"Rock Star" road tripper checking in! Self-proclaimed anyway! Road trips and visits to all 50 states are my game. Find your next road trip destinations here. Fill your bucket list with fantastic US journeys. I love road trips and spare no effort in making my travels and experiences inviting for members of the road-tripping family! Pick a trip you want to take, or get inspired to plan your own. - - The Driveby Tourist (or call me Stan!)
Giant Gesture in Tulsa! 🤲✨
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If you’re cruising through Tulsa, Oklahoma, you’re bound to see a landmark that is truly "larger than life." Maybe you're driving Route 66, which goes through Tulsa and is near here? Standing tall at the entrance of Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a sight that stops travelers in their tracks: the world’s largest bronze sculpture of Praying Hands. 🤲🏛️ These massive hands, weighing a staggering 30 tons and reaching 60 feet into the sky, have a history as large as the statue itself. They were originally commissioned by the famous televangelist Oral Roberts to serve as the grand centerpiece for his ambitious project: the City of Faith Medical and Research Center. 🏥💉 The vision was to create a place where medicine and prayer worked hand-in-hand to heal. However, the story took a turn when the City of Faith faced financial struggles and eventually went bankrupt, closing its doors in 1989. With the hospital complex shuttered, the statue needed a new place to call home. In 1991, the hands were carefully moved to their current location at Billy Joe Daugherty Circle, right at the main entrance of the ORU campus. 🏗️🔄 (Today’s Premium edition includes a personal note about these praying hands!) Today, this iconic statue is one of the most popular free roadside attractions in the region. It’s a powerful, impressive piece of art that offers a great photo op for anyone passing through the "Oil Capital of the World." Whether you’re interested in the history of the university or you just love a quirky, oversized landmark, the Praying Hands are a classic Oklahoma stop you can't miss! 📸✨ Stay curious, The Driveby Tourist Team ✌️🗺️ (For a picture and bonus information including a personal note, see the premium link below and here.) "A giant symbol of enduring hope.” Classic Rock song: "Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum Please email me about your unusual stops on Route 66… or anywhere! Here is the Premium Subscription page: You will get early access to new blog posts, one extra weekly newsletter, and access to all past newsletters. And occasionally, I'll ask for votes on content! Stan Featured Post: I saw this attraction when driving Route 66. See the post about it here. |
Stan Wiebe
"Rock Star" road tripper checking in! Self-proclaimed anyway! Road trips and visits to all 50 states are my game. Find your next road trip destinations here. Fill your bucket list with fantastic US journeys. I love road trips and spare no effort in making my travels and experiences inviting for members of the road-tripping family! Pick a trip you want to take, or get inspired to plan your own. - - The Driveby Tourist (or call me Stan!)
Road trips have a funny way of taking us to places we never expected. In Baker, Montana, one of those stops involves a steer who was anything but ordinary. 🐂 Meet Steer Montana, the world’s largest steer on display at O'Fallon Historical Museum. He weighed an astonishing 3,980 pounds, stood nearly six feet tall, and measured more than 10 feet long. That’s one seriously large, beefy road-trip companion! 😄 Steer Montana was born near Baker in 1923. His owner, Jack Guth, became something of a...
Sometimes the best travel discoveries happen when you get off the main tourist trail. Putnam, Connecticut, is one of those places. Tucked into northeastern Connecticut’s Quiet Corner, Putnam feels a little out of the way. That makes it a perfect place to find something unusual. And unusual is exactly what you will find along Main Street. Putnam is home to a collection of tiny fairy doors hidden around downtown. They are easy to miss if you are not paying attention. Once you know they are...
One of my favorite parts of a road trip is finding places I never expected to love. The Crystal Shrine Grotto in Memphis is exactly that kind of stop. It's tucked away inside Memorial Park Cemetery, making it a true off-the-beaten-path discovery. 🌟 (Disclaimer: The information is from my research. I didn't visit here in person.) Step inside, and you'll find a peaceful cave sparkling with tons of quartz crystal. Beautiful scenes from the life of Jesus fill the grotto, while soft lighting and...