Cross Country Adventure - Day 6 - Ozark to Elk City, Oklahoma

Given our late arrival the previous evening we decided to start the day with a quick look at the town of Ozark in the daylight. Our AirBnB was in a beautiful residential neighborhood about ten minutes from the center of town. With a population of just over three thousand, Ozark really is a small town. It only took a few minutes to walk around. 

Main Street

                                

The mini-mall in the center of town

an old railroad station has been turned into a museum

Of course, like all small towns, there was a diner. The Southern Grill had a charming old-fashioned feel to it, was a friendly place and the breakfast was excellent.

After breakfast it was time to hit the busy I-40 for our journey into Oklahoma.

traffic, what traffic?

Once into Oklahoma the scenery was mostly flat and fairly uninteresting. The four hour drive took us toward Oklahoma City through two Indian Nations, Seminole and Kickapoo. In the haze we got our first view of the city.

We'd deliberately picked smaller towns as our destinations rather than the obvious city choices as we thought this would give us a much better insight into the states we passed through. Originally we hadn't planned to stop at Oklahoma City but on a whim and given it was past lunchtime we decided to check out an area called Bricktown, once a warehouse district, now an entertainment district. It was an interesting area, I would have liked to have longer to look around, but we really only had time to enjoy a lunch at one of the bars, Tapwerks.

Our lunch spot - Tapwerks Ale House

Back on the road and it was time to hit Route 66! Miles and miles of empty undulating road (all the other traffic was on the interstate running alongside the old road), great fun to drive on and the speed limit was not that much lower than the interstate.

En route we passed Lucille's Service Station, which was operated by Lucille Hamons for sixty years until her death in 2000. She built up such a reputation for friendly service that she became known as "Mother of the Mother Road." The station has been maintained as a tourist attraction but is no longer in operation.

The original pumps

Lucille's Service Station

Along Route 66 there are numerous museums dedicated to the road - probably at least one in each state - but as we were going to drive right past one in Clinton, Oklahoma it seemed like a good time to take one in. The  history of Route 66 is told by info-boards, mementos, maps and signs.

A map of the whole route

Historic postcards are laid out in route order

The museum was fascinating as it evoked a different time in America. Classic cars and a typical diner set-up were on display. There was also a wagon that would have been used during the dust bowl evacuation and, in sharp contrast, a hippy van.

The typical wagon used during the dust bowl evacuation

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Hippy van - a common sight on route 66

After driving so far on Route 66 it only made sense to stay in a motel on the road. While most of the motels along the open roadside have been abandoned, in the cities that it passes through Route 66 is often the main road. This is the case with Elk City, our destination for the night, and we were lucky enough to be able to get a room at the Flamingo Inn, an original motel which has recently been restored, on part of the road that is still bustling with motels, fast food places and neon signs.

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All in all, although it had been a long day's drive through mostly unexceptional scenery, we still found plenty to enjoy.

Mel writes contemporary fiction with a twist of mystery and suspense. For more information about her books visit her website, or sign up for her newsletter at http://bit.ly/melparishnews