[minnesota, wi] [hinnom, tx] [lisbon, oh] tulsa,ok

the other weekend some friends and i traveled down to tulsa, oklahoma to watch bon iver perform.  having been cooped up in my apartment the past few weeks studying, i wanted to squeeze as much culture out of tulsa as we could in a short amount of time.

heading down early in the day, we met up with our gracious hosts, an aunt and uncle of one of our friends, who took us to eat in the cherry street district.  after lunch, and with it looking like a hip area of town, we spent the next couple hours exploring this nook of the city.  amongst the sites taken in were a few boutiques, a great irish pub, and a wonderful coffee house with the perfect random assortment of second hand furniture including one of the coolest mid-century couches i've ever seen.

gearing up for the concert we ate at el guapos cantina located in the blue dome district.  not only was the food fantastic, but they had margarita's named, "the lucky day" and "little neddy goes to war". if you don't get the reference don't worry, but trust me, it's hilarious.

the concert was at the brady theater and was nothing short of amazing. not only was the opening band, the staves, wonderful, but bon iver put on a great show and sounded perfect.  however, i do believe he was doing his best to dispel the rumors his music puts people to sleep as they had a beautiful stage setup and intense light show.  after the concert our friends recommended we stay in the brady arts district and hit up a bar called soundpony.  we were told it was a biker bar, and after stepping inside, realized the joke. bicycle parts, gears, wheels, racing jersey's and posters were everywhere.  as if this little play on words wasn't enough to make me stay, it also happened to be motown night.  needless to say we spent most of the night there dancing to james brown, sam cooke, and otis redding.  after ducking in a few more bars we called it a night.

the next morning, after eating an amazing pancake breakfast provided by our hosts, they took us to the philbrook museum of art.  it had once been a mansion built from oil money but was later given to the city and turned into a museum.  not only was the collection great, but the grounds and building itself deserved attention as well.  built in the 1920's the whole atmosphere had a great-gatsby-esque feeling to it.

with our time running short, we left straight from the museum and headed home, feeling we had experienced a good slice of tulsa.  on the drive home we listened to music on my "outdated" phone.  i only say that, because at the museum i spotted my phone behind glass on exhibit.  granted it was an exhibit on industrial design, but none the less, maybe it's time to upgrade.