I am heading there Friday through Monday morning to cook in a KCBS BBQ contest, our first one of 2015. Anything exciting there to do for the better half? Of course I will have plenty to do, on Friday night such as light smoker, rub meat, drink beer. Saturday night will be the same plans as it is a double contest.
Weather looks great too - and no tornadoes are forecasted that weekend - Always a good thing.
> I am heading there Friday ...
It's pronounced Miam-ah. Make no mistake. There is a casino not far away, just across Kansas line.
You go the lead mines about 8 miles north, Picher, OK, the town that is sinking into the mines. It may be the one of the most polluted places in the USA.
No,no,no,no
No casino in Southeast Kansas. The Downstream Casino to which you must be referring has the gambling in Oklahoma and the parking lot in Kansas. Yes, you drive into Kansas to get to it, but only by a few hundred feet from the tri-state monument, then walk back into Oklahoma to spend your money.
There are a dozen or more casinos close to Miami. Some feature entertainers and other things like MMA fighting and boxing from time to time. Do a search for Oklahoma casinos. Joplin is nearby with tons of shopping opportunities along with typical entertainment options.
The grey lines represent the State lines between Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.
Our Sovereign neighbors and their boundaries
> No casino in Southeast Kansas. The Downstream Casino to which you must be referring has the gambling in Oklahoma and the parking lot in Kansas. Yes, you drive into Kansas to get to it, but only by a few hundred feet from the tri-state monument, then walk back into Oklahoma to spend your money.
One could write a book about the casinos in Oklahoma and their hoop-jumping to comply with state & federal wishes. The last one I worked on had about half and half native nation v state property. Of course all of the devil's binnus (gambling and drinking and dancing) occurs on sovereign native soil. All the parking, hotels and satellite parcel for retail sit on regular ol' Oklahoma dirt.
Since this was out in the middle of nowhere, the Tribal Nation needed a water supply and waste water treatment. Although the WWTP was on tribal land and not actually in Oklahoma...the effluent was discharged into a creek that (within a few hundred feet) entered Oklahoma. So the DEQ (Dept. of Environmental Quality) felt they had jurisdiction over the approval and construction of the treatment facilities. The Native Tribe felt otherwise, since complying with the DEQ would triple the cost of the treatment plant. They argued a lot. I'm pretty sure the Tribal attorneys had bigger tomahawks than the State boys.
That's been a few years. I'm betting by now they've ironed it out and tripped over all the "details" of building a complex that straddles international borders.
That was an interesting google earth explore - flyover. Very eeerie...
Mickey Mantle's father woked in those mines and died at an early age of Hodgkins.
Mantle grew up in Commerce and graduated HS.
He played for Joplin and OKC before settling in the Bronx.
No,no,no,no
The contest is at the Buffalo Run casino closer to Miami. The Tri-state monument may be worth a visit though. Looks accessable from Google Earth.
Gee, I thought GoogleEarth eliminated the need for surveyors
Shouldn't the state lines go right through that big monument looking thing?:-D
Survey Selfies
I'm thinkin' when it warms a bit I need to get a selfie there with one of my scooters. That is one of the few state corners in Oklahoma you can actually drive to...
I'm not much of a gambler, but I could throw back a few "White Russians" in honor of the "Dude" while I was there..
Did I hear BBQ?
Hey St Louis...
I am an official KCBS judge, (well, I let it lapse.) And my buddy and I used to compete up here. We've been cooking since early 2003, and were doing pretty good, starting to win.
But then my wife and I started the fam, and the competition team had to take a back seat.
At the height, we were cooking with a Lang 5 foot cooker for the big ones, but our best placing competitions we always used our Smokey mountain bullet cookers.
We still do a little cooking every now and then, usually a boy scout event or two. But, frankly the money started adding up for me. Not my team mate, though... although he quit competitive cooking, he is now racing cars... (eye roll) LOL
craig
Did I hear BBQ?
Craig,
That's awesome that you are a KCBS judge. I am a judge too but really we cook more than judging. This is our 8th year! we do fairly well. We cook 10 contests a year.
Brewmasters BBQ is the team name.
Ryan
Gee, I thought GoogleEarth eliminated the need for surveyors
The monument is obviously off a bit ... needs to be moved. Someone can pick the coordinates from google earth and use a Garmin to get it in the right place.
Gee, I thought GoogleEarth eliminated the need for surveyors
> Shouldn't the state lines go right through that big monument looking thing?:-D
It actually goes to that whitish square on the right. The round monument was a WPA thing, just not in quite the right place. Absolutely driveable, only the last 1/4 mile or so is gravel.
> That was an interesting google earth explore - flyover. Very eeerie...
Whoa! You got that straight.
To enter the twilight zone, fly to this location east of beautiful Harrel Park:
36°58'41.57"N, 94°49'44.66"W
... zoom in a bit to an eye altitude of about 1500' to get a good lookie loo at the landscape and then drop the street view guy down onto S. Emily Street next to the coord.
You can step back through the historic aerials and see that the demolishing happens just shortly after the street view in 2008.
Yeah, I had noticed that Mark. I then googled Picher and saw that 2008 was the year of the big tornado that wiped a lot of the town out. Which was slated for buyout and destruction anyway.
Rascal Flatts
Joe Don Rooney aka J.D. Rooney was (Born on September 13, 1975 in Baxter Springs, Kansas) and raised in Picher, Oklahoma. Joe Don Rooney is an American musician and the lead guitarist and high octave harmony singer in the American country pop trio Rascal Flatts.
So the town is still accessible to the public? This would be an interesting side trip worth taking.
I learned to Pincushion from the best of 'em...
😀
Rascal Flatts
> (Born on September 13, 1975 in Baxter Springs, Kansas)
And James McMurtry waxes poetic about Baxter Springs in the song Choctaw Bingo:
Ruth Ann and Lynn come down from Baxter Springs
That's one hell raisin' town way up in Southeastern Kansas
Got a biker bar next to the lingerie store
That's got them Rolling Stones lips up there in bright pink neon
And they're right down town where everyone can see 'em
And they burn all night you know they burn all night you know they burn all night
