Day Trips in Oklahoma (Duncan, McAlester: medical, home, art)

[jessaka]

We drove up to Grove from Tahlequah yesterday to see pelicans. Couldn't find any. I guess a person needs to go early in morning, or take a ride on a ferry boat, or spent the day looking.

But it was the pelican festival, and the parade was fun. Then the craft fair while small was great. We got a scarecrow for $25.00. And then I bought a handmade dustpan from the man who makes them for only $10. Wish I knew who he was because they would make good gifts. Someone else had great pen drawings of places, and so I got one of the mill in Stillwell.

Grove is a good size town, bigger than Tahlequah. It had a lot of neat shops, and so I went into a few of them. Never saw so many antiques stores in one town, expecially north of 59. That would be a day trip for me and would wear me out.

My husband really loved the lake. I could understand why. I could also see why people would want to move there.

[Synopsis]

Thanks for the report jessaka. I haven't been to Grove since I was a kid, so essentially I might as well have never been because I remember practically nothing about the place. From how people describe it, it sounds wonderful. I love reading your trip reports. Please do keep it up because they are well written and informative..

[texangelwings]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

Great thread jessaka!

Chickasaw National Recreation area (formerly known as Platt National Park) is great. It's nothing fancy, but a nice little area. Also, Robber's Den is a great place to go; you can see the caves where all of the outlaws used to go and hide out. Do a google search or use the oklahoma travel website. Turner Falls is worth it to me. It's not that pricey (at least it didn't used to be) and the animals are great to see as well. They have rides, camping, and of course with all of the rains the falls will be beautiful.

Turners falls has not change. It is worth the trip! Some of my college friends & I stopped there on our way home, years ago! I went to Quartz Mountain north of Altus, with a group of friends from ICQ, we had a great time. (One of the ladies was from NZ, she was impressed with the steakhouse in Altus and the bar across the street...)

[jessaka]

One of my fondest memories was when we were taking care of my husband's mother in Morro Bay, CA. We would go to the ocean every day. One day I sat near the pelicans and would watch them fly in close to me, land, and then fly out. Grove reminded me of Morro Bay, and again I was wishing we had moved there instead of here, but then we drive home, and I am glad that I am home.

Grove is really beautiful, and the town has just about everything in it that you would need. I guess Tulsa is close hand for anything else. they had a large kitchen shop, what every woman needs. Then a large sporting store for the fisherman, a clothing sporting store for those of use that love sweats, etc. I can't find my brochure that lists a lot of others. Oh, I remember seeing a casino.

And then they had lots of water.

Only an hour away, you can be sure that I will be going back.

They had a lot of traffic that day. Now when I say a lot of traffic, it was just more than around Tahlequah. Certainly not that of almost anywhere CA. Of course the Pelican Fest brought in a lot of campers.

[peggydavis]

Glad you had a nice day, Jessaka. So do the pelicans stay on Grand Lake all fall and winter or do they just migrate through?

[ectanner]

Thanks to all of you who have posted to this thread. It has given me great relief to know that there are so many intersting and educational places to experience in Oklahoma.
I have never been to your fair state and feel somewhat overwhelmed with my thoughts as I will soon be moving there. I have never made a move anywhere without having experienced the area first. I am an adventurous soul for the most part and enjoy new challenges; none-the-less, I have been taking every moment I can find to read these threads.
Thanks to jessaka, Synopsis, GoodPasture, peggydavis, Jammie and so many others who contribute un-selfishly to this site.

I am looking forward to a lot of day-trips. Each and every one of these sound great.
Thanks so much!

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by ectanner

Thanks to all of you who have posted to this thread. It has given me great relief to know that there are so many intersting and educational places to experience in Oklahoma.
I have never been to your fair state and feel somewhat overwhelmed with my thoughts as I will soon be moving there. I have never made a move anywhere without having experienced the area first. I am an adventurous soul for the most part and enjoy new challenges; none-the-less, I have been taking every moment I can find to read these threads.
Thanks to jessaka, Synopsis, GoodPasture, peggydavis, Jammie and so many others who contribute un-selfishly to this site.

I am looking forward to a lot of day-trips. Each and every one of these sound great.
Thanks so much!

You're welcome ectanner! I hope your move goes smoothly and you enjoy living in Oklahoma. Come back on when you get moved out and let us know how things are going!

[jessaka]

ectanner,

thanks for the compliments.

[Jammie]

Peggy, if I remember correctly, they had the Pelican Festival last year the first or second week of Oct. We stopped there on our way back home and ended up spending the night there. There were a lot of pelicans by the shore and that was early morning. We were one week late for the festival. The residents said that the pelicans stop over on their way south for the winter so I don't think that many of them spend the winter there.

[peggydavis]

I was wondering about the pelicans because I have seen them here in Hughes County, but they only stay a day or two. I am looking for them now.