Wes & Erica's vacation photo album // Tulsa & Sapulpa, OK // November 2024

Earlier this month, Wes & I took a quick weekender to Tulsa to watch their ballet perform Dracula. 🧛The original plan was to go to the ballet, then drive to Price Tower in Bartlesville. We'd stay the night in a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired room, take the tour in the morning and then drive home. Just as I was about to book our room & tour, I saw on the news that the Price Tower is closed. 😒 There aren't any other tourist attractions in Bartlesville so I pivoted to Sapulpa. 

We got in to Tulsa around lunchtime and ate at Fixins Soul Kitchen. It is a local Black-owned restaurant in the Greenwood District that partners with Black-owned breweries and distilleries. I don't remember the name of the businesses, and I wish I did because our drinks were amazing (and mine was very pretty 🌺). Everything was good, but the roasted okra was the best part of my meal. I paid for the maximum time for parking (2 hours) since I wasn't sure how long lunch would take. [A quick note on parking - I had to download the ParkMobile app, which was dumb because I hate apps, but it ended up being great because it had a very efficient countdown timer and parking was only $2!!] We still had about 45 minutes left on the meter, so we browsed Magic City Books and Made boutique. Both were cute but way overpriced. 

After lunch, we headed to the Vintage Sewing Machine Center & Museum. I've been wanting to visit but they weren't open the last time we were in town. The museum is free but donations are appreciated. The owner teaches classes and holds afterschool programs for children. He showed us some samples of his students' projects and they all looked so professional, way better than what I can do! 

There was another visitor when we arrived; they were busy unboxing a brail sewing machine sent over from the Netherlands, so the owner told us to walk around as we please and not to forget to go downstairs. The "museum" is a house that's been gutted and jam-packed full of sewing machines. Like thousands of them! Some of the rooms are themed & organized but its mostly a mess. LOL I spotted my newly acquired treadle machine! I was going to tell the owner that I have one, too, but I forgot to mention it when we got to talking. Along with sewing machines, there is also a nice collection of old patterns, books, notions and some fabric. I told the owner (I wish I got his name; he was super nice and very informative) that I make my own clothes and he said I could take some fabric & patterns but I didn't want to disrupt his collection. 

The owner found us downstairs and started giving us a history lesson on sewing machines in the military. He has a handful of giant industrial machines that he uses for his classes. He gave me a quick lesson and I felt so silly because I couldn't sew on them. 😳 I didn't really understand the mechanics, but there are no feed dogs and the entire machine is driven by the needle. The machines use a walking foot (I have one but have never used it) and a walking needle (which I have never heard of but it seems to be better than the feed dogs). He said there was one of these machines on each of the aircraft carriers and they were used for upholstery and parachutes. He kept telling us about how the feet and needle work differently when sewing thick leather. Wes seemed to understand but I was lost. All I know is that I want a swiveling foot that can sew in all directions; instead of having to move the piece of fabric around.  

After our downstairs tour, he took us back up and showed me what he says is the best sewing machine ever made. It is a black Singer 201 with the light in the front. I didn't take a picture of it because I was really into his history tour and forgot - I don't think I took a picture of any of the machines he mentioned. Anyway, the assembly of the 201 machine is impossible to mess up because each piece is shaped differently. The light in the front is what sold me on it. He talked about some other machines but I don't remember any more fun facts. Before we left, he let me make a souvenir tile (and showed me all the neat ones his students have made, center right in picture above).  

Our hotel had a late check-in so we were going to go to the mall to find my Unicorno figurine and then stop into Glacier Chocolate & Coffee for a snack, but the sewing machine museum tour took longer than expected. I conceded to skipping my Uniorno, but I wasn't passing up on a sweet treat. I got a free truffle since it was my first time in Glacier. 🍬 I picked the peach raspberry one. Wes got a lemon cheesecake and an oatmeal raisin truffle (he said both were meh) and a cold brew (which he said was weak). My triple berry sorbet was good, but what I came in for was a caramel apple cup that Lacey showed me on Instagram. Sadly, it wasn't on the menu 😑

🩰Ballet time!! 💃 There was no photography allowed so this section will be quite boring. LOL The Tulsa Performing Arts Center is really nice and we had great seats in the mezzanine. There were several people in Dracula cosplay. We saw a guy dressed exactly like Gary Oldman in the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola movie (remember the grey suit & top hat? 🎩). This ballet version of Dracula was very different from the Bram Stoker novel. I don't even think Dracula was the main character; it was mostly about a towns girl and her fiancé. Act II was the longest and biggest part of the story. It look place in the village where the towns girl (another name I should have remembered) lives and it was all about her eighteenth birthday dance and her engagement. The dancers were immensely talented but I thought it was too long and repetitive. Renfield in Acts I & III was the best dancer, in my opinion. I think I prefer the OKC Ballet's performance of Dracula that we saw a few Halloweens ago much better. 

