Wichita, KS, Tulsa,OK, Little Rock,AR, Hot Springs National Park
July 11, 2023
Sun 7/09
Weather: Nice summer day good for traveling.
Left for the airport at 5:30a to catch our 8:20a flight to Wichita. Flight was on time and short arriving around 10:00.
Wichita, KS
Wichita, named after the Wichita people, is in South Central Kansas located on the Arkansas river and is Kansas's most populous city with a population of ~400K (647K metro area). For more about Wichita see Wichita Wiki and Visit Wichita.
From the airport we went to the very pretty Museums on the River District where the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers join. There are lots of museums but, most were closed on Sunday. We walked along the river, went through the Keepers of the Plains plaza, relaxed and enjoyed views of the river and the downtown skyline.
We ate lunch at Delano's Diner and both had the local Wichita favorite, Ol Town Bierock sandwich. Tasty!
Kansas Aviation Museum
After lunch we toured the Kansas Aviation Museum. Watched part of the video on the history of aviation that started in Wichita by Clark Cessna (founded Cessna), Lloyd Baird and later Walter and Olive Ann Beech (founded Beechcraft) making Wichita an aviation power house in the Nineteen 20s and 30s.
The three story museum was filled with aircraft, engines and the history of Wichita and the early aviation industry housed in a very cool building. The tarmac had a bunch of planes including a massive B52. Kathryn and I really enjoyed the museum.
After the museum we checked into our Airbnb (nice remodeled house) for a late afternoon nap!
Nortons Brewing Company
We had dinner at Nortons Brewing Company>.
Had their famous Bacon Crack for an appetizer, sampled some of their beers and
for dinner we shared a Cobb Salad and the Norton Burger (uhm.. a double cheeseburger between two
grilled cheese... oh boy... I wouldn't recommend it). But we did bring some home and Kathryn cooked them up with scrambled eggs
the next morning.
Mon 7/10
Weather Sunny, warm, breezy, lower humidity
Sedgwick County Zoo
Sedgwick Zoo is home to over 3000 animals of nearly 400 species and is one of the top 10 largest
zoos in the U.S. It did not disappoint! The zoo was laid out really well with most of the walkways
shaded and the habitats large and natural for most of the animals, except for the bald eagles.
On a Monday the zoo wasn't crowded at all and we enjoyed walking through the zoo and seeing all the animals!
On the way home we grabbed stuff at the grocery store for a late lunch at the airbnb and enjoyed the backyard the rest of the afternoon. Relaxing!
Monarch Restaurant
For dinner we went to the Monarch Restaurant and Kathryn ordered a Dawn Collins (gin, lavender, vanilla, lemon) and I had the Bourbon Slush. We shared Mushroom caps for an appetizer Kathryn had the Smoked Salmon Salad and I had the Greek Salad w/chx all enjoyed on the patio on a nice summer evening.
Tue 7/11
Weather Hot! 90s and humid
Not in a rush we had a late breakfast and headed to Tulsa about a two hour drive.
Marland Estate, Ponca, OK
On our way we stopped in Ponca City, OK and toured the
Marland Mansion Estate. E.W. Marland was an oil barron and at one time controlled 10% of all the oil in the world.
The mansion and grounds are impressive with 55 rooms and 30 acres of vistas and gardens. We did the self guided tour. What
maybe amazed me the most was the perfect condition and sparkling clean everything was in. Not a spec of dirt or dust or smudge anywhere.
Tulsa, OK
The cities population is 413K with the metro area around 1M and sits on the banks of the Arkansas river. Tulsa was settled between 1828 and 1836 by the Lochapoka Band of Creek Native American tribe and most of Tulsa is still part of the territory of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Tulsa was known as the oil capital of the world for much of the 20th century and lots of oil money fueled the construction boom of the Art Deco style of the time. Fun fact: In 1925, Tulsa businessman Cyrus Avery started Route 66 linking Chicago to Los Angelos that goes right through Tulsa.
Kathryn has a friend from HCSC that lives in Tulsa. Debbie and her husband Jim were so nice and showed us all around Tulsa. Jim grew up in Tulsa and Debbie since college and they know everything about everything in Tulsa! They drove us all around the different neighborhoods and downtown with a story to tell for every neighborhood and every building. They know so much history about Tulsa and like to show it off to guests (Nice!). I can't do justice to everything we heard and saw so here are two references Tulsa, OK Wiki and the Tulsa Neighborhoods Wiki for more about Tulsa.
International Petroleum Expostion Building and the Golden Driller
We stopped at the International Petroleum Exposition Building. A unique building with the roof supported from the sides like a suspension bridge. Outside sits Tulsa's famous Golden Driller statue.
