Traveling Tramps: Tulsa - many facets in one city

In the morning, after a delicious breakfast at Antoinette Baking Company (pic), around the corner from our hotel, we drove a little out of town to see The Blue Whale in Catoosa. What was once planned as an "entertainment/water park" for kids, became a historic landmark along Route 66. The Whale is huge, 20 feet tall and 80 feet long, constructed with a metal framework and hand-mixed cement. It was completed in 1972, and originally, people were allowed to swim, fish and picnic.

Closeby, is a portion of the Bird Creek Bridge, an original Rte 66 bridge, which was partly dismantled to make way for a new bridge. It now forms the entrance to Molly's Landing Restaurant.

The Dessert Hills Motel - our next stop, just 5 mi from downtown Tulsa -is a classic Route 66 motor court, which has served travelers on the Mother Road since 1953. It was remodeled recently, and, doesn't look bad at all.

We had an appointment at Church Studio (left) - in the Pearl District - next, met with the owner of the place, an highly successful, energetic and visionary lady. A former historic church from 1915 was turned into a recording studio and office to Shelter Records founded by Leon Russell (statue & mural of him on photos below) in 1972. Talent such as Tom Petty, JJ Cale, Jimmy Buffett, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Stevie Wonder, Kansas, Peter Tosh or Wolfman Jack hung out or recorded in the studio. Under new ownership now, the church is being restored, updated and extended, and, once open in November, it will not only be open for tours, but also functioning as recording studios, concert venue and much more.

Completely unexpected, and, gorgeous: The Philbrook Museum of Art, all in one: a historic home, world class art museum, and gorgeous gardens. It opened in 1939 as a museum, but Villa Philbrook, an Italian Renaissance villa with 72 rooms surrounded by 23 acres of finely planned grounds, on land of oilman Waite Phillips and his wife Genevieve, was already completed in 1927 . The Philbrook Collection features more than 16,000 objects with a focus on (Modern) American, Native American, and European art with some Greek antiquities and African artwork mixed in. Could have spent hours here!

Not far away from the Philbrook, which reminded us of the gorgeous villas and gardens in Rome and Latium, we indulged in more greenery: Gathering Place. Again, the George Kaiser Family Foundation made it possible: a huge park along the Arkansas River with playgrounds of all sorts, a "beach", a modern building (right and below), open to everybody to relax and gather, with cafés, trails (Blue Heron on the photo was spotted there) and gardens - a real gathering place!

In the late afternoon we explored a couple more neighborhoods, first of all the Blue Dome and Pearl Districts, both up and coming, with murals, a quirky bar/restaurant scene, a container village, arts spaces, etc. With the unfortunately deteriorating "Blue Dome" - as its name giver - a 1924 gas station building - the Blue Dome District is considered the entertainment district, with plenty of nightlife, pubs and restaurants. Pearl District, where Church Studio is, borders Blue Dome and is equally thriving.