Magic in Oklahoma

December 7-8

The itinerary to Phoenix has been fluid except that we have to be in town by the 19th, so we can join Joanna’s granddaughter, Natalie, on her birthday.

Several days ago I heard from my sister-in-law, Maryellen, that she would be in the Phoenix area for a few days later this month. Her son, Thomas, works in Phoenix and she’s coming from Atlanta for a visit.

I juggled the schedule to arrive on the 17th so we can join Mare for dinner on the 18th, her one free day when we will both be in town.

We’re in Oklahoma City right now, on the seventh and eighth. 

I was planning to make the next stop Amarillo, but read some motel reviews that describe it as an edgy place. I had thought about booking two nights there. Instead we won’t stay overnight there at all, but will stop one night this side of Amarillo in Shamrock, Texas, and then proceed to Tucumcari.

Then we’ll head to Santa Fe, where we’ll see friends and rest for three or four days.

After that, it looks like Gallup for one night and Flagstaff for a night, before reaching Scottsdale on the 17th.

There hasn’t been much in the way of culinary adventures of late. The food has been pretty good so far, except for Silky’s in Memphis, but for the past few days uninspired. We wound up eating twice at the Outback next to the hotel in Fort Smith.

Highlight for me was a plate of pork medallions served with raw pineapple. 

As our friend Vijay wrote to me the other day, Joanna is surviving on fish. She had had steak our first night and then a grilled salmon for the next dinner.

When we got to Oklahoma City, we were feeling a little weary, so we walked almost next door, just past the marijuana dispensary, to a Waffle House. They didn’t have fried chicken to go with the waffles, so we had pork chops, which we discovered pair almost as well.

Neither Joanna nor I have been to Oklahoma before, so of course we had to stop at the welcome center for road maps and to talk to someone.

When the lady at the counter learned we were from New Jersey, she said, “I don’t know if you want to hear this or not.”

I’m glad she told us anyway, because she told us about a forebear of hers from the Netherlands who was the founder of Ringoes, N.J. He founded a tavern there in colonial days. It was used as a meeting site by American revolutionaries during the War for Independence. 

Ringoes is now part of East Amwell Township in Hunterdon County. I used to drive through there often as a teenager. One of my father’s aunts and her husband used to operate a worm ranch there.

It’s a little more than a dozen miles north, up N.J. 31, from my parents old home in Ewing. Highway 31 back then was Route 69, but the number was changed because people stole too many of the road signs.

On Wednesday, we went to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. 

The star of the show right now is an exhibit of works by Dale Chihuly. It’s a stunning display of color, light, and little jokes. 

Most of the installations involve arrangements of blown glass in biomorphic shapes. You see gastropods, leaves, flowers, strange fish, giant scallop shells, and an occasional cherub.

Chihuly has a long-standing connection with the museum. A permanent Chihuly installation in the lobby is a 55-foot high glass tower that the museum commissioned 20 years ago as a memorial to one of its benefactors, Eleanor Blake Kirkpatrick.

Another installation is called the Persian Ceiling. It’s a collection of colorful glass forms lit from above. It creates a corridor of reflections. 

Joanna caught me in it for the picture of the day.

The current exhibition, “Magic and Light,” has been on display for years, since 2015, and is due to wrap up at the end of March.

Another exhibition, “For America,” is a show of 99 paintings by members of the National Academy of Design. Artists include N.C. and Andrew Wyeth, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, and others, including many names I didn’t recognize.

Many of the paintings are self-portraits presented on the occasion of the painters’ acceptance to the academy.

There’s an arty district of the city between the Chickasaw Ballpark and the Myriad Botanical Gardens called Bricktown.

We strolled around there for a while. We were in Flaming Lips Alley. You see that on a map and you have to go there, right?

The origin of the name isn’t quite as colorful as I’d expected. I learned later that the street was dedicated in 2004 to a local band of that name.

There’s a riverwalk, a few blocks with bars, water taxis, and an amusement center called Brickopolis.

We were in Flaming Lips Alley when we picked up the aroma coming from the kitchen of the Old Spaghetti Factory. We had dinner at the bar there. 

The sauce was rich, thick, and not too sweet. I could have enjoyed a little more fennel in the sausage, but that’s strictly my personal preference.

I had a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir that was very good—full of flavor with a kind of spicy edge. I’ve had two or three other Oregon Pinots and have generally stayed away from them. This one changed my mind.

The house Chianti was also a treat. 

That's it for OKC. We're heading for Route 66.

Be well, everyone, and remember to follow your own lights.

Love to all.

Harry and Joanna, from the road. 

(Sorry. Had to do that. It has such a Charles Kuralt ring.)