Category Archives: Our World

Our World – One Place Tower

Maybe the economy is getting a little better?

I’ve been taking pictures of a bright red crane that is helping to build a new building in downtown Tulsa.

It is for a new multi-use development called “One Place.” It will have an 18 story office tower, a 120 room hotel, loft apartments, and room for restaurants and such.

The crane is 325 feet tall and the mast extends 196 feet. It can lift 15,000 to 20,000 pounds depending how far out the load is on the mast.

It is nice to have new money being spent downtown.

http://www.milesassociates.com/projects-details.aspx?projectid=37&ontheboards=1#

I wish the design would be a little more imaginative. In a city core loaded with art deco treasures and located across from the street from the Cesar Peli designed BOK Center, One Place will be a sea of beige.

The crane is cool though!

Our World

Our World – Muskogee, Oklahoma

My Dad came for a short visit from Idaho for Thanksgiving. He likes historical type stuff and I wanted to show him something new so we headed down the turnpike to Muskogee.

First we went to the Five Civilized Tribes Museum. It is not that big but it is powerful. It has displays on the five tribes that were forcibly resettled from the southeast USA to Oklahoma. No photos are allowed but they have a dynamite display on Native American Medal of Honor awardees from the Five Civilized Tribes. Upstairs they had an art show going on. Check it out when you are in town. Very inexpensive admission charge.

The building it is housed in is the original Agency Headquarters from the 19th century. Very handsome in it own right. Gotta remember to stay off the grass if you go!

Next we went down to the Port of Muskogee to check out the USS Batfish. The Batfish was a submarine that sunk fourteen enemy ships during World War II. Unfortunately the museum was closed but we could look at the vessel through the fence.

There were some other things to look at also. Some anti-aircraft guns.

And this. It looks like it could ruin somebody’s whole day downrange.

And a little bit of humor.

It was an overcast day with no color. So how about a photo of my Soul.

Then we toured the port a little bit. I’m in the natural gas business. We are always looking for pipe. Our engineers can’t ever find any. We found some. Come and get it guys.

We found this cool machine. Dad and I love looking at this kind of stuff. Sweetie and SPB can’t stand it.

So, we had a pretty good road trip.

Our World Tuesday

The Siege of Vicksburg – Firing Cannon

As part of our vacation last summer we spent a couple of nights in Vicksburg, Mississippi which of course is the site of the Siege of Vicksburg during the Civil War. I didn’t really know anything about Vicksburg or the siege or why it was important or really anything at all.

There is all sorts of great information on the Siege of Vicksburg on the web. Vicksburg was important militarily because of its natural forts overlooking the Mississippi River. The Union wanted free mobility up and down the river. So in 1863 General Ulysses S. Grant ringed the city with 75,000 Union troops and hundreds of cannon. The Union Navy had their mortar barges on the river and for 47 days rained hell on the Confederate troops and civilians in Vicksburg.

The Confederates of course defended themselves the best they could but finally surrendered the city on July 4, 1863. Vicksburg did not celebrate July 4 until the 1940’s.

The Vicksburg National Military Park takes up the heart of Vicksburg and even now Vicksburg has the air of an occupied town. The Battlefield is wonderful but there were not that many people there in the heart of the summer.

It’s a very solemn place. During the battle the soldiers were buried here, there, and everywhere and it wasn’t until after the war that they were dug up and re-interred in cemeteries. I’m sure that they missed quite a few.

I had been trying to figure out how to post about Vicksburg. There is too much stuff there for just one post so I am going to several.

These photos show local high school and and college students demonstrating, under the direction of a Park Ranger (above right), the teamwork needed to fire a cannon. It was very interesting. He let us get up close until it came time to fire the cannon and we had to back.

At just a half charge of powder, firing blank, it set the burglar alarms off in the cars in the nearby parking lot and made a ton of smoke. I cannot imagine what dozens of cannons firing together, full charges, would sound like.

Our World

Damn the Torpedos….. Fort Morgan, Alabama

During our recent vacation to Alabama we went to Fort Morgan State Historic Site which guards the entrance to Mobile Bay.

There has been a fort there since before the War of 1812. There is a small information packed information packed museum on site that tells the story. Wikipedia also has information on Fort Morgan. The fort consists of over 40 million bricks most set with slave labor.

The Fort was important in the War of 1812 and the Civil War, and the Spanish American War, and was manned during both World Wars. I. During all that time the the fortifications were added to and modified so it is quite an extensive area.

There are lots of underground chambers that are pretty spooky. If only they could talk.

It was here during the Civil War during the Battle of Mobile Bay that Union Admiral Farragut uttered, “Damn the torpedoes, ull speed ahead!” Torpedoes back then were actually remotely actuated mines. Anyway, it is unclear whether he actually said it or not. But it makes a heck of a story.

Where the Battle of Mobile Bay raged exists now the huge Mobile Bay Gas Field. It, Fort Morgan, and the surrounding area seem to coexist rather well.

Our World

Road Trip

Last weekend the Yogi’s along with the world’s greatest MIL Nana and SuperPizzaBoy’s friend Q loaded up to head down the Turner Turnpike for a road trip. There is nothing like a road trip.

First stop, getting something to eat of course!

There is no other choice for Road Food than the Rock Cafe in Stroud, right on route 66. It was built in 1936.

The food is great. It is a popular spot on 66 but we came at an off time.

The owner Dawn Welch has owned it since the 1990’s. She was the inspiration for the character Sally Carrera in the movie “Cars”. Ms. Welch was also named Oklahoma’s 2008 Woman of the Year beating out Carrie Underwood. That’s a big honor especially considering how Oklahoma loves Carrie Underwood.