A Hike, A Brewery, and The Greenwood Massacre Museum

 Tulsa, OK

Francis being cute in the hotel in Tulsa

A Short Hike

This morning we woke up to heavy rain.  Donna tried to take Francis out but he wasn't having any of it so she headed back into the hotel defeated and damp.  I wrangled some of the free breakfast and coffee they have on offer here and then we tried to take him out again.  This time the rain had stopped and the weather was cloudy and cooler than 100 degrees.  It was probably cooler than 90 degrees and felt pretty good.  In McKinney I had done a few YouTube searches on Tulsa and one of them talked a bit about Turkey Mountain Wilderness Area and how great it is for walking and dogs.  We decided to go there to allow Francis to get rid of some of his energy and poop.  

Behold!  The Turkeys!

The trail led down to the Arkansas River so it was downhill on the way in and uphill on the way out.

We chose to walk the paved trail to avoid any mud from the heavy rain of the morning.

We both commented on the new geological makeup of the area.  The landscape is changing as we head east.

We took photos of these plums to identify

And some, what we think are, Salmon Egg Fungus

Me logging the birds I am hearing and seeing

It's me!

Donna and Francis leading the way

A nice place to tune up your bike

New Brewery

After our walk we went to our first brewery in Oklahoma.  Josh (our brother-in-law) suggested that we check out American Solera.  He has tried a few of their beers through trades or at shares and really liked them so we put it high on our list of things to do.  After getting Francis settled, we grabbed a Lyft to the brewery.  

The entrance was a bit steamy because of the rain

Where it's at!

Merch

Their Foeders

Some barrels for again

Our flight in the shape of OK

I went and picked up great Mexican Food for lunch

Our 2nd flight

When I followed the on Insta their counter went up to 31704

Greenwood Rising

Yesterday we asked our Lyft driver for a recommendation and he mentioned the new Greenwood Rising Museum. Donna quickly made a note and then booked a time slot that evening.  We took a Lyft from the brewery to Greenwood and arrived just before our time slot.  The museum documents the 1 day Tulsa Race Massacre that took place in the Greenwood district.  Greenwood was known as The Black Wall Street up until then.  It was a thriving black community that started with oil money and then grew into one of the wealthiest black neighborhoods in the country. On May 31st 1921 white residents empowered with deputies and backed by armed city officials went in and burned down the 35 square blocks of neighborhood and killed up to 300 people.  The initial record showed far fewer deaths but recently mass graves have been found pushing the number of people killed up.  The museum was an incredibly moving experience and should be visited if you are in the area.

When the interstates where built they chose to annex land that was owned by people with the least amount of power to fight back.  This resulted in highways cutting disadvantaged neighborhoods in half and separating them from other parts of town further weakening their ability to grow and keep up with surrounding neighborhoods. 

On the way out we all talked about how we can be committed to support reconciliation in Social, Economic, and Political areas.  We have a long way to go. 

It isn't often that I learn about history in the very place that it happened.  It was a powerful experience.

You can learn more about the Greenwood Massacre here.  The museum is privately funded so that they can tell the story the way they need to tell it without having to worry about other interests.  If you want to help them out you can donate here.

This wraps up our time in Tulsa for now.  We are already talking about coming back because there is still so much to do and it was such a great stop for us.  If you didn't read about our time in Tulsa yesterday check it out here.