We went to Woolaroc, the country home of Frank Phillips (brother of Waite Phillips, who owned Philbrook). Those Phillips boys knew how to build a nice house!
As you drive toward the lodge, you pass all kinds of animals. According to Jack, one of the big highlights of the trip was getting to unbuckle to move around the car and see all the animals--we were only going about 3 miles an hour on a one way road, so my main traffic worry was being approached by a buffalo.
You also see signs like this on the way in. They give you a CD to listen to, but my CD player is broken, so that stunk.
Highlight number two: climbing the rock wall around the parking lot.
We started in the visitors center.
Upstairs they have some displays about the buildings and also one about stickball, which Jack remembered from our trip earlier this summer.
There is also a good sized petting barn.
Hey, kids! Watch out for all the cars! Oh...well...carry on!
Between most of the area schools being back in session and the temperatures back over 100 degrees, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
You can tour a small part of the lodge. Most of these animals used to live on the ranch except for six that were gifts.
One night Frank Phillips won a circus in a poker game, but since he didn't want a circus, he deliberately lost it back to the man the next night. The man sent him the elephant head later as a reminder of the day he owned a circus. The lion was a former circus animal who lived at Woolaroc when he got too old for the circus. His mouth is closed because he had lost all his teeth.
Someone at Woolaroc (I'm not sure who) invented this way to put bark on stuff and got a patent for it. Almost every picture frame there has it and they even covered the Steinway piano in it. I told the docent that was taking the decorating a little far, and she said, "Well, if you have the money..." If I ever have the money I have a lot of other things I will do with it before I cover my piano with bark. A lot of other things.
Not a shabby front porch view, eh?
We hiked a bit on this rocky area.
Jack with the "Indian action figures" he found in the museum. The museum is huge and has a bit of everything.
A rather morbid bronze of a pioneer woman holding her baby and a rifle while standing over her husband, who has been shot with an arrow. Good times, good times.
Minerals
Part of the lease house exhibit
Shrunken heads--I told you this museum had all kinds of things. I didn't even include the wall of all kinds of dolls next to the other wall with all kinds of guns.
Alice tried so hard all day to keep up with the others (two 9 year olds, two 7 year olds, and a 4 year old) and she was successful until we got back on the highway on the way home!
We had a great time!
1 comment:
I now want a bark covered piano.
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