My Home(down)town

With the Tulsa Run 5k, my second official race, coming up this Saturday, I thought it might be nifty to walk the course through downtown Tulsa to see exactly what I had let myself in for. Downtown Tulsa is pretty flat, and I've done the Fun Run with the kiddos the past few years, but have never done any serious running there. I was going to be stuck downtown for 90 minutes anyway, so it seemed like the smart thing to do.

Then I started wandering. Although not a big downtown area, it is spread out over a number of miles, with many interesting landmarks and architectural sites. Tulsa is the second-largest city in Oklahoma, behind only the capital of Oklahoma City. As of the 2010 census, the population stands just north of 390,000 people.

Settled in the early 1800's and located in "Tornado Alley," downtown is situated on the Arkansas River, it is often referred to as "Green Country," especially by meteorologists who are looking to shorthand "the northeastern part of the state."

ONEOK Field

My first stop was the newly built ONEOK Field, home of YOUR TULSA DRILLERS, the double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The Drillers moved here from Drillers Stadium at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds for the 2010 season; Tim McGraw threw out the first pitch on April 8th of that year before the Drillers fell to the Corpus Christi Hooks, 7-0. This is the view from the main gate at 2nd and Elgin - holding my camera threw the fence, you're looking at the right-field view of home plate. Many good memories here - seeing the Drillers beat the Rockies this year in a pre-season game, Girl Scout campout, company picnic and fireworks show a few weeks ago...really, a fun place to watch a game.

John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park

Right across the street from the stadium is the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park and Monument. Surrounding the monument is a hedge-lined labyrinth, and the entire park, nestled in between the stadium, I-244 and dilapidated warehouses, is serene and calm. The park is part of Tulsa's historic Greenwood District, which was one of the wealthiest African-American communities in the U.S. in the early 20th centurty. The area was known as the "Black Wall Street," and was the scene for the horrific 1921 Tulsa Race Riot, one of the most devastating race riots in American history.

Guthrie Green - view of the stage from the pavillion

My next stop was Guthrie Green, an entire city block opened in Setpember of this year (2012) in the Brady Arts District. With a stage on the south end (where I saw The Wailers a few weeks ago), a covered pavillion on the north, and framed by water fountains, this is really one of the most beautiful green areas in all of Tulsa, not just downtown. The park is big enough for kids to run around and play - there's a spash pad for the hot days (left center of picture), and plenty of space to spread out and listen to some good music or stare at the clouds and nap.

Historic Cain's Ballroom

What can be said about the historic Cain's Ballroom that hasn't already been written? Right around the corner from Guthrie Green, it is perhaps the best place to see a show in all of Tulsa - standing room only, great view of the stage from wherever you're standing, horrible acoustics - what more could you need? Saw Grouplove here a couple of weeks ago with Mrs. B, and we also saw Jonathan Coulton and They Might Be Giants a few months ago. As I took this pic, people were arriving to see Todd Snider, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires - never heard of any of them, but I'm sure they put on a killer show. How could you not, with the spirit of Bob Wills smiling down upon each and every performer.

The BOK tower

Leaving the Brady Arts District and heading back towards downtown proper, I crossed over the Main Street pedestrian bridge and was greeted by a spectacular view of the BOK tower, which at one time was the tallest skyscraper in the eight state region comprising Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Arkansas and New Mexico. It is currently second only to the Devon Tower in Oklahoma City. It was built in 1975 by the same architect who designed the World Trade Center, Minoru Yamasaki - I think the similarities are obvious.

The sculpture in the foreground, by the way, is the Artificial Cloud, created for the 1991 Mayfest by Native American artist Robert Haozous. It lies several feet to the south and west of the "Center Of The Universe" acoustic anamoly outside of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall Of Fame. Standing over 72 feet tall, and was created with the premise that people would be more interested in looking at a rusty steel cloud then they would at actual clouds.

7th and Boulder in downtown Tulsa

Keeping in mind my original mission, I crossed the Main Street bridge and walked over to the intersection of 5th and Boulder, in front of the Tulsa World building. This is historically been the starting line for Saturday's Tulsa Run - a quick check of the website as I was writing this revealed that the new Start Line is at 7th & Boulder, a couple of blocks south. Good thing I checked! This pic is taken from the steps of One Williams Tower, and in the past has provided a stellar view of the runners taking off for their various races.

Chocolate/Pistacio gelato - yum!

No walk of downtown Tulsa would be complete without making a food stop somewhere - Hey Mambo, Elote, Enso, The Vault, McNellie's...all would have been worthy choices, but I elected (since I hadn't eaten dinner yet) to stop at Mod's Coffee And Crepes for a gelato. A small chocolate/pistacio mix hit the spot!

And this whole walking tour thing was so much fun, I imagine I will be doing again very soon, and before very long!

I started my walk around 5:30 and finished around 6:15 - as I was eating my gelato, dusk was just starting to fall. I then went to pick up my son from his music theory lesson (had to finish my treat first - it's not that I'm selfish, I just didn't want to spoil his dinner!) and by the time I'd gotten there to pick him up, darkness had already fallen, marking the end of my walking trip downtown...

Tulsa skyline after dark...