13 June 2013 - Route 66 Oddities

I had a meeting in Catoosa (close to Tulsa) OK and was left with several free hours before my flight home. Rather than sit in the airport with a book, I did a bit of exploring.  I have to admit it was bittersweet being in Oklahoma knowing how much Jack loved his home state, and that I was very close to his old stomping grounds. One of the many many items on our bucket list was to drive across Oklahoma on Route 66. And here I was, with some time to drive a small portion of it. 

I should mention it was hot. 105 degrees on Tuesday and 101 on Wednesday. That wasn't so bad but oh boy, the humidity about did me in. Hot and wet. My favorite. 

My destination was Foyil, OK. There is a Totem Pole Park in Foyil that is billed as the World's Largest Totem Pole. The maker, Ed Galloway started this concrete pole in 1937 and finished it in 1948. It was his tribute to the American Indian.  It is 90 feet high, with an 18 foot diameter and 54 feet around at the base. Out of the concrete he carved 200 pictures: birds, animals, war shields, as well as four nine-foot tall Indians near the top, each representing a different tribe. It is currently being refurbished and repainted. 

What looks like an antenna on the very top is yet another carved piece - a stack of birds. 




 The totem is sitting upon a giant turtle. The toes hanging over the edge near the head belong to an eagle.  
 

I particularly liked the head of something with the snake crawling in and out of its mouth. I wasn't sure if the butterfly was on the snake's head, or if the snake was about to eat the butterfly. 





There were many huge concrete sculptures, including this arrow head, also covered with carvings. 

 

 

In addition to all the concrete sculptures there was his Fiddle House, an eleven-sided concrete building. All the corner supports were more carved concrete totems. 

Ed Galloway taught wood working in a school for orphan boys. When World War II came along many of his students joined up. The  boys sent Ed wood from whatever country they were in. Ed made fiddles from all the different woods. 

The fiddles were never strung up to play, more like a showcase of woods. The caretaker told me Ed had made some 1500 fiddles. Over 300 of them were on display. Each group of fiddles had a key telling what the wood was and where it was from. 
 
A few of the fiddles had some elaborate inlay work. It was a pretty amazing thing to see. The inside of the fiddle house was all painted in murals.




 Continuing on down the road was this very punny diner. It it had been open I would have gone in for pie and coffee, or a salted peanut coke, or something appropriate. 

 And how could anyone resist a bar like this? 

 There are two Route 66s. The larger state highway and a few places where the signs lead you to the Historic Route 66. Sometimes it was hard to know where to go.


On my last trip to Tulsa in October, I was on one of the little Historic parts where the old Catoosa Train station sat on Route 66. It is now a historical museum, and there was a caboose beside the station getting ready for restoration. It looked like this. 

This time, it looked great! Nothing like a fresh coat of paint.

 There were other oddities in the signage world that I love so much. 

This is one of the better oxymorons I have seen in a while.  Spunky Creek, Keep It Clean. Uh-huh. Sure.

Then there was Kongs Korner, which featured a gas station and a cafe with a life-sized gorilla out front. 

However, the sign that got me was this one. This does not make me want to eat here. I can only wonder what kind of meat is in those old fashion hamburgers.
 

I also loved this one. A term that was new to me. Unfortunately this business was all boarded up and had been for some time, but the sign was great. A Dairyette?

I couldn't help myself, I had to stop at the Blue Whale again. 

Some clean up work is being done there as well. This time you could see the mushrooms. 

The tops are old skylights I think. And the stems are made of concrete. The smallest in this group is about four feet high. 

I just love these quirky roadside attractions.

The big surprise was the lack of birds. I was so hoping to see some scissor-tailed flycatchers, but it wasn't to be. I did see lots of mockingbirds. I even saw one bouncing off a hawk that was on top of a telephone pole. The mocking bird must have hit him six or more times before the hawk decided to leave.

The other surprise was how many cardinals I saw. I hadn't realized how big their range is--pretty much the whole U.S. except for a few western states. 

And the last oddity? Well. Don't know what to say about this. As is my wont, I visit cemeteries.  This double headstone for a husband and wife left me speechless. I can only hope that this was an inside joke between Juanita and Clifford.