my journey 31
scene – from rock to jazz to blues to folk. I spend a day in Tulsa’s burgeoning Brady Arts District. The old warehouse area’s superb and atmospheric Woody Guthrie Center is a fi tting tribute to the great civil rights activist and folk music artist. The visual arts are also superbly represented in Tulsa’s downtown and suburbs – with the fabulous Philbrook Museum of Art and Gilcrease Museum of European and American Art. I make a mental note to spend at least three days when I am next in Tulsa. Tulsa is also the birthplace of the iconic Route 66 and my drive (100 miles or so) west to Oklahoma City offers myriad attractions, like the Rock Cafe, Lincoln Motel and Chandler’s R66 Interpretive Center (a real gem, redolent of the old road). But fi rst to ‘OKC’s’ – Stockyard City – cattle market and Western shopping; Bricktown’s chic nightlife; the wonderful National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and the sporting Boathouse District.
I could spend a week in Oklahoma City but I head
west, along another section of the old Route 66 and there is plenty to see along the way: the Oklahoma and National Route 66 museums at Clinton and Elk City and the original Lucille’s diner!
Home on the ranch again I fi nish my fabulous journey on another ranch and my
welcome at the historic Island Guest Ranch, from the White family who own and operate it was as expansive as the 5,000 acres of northwest Oklahoma it sits on. It’s a haven for coyotes, deer, raccoons, armadillos and birdlife like woodpeckers, roadrunners and cranes. The Island horses are suited to riders of all ages and abilities and the rustic main lodge serves hearty family-style meals. Many summer evenings at a ranch which has been featured in many movies and ads are spent square dancing, on trolley rides, watching a rodeo, or country and western dancing. I content myself with settin’ on the porch, shootin’ the breeze with the family. Working ranches, Route 66, cool Tulsa and cosmopolitan Oklahoma City and Wichita – this has been a taste of the ‘real America’.
“Old Dodge City has been painstakingly preserved – right
down to having its own sheriff”
The tallest Tulsan at Golden Driller, OK
sellingtravel.co.uk
Native American wisdom in Wichita, KS
A slice of frontier history at Fort Larned, KS
Cattle drive at Moore Ranch
Tending the longhorns
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, OK
How to book it Several UK tour operators offer Kansas and Oklahoma fl y-drive itineraries. These include America As You Like It (americaasyoulikeit. com) and NATS
(
northamericatravelservice.co.uk). For ranch holidays and the type of
Western/Cowboy experiences enjoyed by Matt Bates, check out (
ranchrider.com) and
W & O Travel (
westernoriental.com). For details see:
travelksok.co.uk
Oil riches on display at Woolaroc Ranch, OK
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