Why you will love Tulsa...
Tulsa Art Deco
Tulsa is one of America's ten top showcase cities for art deco architecture and the site of the 2008 National Preservation Conference. Trace the current of deco style flowing through the city's history in the pages of Tulsa Art Deco with 175 color images and over 50 historic black & white photographs. Available through Preservation Books for $60 (member discounts apply).
Tulsa's Historic Resources
Visit the website of the Tulsa Preservation Commission for information about Tulsa's historic neighborhoods, individual buildings, Nation Register listings, and Art Deco heritage. Be sure to click the "Change style" link to customize the look.
The City of Tulsa was recently honored when First Lady Laura Bush, Honorary Chair of the Preserve America initiative, designated it as one of the nation’s Preserve America Communities. For more information about the initiative and its programs, visit the Preserve America website.
America's Highway: Oral Histories of Route 66
Taken from Google Maps: Jay Crim and Shekar Davarya spent the summer of 2002 driving across the country on Route 66, collecting interviews with the people who live, work and travel on the old road. The audio, video and images on this map are the result of that summer, and offer a glimpse into what life was like on the now-decommissioned highway and what remains for those who still travel the road. The America's Highway project was intended to create both a history lesson on America of the past as well as a travel guide for visitors on 66 today. The work was supervised by Professor Bill Leslie, History of Science Department and Mike Reese, Center for Educational Resources, The Johns Hopkins University.
Dining & Outdoor Culture
International Dining Options in Tulsa
Don't be fooled by Tulsa's down home reputation. There are plenty of international options to tickle your sophisticated palate. From Lebanese to Chinese, Tulsa's got it!
Utica Square Shopping & Dining District
Tulsa's best shopping and dining can be found in the quaint "square" right in mid-town Tulsa. From the best breakfast joint in town (Queenie's) to the best steak (Flemings), Utica Square offers a centralized, tree-lined space for everything the visitor to Tulsa needs, including a pharmacy, fine tobacco shop, wine & spirits store, and the ubiquitous Starbucks. The place is so darn charming, the famous Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko even wrote a paean to honor it.
Brookside Shopping, Dining & Dancing
Brookside is the nickname Tulsans have bestowed upon a stretch of Peoria Avenue between 31st and 41st Streets. It is the trendy place for the crowd who favors great dining (sushi), comfortable coffee shops (Shades of Brown), gelato, or great BBQ (Elmers). If you are looking for some of the best "outdoor" culture in Tulsa, this is the place to find it.
Cherry Street
Cherry Street is the original "place to be" in Tulsa. Founded by some lovely hippies back in the 70s, Cherry Street has grown into one of Tulsa's best places to live. The hippie vibe is still alive at "Peace of Mind Bookstore," where you can buy incense, or that out-of-print modernist book you've been looking for. Want to jig, or partake in a Guinness? Then try out Kilkenny's Irish Pub. And, if you are looking for the best pizza in town, look no further than Hideaway Pizza. Also, you might just make the last Farmer's Market of the season in October, which takes over Cherry Street from 8-11am on Saturdays.
Tulsa Oktoberfest (October 16-19, 2008)
USAToday named Tulsa's Oktoberfest as one of the top 10 places to toast Oktoberfest worldwide. It's time to grab a stein and dance!
Tulsa Run (October 25, 2008)
The Tulsa Run is the oldest and largest run in Oklahoma. Every October, over 9,000 runners of all ages descend on downtown Tulsa to participate in 15k, 5k or 2k runs.
Museums
Philbrook Museum of Art
Listed in the top 50, one of only five museums in the United States with a unique combination of historical home, art collections and gardens. Nestled in one of Tulsa's first neighborhoods is an Italianate villa set in 23-acres of lush gardens and tranquil grounds. Inside, the grandeur of Oklahoma's oil-rich 1920s is preserved and showcased along with fine art collections from around the globe. The dream of benefactors Waite and Genevieve Phillips, to create an art center for Tulsa, has established Philbrook as one of America's finest art museums.
Gilcrease Museum: The Museum of America
Home of the largest collection of western art in the world. The art collection includes over 10,000 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures by 400 artists from colonial times to the present.
Price Tower Arts Center
The H.C. Price Company Tower is the only skyscraper built by Frank Lloyd Wright and inspired by a tree. This innovative building not only changed the horizon of the Oklahoma prairie, but also the world of architecture. This landmark destination serves local, regional and global audiences as a fine art complex dedicated to art, architecture and design. And, it's only a 45-minute drive from downtown Tulsa.
Tulsa's Architecture and Art Deco History
Tulsa's rise to architectural brilliance was precipitated by the oil boom in the 1920s; thus, the center of town is a jewel of Art Deco design. This site has pictures of deco buildings located in Tulsa.
The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art
The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art was founded in 1966 as the Gershon & Rebecca Fenster Museum of Jewish Art. Their purpose was to bring the local Jewish community an understanding of its heritage through artifacts, as well as to serve as a resource center for non-Jewish people to learn about Jewish history and culture treasures you might find here.
Visitor Information
Tulsa International Airport
The airport is a short 15-minute ride from the Convention Center and conference hotels.
Tulsa Taxi Services
A list of taxi services in Tulsa.
Tulsa Restaurant Guide
From BBQ to Vietnamese, Tulsa offers a rich dining experience.
Best of Tulsa.com
Another tourism site
"Green Country Tourism Site"
This site has a list of things to do in and around Tulsa.
Route 66
The legendary road passes right through Tulsa and the edge of The University of Tulsa campus.
Travel OK
A good site that includes tourism information for all of Oklahoma.
Places of Worship
This is a pretty good list of places to worship in downtown Tulsa.
