Day Nine: OOOOOHHHHHHH-klahoma!

Day Nine: OOOOOHHHHHHH-klahoma!

When we headed out for Oklahoma this morning, I was certain I’d have a blog chock full of tales of ranches, horses, cowboys and the like. What we saw, and mind you, we’re only as good as the roads we travel, were (what seemed like) miles of vast prairie dotted with small clusters of cattle, the occasional horse nibbling at the grass, and barns. Not one cowboy or much that looked anything like a ranch.

I repeat my disclaimer. I can only talk about what I see based on the roads we travel.

We got to Bartlesville about a half hour ahead of schedule. Why Bartlesville? I can’t answer that, other than there’s a Harley dealer down the road from our hotel. Enticing, yes, but a reason to make this our stop, not really. 

So here we were, in Bartlesville, checked into the hotel, and an entire afternoon ahead of us.  We made the obligatory trip to the Harley dealer and purchased the requisite tee shirts. Lunch was next and we found Dink’s BBQ. I know, another BBQ meal, but, as they say, when in Rome…….  And once again we were not disappointed.

We learned, from hotel pamphlets on the area attractions, that Phillips Petroleum and its founder, Frank Phillips, were fixtures in Bartlesville. There were several attractions associated with the Phillips family and company, including the Phillips 66 Company Museum, Frank Phillips home, and Woolaroc, his museum, wildlife preserve and country home.  We wandered through downtown Bartlesville to the Phillips Museum, and surprised ourselves by A) deciding to go inside and; B) actually enjoying it. The museum takes you on a journey of innovation, creativity and the pioneering attitude of Frank Phillips and his brother, L.E. Phillips, and the company they founded. Neither Jason nor I knew that they were pioneers in aviation and aviation fuel, that Phillips fuel helped the WWII war efforts, that their employee basketball team won 6 straight Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) titles from 1943-1948, or that Phillips holds 15,000 patents. And there’s so much more. I’m almost embarrassed to tell you we spent nearly two hours in the place!!

Next, we decided to head over to the Phillips Mansion. Why not make a day of it? 

The home sits like a palace, an impressive Neo-Classical structure with columned front and side entrances, and a six bay detached brick garage.  It was originally built in 1909 on ten acres of land. A southwest wing was added in 1917 and a $500,00 renovation in 1930 (yes…half a million in 1930).

Frank and his wife, Jane, entertained lavishly, yet the house is a beautiful and tastefully decorated example of what life was like for an oil baron and his family in the first half of the 20^th century. Frank, who started his professional life as a barber, even had a barber chair in his personal bathroom, and a barber who came each morning to shave him!

The home was deeded to the Oklahoma Historical Society in 1973, a gift from the Phillips granddaughter, Elizabeth, who inherited the home when her grandmother, Jane, died in 1948.

Considering my thoughts on what to include in today’s blog were as dry as prairie grass when we started, all in all, it turned out to be a fun and informative day.