April 2022 – Gripped by Travel

Tulsa is the second largest city in Oklahoma and was once known as the “Oil Capital of the World”. Today Tulsa is known for a bit more than oil and is considered to be desirable place to live. Tulsa is home to two art museums, supports full-time professional opera and ballet companies, and one of the nation’s largest concentrations of art deco architecture.

In part Tulsa’s development as we know it today stems from Route 66. It was a Tulsa business, Cyrus Avery who in 1925 established the U.S. Highway 66 Association, hence the city also took on the name of the “Birthplace of Route 66”. Tulsa became a popular rest stop for travellers which brought money into the city. Route 66 icons such as the Meadow Gold Sign and the Blue Whale of Catoosa greeted visitors on their journey.

The Philbrook Museum of Art is located in the former villa of oil pioneer Waite Phillips. It is considered to be one of the top 50 art museums in the USA and has works by Picasso and Rodin amongst others. The Gilcrease Museum holds the world’s largest collection of art and artifacts of the American West. It includes the collection of the Native American oilman and art collector Thomas Gilcreaese with works by Remington, Moran, Bierstadt and John James Audubon.

Fans of the singer-songwriter Woodie Guthrie (1912-1967) might like to visit the “Woodie Guthrie Center” which houses thousands of his personal items, sheet music, books, manuscripts etc. Guthrie was one of America’smost influential songwriters and the space we have here cannot do justice to his impact on American society. The Bob Dylan Archive which is currently not open to the general public but can be visited by appointment is due to open on May 10th 2022.

From the UK you can get to Tulsa in less than 24 hours, flight times with a connection are between 13 and 16 hours depending on the carrier. Why not fly to Chicago or LA and make Tulsa one of your stops on Route 66.

Since 1969 Tulsa has used 1% of its budget to fund public art and those are the images that we have used to illustrate our trip to Tulsa today.

If you are heading for the Caribbean then you are almost certainly heading for a beach to relax on, and the Cayman Islands certainly have those. According to some, the beaches here are amongst the best in the world. With the average temperature in the Cayman Islands of 28°C, it’s perfect for all year-round destination. January is the coolest month with temperatures around 25°C. Still warm enough to sit outside.

With enough diving sites for each day of the year, there are diving experiences for all ages and abilities. The islands are widelayWidely recognised as the birthplace of recreational diving, exploring the underwater world around the Cayman Islands is not to be missed. There are diving experiences on offer for all ages and abilities with qualified instructors on hand for those wanting to learn. With crystal clear waters you can expect to see colourful, abundant marine life, trenches, chasms and wrecks. If you do not dive, there are schools offering tuition or you could try your hand at snorkelling just off shore.

Not keen on putting your head under the water. There is plenty to do on the surface of the water, sailing, paddleboarding, kayaking and kitesurfing are all available.

There are several land based activities to enjoy in the Cayman Islands. The main island of Grand Cayman is fairly flat and its possible to follow the Mastic Trail which is well signposted and guided tours are available. The Mastic Trail is based on a traditional footpath that had fallen into disuse. In 1994 and 1995 it was restored and reopened as a 4 km walking track that passes through the Mastic reserve (a mainly forested area), traversing the central part of Grand Cayman from south to north. The southern part includes a 170 m hand-built rock causeway, known as the “Mastic Bridge”, through black mangrove forest.

Other activities such as bird watching at the islands’ sanctuaries to kayaking through mangroves; learning about different flora and fauna. Naturalists will love the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park where the rare, indigenous, Blue Iguana roams and marvel at the spectacular stalagmites and stalactites of the Crystal Caves are all available.

The most popular acitivity for visitors to the islands is a trip to Stingray City where you can see, touch, and even hold a stingray! The “city” is a sandbar near a channel in Cayman’s barrier reef. Historically, fisherman used to come to the sandbar to clean the fish they had caught throughout the day. They threw the unwanted bits overboard, which started attracting stingrays. Eventually, this practice grew and became a tourist activity.