Hello Friends!
I thought that this would be a good time to write about our trip to The Pioneer Woman Mercantile . My friends put this trip together to celebrate my big 50th birthday. We left on a Friday morning and came home Sunday afternoon.
We stayed at The Redbud Cottage (an Airbnb rental). The Redbud Cottage was a really beautiful home with plenty of room and very comfortable. There aren't many lodging options in Pawhuska so I would definitely recommend checking into Airbnb if you're planning a trip.
Now what you need to know about Pawhuska is that the Mercantile is practically the only thing worth visiting. What we learned is that an establishment only needs to be in Pawhuska to be on the must see list. There was a convenience store on the must see list and no offense to the store but it was old and run-down. Apparently the reason the store made the list is because you can buy "sonic ice" there. We visited the Mercantile several times to browse, have coffee, and eat. The Mercantile food was fantastic!
The first night the server brought me a cupcake to celebrate my birthday. I saved the cupcake and brought it home to Kambree.
The Mercantile store is really cute.
The downstairs is a restaurant and store and upstairs there is a coffee shop, bakery, and a lounging area. I tried the Spicy Cowgirl and I enjoyed it so much that I had the same drink a few more times during our stay.
On Saturday we ate breakfast at the Mercantile. I had Egg-in-a-Hole and it was really good.
After breakfast we walked around the town. There are a few other boutique or resale type shops but really there's not much to see. We hit up some locals to take a few group pictures. The weather on this day was gorgeous.
We also went to The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve . We drove through the preserve and saw a lot of bisons.
That Bison Are Dangerous sign didn't keep Cristy and Jackie in the car when there was an opportunity for a good picture. The preserve is a ten mile loop and there is a gift shop and information center. There were three people working the visitor center and they were very knowledgeable. It was a very slow day there and they looked so excited when we pulled in.
It's hard to tell what's going on in this next picture, so let me explain. Cristy is practically an action adventure photographer! She wedged her body out of my sunroof and then had a hard time getting out. Her chest wouldn't allow her to go up or down - it was hilarious.
After the preserve we went to The Pawhuska Swinging Bridge . The bridge was built in 1926 and is suspended 30 feet above water. All but one of us walked across the bridge. It definitely swings on its own but even more so when Cristy would really make it swing.
Later that evening we went to P-Town Pizza and I wish that I could say it was great but it was just OK. It was very small inside and the servers seemed to be distracted. There were some traditional and some unusual varieties of pizza available. Our food was brought out at different times and one of the pizzas was burned. At least two of us received our meal for free because of the difficulties.
We spent a good bit of time just relaxing at The Redbud Cottage or upstairs at the Mercantile. The Mercantile is closed on Sunday so keep that in mind if you plan a trip. In my opinion the town of Pawhuska has a lot of catching up to do. All the shops feel very dated and most of the store fronts were empty. Even with the town not offering much I would go back for some of that delicious Mercantile food and one more Spicy Cowgirl.
One of the times that we were browsing The Mercantile we spotted a woman much shorter than I am. I saw an opportunity to get photographic proof so I went and stood by the woman and attempted to get Cristy's attention so she could snap a photo. The woman had no idea at all what we were trying to do. The woman kept trying to walk past me and I kept stepping forward and backward so I could block her until Cristy could snap the pic.
We had a great trip and I'd go to podunk town USA with these girls anytime.
