Extended Weekend Getaways 
Kristy Christiansen
Freelance Travel Writer
Rolling the Mother Road: A Route 66 Journey Across Oklahoma
Driving down Route 66 feels like cruising into America’s past, each ka-thump of a passing expansion joint providing a repetitive soundtrack to the scenery scrolling past my window. Traversing this iconic roadway through Oklahoma, I discovered a land overflowing with stories yearning to be told and a host of Route 66 preservationists recapturing the spirit of the Mother Road. It’s a fitting tribute to the home state of Cyrus Avery, “Father of Route 66,” who played an integral role in naming the highway and routing it through Oklahoma.
Route 66: The Will Rogers Highway
Crossing the border from Missouri, Route 66 enters Oklahoma in its northeast corner and travels through the state’s “Green Country,” where rolling hills are dotted with pristine lakes. Just outside Tulsa in the town of Claremore, the limestone Will Rogers Memorial Museum pays homage to the famed trick roper, movie star, radio commentator, and newspaper columnist. After his death in 1935, Highway 66 was officially designated the Will Rogers Highway.
Tulsa: Art Deco, Music and History
Continuing along, the road passes the Blue Whale of Catoosa before winding through Tulsa, a city marked by art deco buildings constructed during the town’s 20th century oil boom. The Mayo Hotel, opened in 1925, encapsulates the glamour of this age, when the likes of Elvis Presley and President John F. Kennedy mingled here with Tulsa’s high society. After an extensive renovation in 2009, the hotel recaptured its former luster, and as I was reveling in its gorgeous, black-and-white-themed lobby, a star from my all-time favorite movie, Goonies, walked past in confirmation of the hotel’s renewed glory.
The opulent roaring 20s was stained by a darker side as well. In the city’s historic Greenwood District, a once prosperous Black community known as “Black Wall Street” was burned to the ground and countless lives were lost during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Greenwood Rising tells the tragic story of the victims and the remarkable survivors who, despite all odds, managed to rebuild from the ruins.
Tulsa’s music heritage comes to life at The Church Studio, a stone castle church converted to a recording studio by musician and songwriter Leon Russell. Part museum, part active recording studio, the building has seen a revolving door of legendary musicians, from Eric Clapton to Willie Nelson, and continues to shape future musical stars.
I refueled at Mother Road Market, a bustling food hall with a wide array of vendor options, including Akira’s adorable push pop sushi rolls. Here, fledgling food entrepreneurs can enroll in Kitchen 66, a program offering commercial kitchen space, business training and sales opportunities at the Takeover Café. Before hitting the road out of town, I dropped by the Meadow Gold District for some snapshots of “The Land of the Giants,” where 20-foot-tall Mack the Friendly Lumberjack and his exceptionally large friends tower over the eclectic shops and restaurants lining the street.
West to Oklahoma City
Trading skyscrapers for countryside, the road threads its way through the town of Luther, where Threatt Filling Station once stood as a beacon of safety to Black travelers driving Route 66 during the Jim Crow era. Allen Threatt, Sr. founded this Black-owned filling station in 1915, and today, his descendants are reviving his memory with an extensive restoration of the building.
In Arcadia, gas pumps pale in comparison to the Pops 66 Soda Ranch behind them. I was wholly unprepared for the daunting task of choosing from hundreds of colorful soda bottles lining the glass walls and store shelves inside.
OKC: Cars, Cowboys and First Americans
In Oklahoma’s capital city, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum left me in a state of awe. Their vast collection spans renowned artists such as Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell to contemporary masters who flawlessly capture the beauty and spirit of the American West.
Similarly, the First Americans Museum explores the culture and history of 39 tribal nations that reside in Oklahoma today, the majority of whom were forcibly moved here from other parts of the country. Their art and artifacts weave a patchwork quilt of stories extending back in time to before America was born.
Creativity thrives in OKC’s Plaza District, where live theatre at the Lyric, rotating murals and endless gourmet treats have built an energetic neighborhood with a youthful pulse. After exploring 16th Street, I stopped in for a pre-dinner frozen margarita at The Margarita Garden, picked up post-dinner pie at Pie Junkie, and feasted on Laotian cuisine at award-winning Ma Der Lao Kitchen.
Nothing screams Route 66 better than vintage cars, and Chip’s Garage displays a collection of antique cars impressive enough to bring tears to your eyes. OKC is no stranger to old-fashioned rides, and the Fordson Hotel proudly displays a Model T in its lobby in honor of its former life as a Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant. In keeping with the hotel’s roots, the oversized rooms and individual floors portray an artistic industrial flair.
West to Texas
As the wind whipped through the prairie, I continued west to El Reno, touring the town on the Heritage Express Trolley before climbing on a stool at Sid’s Diner for a world-famous onion burger with a side of good conversation. Owner Marty Hall flipped burgers with practiced ease while regaling me with tales of how he was nearly born on Route 66 during a tornado.
In Hydro, I admired the progress of the Route 66 Trestle Bridge Park. The canary yellow steel bridge faced the scrapyard after its decommissioning but was rescued by the Entz family, who designed a roadside park with the bridge as the centerpiece. Nearby, Lucille’s Service Station as well as the giant Spaceman in Weatherford were stop-worthy photo ops.
My final destination, the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, proved to be a historical repository for all things related to the Mother Road. The thoughtfully curated treasures brought deeper context to the iconic transportation route, its importance in the annuals of history, and a renewed sense of the highway’s resurgence in the hearts of a new generation of travelers.
