Our first stop in Oklahoma was the village of Chelsea, about 100 km from our last stop in Kansas on Route 66. Just before entering the village, there’s an old bridge, the Pryor Creek Bridge on Route 66, built in 1926. There’s not much traffic here, making it a great spot to take pictures of this vintage bridge.
Chelsea is a very small, typical American village with low brick buildings adorned with old painted advertisements. We stopped at a delightful local café called Main Street Diner, which was decorated in a Route 66 theme. The people were incredibly friendly and sociable. These little villages have their own charm, and it’s definitely worth making stops in such places.
Unusual Parks – Totem Poles and Blue Whale
Continuing from Chelsea, we visited Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park. This park is quite unique—it almost seems like it’s in someone’s backyard, and we hesitated for a moment before entering. However, it’s part of Route 66 attractions and is free to visit, so we ventured in. The park is filled with totem poles handcrafted by Ed Galloway. The tallest totem pole is 27 meters high and took over 10 years to make. The totem poles are very ornate, colorful, and whimsical.
Next, we headed to the Blue Whale of Catoosa, one of the strangest but most charming attractions on the route. This spot is one of Oklahoma’s most well-known and popular Route 66 attractions, and it’s no wonder. It’s truly a delightfully odd sight. The Blue Whale of Catoosa originated in 1972 when a man named Hugh Davis decided to build a whale next to his family’s swimming hole. Davis wanted to create something unique and surprising, and thus this whale statue was born. Since then, the Blue Whale has become a popular tourist destination, open year-round.
By the lake, there’s a small shop where you can buy souvenirs and snacks. There’s also a guestbook-style map on the wall where visitors can mark where they’re from. Of course, we left greetings from Finland! Visitors can fish from the whale’s back or even have a picnic nearby.
Quick Through Tulsa and Hurricane Warning
Next was Tulsa. We didn’t stay long; to be honest, we found it quite unremarkable, at least in our opinion. There wasn’t much to see, and the city wasn’t particularly attractive, so we quickly moved on!
From Tulsa, we drove a bit further and stayed at the Cattle Country Lodge. The accommodation was a decent basic hotel by the highway.
Upon arriving at the lodge, the staff were actively monitoring the TV broadcast and informed us that there was a hurricane warning. As Finns, this was a bit surprising for us, as we hadn’t encountered a hurricane warning before. However, the reception staff were very friendly and instructed us on what to do, even offering to come and get us from our room if needed.
The evening was spent watching the news and checking the warning messages on our phones. We gathered essential items like passports and wallets into a small bag so we could grab them quickly if necessary.
We breathed a sigh of relief the next morning when the hurricane didn’t hit us, and we were able to continue our journey. We had also received flood warning notifications overnight, but fortunately, that didn’t affect us either.
However, as we continued our journey later that day, we saw signs of flooding. At first, we thought the water areas were lakes, but according to the map, there shouldn’t have been lakes until we realized that what we were seeing were rooftops peeking out from the water. We had never seen such natural anomalies firsthand, and it was truly unsettling to witness.
Chandlerin kylä, Route 66 museo
Next on our itinerary was Chandler, where we visited the Route 66 Interpretive Center. The museum is located in a beautiful building, and the staff were lovely. It’s a wonderful museum that tells the history of the route from its early days to the present. Here, you’ll find antique car seats and beds from old Route 66 hotels, as well as short and long video documentaries on the topic.
Although we don’t usually visit many museums, museums like this one are really enjoyable on a trip like this.
Route 66 is truly fascinating and entertaining to drive. Along the way, there’s always something to see—themed restaurants and cafés, signs, paintings, and the most peculiar statues. Boredom definitely doesn’t set in on this journey.
Oklahoma City
Next, we arrived in the capital city of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City.
We noticed a familiar phenomenon here, as we have in other larger city downtowns: the place felt deserted. There weren’t many cars or pedestrians; it was eerily quiet, with just a few individuals scattered about.
We drove around the city for a bit and then headed to the Bricktown area. Bricktown is a beautiful and inviting area with a small canal-like river running through it. The riverside is lovely and comfortable, perfect for strolling along, enjoying drinks or food. If you wish, you can also take a boat ride or dinner cruise on the river. This was definitely a pleasant area worth visiting.
Alligator dam
As we continued our journey, we also stopped at the shore of Lake Overholser, a small dam, to admire the lake views. While gazing at the scenery from the dam, a nearby man who was fishing called out to us and asked if we knew what those small tree-like objects in the water near the shore were. We had initially thought they were tree stumps, but they turned out to be small alligators, about a meter long!
Oklahoma Route 66 Museum
Although we mentioned earlier that we’re not big museum-goers, as soon as we left Oklahoma City, we headed to the next Route 66 museum in Clinton, the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum. The place was quite different from the Route 66 Interpretive Center we visited earlier in Oklahoma. The former had more of an old rustic feel, while the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum embodied the typical Route 66 spirit, at least in our opinion. As you enter the museum, you’re welcomed by a shiny red vintage American car behind large glass windows adorned with neon signs.
The museum’s exhibits are organized by decades, providing plenty of reading, viewing, and listening material. It’s definitely worth a visit.
For the night, we drove to Elk City and stayed at the Comfort Inn & Suites, a decent hotel. We weren’t looking for luxury accommodations on this road trip; most of the time, we arrived at the hotel late at night and left early in the morning, so a clean, basic, and safe place was all we needed.
At this point, the landscape started to change more noticeably, becoming drier, which was to be expected as we were nearing the Texas border.
Our last stop in Oklahoma, just before the Texas border, was the One Room Jail in Texola. This is an old, small standalone cell built in the late 1800s by the roadside. You can step inside the cell and find pictures detailing its history. It’s worth stopping for a moment to check it out before continuing on our journey.
So, we were already at the Texas border, which is the 5th state on our route. Let’s continue the journey from there in the next post.
