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Published: September 19th 2005
Overholser Mansion
This is the view from the sidewalk. A very beautiful old home.It's hard to believe that our stay in OKC is over. We leave early tomorrow morning. We have had a nice visit.
Since our last update we've done quite a lot. We went on a tour of the Overholser Mansion, went to the Oklahoma State Fair and visited Bricktown.
The Overholser Mansion is a beautiful 3 story home that was completed in 1903 for Henry and Anna Overholser. Mr. Overholser was a very wealthy man before he came to Oklahoma a few days after the Land Run in 1889. He was very active in the Oklahoma State Fair and instrumental in ensuring the state capital of Oklahoma ended up in Oklahoma City. The tour guide told us that the mansion's total cost including labor was $38,000. She also told us that 99% of the mansion including furnishings are original. The painted ceilings, rugs, decorations are all original. It is amazing to know you are walking around in a grand home with the family's original belongings. One interesting fact is that Anna Overholser was very active in "The Chafing Dish Society" in Oklahoma City (fancy way of saying casserole). The membership dues were $1000....YIKES! The club is still active to
Overholser Mansion Living Room
This is the 2nd floor living room as redecorated by the Overholser's daughter Henry. She lived there until her death in 1954. this day. In fact they are hosting a black tie dinner party on 9/30/05 to raise money to preserve the Overholser Mansion.
Last Friday night we went to the Oklahoma State Fair. We didn't know what to expect since we are in a state that is quite well known for it's Western spirit. Wow....what an adventure! There were plenty of 'old fashioned' livestock, 4-H displays and such. There were also a lot of rides, concession stands, cold beer stands and people. Kim and Ivan rode on a lot of the carnival rides and had a blast. After her sixth or seventh ride of the night....we decided on some more calm activities 😊
We listened to some people 'singing' karaoke. I use the term "singing" VERY loosely. I noticed that the karaoke tent was sponsored by a beer tent. Hmmmm....coincidence? We suffered through a particularly horrendous rendition of "Lady Marmalade" and then moved on.
We soaked up the atmosphere and looked at some of the vendors and 4-H displays then called it a night.
Saturday we went to Bricktown which is located in downtown OKC. There are several restaurants, bars and shops along a canal.
Overholser Mansion Parlor
This is the 1st floor living room with all original furnishings. Mr.Overholser's funeral was in this room. We wanted to see Toby Keith's "I LOVE THIS BAR AND GRILL" but they didn't open until 3:00pm. So we took a couple pictures and then left. We also took some pictures outside of SBC Baseball Park. They had a sculpture of Mickey Mantle (Oklahoma native) out front that was beautiful.
Since then we have been relaxing and preparing for our next drive through Texas and New Mexico.
Today we saw the movie "Skeleton Key" and thought it was pretty good. It was filmed in and around New Orleans and the scenery was kinda neat.
I don't know when we'll update the blog again.....but STAY TUNED. Our next adventure will take us to the Wild, Wild West.
MJ and Kim
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Kate Hildebrand
Kate Hildebrand
Just stumbled upon
I'm glad you had a good time here in OKC, especially at the fair!