Welcome to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
There's tons of Route 66 attractions in and around Tulsa and we're going to show you a
few.
Despite the fact that we have been on a cross country road trip for over 10 months now,
to be honest, we don't know a whole lot about the history of Route 66. So since Tulsa has
tons of Route 66 attractions, we figured it was the perfect time to get to know a little
bit more about the history of Route 66.
And what a better way to start this adventure, than stopping at a classic 50s diner that
is known for cinnamon rolls.
This will be so fun.
About the same size. Legitimately probably the best cinnamon roll I've ever had. So sweet,
so tasty.
There is definitely a reason this is the number one cinnamon roll in Tulsa.
Okay we are tapping out but for goodness sakes this may be the best breakfast place we have
been to so far on our road trip. Amazing.
U.S. Highway 66 better known as Route 66 or around here, the Mother Road was actually
created in 1926. And it's known for being very Americana because before it existed there
wasn't a real easy way to get across the country. The route went from Chicago to Los Angeles,
it pretty much made the modern life on the road actually possible.
There are actually 24 miles on historic Route 66 that run through Tulsa, and behind me which
you will see is the Meadow Gold neon sign that was used to promote dairy back in the
1930s.
Tulsa, Oklahoma is specifically special to Route 66 because the father of Route 66 actually
spent most of his life here. Avery Cyrus actually helped to give it its name of Route 66. He
initially wanted it to be Route 60 to align with the rest of the federal highways numbering
system, but since that didn't go, 66 was the number he decided made the most sense.
The inception of Route 66 also became the inception of a lot of small businesses along
the main road. You had diners pop up, drive ins, but best of all, they were mostly small
businesses. And so it's super easy to wander local and find all sorts of real neat, cool,
unique places as you drive along what's left of the road of Route 66.
We are very honored to introduce you to the one and only space cowboy, Buck Atom. So he
is one of the newest additions to Route 66 and has been responsible for a lot of the
revitalization around the area. He may or may not be a historical character but he definitely
is in the heart of Tulsa.
We like to think he's a real guy. In 1950, he was a cowboy and he rodeoed up and down
Route 66 seeing all the sites and stuff. One day a UFO snatched him up, that's why he's
a space cowboy. And he has turned into this cosmic cowboy and he got sent back to Route
66 here in Tulsa to make the route provide again.
The moment you walk into the Decopolis Discovitorium, you instantly know you stumbled into magic.
It feels like a cross between Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and Hogwarts. Every nook
and cranny are filled with delightful treats and toys and not just for the good little
girls and boys, but for grown ups too, you simply can't miss it if you're nearby.
Welcome to Route 66 Village and these stops are so random and fun. Something tells me
these don't have diesel. The oil derrick behind me is actually the historical site of the
very first oil strike which happened here in Tulsa in 1901, making it, you guessed it,
the oil capital of the world.
Now I really feel like I'm on Route 66. Will this be a good tow vehicle? Okay, we just
made it to a spot that is called The Center of the Universe.
It sounds like a whole bunch of hype but what we've been told is when you stand on the circle,
that all of a sudden everything goes crazy and there's no scientific explanation for
it.
Let's check it out. Go for it.
All right, so this little circle is supposed to be the magic spot. Hello. Oh my gosh it's
really weird. Can you hear it?
No, you just sound silly.
But it's so weird. [inaudible 00:08:36], come here, you got to check this out. Hello. Does
this come across on camera, because if it doesn't I'm going to be really sad. Hello.
I really hope that this works on camera because this is a really cool sounding.
So we think there's a 2% chance that we can actually capture that echo on audio, but it's
a real thing and it sounds crazy. It sounds like you're in a big auditorium by yourself
and every word just echoes throughout the building, but yet you're standing in an open
space.
So this is a reason you need to get out and wander local in Tulsa. Okay, there's a million
other place for us to show you, let's do this.
This cute guy, he's the Blue Whale of Catoosa and he's been here since the 1970s. I absolutely
love the story about how he came to fruition because the man who actually built this whale
did it for his wife who loved to collect little blue whale figurines. It became so popular
around Route 66, they ended up turning it into a little attraction and people from all
over, would stop, come visit the whale, swim in the pond and it became a really fun place
for community.
Turtle and fish.
It's a red-eared slider.
Oh, that's cool, you know what it is.
Yeah, I have one of those.
Oh, you have one?
Yeah.
Neat.