We were going to eat at Mr. Kim's (a trendy late-night Asian fusion restaurant) after the ballet, but we were both tired so we just got Taco Bell and went back to the hotel--welcome to your 40s 😭. I was so ready to fall asleep but there was an annoying tapping/hammering going on in either the room next to or above ours. I called the front desk and Guest Services told me there were hooligans in the stairwell. 😒 A ton of other rooms have called to complain and their security is trying to find the culprits but they keep moving from floor to floor. I think they finally found them on our floor, thank goodness!

The next morning we had breakfast at New York Bagel. Initially, we wondered why it was in a giant two-story building... we soon found out how busy it gets on a Saturday morning. 😮 Luckily, we got there before the rush. My salmon lox bagel was good except for the red onions weren't pickled. We had just run out of Everything Seasoning at home so it was nice to find a bottle for sale at the restaurant.

I've been wanting to go to The Gathering Place park for a while now but the weather never cooperated each time we've been in Tulsa. ⛅ We almost went after Chinh's wedding last year but I didn't bring a jacket, and it was actually cold in December. There was rain in the forecast this time, too, but it was mostly just overcast so we took a chance and went. We only got sprinkled on a bit --and luckily, we were near the boathouse so we went in to look at the Cabinet of Wonder.

The Cabinet of Wonder is a very clean and organized antique shop. [Two adjectives never used to describe an antique shop. LOL 😆] It had some cool stuff, like a drawer full of old scissors (top right picture) and some rocks & fossils. Like a majority of the park, it was mostly for children. I think I was more impressed at how everything was categorized & displayed than what was actually on display. A family came in as we were going out and the kids were astonished by the fossils, wide-eyed and declaring it a dinosaur (it was horse), so I guess it hit its target audience. 

We also came across a pressed penny machine. One of my pen pals collects them so I had to get her one. Lorie, I put it in the mail last week! I hope you get it soon! 😃 

The map of the park made it look MUCH larger than it actually is. We walked through all of it, except for the children's play area and some gardens on the outer perimeter, and it took us less than two hours. We walked all along Peggy's Pond and went up Mist Mountain (my favorite part of our walk). 🌄 The mountain has lots of manmade waterfalls and gutters that would direct water all around the stones, but the fountains were turned off. 😒 Either that or Oklahoma hasn't been getting enough rain. There weren't any birds but we kept hearing loud birdcalls so we suspect there were speakers hidden in the trees for ambiance. The landscaping is beautiful. It was nice seeing all the leaves in their autumnal colors. We'll have to come back in spring or summer to see everything in bloom.

The Gathering Place was really beautiful and deserving of all its awards. 🌲 We didn't see a single piece of litter, or any homeless people. The homelessness in Tulsa was rampant (waaaaaay worse than in OKC) so I was surprised at how clean and pure the park still is. After our peaceful morning walk, we headed to Sapulpa for part two of our trip.

We had lunch at Wimpy's. Wes is always quoting his tagline (I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today), so when it popped up on the list of unique restaurants along Route 66, I knew we had to go. The food was very mid (I got the Frito chili pie and Wes got a hamburger & fries, and I could have made both of those items better at home), but the prices were cheap so I guess it was worth going to. I think people go for the friendly staff and novelty of it being a Popeye's themed restaurant. 

Next on the agenda was the World's Tallest Gas Pump. We also went inside the Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum. 🚗 Car museums are a permanent fixture on our "travel to-do" list, along with art museums and fashion exhibits. I'm counting the Vintage Sewing Machine Center & Museum in the latter category so we got both on this trip! 😁 Anyway, there was a map and guest book at the lobby with people signing in from all over the world (we saw a party listing Cape Town, South Africa as their location!), but we were the only ones to sign in for November 2, 2024. 

There was lots of classic cars for us to admire. Several of them had current license plates so they must travel to car shows. I think one had a few ribbons hanging from its dash. The neatest vehicle there, in my opinion, was the 1967 Amphicar. It had propellers for driving in water. It only drove a few times and never caught on. Wes liked Maserati. I admit that is a cool car but no propellers or silly gimmick so my pick wins. LOL 😆

The owner of the sewing machine museum told us about how the Singer 201 was used to sew the interior dash of Rolls Royces, and he also mentioned how the industrial machines sewed on leather with a perfectly even stitch length. I never noticed before, but I found myself inspecting the stitches on the cars' seats and other details. 

