Somber memorial in a park…read more The Memorial was erected in honor of of the citizens who perished during the tragic tornado that ripped through Joplin MO on the evening of May 22, 2011. The category EF-5 rated multiple-vortex twister devastated Joplin and killed 158 people. All their names were inscribed alphabetically by last name on the plaque. It was the deadliest U.S. tornado since 1947 causing billions in damages. The tornado was a mile-wide wall of black swirling wind... I couldn't even imagine. It's so sad. There were 1,150 injuries caused by the tornado as well. Next to the memorial is a fountain enclosed by a white fence. It was a little tricky to find it but near the children's park parking lot you have to go down a small slope and you will see the small memorial. It wasn't immediately visible to the eye as we were driving to look for it. Review #1950

First thing's first: adjust your expectations. This is a historic venue. Sometimes the showers…read moretake a long time to heat up and sometimes they stay lukewarm. Sometimes it's hot or cold because there are no individual thermostats. Fans and heaters are provided aa needed. I haven't stayed in the winter, but in the summer, once the sun goes down, with the fans, it's quite pleasant. I stayed in the king bed two story suite. It's airy, full of light, roomy, beautiful. I adore the tall windows. There is a TV upstairs and downstairs. The bed is plush and comfy and the linens crisp, fresh, and clean. The bathroom is quite small, but inline with FLW and the times. The facility gives tours and they are interesting and enlightening! There is a restaurant on site, open Tuesday through Saturday (reviewed separately). It's the closest thing you get to elevated in Bartlesville. They have trivia Tuesdays, wine Wednesday, live entertainment Thursday, karaoke Friday, and regular Saturdays. Staff is always wonderful. Highly recommended. But please don't rate this unique, historical site on the same plane as four seasons.

Are you a Frank Lloyd Wright aficionado? Keep reading…read more.. The Inn at Price Tower is a Wright time capsule and well worth the time and expense to visit this building and immerse yourself in the architectural experience. I'm a retired architect and a big FLW fan. The "hospitality side" (ie: what normal consumers expect from a hotel property) is pretty non-existent. Let me explain: Not to get into mechanical engineering weeds, but the building has a 2-pipe HVAC system. This means that the entire building is either heating or cooling depending upon the season. No matter how hot or cold you may be in your hotel room, if the system is in heating mode (wintertime) there is no A/C available. Likewise, if the system is in cooling mode (summertime), there is no heating available. We stayed 2 nights in early May so the heating was still on (kind of between seasons), but since there was an oscillating fan available in our room, we were fairly comfortable sleeping. Not really a biggie, just be aware of the building's heating/cooling limitations. The other thing really perplexing was that there was no coffee service available in the morning. The in-house restaurant did not offer breakfast, the Lobby area provided no guest coffee service and there was no in-room coffeemaker provided - weird! In the last 30 years of business travel I can't recall a similar situation. In order to get coffee, guests are required to walk 2 blocks to a local coffee shop that opens at 6am weekdays and 7am weekends. Super inconvenient from a "hospitality" standpoint. So, if you're familiar with Wright's design sensibilities, you'll recall that he never had much use for bathrooms and elevators - both of which are super small by modern standards and current building codes. Don't expect the spa level experience you may have enjoyed at other boutique hotels - they 'aint there, lol! If you go into the Inn at Price Tower experience with a "Wright state of mind", you'll enjoy your stay and be able to forgive the limitations of the design. The tour is well worth the price, and I highly recommend participating. Our group consisted of only me and my wife, so it was basically a private tour. It was advertised as a 60-minute tour, but our Dosen gave us nearly 2 hours! Really interesting. Take-a-ways: Bring you own coffee maker and breakfast items. Be prepared for the seasonal interior heating or cooling situation and be sure to have reasonable expectations for living in a Wright-designed building for a night or two. If you have these, your experience will be a lot of fun. Enjoy!

