To be published in an upcoming issue of ENTREE Travel Newsletter.

When Will Rogers was growing up in 1879, his mother cooked on a bulky iron stove. She spent hours preparing the food that was brought in from the fields surrounding the house, grinding the meat, churning the butter.  She rang the triangle and the kids came running, and they all gathered round the thick, wooden table, the father sitting at the end, the newspaper next to him.

After dinner in the winter, they would stay warm by lighting a fire in each room.  His mother sipped tea and his father sat at the desk and wrote letters.  Will sat on the floor next to his father and read, or, in the summer when the days were long, practiced his rope toss just outside the back door under the pear tree.  Flash forward a few generations to today, as we take a box out of the freezer and pop it in the microwave, pull up a T.V. tray, and call it an evening.

As you may have figured out, we’re mostly focused on luxury here at ENTRÉE, on traveling in both comfort and style, as the old cliché goes.  But we get nostalgic sometimes, longing for simpler times and making a point to appreciate the details of authentic, by-hand carpentry or the love that goes into the preparation of a family dinner.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, may not be on anyone’s list of places to see, but for those of you looking for a little context – for those of you looking to remember what the world was like before people became annoyingly addicted to the iPhone – we suggest trekking down to the Sooner State for a visit to Cherokee Nation.

For those of you lucky enough to have experienced Williamsburg, Virginia, expect a similar experience, with plenty of history and information galore.  But even if you’re not a history buff, you can surely find some appreciation in experiencing a past culture, and our tour guides certainly aided in that, showing us infamous stops along the historic Highway 66 (such as the gigantic blue whale resting in the lake), Will Rogers’ birth home and museum, and finally the museums and recreations of the old Cherokee Indian towns.

The Gilcrease Museum houses the world’s largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, focusing on the artistic traditions of the Native Americans and historical documents, manuscripts and maps. It blew us away, and should be a top priority on any trip through Tulsa.

One of our tour guides from Cherokee Nation, Ben, acted more like our friend than our guide, never overbearing and always enhancing our trip.  As mentioned, Tulsa is no hub for high-class hotels, but we did find a nice, clean and fun environment at the Tulsa Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, about 20 minutes outside of downtown Tulsa.  There are a few bars and a very nice steak restaurant called McGill’s on 19, appropriately located on the 19^th floor with a friendly staff and a view that goes on for miles.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.  777 West Cherokee Street, Catoosa, OK, 74015.  http://www.hardrockcasinotulsa.com, rooms starting at $131 a night. For more information on the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism Group, write to Cherokee.tourism@cnent.com or call (877) 779-6977.