Muskogee - Miami, OK - Joplin, MO

June 29 - July 1, 2023:

I’m could take route 44 toll road and get to Miami in an hour, but what fun would that be ?  Instead I will take a very rough route 69 north,  much of which is on old route 66 passing through several small decaying towns (but interesting)a nd a couple that remain fairly vibrant.

Pryor, Oklahoma

These Boom a rang diners seem to be  everywhere

Must be a dispensary ?

Big Cabin, Oklahoma:

In front of a truck stop

Hi-Way Cafe, Oklahoma

A popular place to stop to eat

Vinita, Oklahoma

Post Office murals

The beautiful Vinita City Hall

Close up view

Fun on the street

The big rig fit nicely in this photo

Mural

A big rodeo arena is next door

Afton, Oklahoma

Lots of classic 50's pickup front clips

He is Ok with people writing on them with a marker provided

A very creatively modified rat rod

This retired man makes all this stuff himself

Elvis is in the building

So mush more in this town, need your hair teased, or is it teazed ?

Arriving in Miami, Oklahoma my first activity was to find a laundromat which I found easily, close by and best of all is really clean and everything works.  I am going to look into casinos here, there are several, but they do not seem interested in RV parking these days, more trouble than it’s worth I suppose.  On second thought, staying at a casino may me cost more, I’m a lousy gambler.   I’m been wondering why I see dispensaries everywhere in Oklahoma, but very few bars and most of them are in restaurants, sort of like in Mormon country.  It’s could the Indian reservations, they discourage or outright restrict alcohol use, but are fine with smoking anything, the dispensaries here are doing very well. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami,_Oklahoma 

This brings up another topic, all the cities I have been to where homelessness is rampant, people are always coming up to me asking if I have a cigarette, why are these people who have little if any money for food and necessities, but can't live without cigarette ?

Lead mining was once the prominent local business in Miami, this I learned from visiting the Dobson Museum.  In fact the museum is supported today by funding set aside by a prominent do-gooder, that’s what the docent said, a woman whose money came from mining. I also learned that a major tire manufacturing company once operated in Miami until a few years ago that created many jobs.  Of course, they left and now the jobs are gone. 

They call it Galena

Those are the tire guys

Mickey Mantle was a local hero

Two members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were Miami natives

  

One of the reasons I came to Miami was to see the ColemanTheater, regarded as one of the most beautiful theaters around. I had hoped to get inside the theater, but the door was always closed when I checked and I saw no sign about tours.  While at the museum, the docent said to check it again, it should be open, so I did, but the door was still locked although I saw people inside.  I rattled the door a little and someone opened the door, A tour had just ended and I was welcomed to wander around inside.  The Theater attendant told me that George Coleman had this built in one year at a cost of about 600,000 in 1929, but he could easily afford it since his mine brought in one million each day. (Not sure about these numbers) It was very dark inside, difficult to get any good photos, but they came out decent. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleman_Theatre

Amazing Theater

Main Street, Miami has the old historic buildings and the good murals, but it seems pretty dead otherwise.  It's like most cities these days, the majority of current retail business, the fast foods, chain stores, gas stations, hotels, convenance stores and other assorted service businesses are located in the newer area of town.  We live in a throw away society, discard the old. 

Wide spacious street

Nice mural

Kind of goofy

I really like this one

I took a ride to the neighboring town of Commerce which does not live up to that name these days, but it’s on route 66 and I’m sure it had its day. In fact most of the downtown storefronts were vacant or going there.  There is a very nicely restored gas station and store at the end of Main Street and another more rustic gas station across the street.  The big attraction in town is the boyhood home of baseball Hall of Fame, Mickey Mantle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce,_Oklahoma

Very nice

Very unique

On the corner of Commerce and Vine

Mikey Mantle's humble beginnings

 It is now mid afternoon and I decide to blow this town, head north across the state line to Joplin, Missouri.  I take the highway exit for the main business district which takes me right onto Main Street.  Note: I love it when town or city actually calls their main street, Main Street, it makes it so much easily for me to get around. 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joplin,_Missouri

I park at Main and 6th, (I love it when they number streets like this, so much easier) where a really nice welcome mural exists.  I then get out into the blistering heat, did I tell you yet that it is near record heat here and then walk a few blocks.  I happen to stop in front of a prominent building with interesting historical information, the doors are open, I walk in and this woman in the visitors center motions me inside.  This exuberant woman ( If I had a visitors center I would want her ) then gathers up all sorts of visitor information for me and tells about the Grant Woods painting in the lobby and the Grants Wood exhibit on the upper mezzanine.

