Welcome to Tulsa
If you’re the kind of traveler who loves surprises and exceeded expectations, have we got a destination for you: Tulsa, Ok
There are many reasons for putting the Southwestern city on your to- visit list, from the Greenwood Rising Black Wall Street History Museum, dedicated to the destruction by a white mob of the thriving African-American Greenwood neighborhood in 1921 that caused as many as 300 deaths and left some 10,000 homeless, to the neon-draped, architecturally fascinating stretch of U.S. Route 66 that runs through the city.
There’s also a hip-and-happening restaurant scene: One notable spot is James E. McNellie’s Public House, which presents as a classic Irish pub but boasts a broad bill of fare from Cajun meatloaf to a Mediterranean Plate (and, interestingly, sandwiches served on “hoagie” rolls). Another is Mr. Kim’s, an Asian steakhouse where patrons cook their protein on tabletop grills. And for more informal dining, there’s the Reading Terminal Market-like Mother Road Market.
But if there is a single hook on which to hang Tulsa’s value as a tourist destination, it’s the town’s emphasis on the music of the 20th century; there are three stellar attractions that tell the story of a good chunk of pop music history.
Woody Guthrie Center
The oldest is the almost-11-year-old Woody Guthrie Center (www.woodyguthriecenter.org), dedicated to the native Oklahoman and immortal 20th-century troubadour. On display are photos, recordings and artifacts including the original handwritten “This Land Is Your Land” lyrics.
One unique aspect of the center is the station where guests are invited to write their own verse to a Guthrie song and have it entered in the database.
Church Studio
The most obscure of the trio of musical shrines is Church Studio (thechurchstudio.com). Technically, this landmark has been open since 1972, when Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter-keyboardist Leon Russell bought an abandoned church and turned it into a recording studio where the likes of George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson and Tom Petty laid down tracks (it was Petty’s first time in a studio). Following extensive renovations, exactly 50 years to the day Russell bought the site, a small museum dedicated to Russell and the building’s history opened to the public (it’s still a working studio; reservations are mandatory).
Bob Dylan Center
Located in the same complex as the Guthrie repository is the Bob Dylan Center (www.bobdylancenter.com), which opened in May, 2022. To answer your next question, the museum is in Tulsa because Dylan, a Minnesota native who, of course, built his legend in New York’s Greenwich Village, was reportedly so impressed with the Guthrie Center that he agreed to sell the entity behind it the hundreds of items now enshrined in his museum. And what a collection it is.
On display are photos (including some from his junior high and high school days), film and audio clips, instruments, original lyric sheets, correspondence and even a typewriter onto which Dylan poured some of his most revered songs. There is also a 12-portrait gallery showcasing Dylan’s well-publicized gifts as a painter.
Dylan’s music is integrated into the experience via available digital music players and headphones. The devices are QR-code-activated; for instance, holding the device up to the reader below a photo of Dylan performing “Mr. Tambourine Man” at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival triggers a recording of that performance.
