Little Rock Report

If you're a catfish fan, the Flying Fish in Little Rock is the spot for you. I created my own combo basket in order to try the catfish, oysters and shrimp. The menu isn't limited to these choices and you can get grilled or broiled items. The decor is eclectic -- fish photos, the Billy Bass wall, lineoleum tile floors and plastic table cloths. Dive comes closer than dining establishment to describe Flying Fish -- but it's good and popular and you can expect to stand in line to order.

For something completely different, try Lilly's Dim Sum and Then Some. Fresh, flavorful and exotic, the food includes favs from several Asian countries.

To read my article on Little Rock: http://www.edmondsun.com/features/local_story_104154758.html.

panda pic

This is Bai Yun (White Cloud), the adult female panda at the San Diego Zoo. She is the mother of two cubs. According to the zoo, she likes things that smell like cloves, pine or mens' cologne.

Panda moanium

When I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I wrote in my latest Edmond Sun column that there are 10 giant pandas in U.S. zoos. I was quickly brought up to date by emails to the editor. There's been a panda population explosion -- there are now 20% more pandas -- bringing the total to 12. There are four pandas in San Diego, three in Washington, D.C., three in Atlanta and two in Memphis (with a possible baby on the way). Mea culpa!

To read the article, please go to www.edmondsun.com/features/local_story_077143410.html?keyword=secondarystory

There were a couple of editorial errors in the story -- those weren't my culpas! If you read it -- there are 24 Israeli scrolls in the San Diego exhibit -- 10 of these have never been on public view. There are also three scrolls from Jordan. The Russian materials are not Dead Sea Scrolls but very ancient texts. And the prices quoted in the paragraphs about the U.S. Grant Hotel refer to the nightly rate -- not the cost of the headboards!!!!!

Other than that, enjoy!

Don't it always seem to go

Oklahoma Travel
I thought of the song with the line "don't it always seem to go -- you don't know what you got til it's gone" today when I heard from Lawton that the Percussive Arts Museum is closed. If you never visited, you missed a treat. Associated with the national Percussive Arts Association, which is moving to Indianapolis for better accommodations for their conventions, the museum was a delightful collection of musical instruments from all over the world -- and even out of it with one instument with parts made from meteorite material. I understand the Comanche tribe will occupy the space so, hopefully, there will be a new museum there.

The other bit of sad news I've received lately is that Oklahoma's only Polish restaurant, Bozena's in Ft. Gibson, is closed. I'll miss Bozena's great pierogis.

On the upbeat side -- Oklahoma Trails opened this week at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Featuring animals native to the state (in the present and the past), this marvelous exhibit covers not only animals but the plants of Oklahoma's many eco-systems. Well done, zoo.

San Diego Shines

Oklahoma Travel
I don't always stay in Oklahoma, and, this time, I just returned from warm, sunny San Diego -- a great place to be when it's cold in Oklahoma. Future articles will feature Balboa Park which I think is the country's greatest urban park -- yep, even better than Central Park. The big news is the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit scheduled to open at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Opening June 29 and running through the end of the year, this exhibition will feature the largest, most comprehensive exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls ever assembled. It includes materials both from the the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Jordanian Department of Antiquities. Other items will be brought in from the Russian National Library, the British National Library and the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. Other parts of the exhibit highlight the Qumran site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, the science involved in dating and preserving the materials, and, using more contemporary writings, how ideas are transmitted over time. Scholars and experts will also be presenting lectures on everything from "The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls" to "Jesus,l the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Da Vinci Code." For more information, click on www.sdscrolls.org.

Oklahoma Travel

Oklahoma Travel
O is for Oklahoma and Ohio Amish

As I mentioned in my Edmond Sun article, the Amish group tours are probably not the best bets for traveling with younger children. The best way to learn more about the Amish and let your kids absorb at their own level is to visit the Yoder's Amish Home on State Route 515, close to Millersburg in Holmes County, Ohio. This 116-acre Amish farm has lots to attract the visitor. You can tour both an 1866 Amish home and a contemporary one. Take a ride in an Amish buggy; pet farm animals; see an Amish school house or just swing on a swing underneath the big trees. Yoder's is open from mid-April through October. Call (330)-893-2541 for more information.

