Route 66 - Day 4 (Springfield MO to Oklahoma City)

In Springfield MO, I got up in the morning and headed to the downtown district which is small but charming and there's lots of refurbishment and renewal going on. I went to the Springfield History Museum which is focused around the history of Route 66 but puts it in the context of Springfield's history in general. They claim to be the birthplace of 'The Mother Road' but as the museum volunteer said, lots of places along the route do. :) I wandered around Park Central Square and took some photos then headed out of town towards the small stretch of 66 that runs through Kansas, stopping at the Route 66 novelty roadside attraction 'Cars on the Route'. Then I headed into Oklahoma and stopped off in Miami, OK to visit both the Vintage Iron Motorcycle Museum and the home of Miami Nation (the current organization of the Myaamia Native American tribe). They had an amazing art exhibition of hand-carved colorful Native American wooden flutes by Myaamia elder Eugene Brown. So intricate and symbol-driven, beautiful. They ask that you respect their traditions and not take photos so it's all in my memory bank. :) Then I kept trucking through Oklahoma to Vinita for a lunch stop at Clanton's Cafe to try their famous Chicken-fried Steak which was great. After lunch, I skirted Tulsa and rolled through a bunch of small Oklahoma towns on the old road which pretty much runs parallel to I-44 (Sapulpa, Bristow, Stroud, Davenport, Luther, Arcadia), stopping at the Blue Whale of Catoosa swimming hole (I did not swim, water looked pretty murky) and made my way into Oklahoma City. Everyone I've talked to said you absolutely have to eat dinner at Cattlemen's Cafe in the old Stockyard City so that's what I did. I had the sirloin strip and it was, hands down, the best steak I've ever had in my life.

Vintage Iron Motorcycle Museum - Miami, OK