Spring 2022 trip - Day 9, Sunday May 1st - Tulsa (OK) - One 2 mile outdoor walk

 Our day started with breakfast in the hotel's Daily Grill. It was a very satisfying start to the day.  We then headed to the Philbrook art museum.  Getting to it was awkward. If we'd gotten a little bit earlier start we could have walked along the river part of the way and then walked or taken the bus back but we didn't get started early enough.  Then I tried to figure out the bus.  Google said to stand mid block 1 block away from our hotel.  There was a bus stop there but Google Maps said we wanted the 'Aero Bus BR SB' and this stop had just 1 route on it with a number.  Still we stood there until a few minutes after the schedule said our bus should have come.  What ended up going by us at one point was the Northbound version of what we wanted but despite standing at the stop it didn't even think about stopping for us.  Then we walked back towards the hotel and saw the other, south bound bus go by.  There actually was a BRT stop right at our hotel but with Tulsatransit.org site being completely down with a server error I couldn't get better information. So we drove to the museum.

The Philbrook is an outstanding art museum.  This museum had it all.  Lots of Italianate works, an enormous exposition of 3000 student made art pieces, native American pieces, beautiful formal gardens, a historical villa building and even a log cabin art installation. Also we were really impressed how well behaved Tulsans were.  There were a ton of children at the museum but we were still able to enjoy most of the rooms without screeching loud or hyper kids.

 

We had some down time in the afternoon and I had read about Tulsa Boxyard and we walked over to it to check it out.  A little urban shopping area built from used shipping containers, it has a really cool vibe. The rooftop bar was hopping but most of the ground level shops were unoccupied or closed.  It hasn't been a commercial success yet but I hope it becomes more popular. After that walk we drove to Carrabba's Italian for dinner and enjoyed an early Sunday dinner.

Finally, we did a 2 mile walk along the river bank trail.  The setup for it is very smart. The bike lanes are divided into 2 lanes and most of the way the bike lanes and the pedestrian lane (also wide) are themselves split with a few feet of grass in between them.  And since the weather was mild and beautiful there were dozens of bikes and even a few other self powered modes of transport like a jitney and roller blades.  There are also a few bars and restaurants along the river walk.  Very enjoyable. The river itself is nearly dry right now which is sad.

 

We were in bed very early with hopes of an early departure Monday.  Tulsa is very appealing in a lot of ways.  I feel like it has come a long way since I was here the first time some 15 years ago.  Downtown looks great and has a lot going on. The parks and recreation facilities are extensive and it remains an affordable destination for its size.