Bartlesville, Oklahoma

For forty miles north of Tulsa, the monotony of the plains is relieved only by clumps of spindly scrub oaks. Then comes quiet Bartlesville, dominated by the extraordinary, anachronistic Price Tower (Tues– Sat 10am–5pm, Sun noon–5pm; tours Tues– Sat 11am and 2pm, Sun 2pm). This cantilevered green oddity, at Sixth Street and Dewey Avenue, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1956 and resembles a tall tree. Today it holds art galleries, the stylish Copper Restaurant + Bar, on its 15th and 16th floors, and the modern Inn at Price Tower, an Arts and Crafts-style hotel (Tel:1-877/424-2424; Price: $131-160). The Frank Phillips Home, 1107 SE Cherokee Ave (Wed– Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 1–5pm; $3 suggested donation), built in 1908 by the founder of Phillips Oil, displays oil wealth at its gaudiest, with gold faucets, mirrored ceilings, and marble floors. More impressive is his Woolaroc Ranch, thirteen miles southwest in the Osage Hills, now a wildlife refuge and museum of Western art and history (daily 10am–5pm; Sept– May closed Mon; $8; 4.30pm last admission; Tel:1-888/966-5276, Web: www.woolaroc.org ), where over sixty thousand artifacts are scattered throughout seven huge rooms. Paintings and decorative art, from Native American works to the epic Western scenes of Remington and Russell, line the walls, while artifacts belonging to various tribes, pioneers, and cowboys are gathered in too great an abundance to take in. Look out for the 95-million-year-old dinosaur egg, exquisite Navajo blankets, scalps taken by Native Americans, and Buffalo Bill's weathered saddle. If the pricey tower downtown is out of your lodging budget, opt for the bare bones lodging Travellers Motel, 3105 SE Frank Phillips Blvd (Tel:918/333-1900; Price: Up to $35).