Visiting Oklahoma's Favorite Son

This week we took a trip to Claremore, Oklahoma. Originally I was going to take the kids to Oxley Nature Center for the Spring Equinox Celebration but it was cancelled due to all the wet weather we've had this week. A girlfriend of mine lives in Claremore and she called to invite us out. I thought " what a great opportunity I can get out with the kids, get in the field trip and see an old friend". So we loaded up and headed to Claremore.

Emma on the saddle.

A little history of Claremore. Claremore is about 30 minutes outside of Tulsa.  Around 1800 a band of Indians of the Osage tribe settled in the area. Of course Claremore is most famously known for Will Rogers. They were one of the first families to settle there in 1856. The railways were a driving factor in the growth of Claremore. The Cherokee Nation incorporated Claremore into the Nation in 1883. 

The drive out there is quite nice. I took the highway going through Catoosa and Verdigris. Both towns are nice to look at. We even passed by the Big Blue Whale. You can check out the website here at http://www.claremore.com. They have lots of different attractions that I plan on visiting at a later date.

Conor with "Will Rogers".

I loaded up the kids and headed out to my girlfriends house. After we hung out and ate lunch we decided to take the kids out to the Will Rogers Memorial Museum. I had never been there so I thought it would be fun and they have a great play place for the kids in the lower part of the museum. The cost was only $5 for adults and 17 and under are free! The museum is on beautiful grounds. It opened in 1938 with an east wing added in 1982 and renovations made from 1990-1995. Its set on 20 acres with an on site sunken garden with a family tomb.  I didn't know much about Will Rogers prior to going to the museum so seeing all the movies and posters and artifacts was really interesting. The museum has a theater inside that shows Will Rogers movies daily. They show continuously from 8-5 and you can view the schedule on their website at http://www.willrogers.com. 

Inside the museum are loads of art, artifacts and a room with several dioramas depicting the life of Will Rogers. They have several of his saddles and some artifacts from the plane at the time of his crash. In the lower part of the museum is the Children's Museum. The Children's Museum has a stage where the kids can dress up and put on a show, a puppet theater where the kids can do a puppet show. A little play area with some trains toys and a room with a table and books to read. There's even a view of an old school room. The kids had loads of fun trying on costumes and playing with the puppets. Conor of course played with the trains.

I highly recommend visiting this museum. Its not very far and the cost is low. They have a beautiful gift shop and I thought the prices were reasonable. This is definitely a place we will be visiting again!