DISCOVER GREAT PLAINS

Heritage In Oklahoma

Want to see the American frontier? Head to Oklahoma! Visit Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve in Bartlesville to tour world-class art, artifacts and wildlife. For a helping of small-town hospitality from food blogger and TV star Ree Drummond, stop by the Pioneer Woman Mercantile in Pawhuska. Then, feast your eyes on a treasure trove from across the globe at the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art in Shawnee — from ancient paintings to the state’s only mummy! Wrap up at the Marland Mansion in Ponca City, built in 1928. Now, it’s an architectural masterpiece full of fine art!

Get the full itinerary plus more ideas for group excursions at TravelOK.com/Group.

Cadillac Ranch

AMARILLO,

Texas

Considered the Stonehenge of the 1970s, Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, is a manmade wonder that can clearly be seen from Route 66. An artists group called The Ant Farm wanted to create a public art installation in the area and settled on placing 10 Cadillacs made between 1949 and 1963 nose down in the dirt. The display showed off the cars’ distinctive tailfins and the evolution of the Cadillac. When first placed in the ground, the cars were the colors they were when they left the factory floor. But in the 1980s, visitors started writing messages on the cars with spray paint. Now, the ability to make their mark on this art piece is one of the installation’s biggest draws. Visitors can buy spray paint and Cadillac Ranch memorabilia at a stand near the sculpture, which is in a wheat field about 100 yards off the road.

FACEBOOK.COM/1974CADILLACRANCH

Sid’s Diner El Reno, Oklahoma

Originally in the El Reno Hotel, Sid’s Diner moved to Route 66 in El Reno, Oklahoma, in 1989 when the current owner’s father and grandfather purchased the business and built a new location at the crossroads of America, the corner of Route 66 and U.S. 81, the old Chisholm Trail.

“There’s not another corner like it in America,” said Adam Hall, grandson and son of the founders. He and his wife Carmen own the restaurant.

Sid’s Diner is known worldwide for its onion-fried burgers and Coney Island dogs. It has been featured on the Food Network, and its onion-fried burgers were voted in the top five burgers in America. The diner was featured on “Man vs. Food” on The Travel Channel.

Onion-fried burgers were invented in El Reno during the Great Depression, when meat was expensive, but onions were cheap. Using onions as a filler made the meat stretch further, and the flavors were a hit. Most of Sid’s Diner’s customers are travelers. Along with the burgers, guests love the restaurant’s spin on the Coney Island dog, topped with chili and a sweet, peppery cabbage-based slaw that is mixed with mustard. The slaw is so popular the restaurant sells jars of it nationwide.

Everything at the diner is homemade, from 100 percent all-beef hamburger patties and hand-cut French fries to the slaw. Between 600 and 700 hamburgers are served daily, nearly 1,000 a day on weekends.

SIDSDINERELRENO.COM