Edward Is Everywhere

  Tulsa has a lot of neon on Route 66, it is something they encourage.  Here is the Meadow Gold District on 11th street just after sunset. Ike's Chili neon sign on the right, Red Light Chicken behind it, and, on the left, the famous Meadow Gold sign.  Then, there are a few signs that you can't really make out, Por Ella Route 66 on the far left, then, behind the Meadow Gold sign, also in green and yellow is Meadow Gold Shops and Lofts, and the vertical blue one is for "The Helen" a cafe/restaurant. The huge Meadow Gold : Milk, Ice Cream, Beatrice Foods Co sign is a historic advertising sign that used to be a little ways away, but when the building it was on was demolished they built a custom pavilion for the sign and moved it here. It is quite the visible landmark, day or night. El Rancho Grande Mexican Food has been here pretty much forever. It opened in 1950 then moved to this location on Route 66 in 1953.  The sign is lit every evening until the restaurant closes ...

  In Part 1 I focused on the portion of Route 66 on 11th street between South Peoria Avenue and South Lewis Avenue. This post will be about other Route 66 sights in Tulsa. Right in downtown Tulsa is the Blue Dome building. It headlines the Blue Dome Historic District .  To no ones surprise, the roof is a blue dome.  This used to be a Gulf Oil service station, second floor was used as office space and the residence for the manager was in the dome.  Route66Times has more about this . Blue Dome is on an earlier alignment of Route 66, the current road doesn't go by it. Sinclair service station This two-bay gas station was built in 1929 and is in the "Spanish Eclectic". The deep canopy goes out to the pump island, although the pumps are no longer there. After the gas station closed various other companies have occupied it, most recently Rossi Brothers Co, but I think they have moved one building down.  Hotel Campbell This opened as the Casa Loma Hotel. That hotel is...

  Tulsa, OK is one of the larger cities along Route 66. A lot of the ones I've been to had population in the single digit thousands, Tulsa has over 410 thousand people.  Even with the size, Route 66 is an core part of Tulsa's identity (and certainly more uplifting than the Tulsa race massacre ). For this post I'm going to concentrate on the portion of Route 66 on 11th street between South Peoria Avenue and South Lewis Avenue. This is just outside the core downtown area, but very much in the city. The best place to start is Bucks on 66, which is a restored 1950s PEMCO gas station that has been converted to a souvenir store. The owners really like giant muffler man statues, and the first one to see is Buck Atom, Space Cowboy. Unlike most muffler man statues you see, this one wsa custom designed and built. Stella Atom Space Cowgirl Stella Atom Space Cowgirl is another custom giant statue. She shares the parking lot with Buck Atoms. There is also Balony Maroney's food truc...

Catoosa is just northeast of Tulsa, a short drive if you live in the city.  The population is under 7,500 people. When you think Catoosa, you probably think about The Blue Whale of Catoosa.  A famous roadside attraction. The whale was built out of iron and concrete in the 1970s by Hugh Davis. The whale, and the pond it was in was a popular swimming hole along Route 66. You are no longer allowed to swim in the pond, but you can see the sliding boards and ladders on the side of the whale.  Visitor Center and whale Catoosa built a brand new visitor center on the site of the Blue Whale, it just opened at the end of May.  I was there just a couple of weeks before the opening.  There's a large neon sign advertising the whale atop the visitor center. What is this concrete structure?  You can walk up to it and the center looks like it was some sort of enclosure with a pool.  I have read there was an alligator ranch here, so it is probably related to that. Arro...

  Claremore is larger than many of the surrounding towns, with a population of nearly 20,000.  "Oklahoma's Favorite Son", Will Rogers, is buried at the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore. Explore Claremore, the sign implores.  It is painted on the side of a strip mall as you enter the city from the West (from Tulsa). 2102 Ok-66, Claremore, Oklahoma 74019. Antique Mall, Downtown Claremore There are a couple of streets in downtown Claremore, this is one, with an antique mall in the G. W. Eaton building, built in 1902. 422 West Will Rogers Boulevard, Claremore, Oklahoma 74017. Old police station This building, now housing Asset Liquidation Specialists, was built by the WPA in 1940 and used to house a police station. 103 North J. M. Davis Boulevard, Claremore, Oklahoma 74017.  Historic Will Rogers hotel< This is the side of the Will Rogers Hotel. The front entrance is on Route 66.  Also here is French Quarter Coffee Co (I stopped there for a drink), and Libby's....

Foyil is small, under 500 people. It's street addresses seem to be attributed to either Claremore or Chelsea, the two nearest towns along the road. Surprisingly, it does have it's own high school, Foyil H.S. On the western end of Foyil is a park with a statue of Andy Payne. In 1908 he won a footrace between Los Angeles and New York City, a distance of 3,422.3 miles. It took him over two months.   One of the big draws of Foyil is this restored Texaco filling station. They did a nice job fixing it up. There aren't any gas pumps but you can look in the windows.  The current highway cuts off a corner of the old Route 66 that is now called Andy Payne Blvd, and, that old route cuts off a corner of an even older segment of Route 66, now called S. Andy Payne Circle.  In trying to find the above filling station, google directed me to the same street number, but on the Circle, not the Boulevard.  This lot was occupied by the foundation of an old house. I actually thought the f...