Since April, I have been telling my husband that I wanted to go to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and visit the Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie museums. I had the trip planned for the longest time. Our first stop would be these two museums, then we would visit with friends of his and perhaps one of his cousins in Oklahoma. On the way back I wanted to stop in Wichita, see more cousins, spend the night, then on the way home visit the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Though I kept talking about it, we never got around to do it this summer. But this fall, our plans changed quickly and radically. We were supposed to go to Israel where our daughter and her husband live. The war changed our plans, but my husband still had two weeks of vacation. I had to do something. Just sitting home and moping and worrying was not an option. I am the type of person who can usually find the good in any situation. And I was determined to find some small element of good.
Road Trip Number 1!
We reached out to our people; I made hotel reservations; and off we went.
The hotel we stayed at in downtown Tulsa was in easy walking to the two archive/museums. They are next door to each other. On our walk towards the museums, we saw a large post indicating that we were entering the Historic Greenwood District. This is the area where once a thriving Black community settled before the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre took place. We thought it was extremely apropos that the museums dedicated to these two musical activists were in this area. It just fit.
I loved both museums. They each traced the lives of two of my musical heroes. Even though their music was written decades apart, they actually knew each other. One was born Jewish, the other was married to a Jewish woman and fought in WW2. Among Guthrie’s papers is one that reads, “Beat Hitler quick.” That resonated with me with all the Jew Hatred going on right now. The museums are both well worth the visit. You can spend time watching the videos or just walk through. I loved reading about them, listening to their music, and looking at their artifacts. At the Guthrie Museum, you must try the virtual reality of the dust storms that devastated Oklahoma. WOW.
That evening we ate dinner with our friends. I asked about the two museums I wanted to see. The husband actually serves on the board of the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art. At dinner he told us a bit about the museum, I realized it was much bigger than I anticipated. For a community of about 1800 Jewish residents, it was really special.
The section about the Holocaust was difficult as such museums always have to be. But I loved how they imagined KrystalNacht. I was so touched by the stone display that is a memorial to the 1.5 million Jewish children killed. I had tears in my eyes thinking about the children who were recently murdered by Hamas. How could I not compare the two? The death of every child takes a toll on society.
Upstairs was dedicated to modern Jewish Life. They had a sanctuary set up that must be wonderful to teach about Judaism to those who come to visit. For me, personally, I loved the special exhibit of mezuzahs, the scrolls we put on our doorposts.
From there we went to the Philbrook Museum of Art. The house was built by Waite Phillips, who started a ‘little’ oil company. Phillips and his family lived there for only 11 years, and then they gifted the house and 23 acres of land to Tulsa for an art museum. Okay, I will be honest with you, the art in the house is great. But the house itself is amazing. I love old houses. And this one does not disappoint. The grounds are also stunning. Well worth a couple of hours to walk through and visit. It just cheered me up. I could see myself sitting outside for hours. We especially loved all the wonderful milkweed and butterfly gardens.
After we got back to our hotel, my husband’s cousin drove in from Oklahoma City to visit us. She surprised me with a gift, her grandmother’s mah jong set. She told me that no one in her family plays and she knew that I did, so she gave it to me. Her grandmother and my husband’s mother were sisters. I have to say having both of their mah jong sets gives me joy. It was great catching up with her and seeing pictures of her family and sharing photos of our family.
The next morning it was on to Wichita. One note about the drive from Texas to Kansas. It is VERY flat and dusty. There were no crops really, just fields and fields of red dirt. However, and I am really sorry I could not get a photo of this, besides the oil well arms pumping away there were also giant windmills. And at one spot there was a windmill farm circulating air and making e;ectricity above the same field where the oil well arms were pumping oil. It would have been a great photo representing the changes coming to society as we switch to rely on renewable energy.
Of course I contacted our Wichita cousins as soon as we arrived and then spent the next seven hours with them. It was great. We had two meals with everyone. But also had time for us older adults to just visit. We have not seen them for about six years, which is ridiculous. Wichita is just three hours from home. I vowed that we would come back more often. We need to see his first cousins and also visit some museums. (My husband hates museums, but he loves me.)
Next morning on to Hutchinson and the Cosmosphere, one of my favorite museums in Kansas. Honestly, we went several times when our children were younger. In fact, our daughter attended two summers of Space Camp there and loved them. Even though we have been members for about 28 years, we have not been there for about 20 years. It was definitely time to go back and see the changes!
The museum exhibits are wonderful. If you love space and NASA, you will love this museum. The real Apollo 13 space craft is there. All the exhibits have been redesigned since our last trip. Definitely for the better. We watched one of the two movies, about the Blue Whales. That cheered us up. We were pretty sure that this documentary would end on a sad note, but NO, the Blue whales are coming back and increasing in numbers. Honestly, I think Star Trek’s movie has something to do with that. It was a good start to the visit.
While we were walking around, I noticed a little exhibit off to the side, The V-2 Gallery, which was all about the V-1 and V-2 rockets that the Nazis used to bomb and terrorize London. In the past the history of these rockets was sort of not mentioned. Just as it was not always advertised that Wernher von Braun, who helped start the United States aerospace industry, was a member of the SS and helped Nazis build their death rockets. This exhibit made it very clear. It also made clear that the rockets were built by slave laborers in concentration camps. And over 500 prisoners were killed when the Allies bombed the factory, as the prisoners were locked in and could not escape. These rockets decimated London causing the deaths of over 20,000 people. A sad start to the aerospace history. But one I think should not be forgotten.
Our first Fall Road Trip was a great adventure. We loved seeing friends and family. We loved visiting new museums and revisiting the Cosmosphere. Personally, in this time of great stress for the Jewish community of the world and the horrors of war, I was glad to get away. But at the same time, I am glad that we were able to visit places that show good in the world and how society can survive war and hatred.
zicharonot 