OUT AND ABOUT: TULSA, OKLAHOMA

Last weekend we drove down to the great state of Oklahoma to meet our friends who just moved to Tulsa.  It was a quick trip, but we managed to squeeze in a lot of fun and it was nice to get away for a few nights.

Here are the "nice" couple pictures....

Then Wade and I did some maniacal laughing, aka blog poses, and came out with this gem.

Downtown Tulsa is divided into small districts.  We were in the Brady Arts District here and te at Caz's Chowhouse.  The booths were pews from an old church, and the food was delicious.

After lunch, we headed to the Center of the Universe.  Walk at a brisk pace and you'll miss it, but this was one of the coolest things I've experienced in a while.  It's some sort of acoustic anomaly where when you stand in the center of the brick circle, you can hear your voice echo but no one else can hear it outside the circle.

I thought it was just some sort of weird gimmick, but it actually worked!  Pretty cool, if you ask me.

From there, we went to the Deco District, full of beautiful Art Deco style buildings from the 1920s that were built to exhibit the oil wealth booming in the city.

The outside of the buildings were interesting, but the inside of the buildings were breathtaking with their gilded walls and opulent lighting.  Everything was dripping in gold.  I half expected Gatsby to come walking out of those elevators.

After appreciating the architecture of the roaring 20s, we headed to the Blue Dome District, aka Hipsterville, to knock down a few pins at the Dust Bowl Lanes.   This place is modeled after the lanes of the 1970s with its orange vinyl chairs and green plaid carpet.  They didn't even have automated scoring, so required us to dust off the old math skills to keep score (thanks Brian:)

Now, it's time to get real here.  I am a pretty terrible bowler.  We went bowling a few weeks back, and I barely broke 50.  Oof.  That's embarrassing.

So imagine my surprise when Robin took a picture of me and even caught my first strike in like 10 years!  Definitely made me do a happy dance that I'm sure the seasoned bowlers beside us appreciated.

Look at all those pins go down.

One of my finer moments.

Robin about to knock down some pins.

Apparently Brian has never had to spell my name or any other version of "Kari" before.  It's a name, not a verb:)

After bowling, we retreated back to our friends' house where we were serenaded by the absolute sweetest karaoke session ever.  Yes, ever.  Beer bottles for microphones and a haunting rendition of "Everything That Glitters".  Amid that soft amber lighting, you could feel the love between these two as they sang to this 80s country ballad, while dancing around their living room.  

It was a great weekend catching up with these great friends.  It's nice to know that no matter how long time passes, we just pick up right where we left off.  That's such a rare and special bond to have.  

While I was able to remember all the words to "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid, I'll be brushing up on my karaoke repertoire for the next time we get together:)

Have you been to Tulsa?  Do you ever find that Google Maps lies to you about how long it will take to get some place?  It was an hour off for us.  That's the last time I believe technology over my mom.