My Alltime MLB Player The "Commerce Comet" Mickey Charles Mantle!!!…read moreYes I added this to my Bucket List and Now I have done it Folks!!! Wow Small time Boy makes it to Big Ole New York City and becomes a Baseball Legend. Just think it started here in Tiny Commerce Oklahoma!!!

Absolutely Gorgeous!…read more This theater was built in one year by businessman George Coleman Sr. because he wanted vaudville to come to Miami, OK. That's pronounced "My-am-uh" The outside is notable. The inside is palacial. Gifted to the city by the decendant of the original owner, the city thought to knock it down. It was in need of restoration and the city did not have the funds. Local citizens banded together to save this theater from demolition doing repairs themselves, a little at a time as the money trickled in. Boy has that labor of love been worth it! The original 1928 Wurlitzer organ was sold after the advent of modern movies when it was no long necessary for live music to accompany films. During the restoration process a stranger overheard a conversation about locating the origial organ to reinstall it at the theater. This stranger knew who owned that organ! After much fundraising, the original organ is back in it's place. The theater has remained open through the years for vaudville, stars of stage and screen performed here, movies from silent era to today, community theater group performances and they host the local elementary school Christmas concerts. Volunteer docents give tours of the lobby and theater to visitors. There is no fee, but they accept donations toward continued restoration. Definitely worth a visit.

Beautiful building and great tour. Glad we got to see it. Only downside was the little 80 something…read moreyear old docent with white hair in a ponytail was wearing so much perfume that it was hard to breath. Please tell her that less is more. Or better yet don't wear any. Ugh

Wandering across western Kansas, I happened upon this incredible piece of machinery. Operated from…read more1963-1974, this is still the largest electric shovel in the world with a 90 cubic yard bucket. Pictures don't do the size of this any justice. They even let you climb inside, wander through, and sit in the operator's chair. There is a nice little museum with lots of great information. I had no idea there was (and still is) a very large coal field running under the middle of the country. A great piece of history, well preserved and worth a detour if you are in the area.

I knew this thing was going to be big but it wasn't until I spotted it soaring over the treeline…read morethat I understood. Oh, and it's a little below grade. Big brutus is a Bucyrus-Erie model 1850B electric shovel. Yes, electric. Massive powerlines would be fed into this monster so that it could clear "overburden" and make it possible for other, smaller devices to mine the coal. At 160 feet high and weighing 11 million pounds, the draw makes 15,000 horsepower and could lift 150 tons of coal. It is therefore the largest existing electric shovel on the planet. Open for climbing (the boom is since closed because of insurance limitations), you can go inside the operator's cabin, walk around the interior body and take selfies in the massive shovel or next to one of the huge crawler tracks. Look out over the lake in front of it - Big Brutus cleared all of that in its heyday before it finally shut down due to environmental concerns. The attached museum has other mementoes telling the story of local mining and there is a movie that shows the machine in action. [Review 19773 overall - 40 in Kansas - 745 of 2023.]

Very nice state historical site with picnic area, restroom, and groomed half-mile courage trail…read moreloop through the field. Open sunrise to sunset, with plenty of reading material about the Battle of Island Mound and Toothman Property.

A fun time on an extremely hot late afternoon. Bricktown Tulsa had a lot of restaurants, and we…read moreused this boat tour on the man made canal to get a sense of the area. Casual, and we were able to buy alcohol at a bar near the start dock and bring with us. Our guide, Cody, was a treasure. She also does stand up comedy in the evenings in town, and was throwing out barbs, especially when she found we were from the 2025-26 National Championship home of College Football!

Definitely recommend when visiting the city. The tour is short but gives you a great overview and…read morehistory of the city. Our tour guide was excellent, just the right combo of funny and informative. Such a cute area! I loved the land grab statues and hearing about the boomers and sooner. Just a warning, the boat is HOT during the summer since the canopy doesn't cover the entire seating area so plan accordingly. Tickets were $15 and available for purchase online or in front of the baseball stadium at the ticket booth. I recommend purchasing online though.