddlers or giggling teenagers allowed. And there's never a need to rush up the stairs to get this premium seating. Tickets are for specific seats in the balcony, so you can don't have to scramble and fight with the crowds on opening nights for a seat. But if you get there early anyway, you can relax in the upscale lounge with a cocktail. If you don't finish your drink, you can take it into the theater with you.

Once you're in t the theater, you'll find the balcony seats are oversized and incredibly comfortable, and come with a small table and a menu. With just the push of a button beside your chair, you can summon a server to take your order. No standing in concession lines for those in the balcony! You can get a full dinner, from chicken fried steak to pizza, or just candy and popcorn. Service continues throughout the movie, and your server will bring the check towards the end. It's not cheap, but being pampered rarely is.

And, speaking of food, I'm not sure it's official, but I'm pretty sure we have more fast food places than any other town in Oklahoma. Just within a 2 mile radius of the 19th Street exit, (and my house) there's a Carl's Jr, Chicken Express, Starbucks, Jack in the Box, Sonic, Arby's, Taco Mayo, Taco Bueno, Taco Bell, Sonic, Subway, Quizno's, Chilis, Chick Fil A, three Chinese restaurants, Mazzios, McAlester's Deli, Furr's, another pizza place called Papa B's, McConnell's Irish pub, McDonald's, Braum's, City Bites, Rusty's Custards, Panda Express, Apple Bees, IHOP, Whataburger, two Mexican restaurants (not fast food) and Burger King. And, I'm not exaggerating when I say a 2 mile radius. If you want Wendy's, Long John Silver's, Grandy's, A&W, Church's Chicken or Kentucky Fried Chicken or a steak restaurant you have to drive a couple more miles. When they say Moore is the ninth largest city in Oklahoma, I don't know if they mean the size of the people or the number of people.

A short stroll down Main Street and Broadway will take you to some very creative shops that the Walmart Super Store hasn't been able to take out yet. A school building, built in 1928, has been converted into several businesses, including a day spa, a law firm, a beauty salon, and, my favorite, a luncheon deli called Two Olives. Inside, the grand entryway is overlaid with marble. Elegant artwork hangs in the hallways that by itself would make it worth seeing. The atmosphere is old world, etched glass and dark, mahgonay wood, where you feel like you've escaped the hectic outside world, if just for a little while.

If you have a dog, you have to check out Starbarks. It's a small store, plain looking on the outside but inside it's a dog lover's paradise. It's overflowing with gourmet bakery treats for dogs, and every kind of ball, squeaky toy, plush toys, clothes, leashes, and things you didn't even know your dog needed. And, it offers dog grooming, too. The groomer, Christie, has 14 years of experience grooming dogs and knows how to cut for show dogs, too. She's also a Vet tech and can catch things going on with your dogs other groomers might miss. Even if you don't have a dog, it's kind of fun to see all the different things they have in there and the owners are very friendly, too.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm missing a lot of other things worth doing in Moore, but I haven't even got to Norman or Noble, so we'll leave Moore for now and go a little further south to Norman in my next post.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day I just have to get for my Jeep. My nieces (and anyone else who's ridden any distance with me) will appreciate it as well. It says, "I'm not lost, I'm just exploring." My ability to "explore" are the stuff legends are made of.

Recently, I started exploring my home state of Oklahoma. And, by explore, I really mean explore this time. Actually, my son, encouraged me to do this. He said he wanted to know as much as possible about his home state before he took off on his own traveling adventures across the country. What's to know, I thought? We've lived here most of our lives and been and done just about everything.

But as we started looking for things to do, I realized maybe I didn't know my state as well as I thought I did. For someone who loves to discover all the touristy and quirky places in new cities and states, this came as somewhat of a surprise. For example, how could I have missed the Safari's Interactive Animal Sanctuary in Broken Bow? They let us feed tigers and lions, pet lemurs, hold a baby kangaroo, cuddle a fennec fox, play with a baby bobcat, and much more. We had one of the most incredible interactive experiences with wild animals of our lives. I learned and did more at this little wildlife sanctuary at the end of a dead end road than I ever have at any of the big zoos I've visited.

I took my son to see the famous Red Round Barn on Rt. 66 and we discovered Pops near Arcadia. How could I have missed a place that sells over 400 kinds of soda? And, seriously, how could I miss a place that has a 66 foot tall soda bottle sitting outside the store? Sodas from different countries, from my childhood, and made from everything imaginable are all right there. And, they make a pretty good hamburger, too.

Oh, and I even lived in Noble, OK for awhile and had never eaten, until recently, at Kendall's Restaurant on Main Street and almost missed finding the best chicken fried steak in the south. And, I've ate a lot of them, so trust me, I'm kind of an expert on that. And, the complimentary cinnamon rolls at the end of the meal that melt in your mouth are worth the drive there, I don't care where you live.

So, I started wondering what else I'd missed in Oklahoma. My first impulse was to go to each and every town in Oklahoma and write about it. Then I actually saw a list of each and every town in Oklahoma and decided that might be a bit much. But, I think it's possible to at least visit each county and see as much as I can. There's only 77 of those in Oklahoma, so that might be doable. I'll post what I find here, so check back and come along for the ride! And if you know of something in your area I should check out, leave me a comment and I'll try to get there.

Copyright 2010 by Gail Claunts. All rights reserved. No copying without prior written permission by author.