He even smiled a couple of times!
About lunch time, we passed through the small town of Seiling, Oklahoma. Of course, we had to stop there for lunch because I just had to make jokes about, "Oh, what a feeling...", and I wanted to dance in Seiling! So, we pulled into the Crooked Arrow Cafe, the only restaurant we saw in town.
Those of you who know me know that I grew up in a small town in rural Kentucky. In that town, diversity meant that people with different colors of hair were accepted, whether that hair color was blond, brown, red, or black. Whether that hair was your natural color or dyed. It did not apply to hair colors that people were not naturally born with, such as blue, green, etc. Diversity in religion included Baptist, Christian, and Methodist churches. A few folks attended a Catholic church in one of the neighboring counties, but those were the only churches in the entire county. Granted, the county was small. The population of the town probably quadrupled for the Fourth of July celebration that happened in front of the court house. It was very politically conservative at the time and probably still is. There were a total of two people of color in the county while I lived there, and at least one of them vehemently denied any African ancestry. Most of the people were "poor but proud", and the makeup of the residents is probably still similar. According to the censuses, the population tends to bounce around 200 to 300 residents.
The point of this is that I'm no stranger to redneck, conservative, rural towns. Seiling, Oklahoma, reminded me very much of my hometown, but a little bit bigger. In fact, the total area of Seiling is almost exactly double the area of my home town (0.4 versus 0.8 sq mi). According to the 2010 census numbers, it's about 2.5 times larger than my hometown with a higher per capita in come and lower poverty rate.
My home town probably could be considered very politically progressive compared to Seiling, though. In fact, I don't believe I have ever been in a place that was so insular. We had driven right into the middle of 'Murca, Dammit!, and I kind of felt dancing would be frowned upon. We just missed the buffet, so we had to order from the menu. The menu featured the normal steaks (grilled or chicken fried) and other dishes, including calf fries. The striking part was the names of some of the entrees and selections. You could order sweet potato fries, waffle fries, tater tots, or American fries, but there were no French fries to be found. Bruce ordered a hot roast (like a hot Brown) which came with salad and Ranch dressing. Our waitress was very sweet and said it was a good day, so she would consider letting him have some French dressing if he really wanted it! I wanted to try the calf fries, but wanted to make sure I knew what they were. In true conservative fashion, our waitress blushed and whispered when she confirmed that they were calf balls. She did tell us that they are not so big and juicy as the (whispered) balls (back to normal volume) that she gets in Oklahoma City! The food was very good, but it's most definitely American fare, right down to their American fries! I liked the calf fries, but probably won't order them again. They do actually taste a little bit like overcooked fried oysters. Apparently, we left a fortune in the fields every year when we banded the bull calves to make them steers.
As we were driving toward Kansas, through the remainder of Dewey County and the counties north, we noticed there were no foreign cars or equipment. In the entire trip through all the small towns from Seiling until we reached the Kansas state line, we saw only one car that wasn't Ford, Chevy, or GMC. It was a BMW. I didn't even see a single Kubota tractor. It was mostly John Deer and Case/International Harvester with a few Caterpillar and Massey Fergusons thrown in. We saw one tiny Catholic church that appeared to be hiding and several huge Baptist churches. Even Bruce felt a little out of place, and he was wearing his ball cap that said, "Veteran", cammo pants, and a T-shirt, proudly carrying his concealed carry permit! We might want to stick to the interstates and larger cities the next time we go through 'Murca, Dammit!
We finally left 'Murca, Dammit! and made it to Dodge City, Kansas!
We walked around town a little bit before having dinner at Miss Kitty's Cafe and tucking into bed for the night, knowing that Sheriff Wyatt Earp was watching over us.
Dodge City will be the subject of the next post!
The point of this is that I'm no stranger to redneck, conservative, rural towns. Seiling, Oklahoma, reminded me very much of my hometown, but a little bit bigger. In fact, the total area of Seiling is almost exactly double the area of my home town (0.4 versus 0.8 sq mi). According to the 2010 census numbers, it's about 2.5 times larger than my hometown with a higher per capita in come and lower poverty rate.
My home town probably could be considered very politically progressive compared to Seiling, though. In fact, I don't believe I have ever been in a place that was so insular. We had driven right into the middle of 'Murca, Dammit!, and I kind of felt dancing would be frowned upon. We just missed the buffet, so we had to order from the menu. The menu featured the normal steaks (grilled or chicken fried) and other dishes, including calf fries. The striking part was the names of some of the entrees and selections. You could order sweet potato fries, waffle fries, tater tots, or American fries, but there were no French fries to be found. Bruce ordered a hot roast (like a hot Brown) which came with salad and Ranch dressing. Our waitress was very sweet and said it was a good day, so she would consider letting him have some French dressing if he really wanted it! I wanted to try the calf fries, but wanted to make sure I knew what they were. In true conservative fashion, our waitress blushed and whispered when she confirmed that they were calf balls. She did tell us that they are not so big and juicy as the (whispered) balls (back to normal volume) that she gets in Oklahoma City! The food was very good, but it's most definitely American fare, right down to their American fries! I liked the calf fries, but probably won't order them again. They do actually taste a little bit like overcooked fried oysters. Apparently, we left a fortune in the fields every year when we banded the bull calves to make them steers.
As we were driving toward Kansas, through the remainder of Dewey County and the counties north, we noticed there were no foreign cars or equipment. In the entire trip through all the small towns from Seiling until we reached the Kansas state line, we saw only one car that wasn't Ford, Chevy, or GMC. It was a BMW. I didn't even see a single Kubota tractor. It was mostly John Deer and Case/International Harvester with a few Caterpillar and Massey Fergusons thrown in. We saw one tiny Catholic church that appeared to be hiding and several huge Baptist churches. Even Bruce felt a little out of place, and he was wearing his ball cap that said, "Veteran", cammo pants, and a T-shirt, proudly carrying his concealed carry permit! We might want to stick to the interstates and larger cities the next time we go through 'Murca, Dammit!
We finally left 'Murca, Dammit! and made it to Dodge City, Kansas!
We walked around town a little bit before having dinner at Miss Kitty's Cafe and tucking into bed for the night, knowing that Sheriff Wyatt Earp was watching over us.
Dodge City will be the subject of the next post!
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