Last week we attended the Central States Shrine Association meeting in Oklahoma City and to say we had low expectations of the trip would be putting it mildly! After a couple of inches of water appeared in our basement on Wednesday (“someone” forgot to replace a downspout where he’s putting in a new water line) we spent several hours with the wet vac in Burl’s shop and would have gladly stayed home instead of hitting the road on Thursday morning.
But – we had already paid for our room at the Downtown Sheraton and Burl’s mini-cruiser unit was counting on him to participate in competition so off we went – albeit reluctantly. Now we drive through Oklahoma City every time we drive to Phoenix but except for gas or food on the interstate, we’ve never ventured into the metro area. We were pleasantly surprised.
The staff at the Sheraton were superb – great customer service including letting us know how to save $ by NOT using the valet service – instead of $60 for parking we spent a total of $9. The downtown area is very clean and features lots of sculptures including this one that was right across the street from our hotel. 
We spent Thursday afternoon at the Oklahoma City National Museum (look for another post on that one) and then joined the rest of the Cruisers for dinner at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar. Apparently he has a hit song by that name and not being a country music fan, we didn’t have a clue – but the food was excellent, the service was great and they even had the original chopper from “Easy Rider” on display.
Captain America
We walked to the restaurant through the Bricktown area of Oklahoma City and loved all the energy there. About ten years ago they took an old industrial warehouse area and turned it into an upscale entertainment venue that includes a waterway that traverses several blocks. In the center of Bricktown is the ballpark for the local team which is a Triple A franchise for the Texas Rangers and there are numerous restaurants and shops plus hotels and more outdoor sculptures.
Friday morning we were up bright and early for Burl to participate in the motorcycle competition. He rode with the mini-cruisers in both drill team and obstacle course events. All the motor corps drills took place at the fairgrounds and the place was a constant buzz (roar?) of activity with riding stock of all shapes and sizes competing on several different courses.
The guys were judged first for their appearance – both the guys and their bikes. Then they performed their drill which had to be between 5 and 10 minutes long.
Burl (on far left) competes with the mini-Cruisers
Then they had to traverse an obstacle course individually with the goal of running the course in the shortest amount of time without knocking over any of the orange cones or riding outside the designated areas. If they weren’t happy with their first try, they could make a second run but the final run was the only one that counted. All of the guys competed and the judges took the top two scores for an average for the whole group to determine the winners.
We didn’t attend the banquet on Friday night but the Cruisers were thrilled to win first place in both of the competitions and Burl found out he had one of the winning times in the obstacle course.
By time we got back to the hotel Friday afternoon I figured Burl would be ready for a nap but he was eager to join me on another walking tour of the downtown area. We found out they have a free trolley that runs throughout the area so we picked it up in front of our hotel and rode the whole route, getting off at several places to explore and then jumping back on. The city also has Ambassadors who get around on Segways and provide tourist assistance and maps of the area.
Friday night we joined a group of friends to eat at Pearl’s Oyster House in Bricktown. The most intriguing item on the menu was the “Boiled Seafood Dump” which stated “we cover your table with heavy butcher paper and then dump your meal in front of your – crab legs, prawn, Andouille sausage, corn on the cob, red potatoes and onions – plus slaw and bread upon request”! And sure enough – that’s exactly what we got, sans slaw and bread!
Boiled Seafood Dump
Needless to say, it was WAY more food than the two of us could eat! I stuck to the seafood and the Vidalia onions – along with Shock Top beer which is a new product from our friends in St. Louis at the A-B brewery. Quite yummy – like Blue Moon with a little extra orange added for good measure.
We finished off the evening with a stroll through Bricktown and then got on the waterway taxi for a ride along the canal. Our guide was a student at OU who was very knowledgeable about the area and shared lots of fun facts. It was no surprise to us that when they drain it every couple of years, the most found items are keys and cell phones. DUH! I held tight to my iPhone except to take a few photos.
View from our water taxi
Saturday was another early day – this time for the guys to line up in Yukon for the parade. With 30 Shrine associations involved, we expected the parade to last at least 3 hours so were pleasantly surprised when it was over in less than half that time.
We loaded up the little bikes, picked up our luggage from the hotel and headed east. By 5:00 we were petting Mulligan who let us know he had missed having his humans around for a couple of days.
And after plenty of food and drink, I was more than happy to take Burl up on his suggestion to have Orange Leaf yogurt for dinner.
That man sure knows how to cook!
