Saturday, May 14, 2022
We had a pleasant departure this morning navigating by dead-reckoning until we were back into cellular reception and could use our GPS. We headed west through McAlester then north up the Indian Nation Turnpike ($2.75 toll, speed limit 80), then took I-40 west into Oklahoma City. The Roadrunner RV Park is near downtown right off of I-35. After setting up the RV and a quick lunch of leftover pizza, we headed to THE AMERICAN BANJO MUSEUM!
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| Two Floors of Banjo Bliss |
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| Learning from the Master, Earl Scruggs |
Yahoooo! The American Banjo Museum houses the worlds largest public display of banjos. It contains over 400 instruments as well as recordings, film, video, printed music, books, and other memorabilia associated with the beloved banjo. The history of the banjo is traced from primitive banjos developed by African slaves, the Minstrel Age from the mid-19th century, the classic banjo era of the late 1800s and early 1900s, the jazz era, through traditional and modern bluegrass, folk and world music. ABM also sponsors its own banjo Hall of Fame. We were dazzled by the sparkling collection of banjos many of which were ornately decorated. I was also intrigued to inspect banjo brands and models that I have heard discussed in banjo literature and social fora.
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| Banjos! |
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| Banjos! |
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| And more Banjos! |
The hostess told us that most people spend about 45 minutes in the museum. Ha! We spent about two hours there and I could have stayed much longer but Jane was eager to start Happy Hour. She bribed me out of the banjo museum by texting from the nearby Brickhouse Brewery that she had ordered me an Ol’ King Kolsch. After a beer, we walked to the nearby Melting Pot restaurant and had a delicious four-course fondue meal. We ate heartily but I was shocked when Jane walked away with chocolate left in the dessert fondue pot.