So at the end of the whale tail, there's a ladder, and of course I like to climb things
so I climbed up here and now I'm on top of the whale tail. I guess at some point you
can tell that swimming was allowed here, but the water looks a little dingy, I don't know
if I'd jump in here. No, I definitely wouldn't jump in here. But I imagine maybe at one point
in time it was a lot clearer than it is today. And this would have made a great jumping spot.
Another super fun Route 66 stop but next time we're bringing a picnic. After hanging out
by lake, we figured the perfect next step was to check out a general store and grab
a soda pop.
Soda's secured and heading back to the truck because I'm thirsty and I can't wait to get
some Dinosaur Dung in my mouth, that sounds terrible, that sounds horrible but that's
what it's called. It's called Dinosaur Dung. This one is from Indian Wells Brewing. The
front of it is literally a dinosaur sitting on the pooper.
That looks...
Pretty gross, yeah. So expectations are really high for this one, but of all the sodas in
the cooler, this one looked the most extreme so obviously I had to give it a try. Let's
check it out. Not a twist off.
Okay, so I didn't go for an extreme flavor but I did get a twist off top. Got to have
a win sometimes. It's actually delicious. It's mint grapefruit.
Okay, so clearly this is not twist off and I don't really feel like blooding my hands
on camera. I did get a plan B, plan B is Route 66 root beer. Route, root, get it, that's
funny. This one is a twist off. Oh, that's so good. Don't you just love a good root beer,
I know I do. Do you call this a soda or a pop? Soda pop. I would love to know because
I've heard it called both things growing up, leave a comment below.
All right, so we're going to head back to the Airstream where we do have something that
could open this bottle. Then we're going to head out to dinner at a really cool place
and then we've got a very special evening to share with you all.
Another place you can't miss when visiting Tulsa and exploring Route 66 attractions is
Oklahoma's very first food hall and named for Route 66, she's called the Mother Road
Market. Inside the market we're going to find restaurant tiers, cool retail shops, everything
is local, but what's really special, it's basically an incubator for local businesses
to give their ideas a shot without the financial risks and overhead of having their own space.
You know we love that.
One of my favorite things I heard about here is that they have a place that sells Nashville
hot chicken or in my case, vegan hot chicken, so let's go check it out.
Okay, here's the real scoop, we've already been here, we came earlier in the week and
we loved it so much, we back. And to be honest with you, I'm just a sucker for some Nashville
hot chicken, whenever I can find it I'm always going to crave it. Whatever they put on these
fries, its like red powdered goodness, its really delicious.
Like [inaudible 00:14:36] said, we already had these and usually this isn't my favorite
meal but this coleslaw is ridiculously good on this sandwich.
It's worth mentioning though, that if plant based or vegan chicken is your thing, tastes
like regular chicken so don't be discouraged, there's plenty of meat options here.
The place we're going to tonight, it's very important that we have two things. One is
a full tank of gas and two, a clean windshield. Still, not sure where we're headed? Hi.
Hi, which movie would you like?
We're doing date night at the drive-in on Route 66. This is a very iconic place. Once
we get parked, we'll tell you a little bit more about it. The ticket cost is $8 per passenger
and it includes a double feature, two movies back to back. And I don't think we're going
to stay for two movies, but the fact that you get two movies for eight bucks, pretty
sweet deal. And in the summer months the movie times start later, so they start roughly pm
or so, but in winter months, a little bit earlier when the sun sets.
So in the old days, you'd pull up to a speaker box and you would, I believe clip it onto
your door. Nowadays you tune to 90.9 FM and you play it inside the vehicle.
A movie date night wouldn't be complete without popcorn, so we're going to go check out the
concessions. All right, the sun is setting, therefore our movie is about to start.
You got people that are pulling in forward because they're just going to sit in their
car, kind of like us. And then you have the smart people that brought their trucks, that
backed in, they have an entire outdoor setup with chairs and blankets and they're prepared.
And if you know us, that's definitely not us, but we're taking notes for the future.
They do films seven days a week. So the only drive-in theaters I've ever been to were a
weekend thing, not this one, you can come whenever you want.
Last but certainly not least on our Route 66 adventure, we got to put a state on the
map. All right, State 22 fills a very important hole in our map.
But now we are officially going to hit our last day, Arkansas, before we head to the
Airstream International Rally. And we have an exciting evening planned because we are
going to be boondocking with doomsday preppers. Make sure you subscribe and we'll see in the
next video, but until then, don't forget wander local this week friend. It's good for the
soul.