I have been trying to pick out interesting stops that are somehow related to the history of Route 66 for this trip. Dan has been focusing on National Parks and National Historic Sites. An attraction comes up quite a bit in this area called the Blue Whale of Catoosa, which was built in 1970 (so at the later end of the hey days of highway 66). The reviews were good (4.5+ with over 2,600 reviews on Google) and it looked really kitch, so I put it on my list. Below are some of the photos and I’ll comment our feelings afterwards.
I will admit to a sort of laughing ‘oh my god’ statement as the site came into view from the road. I mean really, it’s a blue whale in a body of water only slightly bigger than a cattle pond. That part wasn’t a surprise. I knew it, but to actually come upon it was a laugh out loud moment for me. Dan was driving so he really didn’t get a good look at it until we parked.
After parking near the tumbled remains of the arc, also pictured above, we got out and wandered around the property. The whale, from a distance, looked like it probably had in the beginning. Blue and big and corny. I think it was always supposed to be corny, at least I hope so. But when we took Duncan on a tour of the inside of the whale we realized there was something troubling this huge mammal. I don’t think it was anything as easy as the whale’s issues with Jonah, although it did sort of look like something threw up in this pond, too. Inside the whale’s belly, the two sliding exits on either side which emptied kids from the whale into the pond were boarded up and a sign was posted ‘No Swimming’. The upper palette of the whale was also boarded up so the ladder leading up to his second story ports were not accessible. It could be that he just wasn’t feeling up to kids sliding out of his gills (wait, what?) or crawling around in his head anymore.
Three people were fishing in the pond from the edge and I think one photo bombed my picture of Dan on the great whale’s back. The signs said the pond was ‘catch and release only’.
When I walked Duncan out to the whale he made a side trip into the place where the site attendant was located. She said he was welcome to come back after he visited the whale because she loved dogs. So after our visit I brought him back to meet her. She was in one of the two other buildings on the site. One was a restroom made to look like a grass hut. A fifty-two year old grass hut, keep in mind. Her gift shop and site administration building wasn’t much better. She was a very pleasant woman and enjoyed meeting Duncan, as he did her, but I could not find anything in there of interest. I did want to purchase something because there wasn’t an entrance fee or anything and someone had to be paying her. I saw a penny rolling machine with four different stamped designs that could be rolled into the pennies so I went out to ask Dan if he wanted to add to his collection.
Long story short, he said he couldn’t go into the building because the whole thing made him too sad because it was so pathetic. This statement came from a guy that grew up in the Philippines where there are beautiful white sand beaches, but also plenty of extreme poverty and extraordinarily pathetic sites.
In the end, I have to say that the thing both of us carried away from this visit was sadness. For a simpler time of fun, for a time when a new, clean, concrete pond held a shiny blue whale. For a time when some person did not have to sit in what is truly a shack and try to sell one and two dollar Route 66 souvenirs and postcards to people that don’t write postcards anymore. But most of all to what is the tail end of something that someone spent time, effort, and money on fifty years ago and now is just slowly sliding back into the earth. I’m not going to do my own google review because it would be sad and seem mean, but this is a stop I would put on your ‘miss’ list.
On a brighter note, we got to our next stop, Amarillo, TX late afternoon. It’s Texas so we had some really good options for meals with beef. We chose to order from a restaurant called Sweetgrass. When I went to pick up the meal (it was little more than across the parking lot of the hotel) the place was packed and full of people having a good time. It took a little longer than I anticipated to get the food, but it was so worth the wait. This was by far the best take out meal I’ve had in years. Do you expect pics of the food? Sorry, it’s take out. The food was yummy, but it’s plastic, paper, etc. Not much to photograph.
And with that, it’s on to day ten!
