Need a hotel and diner recommendation!

We will be travelling from Memphis to Wichita in September and will making an overnight stop around Tulsa area somehwere.

Can anyone recommend a hotel not far off the interstate that has places to eat/drink around it tat we can walk to. We%26#39;d also love to experience an american diner type place on our road trip. Any recommendations?

Need a hotel and diner recommendation!

Actually we are also considering going through to Stillwater instead for the night? Any opinions on this town and where to stay?

Need a hotel and diner recommendation!

This link will take you to a review (complete with pictures) of The Rock Cafe, located in Stroud, Oklahoma, which lies about halfway between Tulsa and Oklahoma City, just off Interstate 44. Stopping in Stroud will take you a few miles out of your way between Tulsa and Stillwater, but it could be worth it, if you want some real local diner food. You won%26#39;t find any luxury accomodations in Stroud, but there will be at least a few reasonably-priced motor lodges there.

www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx…

I went to college in Stillwater at Oklahoma State, and its a great town. The best local/well-known place to eat would be Eskimo Joe%26#39;s (http://www.eskimojoes.com/). Its not a diner, but is American food. This is the only location %26amp; its popular.

As for hotels, they are mostly chain and there is one on the campus that is supposed to be nice. There is a Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn, Best Western, and the campus hotel is The Atherton which actually may be your best bet(http://www.athertonhotelatosu.com/).

Hope this helps!

Thanks for that info.

Can you tell me if the Cimarron Hotel is within walking distance to Eskimo Joe%26#39;s? It%26#39;s at 315 N. Husband Road. It looks like it only opened this year.

Or is the hotel on campus you mentioned walking distance?

Thanks heaps.

Yes, the hotel on campus is within walking distance--Eskimo Joes is right across the street from campus. I checked the Cimarron that just opened %26amp; you could walk it, its about half a mile I%26#39;d say. It sounds nice, I haven%26#39;t seen it yet, they%26#39;ve built it since I%26#39;ve been there. Either place would be fine though, but Cimarron is a little further.

Here is the visitor%26#39;s website, this may have some additional info.

http://www.visitstillwater.org/Home

Frankly, if you want a little taste of the Okie version of ';Americana';, you ought to stick to the smaller towns between Tulsa and Stillwater. Stillwater would be a good place to spend the night, but as for the trip between the two, I suggest following Highway 33 east from Tulsa (Stay off the Cimarron Turnpike - you won%26#39;t see anything from there, except a few trees, pavement and other cars) and drive through the small towns of Drumright, Cushing and Perkins, and stop for lunch at one of the little home-town cafes in one of those towns. Where Hwy 33 intersects with Hwy 177, you can drive straight north to Stillwater. Following that route will take you about 10 miles out of your way. Just watch your speed. Those small towns like to hand out speeding tickets. Not that there is really anything that unique, or even terribly intersting in any of those small towns, but if you have never been in Rural America before, and like to see how the small town folks live, you might see something memorable. If nothing else, it might demonstrate how similar (or different) small town life in Oklahoma is to small town life in Queensland. The locals will likely get more of a kick out of your accent than anyone in Stillwater will (that is, if you are a Queensland native, rather than a transplanted Texan or something). Stillwater being a college town, they are accustomed to having people from other countries around, but the little towns around there don%26#39;t get that many visitors. You might even hear someone say, ';You ain%26#39;t from around here ar ye boy?'; Be sure to stock up on Eskimo Joe%26#39;s T-shirts. At one time (at least, so I%26#39;ve heard) they were the second-largest selling T-shirt design from a restaurant, behind Hard Rock Cafe.

One of my favorite local-color restaurants is in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, about 45 miles north of Tulsa. Dink%26#39;s has been serving great barbecue for 25 years. It%26#39;s a very casual, homey place with excellent food at reasonable prices. I don%26#39;t know that it truly classifies as a ';diner,'; but it is definitely unique.

http://www.dinksbbq.com/

Bartlesville has two interesting options for hotels. Neither is within walking distance of Dink%26#39;s but both are in the old downtown section, within easy walking distance of many other establishments. One is the Hotel Phillips, which was built in the 1940s as an apartment building for employees of the Phillips Petroleum Company. It%26#39;s a lovely old place on a tree-lined avenue, and the service is always excellent. Rooms at the Phillips are usually in the $100 range. http://www.hotel-phillips.com/

The other option, which is both more unique and more expensive, is the Inn at Price Tower. Price Tower is the only ';sky scraper'; Frank Lloyd Wright designed and built. Originally an office building, it has been converted to other uses. The lower floors house an art museum; the middle floors are hotel rooms; and the upper levels are a lounge and restaurant. If you go to Bartlesville, you must plan time to visit the Price Tower, whether you stay there or not. http://www.pricetower.org/

From Bartlesville, you could go north into Kansas and then head west to Wichita through some very picturesque parts of the American plains.

Agree with TwoProfs about Bartlesville. In fact, I was going to suggest it myself, but thought it might be too far off your planned route. Actually, though, if you just head north from Tulsa instead of west, you can go through Bartlesville, and it probably won%26#39;t take you out of your way at all, and frankly, I think it offers more to see and do than any of the other spots outside Tulsa, including Stillwater. Also, the drive between Bartlesville to Wichita will be prettier, if you go north from B%26#39;ville into Kansas, then take Hwy 166 west until you hit I-35. I%26#39;ve always liked that stretch of Hwy 166. To TwoProfs%26#39; list for Bartlesville, I would add that a lunch or dinner at Murphy%26#39;s Steakhouse, would be a touch of local flavor that you can%26#39;t get just anywhere. Have the hot hamburger with onions and ';gravy over all.'; It%26#39;s a heart-attack-on-a-plate meal that is legendary in that area. The other main attraction of interest near Bartlesville is Woolaroc (a combination of the words ';woods, lakes and rocks';), which was the country home of oilman Frank Phillips. Located about 15 miles from town, it has a very nice on-site western and Native American history and art museum, including one of the largest collections of Colt firearms in the world, and many paintings and sculptures from famous Western and cowboy artists, including Fredrick Remington.

Spyderwood - i liked your suggestion about seeing small town America as it would be great to see the differences between American country towns and home (especially because we are farmers from rural Queensland).

I was also considering Bartlesville because it sounds like a lovely town.

So i have some thinking to do!

I appreciate your advice, thanks.

So, here%26#39;s another suggestion. From Tulsa, take Hwy 11 north through the small towns of Sperry and Skiatook. At Skiatook, take Hwy 20 west to Hominy. At Hominy, take Hwy 99 north to Hwy 11, then follow Hwy 11 east to Barnsdall. Just after passing through Barnsdall, take Hwy 123 toward Bartlesville (If you stay on Hwy 11, it will take you back to Skiatook, where you started). Woolaroc is located on Hwy 123, so you could stop in there, if you are inclined and if you arrive during operating hours. Then you can proceed on up to Bartlesville for the night.

This way, you don%26#39;t have to decide between small rural towns and a trip to Bartlesville. Although Bartlesville is hardly a teeming metropolis, it is the largest of the small towns north of Tulsa for quite some distance.

this works