Our original plan was to go to Little Taiyaki to get a quick snack (they serve Japanese-style ice cream desserts) on our way out of town. I didn't realize how close to Christmas it is (its not, by the way 😑) and downtown Sapulpa was already setting up for their famous Christmas Chute. The roads were closed so we had to park outside of downtown and walk. That was kind of annoying but we got a free viewing of the chute. Wes didn't feel like ice cream and I wasn't super hungry so we passed on our snack. I actually looked at the menu when we got into the restaurant and was going to try to get something to go if it looked amazing but I wasn't completely sold. 

Instead we went to Crossroads Coffee Lab. Wes got a cold brew and said it was really good. The dine-in restaurant part looked really nice, and they had a little soda fountain with gelato, so we'll have to go back to sit down for a meal & dessert if we're ever back in Sapulpa. I am usually terrible when it comes to timing (I try to cram too much into a vacation), but we were actually early leaving town this time around. We would get back into OKC before 6pm so we could pick up the dogs early from camp. 🐕💓 I was all excited to see Athena & Zephyr but Wes reminded me (when he tried calling the camp), that they close at 3pm on weekends. Oh well. We took Route 66 for the scenic route home. We drove through Drumright and Cushing, and I was ready to stop if I saw an interesting tourist attraction but there was none. 

Wes & Erica finally travel!! - part 4: Auburn, IN

When I was forming our itinerary, I planned for a day in Auburn (about half an hour away from Fort Wayne) because Wes mentioned that he wanted to visit the Auburn Cord Duesenberg automobile museum. Turns out that Kenny is originally from Auburn so he served as our tour guide, and we got to explore a little more than just the automobile museum. Auburn is even smaller than Fort Wayne so it made for a nice mid-morning trip. Sadly, we went on a Sunday and all the cute shops along Main Street were closed -- we still got to do a little window shopping, though.

The Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum is gigantic (much bigger than you'd think it is from looking at it from the street). There were so many cars on display (three levels worth!), I didn't think there would be that many since they are rare collectors' items.  The museum is actually housed in the factory that the cars were assembled in, with the original show room and offices in tact. There were a couple of extremely rare models on display. I don't know a lot about cars so this post will mostly be pictures.

I thought the older cars were a lot prettier than the "newer" ones (new as in circa 1960s). Their colors were so vibrant; I love the blues and greens. I also really liked the detailed hood ornaments. The "trunk" for the older models was a literal trunk strapped to the back of the car. Wes's favorite cars were the Cord 812 and the black Duesenberg Model J. My favorite was the green one in the smaller picture above (I didn't write down its name, which is terrible because Dominique gave me a small notebook and pen when she picked us up from the airport. She must have remembered that I used to journal all of my travels).

The second floor of the museum had a little art gallery that displayed Duesenberg advertisements and old car show posters. The museum still hosts an annual car show to this day. The 2019 poster is pictured on the top right of the collage. The museum had a car set up for visitors to climb in and take picture with. I asked a passerby to snap a picture of all of us and afterward, he told me & Wes to go to the other automobile museum next door, and to not miss the basement. We had some time to kill so we took his advice and went to the National Automotive & Truck Museum. Weirdly, he also approached Dominique & Kenny and asked if we were their parents 😲

The National Automotive & Truck Museum was a giant mess. We started in the toy & model car collection and wandered into the first showroom. I think it was supposed to be set up like a garage or service station. There were a lot of old gas pumps, which I thought looked neat. Then we ventured downstairs to the basement showroom. That was a disorganized mess of cars. It looked like everyone randomly drove their car in, parked and left. There was no pattern or path for my eye to follow. We walked around a bit and I think we saw everything but there's no telling.

There was one cool thing in the basement. An old RV that was for sale! I don't remember how much they were selling it for but if we went RV'ing, I would have totally bought it. LOL It looked so cute! There was a fully functioning kitchen (stove, sink, counter space) and a couple of cushioned benches. I think that was my favorite thing in the museum. I recommend visiting the Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum, but you can skip the National Automotive & Truck one. Wes appreciated that the national museum showed a larger variety of cars but he preferred the Duesenberg museum as well.

For lunch, we went to Mad Anthony's Taproom. I got the Strawberry Tart (a fruity ale, very tasty) and Wes got the Harry Baals Irish Nitro Stout (Harry Baals was a former mayor of Fort Wayne). I wanted another fruity/citrus beer but they were out. We ordered Scooby Snacks (potato wedges with a cucumber & dill flavored Ranch dipping sauce) and house pork rinds for our appetizers. I got the falafel pita for my meal and it was really delicious. I'd say that Mad Anthony's was one of my favorite restaurants we went to.

I just realized that I never posted a picture of the guitar string ring I got from GearFest, so here you go.

