HOOKER! the Place to be!

Hooker holds its annual Classic Car Show this year on Saturday September 10. They will be turning lose of this great handmade quilt depicting cars, cars, and more cars!

you'll find memories of past car shows in this patchwork display. I saw Alva's Big Cruise & Car Show among the blocks.

And who could live in a town named HOOKER without having a signature t-shirt? This is just a sample of the many unique designs that promote life in Hooker.

Inside the Rexall Pharmacy you will find a wonderful surprise! Some great food! The fountain and grill serve up some great sandwiches and they have a very nice salad bar too.

The decor will keep you wandering around just looking at some of the nostalgic items on display. 

complete on the outside with a nice handicap ramp, this is a must see when going through Hooker. Take a minute, leave the highway and enjoy HOOKER!!

Meers OK home of the Meersburger

Meers is just north of the Wichita Mountains right at a bend in the road. This tourist attraction has been in business with the current owners since the 80's and has been a continuous business since the 40's or 50's depending. They are famous for a unique dining experience. The line waiting outside to get in the door is almost always there. We arrived around 1:30 p.m. and we were outside about 20 minutes. One interesting side note is that beside the building in a shaded area there are a number of small wire kennels. They ask folks to NOT leave pets in a hot car, and they go the extra mile to help those folks who travel with pets to see to their safety.

Then you get inside and see how long the line is there as well! This is our first time and while we waited we got the good news that the food would be well worth the wait from a young Wichita Falls Texas couple behind us who visit as often as they can.

Robert and Misty waiting for food as we all took the time to read the informative menu with some interesting bits of information. For instance, the Meersburgers are prepared with their own beef, fresh from longhorn steers. No frozen patties here! They come with mustard, pickles, red onion, lettuce and tomato. You can order it your way, but be warned, the cooks consider mayonnaise is for SISSIES, ketchup belongs on fries, not hamburger and several other interesting comments. They have their own brand of beer, Meers Beer, brewed by the folks that brew Choc in Krebs Oklahoma and it comes in a 22 ounce bottle. 

I can verify that the homemade ice cream and cherry cobbler on the menu are out of this world. Misty and Robert tried the peach and declared it outstanding.

the decor in the building keeps your mind busy and even though the wait for the food is about as long as the wait to get in, you don't notice it so much with all the interesting things to see!

drinks like this iced tea are served in Mason jars, and they keep them full for you. 

and then came the food! The Meersburger is served in a metal pie tin, cut in fourths to make it easier to eat (we shared this burger) and you can see the Fries and onion rings (they are beer batter dipped) were plentiful as well. 

It's standing room only in this great little restaurant. Oh, and did I mention that Meers has been recognized in places like the New York Times and the Food Channel and is widely known as one of the top 10 places in the whole United States of America to get a great  hamburger! and, when we left, our tummy full, the line was still long outside the building. 

Groom Texas

 Groom Texas is just off I-40 east of Amarillo about 40 miles. Visible for miles leading up to it, is this huge white cross, standing 191 feet in the air. We's seen the cross while traveling I-40 several times and never took the time to really stop and see what was there. Surrounding the cross, in life size detail is the story of the crucification of our Lord Jesus Christ.

At each of the stations there is a marker describing the scene. The realism of the figures was pretty amazing.

The property also has a nice visitor center, this beautiful circular fountain area with seating that invites visitors to stop and sit awhile and contemplate what they have just seen.

The wind was blowing about 50 mph from the south the day we were there, made it difficult to spend as much time in the open air as we would have liked. But having experienced the first visit I have no doubt that we will go back one day to spend a little more time.

High on a hill overlooking this circle of the story of Jesus's suffering and death stands three crosses.

I took a couple short video clips and they will be posted on my facebook page. Find me: Jeanne Maras Cole and check them out!

Red Rock State Park

headed into the park is a great scenic drive!

one of the walls where Rapelling is welcome! we could see ropes hanging over the edges and rapellers on the ground.

the straight up walls of red were amazing!

Red Rock State Park is located near Hinton OK, offers RV and tent camping, nature trails, a fishing pond and swimming pool, a group camp that offers bunkhouse sleeping and a kitchen and some of the most amazing scenery in the state!

Jetmore Kansas, a great place to grab a bite to eat!

This last weekend we were headed to Colorado and about lunch time found ourselves in Jetmore Kansas, county seat of Hodgman County. Directly across the street from their stately courthouse was Agustino's Restaurante. Agustino's has a homey atmosphere, tables and booths in polished pine, booths big enough to seat 6 people comfortably with tiny umbrella tea lights and pretty spring flowers on each table. The food was very good; I had Talapia with a wonderful sauce and some fresh steamed veggies. John opted for the burger and fries and they must have been good because he cleaned his plate!





Of course like any good blogger I took my camera with me; why didn't I check the batteries? So a quick Google search yielded this photo, not of Agustino's, but of some local architecture that caught my eye on the drive out of town with my belly full.







The area has a lot of limestone and many buildings like the Haun Museum are constructed with limestone.




Jetmore is on US highway 283 north of Dodge City. if you are headed up that highway in Kansas I would recommend stopping in at Agustino's. Oh, and the staff was very tourist friendly too!

Elk City Route 66 National Museum

We started out early Saturday from our home in Waynoka and met up with two couples in Woodward for breakfast. Then it was on south about 75 miles to Elk City. While we normally are focused on car show activities, we decided in advance of the road trip that we were going to drive the classics, but be spectators at the show and see what else was going on in Elk City.

We found the National Route 66 Museum Complex just blocks from the park where the car show was being held. After checking out all of the classics and watching the burn-out contest, we took a short rest under a shade tree before heading to the museum.

The museum complex is open to the public from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Since we now classify as seniors, admission was a mere $4 ($5 if you aren't old enough). Seemed like there were about a dozen different buildings on the grounds, some set up as store-front with big windows to see what was inside. Others allowed a full tour in welcome air conditioning. One of the most interesting was the Old Town Museum, a home purchased by the city in 1966 that was the beginning of the complex. http://www.theroadwanderer.net/66Oklahoma/elkcity.htm is the web site I found to get the best information.

We also enjoyed our visit to the Paul Jones Drug Store where old fashioned bottle pop and ice cream were a welcome treat. Oh, and did I mention the chain flush toilet? This was a fun step back in time and brought tears to our eyes as we watched some children stare in wonder!