Erick, Oklahoma

Friend and Route 66 traveling partner, Chip,

 giving Lil Dude a hand in front of the

Welcome to Eric sign.

A few miles down Route 66 from Sayre, Oklahoma is the small town of Erick, home to the Roger Miller Museum and the famous Sandhills Curio Shop. Lil Dude was traveling Route 66 and stopped in for a visit.

The Roger Miller Museum is dedicated to the life and career of Erick's native son, entertainer Roger Miller. The hours open are not many (Wed - Sat 10:00 - 5:00 and Sunday 1:00 - 5:00) so don't be like Lil Dude and expect it to be open on a Monday or Tuesday. Since he was just passing through and was there on a Monday, he had to be content with trying to look through the window!

The Sandhills Curio Shop is not to be missed if you are traveling Route 66. After driving down the Mother Road for awhile, the auto museums, historic motels, rusty gas pumps, throwback burger joints, and tchotchke shops start to blur together. The nostalgia can feel a bit canned and inauthentic, but then you happen upon Sandhills Curiosity Shop, owned by a true and proud redneck hoarder named Harley. The shop is filled with antique signs, whiskey bottles, ashtrays, tambourines, and guitars interspersed with tourist photos and nothing is for sale. Harley has been entertaining Route 66 travelers for over 30 years. With his late wife Annabelle, they formed The Mediocre Music Makers and gave many a traveler a memory that will last a long time.

If you happen to find yourself near Erick, Oklahoma traveling Interstate 40 and its mind-numbing miles of nothing but concrete, give yourself a break and a treat. Lil Dude says stop at Erick for a while and see what there is to see!

Sandhills Curiosity Shop

Harley & Annabelle took a shine to Lil Dude!

The Mediocre Music Makers & Lil Dude in

front of their Sandhills Curiosity Shop

 

Courthouse - Sayre, Oklahoma

Built in 1911, the Beckham County Courthouse along Route 66 in Sayre, Oklahoma is one of the few courthouses in the state that is topped by a large dome. The tallest building in Sayre, the courthouse has been the center of civic and legal activity for over 100 years and remains a landmark in the town of 4,000 people.

For many years, Sayre fed and fueled the steady stream of people exploring the country in automobiles on the east-west Mother Road. In the 1930s and 1940s, the town built and maintained a public library, a hospital, a forty-acre city park, a golf course, swimming pool, baseball and softball fields, a racetrack, and rodeo grounds, mostly due to the business income from Route 66 travelers.

The distinctive design of the courthouse was the reason it was featured in the final cut of John Ford’s movie, The Grapes of Wrath. Most people think it is the capitol in OKC that is in the movie, but this is it.

A distinctive feature on the grounds is a sharply-dressed bison standing in front of the courthouse. The statue was created by the artist Bill Cothran and is titled "Spirit of the West." It was added to the courthouse grounds in 2007.

Route 66 Museum - Clinton, Oklahoma

Lil Dude Troll visited the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma.

The Route 66 Museum

The museum teaches you the history of how Route 66 was made.

Inside there's a recreation of a 1950's Diner... 

...with an old juke box to bring back memories!

It's a VW flower wagon!

Lil Dude had a great time with the friendly, helpful staff!

On Route 66 With The Mediocre Music Makers

Traveling along Route 66, Lil Dude stopped in Erick, Oklahoma.

First stop was at the Roger Miller Museum

Outside the infamous Sandhills Curio Shop on
Route 66 in Erick, Oklahoma

Harley & Annabelle Russell, self-proclaimed Mediocre Music
Makers and owners of Sandhills Curio Shop

Harley & Annabelle goofing with Lil Dude in front of their
Sandhills Curio Shop on Route 66

Check out the person version of the blog at 1Dustytrack.

Route 66 - Sayre & Movie Stardom

Lil Dude made a stop along Route 66 in Sayre, Oklahoma to see the Beckham County courthouse. Built in 1911, the structure was made famous when it had a 30-second appearance in the movie, "The Grapes of Wrath."

Beckham County Courthouse

Lil Dude was happy to see somebody else with blue hair!
"Spirit of the West," made by the artist Bill Cothran.

The World's Tallest Totem Pole

Who could resist stopping to check out the world's largest totem pole along Route 66 in Foyil, Oklahoma? Not Lil Dude!

World's tallest totem pole!

The "claw"

Gotta look close to see Lil Dude here!

Lil Dude likes turtles. Here's the
proof  right here!

Cool "gate" at the totem pole park.

Read the interesting blog entry here.

Route 66 - Afton Station

Lil Dude visited Afton Station on Route 66 in Afton, Oklahoma. Unfortunately, it wasn't open when he visited, but still, how many other trolls can say they were at Afton Station?!

Old service station now a Route 66 memorabilia and
antique car museum

One of the best antique Packard museums in the world!

Honesty in advertising. Actually, this place is
definitely worth a visit!

Read an interesting blog entry about it here.

The Ghost of Mickey Mantle

In the 1950's and 60's, Mickey Mantle was a hero to many a young boy welding a dinged up wooden bat hitting a baseball with the red laces coming undone and running around rocks for bases on fields of dreams. Lil Dude visited Mick's boyhood home in Commerce, Oklahoma, where he learned to become the best switch hitter and one of the best players in the history of baseball.

The Mick's boyhood home. The metal shed he, his father
and grandfather used as a backstop while he learned to
hit is to the right.

Only a small commemorative marker indicates the
history of this house.

Front door of the Mantle home.

A more complete write-up can be found here.