Pioneer Woman - Pawhuska
I'm excited to share pictures with you about our trip to Pawhuska, Oklahoma! I realize this sounds like something very country and the truth is, it IS! Pawhuska is a very small town in Oklahoma. There is nothing too special about it and a year ago I would have laughed about the idea of spending a whole weekend there! So why did we go? We went to see Ree Drummond who is better known as The Pioneer Woman and to see her new store and restaurant, "The Merc"!
Before I dive into pictures from our trip, let me tell you a little about the Pioneer Woman. You can catch her on the Food Channel cooking delicious food at her ranch. I love her "welcome to my frontier" motto. She and her family live on a ranch which seems to be in the middle of nowhere. She began as a blogger, photographer, wife, and mom but soon began building a fantastic cooking show! In the last year, she has launched a product line available in Walmart stores and has opened "The Merc" or "Mercantile" in her hometown of Pawhuska. It's amazing to see her business grow and flourish! And she does it with such genuine perspective. Each of her stories and blogs are short, to the point, and hilarious!
So back to our little adventure from the Dallas area to Pawhuska... Even though it's just one state away, the drive was long! We decided to break up the trip by stopping at Turner Falls in Oklahoma on the way.
So back to our little adventure from the Dallas area to Pawhuska... Even though it's just one state away, the drive was long! We decided to break up the trip by stopping at Turner Falls in Oklahoma on the way.
I thought Turner Falls was a pretty cool place to spend a day. They have camp sites, RV accommodations, and lots of things to do if you're outdoorsy. The large falls are pictured above but there are several flowing streams if you want to dip your feet in or even swim.
Side Note: We were sporting our green for St. Patrick's Day!
Top Left: I was impressed that my cell phone took this picture! We spent some time playing with settings to learn a bit more about our camera. Jordan was a good sport and lugged my tripod and such the short hike down to the falls.
Bottom: I definitely need a new lens but truly enjoyed tinkering with the camera.
I'm glad we stopped by TF early in the year rather than the hot summer months. We were fortunate to have a cloudy day with a cool breeze and the water was cold! It's hard to imagine how people stand it in July/August (but then, I'm more of an "indoor girl").
We had fun playing with the shutter speed! The top was taken at 1/10 and the bottom was taken at 1/320.
More (amateur) photography learning pics:
Bottom: 1/250 at F5.6 (standard lens)
That evening, our friends, Mallory and Nathan, met up with us in Bartlesville, OK (about 30 min outside of Pawhuska - there are no hotels in Pawhuska).
We popped in to a restaurant called Painted Horse.
We popped in to a restaurant called Painted Horse.
It was so great to catch up with old friends!
For a small town (with few options) I have to say, the food was delicious! These are pictures of our various meals.
After dinner, Mallory and I popped into the ladies room and found this picture of Kramer staring back at us. I thought it was a tad quirky and hilarious! I love Seinfeld!
Finally, Saturday morning was Merc day!!!!
We had a casual morning and met up around 9am to take the 30 min drive to Pawhuska. We arrived at 9:45am and it was a GOOD THING because the line was very long. It's a popular place and has only been open for 4-5 months!
Top Left: My excited picture of the Merc sign!
Top Right: This is long line! To clarify, there were actually 3 lines to get into the building: 1) store 2) eat at the restaurant and 3) grab and go food. At 9:45 our estimated wait to eat in the restaurant was 4 hours! Our actual wait ended up being 3 hours and 15 min. This was a very long time but it worked out since there were 4 of us. The line to get into the store was non-existent so Mallory and I spent time slowly exploring each nook of the store while the boys traded off holding our place in line (and helping us carry purchases back to the car). Plus, Ree takes care of her patrons. They had heaters in the cool hours of the morning and then umbrellas for shade in the sunny afternoon. Periodically, they would come by to give us food samples, bottled water, or even entertain people with trivia.
Bottom: Our foursome...still in line.
These are a few pictures of the store inside.
Top Left: This was a dog themed table which takes after her dog, Charlie.
Top Right: So many colorful dishes!
Bottom Left: Open the drawers! They encouraged people to take a peak and each draw had fun stuff inside!
Bottom Right: This is a picture from the stairs looking down. She has a second story with lots of seating, a coffee bar, and a sweets bar.
For a more details view of the items she sells, visit her online store HERE!
Side note: I was interested to learn that she sells a lot of her own branded stuff but also carries Fiestaware, MacKenzie Childs (why is that stuff so expensive?), and cookbooks from other chefs at the food network.
Top: We got to the front of the line and met Paw-paw! This is Ree's father-in-law. Such a sweet and kind man!
Bottom Left: Mallory and I paused our shopping for a selfie.
Bottom Right: We did not get to meet Ree but we did meet Ladd (her husband, aka "Marlboro Man")
Fooooooood! It was worth the wait and we all left completely full! I'm not sure I can recommend what's "best" on the menu because it was all SO delicious!
Top Left: A queso appetizer that we all split.
Top Right: Chicken fried steak and garlic mashed potatoes.
Bottom Left: Pork chops (bone-in) with garlic onion roasted potatoes.
Bottom Right: Lasagna!
We'd ordered dessert with our meal since the kitchen was insanely busy. Our waitress brought out some desserts but after she left we realized they were not the desserts we'd ordered. Then she brought the desserts that we did order and we ended up tasting 6 of the desserts on the menu total! At this point, we all tasted each dessert but we were too stuffed to finish them.
These desserts are: Pecan pie, chocolate cake served in a cast iron bowl, ice cream, strawberry cake, prune cake also served in cast iron, and a cinnamon roll. Whew! Personally, I liked the pecan pie the best. The texture was flaky but also chewy like caramelized sugar.
These are other random tidbits from the Merc:
Top Left: I loved this couch! As I said, she has lots of seating upstairs to relax after shopping.
Top Right: I took a picture of these funny items you could buy!
Bottom Left: While restoring the building they came across this Nabisco advertisement on the wall! It was a nice antique touch to the look and feel of the place!
Bottom Right: PW coffee!!!
And that's it for our Mercantile visit! The four of us had SO much fun and left with our loot from the store and very full stomachs!
Y'all have a great weekend!
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