11 Apr 2025 - Banjo Museum, Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies, Tinker Air Force Base Commissary & FamCamp

 

American Banjo Museum
We started this morning with a trip down to the Bricktown arts and entertainment area of Oklahoma City to visit the American Banjo Museum!  I had no idea!  We found on-street pay parking which is always a concern when we head to the downtown area of any big city. I know very little about banjos but this places has them all - every shape, size, brand and model dating back to the 1800's.  They advertise this as "a world-class museum dedicated to celebrating the music and heritage of America's Instrument - the banjo".   They highlight and have replicas of primitive banjos developed by African slaves.  I had no idea that is where they originated.  They also have actual Minstrel Age instruments from mid-19th century, Classic Era banjos from the late 1800s and early 1900s, post WWII instruments used in bluegrass, folk and world music.  There are two floors with over 400 instruments.  A few pictures:

From it's African roots

Even Kermit the Frog played the banjo!

and of course Steve Martin!

The museum was founded in 1998 by Midwest City attorney, Brady Hunt and Indiana industrialist, Jack Canine.  It was originally located in Guthrie, Oklahoma and was called The National Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame Museum.  As we walked through the museum I noticed many of the banjos were four string and others were five string.  I did not know there was a difference!  Well, 4-string banjos, particularly tenor banjos, are more common in Irish and jazz music, while 5-string banjos are more commonly associated with bluegrass, folk, and old-time music. Know you know!!

A couple names I would associate with banjos include Earl Scruggs and Roy Clark, but as we walked through the displays many other names appeared.  The banjos on display were amazing - so ornate.

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Another area was dedicated to Women of the Banjo

Towards the back of the museum there is a workshop where various banjos were likely being repaired or restored.  

  

Another area of the museum is dedicated to the Banjo Hall of Fame.

Within the museum is an area that looked like a nightclub with tables and chairs and a stage and it is called "Your Father's Mustache",  The name came from a chain of nightclubs that opened in the 1950's originating on Boston and featuring banjo playing.

Finally, as we exited the museum there is a you-play-it room with an assortment of banjos you can actually try.  Back in the day I knew my guitar chords, but they did not work on the banjo I grabbed.  Must have been defective! LOL

Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies

After visiting the banjo museum we made our way a few miles north and west to Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies.  "The famous Oklahoma fried pies started out as a simple recipe south of the Arbuckle Mountains, in the small town of Springer, Oklahoma.  Maude Pletcher’s recipe was handed down and perfected with her nine children and other farmers and ranchers that frequently visited their home.  In 1954, one of Maude’s sons, E.W Pletcher and wife Lola, bought the property where the Davis Arbuckle Mountain Fried pies shop is currently located." 

This location transitioned to a gas station for a time and then back to the fried pies shop it is today. 

Inside there are a few tables with chairs but everyone in there while we were there were waiting for to-go orders.  I assumed they were a pastry shop selling pies full of fruit filling, but that is just one of the many selections.  They have a wide variety of dinner pies as well.  

So Doreen ordered a ham and cheese pie with a peanut butter chocolate pie for dessert, and I ordered a chicken fried steak pie with a vanilla cream pie for dessert.  We took these back to the RV park and they were delicious! Needless to say, the pies became two portions!

The pies were huge!

Tinker Air Force Base

Back at the RV Park we had lunch and then walked Liberty a bit before taking off again this time to visit Tinker Air Force Base, which is about 20 miles away.  Professionally I had been to Tinker before but not during our RV travels.  So we stopped at the commissary and replenished our fridge and pantry a bit, and then drove through their FamCamp which I said last night they do not take reservations.  The sites looked a bit short, but there is parking for the truck across the street.  There were several sites open and considering it is Friday afternoon and many of the snowbirds are headed back north, it looks like site availability is not too much of an issue.  No pictures of Tinker.

Tomorrow we have some grandson baseball to watch on Game Changer.  We hope to see the 99s Museum of Women Pilots at the airport.  We are waiting on a return call from the telephone museum but not holding out hope on that one since it is only open two days a week and not while we are here.  There is a large gun show at the fairgrounds this weekend and we might check that out as time permits.  Before we leave on Monday Doreen plans to catch us up on laundry also.