Here in Oklahoma, the largest concentration of Amish is around the eastern Oklahoma town of Chouteau. You can buy Amish cheeses produced both locally and from other communities at the Amish Cheese House. Amish baked goods are available at Ropp's while Amish-style meals are served at the Dutch Pantry. If you're traveling with a group, contact the Chamber of Commerce (918) 476-8222 about dining in an Amish home.

Every year people flock to Clarita (this year it's September 9th) for the Amish Auction, Crafts and Antique Show at the Ben Troyer farm. Call (580) 428-3458 for more information.

Oklahoma Travel

Arcadian Inn, Edmond, Oklahoma
I mentioned the Arcadian in my last blog as one of my favorite B and Bs in Oklahoma. Since it's right here in town, I don't visit often but I know I can count on owner/innkeeper Martha Hall.

I'm doing a food column for the Edmond Sun on B and B recipes so I called Martha and asked if I could come take some pictures and get one of her recipes. She had guests coming and she said she'd ask them if they minded.

I showed up at the specified 9:30 this morning to find that they did! Seems one of the party had been to the inn before -- with another partner -- and was feeling camera shy.

Martha hadn't called to cancel the photos -- she simply fixed an entire extra breakfast for me to photograph! That's typical of the hospitality people can expect at the Arcadian Inn.

And the breakfast was superb. Of course, I sampled it -- strictly in the line of duty.

I'll include photos in the next blog -- after I figure out how to do it!

Oklahoma Travel

In answer to a question about b and bs in Oklahoma -- here are a few of my favorites:

Arcadian Inn, Edmond -- Charming Victorian, fab food and walking distance from a lovely downtown with lots of public art and interesting boutiques.

Aaron's Gate, Guthrie -- Owned by the Halls who own the Arcadian, this one is a clutch of cottages in the woods. Really away from it all, each cottage has many amenities and a ready-to-do-it-yourself breakfast so you can sleep in as long as you want.

Montford Inn, Norman -- a Select Registry property, that says it all. Great accommodations, afternoon lemonade and cookies, great breakfast and a fun college town.

Inn at Price Tower, Bartlesville -- fulfill a fantasy in a Frank Lloyd Wright skyscraper.

Stardust Inn, Medicine Park -- I love this funky little town, the big porch at the Inn, the beautiful Indian art and its proximity to the Wichita Wildlife Refuge. And there's a new winery in the vicinity.

I'd love to hear about your favorites, too.

okietravel

I hope by now you've checked out my website, read my bio and looked at some of my photos. I'm going to try to make it more useful with this blog -- add quick up-dates, travel tidbits and, in this case, make some corrections. Unfortunately, there's occasionally a slip-up somewhere in the ether between what I write and what actually gets printed. I try as hard as I can to be accurate -- and I know my editors do, too. I'll take responsibility for anything I get wrong but, oh, do I hate it when a mistake I didn't make gets in. So, for local Okies who are AAA members, the article on food in central Oklahoma has a picture of an attractive couple in front of their restaurant. They're Leticia and Mario Hernanez and that's the Adobe Grill -- not KhaZana, a very nice, but not pictured, Indian restaurant! For Okies and anyone else who gets AAA Home and Away, in the article on Oklahoma City -- the Oklahoma Trails are not open yet and the Great EscAPE does not have a rainforest with waterfalls. Other than that, I think we're on target. If you don't get the magazine and would like to see the Oklahoma City article, click www.homeandawaymagazine.com/Index_capitol_weekend_ok_city.cfm.
If you try to type this in, put underlines where the spaces are.

okietravel

Dear Friends,

I am creating this blog to share my comments about traveling in Oklahoma, although I welcome comments about visiting other sites as well.

I write a travel in Oklahoma column for the Edmond Sun, a daily newspaper in Edmond, OK.

Elaine Warner

Please visit my web site at www.okietravel.com