<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Route 66 in East Tulsa, Oklahoma by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4399592540/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4399592540_2e17920699.jpg" alt="Route 66 in East Tulsa, Oklahoma" width="375" height="500" /></a></div>

One of my top tips for getting to know your town, <a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2010/09/know-your-town/">whether it's Tulsa or Timbuktu</a>, is to swear off highways.

Route 66 is one huge exception to this rule.

<!--more-->
<p style="text-align: center;">[adrotate group="2" banner="8"]</p>

<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Route 66 in East Tulsa, Oklahoma by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4399592450/"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2782/4399592450_6fc3797a26.jpg" alt="Route 66 in East Tulsa, Oklahoma" width="500" height="375" /></a></div>

Yesterday morning my little family hopped into our little car to run some errands, hopefully to be rewarded with a free trip to Philbrook Museum (Philbrook hosts a Free Family Day the second Saturday of each month). 

After two measly errands, though, our two-year-old was asleep in the backseat. Out like a light. 

While we love a visit to Philbrook, it's not on the list of reasons for which we'd dare disturb the slumber of our son. Imminent danger, perhaps. Armageddon, maybe. A life-sized replica of Lightning McQueen from the movie Cars, should we find one day it exists, yes.

But a visit to a quiet, echo chamber of a museum? Absolutely freaking not.

So, instead, we hit the road - <a href="http://www.michaelwallis.com/">the Mother Road</a>.

While I know Route 66 relatively well when it comes to west Tulsa and Sapulpa, I knew next to nothing about the treasures it holds on the east side of town. Since my husband spent a lot of time in that part of town when he first came to Oklahoma from his native state of Arkansas, he was nice enough to show me a thing or two about what I'd been missing.

<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Admiral Flea Market on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4398826675/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4398826675_88eacfaeed.jpg" alt="Admiral Flea Market on Route 66" width="500" height="375" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Admiral Flea Market on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4399593466/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4399593466_ff80acaf75.jpg" alt="Admiral Flea Market on Route 66" width="375" height="500" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Admiral Flea Market on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4398826853/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4398826853_054d6ea345.jpg" alt="Admiral Flea Market on Route 66" width="500" height="375" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.urbantulsa.com/gyrobase/Section?oid=oid%3A14781&amp;category=oid%3A27582">I like to think I know where to find a bargain, especially here in Tulsa</a>. How is it, then, that I've managed to miss Admiral Flea Market? I mean, I knew it was there. I just had no idea what a hot spot it could be on a Sunday afternoon.

Me thinks I need to follow my own advice a little more often.

<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Admiral Flea Market on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4398826947/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4398826947_e6af73a652.jpg" alt="Admiral Flea Market on Route 66" width="500" height="375" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Admiral Flea Market on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4399593728/"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4399593728_f58511fe74.jpg" alt="Admiral Flea Market on Route 66" width="500" height="375" /></a></div>

Something that's easy to love about Route 66 are the roadside signs. The neon ones get a lot of love, but the other types are fun, too.

<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Oasis Motel on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4398826579/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4398826579_c6d880d947.jpg" alt="Oasis Motel on Route 66" width="500" height="375" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Oasis Motel on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4399593164/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4399593164_2246862689.jpg" alt="Oasis Motel on Route 66" width="500" height="375" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="America's Value Inn on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4398826375/"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2770/4398826375_c949af94d7.jpg" alt="America's Value Inn on Route 66" width="375" height="500" /></a></div>

Check it out: the He's Not Here Sports Bar.

Imagine: *ring ring* "Hello? He's Not Here."

Classic.

<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Daylight Donuts on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4398825975/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4398825975_1a6c5cc7a8.jpg" alt="Daylight Donuts on Route 66" width="375" height="500" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Daylight Donuts on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4399592770/"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2779/4399592770_9e37985d3e.jpg" alt="Daylight Donuts on Route 66" width="500" height="375" /></a></div>

I told my husband while we were driving that one could easily start a blog about Route 66 roadside signs. Or Route 66 tattoo/piercing parlors - there are as many as one per block along certain stretches of Tulsa's slice of the Mother Road.

Hotels and motels, too.

<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Brookshire Motel on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4398826263/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/4398826263_8718999d9c.jpg" alt="Brookshire Motel on Route 66" width="375" height="500" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Brookshire Motel on Route 66 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4398826173/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/4398826173_e7b52478f3.jpg" alt="Brookshire Motel on Route 66" width="500" height="375" /></a></div>

Then, there's this place.

<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="East Central High School on Route 66 in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4399592340/"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2756/4399592340_e4957cfaab.jpg" alt="East Central High School on Route 66 in Tulsa, Oklahoma" width="375" height="500" /></a></div>

That's East Central High School, one of the most interesting school buildings in T-Town. <a href="http://www.willrogershighschool.com/alumni/history.php">Will Rogers High School</a> is great in all of its art deco splendor, but East Central is pretty fabulous, too, if you ask me. 
<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Route 66 in East Tulsa, Oklahoma by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4399592540/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4399592540_2e17920699.jpg" alt="Route 66 in East Tulsa, Oklahoma" width="375" height="500" /></a></div>
Something I wish I had known when I was younger is exactly how much fun it is to cruise Route 66 as it winds and meanders around town. It passes through parts of my old stomping grounds in Sapulpa, which makes me wonder why none of the boys I dated in high school were clever enough to take me out on a Route 66-themed drive. Or a Route 66-themed date, even.

I guess that's why I married the guy with all the good ideas.

<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="LaFortune Park by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4100931155/"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2539/4100931155_4b80874191.jpg" alt="LaFortune Park" width="375" height="500" /></a></div>

What are your favorite stops along Tulsa's stretch of Route 66?

This post was originally