Here is just one of the many reason John and I are glad we no longer live in Bartlesville, OK. If you are ever offered the opportunity to live or visit this gem of a town, I highly recommend declining!
Bartlesville used to have a ton of oil money (read: a ton of money held by very few people) because of Conoco Phillips. However, within the last 10 years, Conoco moved their headquarters to Houston and the money left with it. What is left is a run down town with nothing to do and the majority of storefront boarded up in the downtown area. It really is a shame, as Conoco renovated much of the downtown area. Yet, it sits empty. Culture just isn't something small town mid-america is interested in.
The 14 months we lived there are kind of a blur now. I can't believe we held out that long. It is strange, neither of us made any friends or really did anything the whole time we were there. The only time we went out to dinner was if we were visiting Tulsa. It is such a contrast to life in Lawrence. I actually have motivation and school, we have both made friends and we go out on a regular basis! We are so much happier here, it is such an awesome deal that John got transferred so much sooner than we had anticipated!
There isn't really any point to this post except to share the scary article John emailed me this morning and to rejoice in how happy we are to be away from Oklahoma and in glorious Lawrence.
As my dad suggests, ask me again in a few months how much I love Lawrence. The dead of winter may frost my rose colored glasses!
3 comments:
Nah - the winter bring you down... Thank god you escaped!!
You get out of a place what you put into it. Bartlesville is a lovely place with plenty of things to do, plenty of great restaurants, a great cultural life, and nice people to be friends with. Yes, there are crazy people here as there are anywhere, even in Lawrence.
Shanster- I guess colorado has tempered your winter resistance!
Beth- I am sure there are plenty of people who enjoy Bartlesville. However, John and I were both used to a certain lifestyle having spent our previous few years in a college town. It was hard for us to adjust to a place that had no major attractions, no real grocery store, no major bookstore, no pet store, no sushi, no thai food, no restaurants with an acceptable wine list. Not to mention that most of the few actual bars were local "knife'n'guns" run out of doublewide trailers.
Those complaints aside, John and I really both enjoyed the trail system Bartlesville had to offer. There were 4 great parks all connected by about 13 miles of paved and shaded trail. That was certainly a nice feature of the town. The annual Mozart festival was also nice.
Following your concept of getting out what you put in, I think that John and I invested a lot in those 14 months in our relationship. With so many things lacking in our social lives, we really had a great opportunity to expand our personal relationship.
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