After lunch, we went to Byler Lane Winery. We had a 6-wine tasting. I only really liked two or three of the six that I tried. They offered a margarita inspired wine that tasted exactly like lime and salt; it was not good. It wasn't my (or Wes's) favorite winery. The weather was great for meandering through the vineyards and lounging on the deck. It was nice to have a rest after all the walking around we've been doing. I wanted to stay for a proper nap but everyone else insisted that we move on. LOL

We drove through Amish country on our way out of town. We saw a bunch of horse drawn buggies (and tons of horse dung EVERYWHERE). We saw an Amish teenager with an iPhone. And several houses with solar panels. I guess they're moving away from the traditional Amish practices. Kenny took us to the Amish goods store but it wasn't open. Sunday really wasn't the best day to visit. Over all, we had a nice vacation, it was really relaxing -- probably because Fort Wayne was a tiny town (no traffic; no lines; no crowds!) My favorite part was getting to try all the local restaurants. We tried our best to avoid chain eateries. I'm not sure if Fort Wayne is exactly a "tourist destination" but I would definitely recommend GearFest. It is really informative if you're a musician and if you're not, you can still have a lot of fun as a fan. Since eating isn't really an event or attraction, I'd say that GearFest was my favorite part of the trip.

Wes & Erica go to the OKC Auto Show

Two firsts for this blog post... 1. I went to the OKC Auto Show and 2. I discovered a new feature in my photo collage app that turns your pictures into magazine covers. They're kind of cheesy but I decided to try it out anyway.

I think I've told everyone already but for those of you who don't know, my beloved Nissan Sentra (known affectionately as RaRa) is no more. She and I were in a little fender bender in February and it ended up being a total loss. I now have Trixy, my new Subaru Forester. She's pretty rad but we haven't fully bonded, yet, and my heart still yearns for RaRa. Anyway, Wes & I received free tickets to the OKC Auto Show from the Subarau dealership when I got her. Cars aren't my thing but Wes likes them so off to the car show we went! (Its only fair since the poor guy is always being dragged to things I like but he doesn't care about. LOL)

The car show was at the Oklahoma State Fair Grounds in the Bennett Event Center. I thought there would be a lot of cars parked outside but it was mostly indoors, which makes sense because the weather around here is so unpredictable. Some dealerships were having test drives outside but neither of us participated. I assumed it would be a pretty boring test drive since it was just around the parking lot. I also have a fear of hitting pedestrians so taking a test drive in a parking lot is too stressful for me to enjoy.

The event had new 2018 models from all of the major dealerships as well as several classic cars from the 1950's and 1960's and some really old cars. Both Wes & I enjoyed the classic cars the most. They certainly were the prettiest, in my opinion. Cars just aren't as colorful or artistic nowadays. Many of the 2018 vehicles looked the same to me but each classic car stood out in its own way. Wes noted all the little details in the cars' form and design, such as their metal grills and bumpers. I think the classic car section was the busiest in the building so we weren't the only ones who were drawn to them.

We quickly wandered around the rest of the building to take a look at the 2018 models. There were supposed to be some 2019 concept cars on display but I don't think we saw any. The most interesting new car feature I saw was a SUV that had reclining rear seats, like an actual La-Z-Boy style recliner... with a footrest! I don't remember which dealership it was from. Nothing else really jumped out at me. I found my Subaru Forester!  Toward the end of the 2018 section was a row of exotic sports cars. They were all very sleek and futuristic. Many I had only ever seen in movies so it was neat to get to look at them up close.

You probably can't read the newspaper but the headline states, "Is Woman Naturally Good Driver? Better than Man is Local Verdict. Experiences Gathered Firsthand." 

After the several rows of modern cars, there was a small section of hundred year old cars. The one on the top right corner in the picture above was found in a random barn in Pauls Valley. It still has all of its original parts except for the seats were reupholstered. There were only a handful of cars in this section but each was unique and so well kept. I preferred looking at the historical cars over the current models. I think I liked them so much because the cars looked more fashionable than functional. Much like the classic cars, each vehicle was a piece of art with so much detail. Their headlights were modeled to resemble lanterns and the interior upholstery with its wooden accents was gorgeous.

My favorite part of the OKC Car Show was not even car related. At the end of the building as an 18-hole mini golf course! I think it was a reward for all the uninterested participants for making it through the entire building. LOL (Just kidding... I really did enjoy looking at all of the different cars.) I can't even remember the last time I played mini golf so I was pretty terrible. I scored 12 points above par and Wes scored 4 points under par. Everyone received a prize for each hole-in-one they made and at the end of the course... I won zero prizes. Wes won two.

This Ford GT was Wes's favorite car in the entire show. He said he's never seen one in black and white before. This is how I know I'm secretly an elderly woman - when I first saw that car, I thought it looked 1. uncomfortable to ride in, 2. like a target for cops, and 3. dangerous to drive. Hahaha! Even though cars aren't a hobby of mine, I'm glad we got a chance to go to the show. It was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.