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ROAD TRIP

Oklahoma: The Old West Revisited

Visiting Oklahoma is like stepping back in time—cowboys work the stockyards, oil derricks dot the landscape, and root beer is served in old-fashioned mugs.
By Tiffany Sharples, April 2008 issue |

Food

  • Nonna's 1 S. Mickey Mantle Dr., Oklahoma City, 405/235-4410, nonnas.com, salad $12



    • WHAT'S NEW IN THE OLD WEST
    Just how charming are Tulsa, Bartlesville, and Oklahoma City? These photographs will have you daydreaming about your next road trip.
    • Launch the slide show

  • Pops 660 Rte. 66, Arcadia, 405/928-7677, pops66.com

Activities

Shopping

  • Shorty's Caboy Hattery 1206 S. Agnew Ave., Oklahoma City, 405/232-4287, shortyshattery.com

  • Western Wear Outlet 2235 Exchange Ave., Oklahoma City, 405/232-5018

Day 4
Mom and I hit the road early so we can visit architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower in Bartlesville, about a two-and-a-half-hour drive away. Wright originally designed the tower in 1929 to be an apartment building in Manhattan, but the project was scrapped during the Depression because of a lack of funds. Years later, the H.C. Price Company, an Oklahoma oil pipeline and chemical firm, recruited Wright to realize his dream at its headquarters. The tower, which opened in 1956, is the only skyscraper Wright ever built. It now houses a small art museum with rotating exhibitions at the bottom, and a hotel and restaurant near the top.

Mom admits she's not a fan of modern architecture, but she does love the shop of handcrafted soaps we discover nearby, the Red Dirt Soap Company. After sniffing around for a half hour, we emerge with a bag full of aloe-vera and chocolate-raspberry soaps for gifts.

We have just enough time for one more Oklahoma indulgence before we leave: Dink's Pit Bar-B-Que. The waitress recommends the house specialty, the sliced-brisket sandwich, which is a pile of beef, dripping with sweet barbecue sauce, stacked high on a roll. She wisely warns us not to order two baskets of onion strings.

Note: This story was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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