Downtown view

Close up view

A jazz music themed mural

in other words - Joplin Missouri

A favorite mural

This one was the real favorite

Another Main Street view

Grant Woods Mural, one of his last

This one done by his son

Sorry, I don't remember who did this one

I’m now hot and tired so I’m off to the nearest Walmart where I can soak up that wonderful cool air and possibly buy a treat or get a necessity.  You know, I hate these stores, they have put just about every small mom and pop store out of business and have ruined most downtowns, but they are so fucking efficient, the prices are good, they carry everything, parking is easy and they are geared for the low to middle class customer so they win the competition like it or not.

It’s morning, it’s cloudy and there was just a little wind storm but it didn’t last, the weather here can be very unpredictable. I go off today to find the Grand Falls which claim to be the highest or longest in the state at 14 feet high, doesn’t sound that impressive.  Arriving there with many fishermen, it is actually quite impressive, there is a fast flow to it and the rocks are very weird.  This area has a very large outcropping of Chert, one of the largest in the country, it is very unique.

The rocks were almost translucent at times 

Afterwards, I go the a state boundary marker only a few miles away where you can stand on the states of Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma at one time. I normally would not do something this lame,I have standards, but it’s in the package that the nice lady at the City Hall visitors center gave me.  But, by going to the boundary marker I stumble upon the huge Downstream Casino Resort of the Quapaw Nation.  It’s a beautiful Casino and Hotel complex, super modern and clean.  I do the usual.I get the players card and go to the slots and lose $30 and quit.  I also visit the Hotel lounge area and gift shop where I look at some very attractive bowls made by the tribe, quite impressive a buy an attractive drinking glass at the gift shop. 

This monument is there with lots off graffiti

I did it !

The casino Hotel is impressive

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quapaw

The pottery is beautiful

Very creative style

I then stumble upon a a very nice serene park area on Shoal Creek where I stop to take a break from the action. I tried to hide that cable across the river but it didn't work well.    

Shoal Creek

I’m actually on my way to a Nature Center where there are a trails through a wooded area along Shoal Creek again, it's everywhere.  This reminds me of rivers I have seen in glacial areas which carry lots of rock sediment.  I'm guessing, (not smart), that the color is due to the chert rock sediment in the creek.

  

Those rocks pilled up had a reason ?

Very nice

It's then time to return to downtown Joplin to search for the old Joplin Railroad Station, the Carnegie Library, the Scottish Rite Building and a look around the formerly wealthy area loaded with Victorian mansions. 

 

The abandoned Joplin Train Station, very sad 

I believe this is the Scottish Rite Auditorium, might be confused

A mansion in the high rent district

I then stop for a beer at the "Pub" which turns into way more fun and /or weirdness than expected.  First, as I entered I was hit with the stale odor of cigarette smoke, they allow smoking here.  It’s the old school bar atmosphere that is hard to find these days of the upscale craft beer pubs.  There is a pool table, a very old jukebox, an old slightly tattered bar top and stools, one or two old school draft beers on tap at 2.50 a pint, gotta love that.  The bar maid is fun, she is attractive in spite of some missing teeth and goes to the juke box and plays; "I love this bar".  I kind of know this song, but I really never listened to it, but it seems like it was written about this place.  I mentioned to the bar maid that it was great to hear that and it developed into a good conversation. She told me the bar owner is 91 years old and he’s definitely old school.  I mentioned how nice the flowering plants  were in the front window and she said that the bar owners wife used to do that, but she died a couple of years ago, now all the staff takes care of them.  The standard questions, where you from, where you going, in an RV ?, No, in an old modified van.  Oh, my mother was a hippie and she and her boyfriend had her bus painted up psychedelic 60's style.

 

The Pub

If the owner guesses your bra size he wants you to hang it up

Extreme old school 

The Walmart I stayed in last night was a bit creepy and trashy, so I decided to go to the new area of the town adjacent to route 44, the new miracle mile area loaded with every chain restaurant, motel, convenance store and gas station and stay at the Cracker Barrel parking lot.  It’s way more quiet and clean and you can go inside for a reasonably priced breakfast in the morning.  They truly are kind of hooky, but I don’t mind.

This is the northern limit to my travels as there are issues to attend to back in Arizona.  I am heading directly west across Oklahoma with possibly a small detour into Kansas, next stop is Bartlesville, Oklahoma.