50 States for 50 Years: 49. Oklahoma

This leg of our adventure was actually driven. We left after school and drove up to Oklahoma City, OK. After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we headed to Cattlemen's Steakhouse located in Stockyards City. There isn't much to the Stockyards in OKC so it was very easy to find, just look for the place with all the cars. The wait wasn't too bad and we waited upstairs for our pager to go off. We sat at a booth right under a picture of Walter Brennan, a cowboy actor from years ago. The USDA Prime Beef Blue Ribbon Special was a 14 oz. ribeye. I ordered mine medium rare and Dennis ordered the pepper steak he had heard about. Entrees are accompanied with salad, baked potato, and fresh homemade bread. We also selected a side of sautéed mushrooms. The salad was just how Dennis likes them, mostly lettuce. The salads were served with some thin, buttery, toasted bread slices that could be crumbled and sprinkled on top. To tell the truth, I didn't crumble mine, I just ate them since they were so good. The steaks soon arrived and we weren't disappointed. The ribeye was cooked perfectly and one of the best steaks I've eaten. It wasn't a seasoned steak, but one aged to perfection so the true flavor of the beef was prevalent. Dennis's pepper steak was a little under cooked for him but with all that thick, beefy gravy covering the sirloin you could hardly tell. The peppercorns on top made the difference with each bite. The sautéed button mushrooms were simple yet delicious. They reminded us of our all time favorite mushrooms we had many years ago that were served sliced in a small cast iron skillet. He thinks they were in Austin, I think they were in Waco. We'll just have o take a road trip down to the hill country to settle that discussion.
The next morning we drove towards the Chisholm Trail to Okarche, Ok to taste some of the supposedly best fried chicken at Oklahoma's oldest bar, Eischen's. Everything we

saw stated they opened at 11am and we were happy to see when we arrived at 10:30 that they really opened at 10. We entered the bar and found a booth to sit at. I was surprised how many people were already there. The tables are reminiscent of a small country cafe. There are few options on the menu but that's fine since they are known for their chicken which is ordered as a whole chicken. We ordered one to sample now and one to take back to Texas. The only drink options are "beer, water, and pop" according to the waitress.

The couple sitting a few booths away ordered the Frito pie made with homemade chili and it smelled so good when they were served we ordered one to. It was good and would be even better on a cold day. Don't be in a hurry when you go here, the chicken is fried to order so it takes a little while. The whole chicken, cut in pieces, soon arrived accompanied by pickles, onions, and bread. The bread and butter pickles were some of the best we've had but enough about the sides, the chicken is what we came for. The skin was crunchy and a light golden brown, not at all greasy. This was true country fried chicken at its best. No marinating, just fried so the meat is tender and juicy. After sharing a couple of pieces we packed up our leftovers and headed back to Arlington, after all we had an LSU game to get to,
When we crossed the Red River in to Texas we could officially state that we had been to all 50 states in one year. I wanted to count Texas last since that's where I live now. How appropriate it was to attend an LSU game in Cowboy Stadium which is located in Arlington, the city I live in now.