Downtown, PhilTower and PhilCade buildings
We also stopped downtown for lots of history on many of the buildings (many done in the French Art Deco Style popular in the 1920s and 30s prominent throughout Tulsa). We went inside the PHILTOWER and PHILCADE buildings. Both where named after Waite and Genevieve Phillip (founders of Phillips Petroleum) for their generous contributions including PhilTower, Philcade and the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa.
After downtown we toured Debbie and Jim's Alma Mater, The University of Tulsa, and many of the other neighborhoods in Tulsa.
I can't do justice to everything we heard and saw as we toured the city with our friends so here are two references Tulsa, OK Wiki and the Tulsa Neighborhoods Wiki for more about Tulsa.
After a great day of seeing and learning about Tulsa we all had dinner at Kilkennys. Yum!
Airbnd - The Artists Den, Tulsa, OK
We are staying two nights in a loft above an artist's studio in the art district. This is probably the coolest airbnb we have stayed in to date. We could have stayed a week in this awesome place (808 East 3rd St, Tulsa, OK). She used lots of old beat up doors for headboards, the kitchen table (plexiglass over it) and left some things old like the bathroom walls. We both commented that if we tried to do something like this it would be not be artsy it would be just be junky. But, she pulled it off nicely. Briefly met her the next morning as she was coming into her studio.
Wed 7/12
Weather Super hot and humid - 99Deg
The Gathering Place
Our super hosts, Debbie and Jim, picked us up again this morning for more touring of Tulsa. We had an early start since it was forecasted to be really hot today. They took us to The Gathering Place, Tulsa's Riverfront Park opened in 2018, an amazing river front park. Debbie is a Docent for the park so we had special treatment touring the park with our own private docent. Thanks again you guys!
An amazing 100 acre park along the Arkansas river for people to gather, kids to play and everyone to enjoy.
After our park tour we said goodbye to Debbie and Jim and went back to our Artists Den. Decided on Pizza for lunch and went to Bohemiam Wood Fired Pizza just down the block from our bnb. Very tasty and we had left overs for breakfast the next day! After lunch it was power naps (really hot outside!). Late in the afternoon we toured the Bob Dylan museum which was cool. In the evening we went to The Chow House for dinner.
Bob Dylan Museum
Thu 7/13
Weather Super hot and humid - 90+Deg
Hung out in our bnb and had left over pizza for breakfast!
Greenwood Rising Museum
Before we left we toured the Greenwood Rising Museum. I copied an excerpt from History.com: "During the Tulsa Race Massacre, which occurred over 18 hours from May 31 to June 1, 1921, a white mob attacked residents, homes and businesses in the predominantly Black Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event remains one of the worst incidents of racial violence in U.S. history, and, for a period, remained one of the least-known: News reports were largely squelched, despite the fact that hundreds of people were killed and thousands left homeless.
An emotional experience.
Little Rock, AR
Four+ hour drive from Tulsa to Little Rock, Arkansas yet... still on the Arkansas River! East Oklahoma and Arkansas are really green (reminded us of Wisconsin actually) and the drive was nice. Arrived late in the afternoon and checked into our Bnd which was brand new and really nice (11 Wisteria Dr, Little Rock, Arkansas).
Drove downtown and had dinner at Dizzy's a fun place. We shared the infamous Award Winning LE Petite Roche Cheese Dip for an appetizer,
Kathryn had Mary Anns' Orchard Salad and I had the Insalata Carprese Salad. Tasty! (with cheese dip to take back to bnb).
Not too much time in Little Rock but, didn't feel like we were missing much.
Fri 7/14
Weather Hot 90+ and humid
Hot Springs National Park
Hot Springs National Park is right in the city of Hot Springs, AR, boyhood town of Bill Clinton, about an hour from Little Rock. We had lunch at Bubbalou's Diner (a great diner) across the street from the National Park. After lunch we did several hikes in the heat. The promenade, Peak Trail (with a stop at the Hot Springs Mountain Tower for shirts and hats), the hot springs mountain trail and back on the Honeysuckle trail. All short trails but with a combined elevation gain of around 800' in the heat and humidity. We were happy to get out for some good hiking. Kathryn captured a butterfly hitch hicker on my hat for part of the hike (what the heck). We passed on the commercial hot springs bath houses on bath house row.
Back to Little Rock and had a simple dinner of Mediterranian salads at a cafe near our bnb.
Sat 7/15
Early flight, left for the airport before 6am. Boarded the airplane at 7:50, then de-planned at 8:30 due to engine oil pressure problem. After a couple hour delay we were back on the plane and headed for Chicago.
Home Sweet Home.
Summary
Wichita, KS was nice. People are friendly, traffic is super light, the zoo was great.
Tulsa, OK was great. Super hosts Debbie and Jim took care of us for two days. Lots of arts, restaurants and the river park.
Little rock, AR was OK. Not much to explore here but we did not spend too much time. Hot Springs National Park was good. Some nice hiking in the heat and humidity!
All in all we had a great trip visiting three states we had not been to and one National Park!