The Merc

Good morning, and happy Tuesday!

I've been preparing to head to Virginia Beach this weekend to teach at the Dyeing to Stitch fall retreat, and I am so excited about it! The threads, charts, and models have all been sent and are awaiting the attendees!

Before I leave, however, I'd like to finally get on here and share those Pioneer Woman pictures I was talking about almost two months ago. 🙁 I apologize for taking so long – the summer has been a very busy one, with lots of house projects and work and more house projects and work. It's been hot and sunny all summer long, and while I do confess to indulging in my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season yesterday, I'm not quite ready to give summer up just yet. (But I suppose that's not up to me, is it?)

Sabrina drove up to Tulsa from Dallas to meet me for a girls' day, and we had so much fun, I want to go back and do it all over again. (I miss my girl terribly.. she's been in Borneo for the past two weeks, and will finally be back in the States tomorrow!) 

Pawhuska is just about an hour north of Tulsa, and the drive is an extremely pleasant one, in my opinion. Cows, trees, open fields – it was all there, and while you would think that living in Nebraska would afford me the same views, it does not; I have to drive a ways out for that from where I live. 

When we were almost there, we drove through a little town that started with a "B," and I rolled the windows down. I'm not sure why I did, but I'm so happy that I did, because I believe it's one of my favorite memories ever… there was not a soul to be found in this town, as it was pre-8:00 am, and everyone was still most likely sleeping or getting ready for the day. The speed limit was only 25 or so, and even with my wheels crunching the gravelly road underneath, I could hear the beautiful sound of quiet. No sirens, no trains, no traffic, no loudly-humming air conditioners… just lovely, never-before-experienced, peace and quiet.

I was very sad when we were past the town and back onto open road.

But the open road didn't last long at all, and suddenly we were there: Pawhuska!

We got there right at around 8:15 or so, and it's a good thing we did, because the line was already at a 45 minute wait. I was warned to get there early, as the line can lead right out into the street – and it does! By the time Sabrina and I were seated, the line was three rows deep. But the Merc workers do a highly efficient job of getting people in and seated, so at least for us, the wait didn't seem overlong.

Once seated, we were overwhelmed with the menu options. But I went straight for the Cowboy Coffee, and holy moley, that was the very best cup of coffee I've ever had in my life, bar none.

I snapped a picture of it on my phone and sent it to Mom at home, but the first thing she honed in on was the cup. 

"I NEED THAT CUP AND SAUCER," she texted.

"IF YOU LEAVE THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA WITHOUT ONE OF THOSE CUPS AND SAUCERS FOR ME, DON'T BOTHER COMING HOME," she texted. 

I'm just kidding. But I could tell she probably texted that and then deleted it because she was afraid I'd report her again.

(I realize I may have some recent readers who don't realize that I do love to tease my mom, so please know I've never actually reported her. I usually just let her slide.)

Anyway, I did end up getting both my mom and I a pink and blue set of the cups and saucers. They're beautiful in person, and a really great diner weight.

I had been just dying to go shopping in the retail part of the Mercantile, which was attached to the restuarant. So when I had to get up from our breakfast to find the restroom, knowing I had to go through the store to get to it, Sabrina said, "Mom, do not look at anything without me! No peeking at all!" 

I did my best not to look, but oh it was hard. There was stuff everywhere! So I hurried back, we finished our breakfast (I'll post my cell phone photos at the end of the post), and then scurried over to shop!

The Coffee Bar was upstairs, so we headed up the grand staircase and stood in line. While we were waiting for our order, I took a few pictures. (And by the way, I ordered the Spicy Cowgirl, which is hands-down the most interesting cold coffee beverage I've ever had! Ree actually has the recipe posted online, so if you like a little fire with your coffee, Google it and make it pronto! I've made at least 147 of them since returning home, which suprises Sophie, because I will scream "SOMEBODY CALL NINE-ONE-ONE"  if I accidentaly ingest a fraction of a jalapeno; so it makes zero sense that I like this beverage.)

After we picked up our pastries and beverages, it was time to hit the road: Sabrina back to Dallas, and I back to Omaha. So back down the grand staircase we went, and we discovered that in the short time we were upstairs, the Mercantile had practically filled to capacity!

We made our purchases and bustled through the crowds to the exit…

And then out into the street to make our way back to our cars. This photo pretty much sums up the entire town of Pawhuska, believe it or not…

The Pioneer Woman crew is currently working in the construction area to add something on to the Mercantile, but I've not yet read what it is they're creating. I'm excited to find out! 

If you are ever in the Tulsa area, do try to make the drive up to Pawhuska! It is such a fun time, and the restaurant food is outstanding.  Sometimes Ree or members of her family will pop in unannounced, which is fun.. some of the ladies at The Silver Needle retreat had told me that Ree had visited while they were there, and told them she's always wanted to try cross stitch.. when Sabrina and I were having our breakfast, Ladd walked in, which was a huge surprise to me! He just casually visited with some of the tables, chatting, which I thought was so nice of him. I was bummed he didn't make his way over to our side of the restaurant, but I snapped a distant photo anyway. 🙂

As promised, here are the cell phone pics I took…

Thank you so much for stopping by, and I hope to see some of you this weekend in Virginia Beach! Travel safe!