Route 66, the Admiral Twin and the Blue Whale

        Route 66 was one of the stars of the day in my hometown of Tulsa, Okla.
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Route 66, community leaders in Tulsa spearheaded the Capital Cruise on Saturday, May 30, breaking a Guinness World Record for the longest car parade with 3,596 vintage and historic vehicles.
        The record was previously held by Puerto Rico who in 2017 held a parade with 2,491 vehicles.
The event drew an estimated 100,000 spectators that lined the 5.5 mile route along the famous highway (11th Street) in Tulsa.
       According to news on the event from Tulsa, organizers said more than 5,000 vehicles registered for the event, with participants traveling from 42 states, Canada and France to take part in the record-setting parade.
        Apparently there were some traffic issues and not everyone was able to partake in the event. According to one Tulsa television station, there were some participants who were turned away at the gate due to bottlenecks and traffic jams on the routes leading to Expo Square (Tulsa State Fairgrounds) where the cars were staged.
        There were a lot of negative comments about the logistics of event on social media. Some folks were quite upset. Many car owners sat in their cars from two – four hours waiting to get into the fairgrounds. I’m sure If I drove a vehicle to Tulsa and was turned away, I’d be upset, too. I don’t know if anyone will have satisfying answer as to what happened.
          Derek Bieri, owner of Vice Grip Garage, a vehicle rescue business in Lewisburg, Tenn., and a member of the parade grand marshals, apologized to those who traveled to Tulsa and were unable to participate in the event.
       “I am deeply saddened, completely gutted, and ultimately embarrassed that thousands of you were denied the opportunity to participate in the world-record parade run and were turned away at the gate,” noted Bieri in a social media post.
        Other parade marshals included Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols, Route 66 historian and author Michael Wallis, Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell and family members of Route 66 founder Cyrus Avery.
         Avery (Aug. 31, 1871 – July 2, 1963) was a businessperson, oilman, and highway commissioner who is noted for creating Route 66 as a member of the federal board appointed to create the Federal Highway System. He then pushed for the establishment of the U.S. Highway 66 Association.
        The lead vehicle in the event was a 1929 Tulsa Police Model A named “Justice.” The vehicle was completely burned and totaled in a massive shop fire in December 2025.
          Despite the setback, Tulsa Police Officers Charles and Samantha Ramsey bought the vehicle back from salvage and worked day and night for three months to rebuild it in time for the parade.
         “Their hard work paid off, and the fully restored “Justice” successfully lead the pack of cars in the parade” noted parade officials.
           Other vehicles  included the “Herbie Love Bug 53,” “Ghostbusters,” the “1966 Batmobile,” Jurassic Park,” and a replica of the “Back to the Future” car.
The final car in cruise was an authentic, Route 66-era 1937 Oklahoma Highway Patrol vehicle.
The Admiral Twin
          The Admiral Twin is a historic twin drive-in movie theater in Tulsa that celebrated 75-years with a double feature of “The Outsiders” and “Cool Hand Luke” on Friday, May 29.
             The “Outsiders” was a movie made from a book with the same name by Tulsa author S.E. Hinton, who attended my high school, Will Rogers. I’ve never met Hinton as she’s about 15-years older than me. I have reached out to her for an interview without success.
            Writing about the Admiral Twin reminds me of a story I heard from Iowa City author Larry Baker. Baker was a guest speaker at the 2015 All-Iowa Writers’ Conference held in Montezuma.
            In the late 1960s, Baker lived in Tulsa and was the manager of the Admiral Twin. He shared a story about the time that a dead body was discovered in the women’s restroom after a movie goer complained of a smell in the toilet.
            Baker wrote about the incident in his book, “Flamingo Rising,” which fictionalizes a true event as the Admiral Twin is never mentioned.            
            After consoling with his family, who helped run the drive-in, Baker wrote that it was decided to wait until everyone had cleared out before moving the body from the women’s restroom to her vehicle, a 1968 Ford station wagon, dark blue with fake wood siding. The dealer tags were still on the vehicle’s window.
           “If the police are called with this woman on the toilet, she has died on our property,” Baker wrote in his book and noted in sharing his story. “If they are to investigate a dead woman sitting in her car, then she has died on her own property.”
           Several hours had passed from her discovery and rigor had set in until family helped move the body. 
        “She will be stiff, but she will be stiff in the sitting position. Makes it easier to slide her back under the wheel,” Baker went on to write.
         The book goes on to share about how the family successfully moved the dead woman to her car and then called the police to investigate.
          “Logic was not my strong suit,” Baker wrote when I reached out to him about the event. “I rationalized it by thinking that I was doing her a favor, so that her family’s memory of her death would not become a bad joke (dying on toilet, etc.).”
           I guess there are stranger things in life.
The Blue Whale
           A couple months ago I wrote about the Blue Whale on Route 66 near Catoosa, northeast of Tulsa.
          On the afternoon of May 30, a groundbreaking on a $2 million upgrade to the iconic Route 66 roadside attraction was held, which included construction of a new visitor’s center, new neon signage, expanded parking and updated restrooms.
      There’s lots going on in the Tulsa area and all along Route 66 in celebration of the highway’s 100thbirthday.
          Next time Debbie and I are in the Tulsa area, we plan to stop and check out the new updates and maybe pick up a new T-shirt of the Blue Whale.
          Remember that Good Things are Happening, every day and always.