The year and occasion both escape me, but I remember visiting Tulsa (as a young pup) and being impressed mightily by the Camelot Hotel. Most of you probably recall it, although it has been gone for quite a few years and had lost its medieval identity years before that.
In its prime, that impressive structure made it easy to imagine King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Although history buffs will recognize that medieval castles had few amenities – you know, things like bathrooms.
The Camelot opened in September 1965 and became an instant landmark.
As ornate as the exterior was, I was compelled to see inside. The details aren’t as clear as they were decades ago, but I remember launching myself inside as though I had every right to be there, as if I had a room key stuck in my back pocket. Of course, I didn’t. But no one even seemed to notice me as I wandered around.
I poked my head into ballrooms that appeared more corporate than castle. I wandered down hallways checking out the décor. By the time of my exploration, the Camelot was on its last armour-clad legs. I distinctly recall the carpeting as pretty threadbare – long past the expiration date, if only carpets had such a thing.
The Arthur legend begins with the Sword in the Stone, (or the Lady in the Lake, depending on the version) and the Camelot had the sword-bearing-rock feature as well. In fact, the brass plaque that was mounted near the stone-embedded sword is currently being offered for sale on eBay.
If it wasn’t so pricey, I’d buy it myself and hang it over the literature section. I can imagine it with a little rewording: Who so pulleth this book of this shelf is rightwise born King Reader. Umm. Might work better left as is.
There’s no clue as to what happened to the Camelot’s sword, part of the display said to have been located by the swimming pool. If I saw it during my medieval sojourn, I have forgotten it. As I said, the place was pretty run down by the time of my tour, and apparently the carpet made a bigger impression than Excaliber. (Or maybe the sword had been removed from the stone by some King-to-be.)
Although there was no disguising the exterior, the hotel was reinvented for a short period as the Parkside Hotel, and I seem to recall a time when a religious group was going to make a headquarters of it, or some such.
Eventually, the structure went the way of so many aging buildings and was razed. Some stories associated with it are probably all but lost by now. I recall one of the Francis Ford Coppola films was shot at that intersection on Peoria, but I don’t remember if they worked it to include or exclude the hotel.
Maybe one of you broadsword-swinging-swordsmen (or swordswomen) will bid on the plaque and keep it in the vicinity. We can hang it over the mythology section until you clear up the required wall space.
Merlin smiled gently. “I cannot join you in that wish, brother.”
“Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.”
Arthurian quotes, while we wait for the auction to end. (Mists of Avalon, Monte Python and the Holy Grail – respectively. Or disrespectively, as the case may be.)
Come visit!
McHuston
Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!
