Weatherford, OK

The ride from Hydro to Weatherford is along the I-40 frontage road, but you will pass the original Lucille's. It was built by Carl Ditmore in 1929. In 1934, it was bought by W.O. Waldrop. In 1941 Lucille and Carl Hammons bought it and operated it as a service station, restaurant and motel for 59 years. 

There is a new Lucilles on the edge of town that was built in 2006. It has a wing that has a classic 1950s diner motif. The other half is a casual steak house with a country music flair.

Weatherford is home of the Thomas P. Stafford Space Museum. There is a fighter plane at the entrance. Many of the exhibits are replicas, like reproductions of the Spitit of St Louis, the Wright Brothers' plane and several NASA space capsules and lunar modules. But there is a lot of authentic stuff too. There are general Stafford's actual space suits and his Congressional Medal of Honor.

Perhaps the coolest authentic exhibit is the actual control panel used at the Johnson Space Center during the Apollo missions. Compared to modern equipment, it looks like a toy. But it got a lot of Astronauts to the moon and back.

There also are a bunch of real rocket engines and some real fighter planes, including a Russian MIG.

Main Street Weatherford is a mix of old and newer buildings and the town has retained a community like character. There are plenty of hotels and restaurants. Jerry's on Main St serves breakfast all day. It has photos of classic diners from all over the country, including to my surprise, the Garden Restaurant in Middletown, CT near where I grew up. The Garden Restaurant is long gone. Who knows, if you stop in, you might find a photo of one of your own lost childhood favorites.

Fort Sill is south of Weatherford. Gerinimo is buried there.