No. 9

Charlie's: With modest expectations, we stopped for lunch in Oklahoma City, en route to visit friends outside of Tulsa and by way of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. After lunch we stretched our legs and walked next door to find a deco building that housed a history of disrepute and a precious R&B/Jazz/Blues record store named Charlie's. Amy charged inside first and found Charlie tucked in his nook at the back of the store, beneath a photo of he and Bill Cosby.

Amy: Hi, how ya doing?
Charlie: I'm doing real well now that you're here.

He was impressed by our ambition. We discussed how drab certain stretches of Interstate 40 can be, while he helped look for a Billy Preston CD and Amy ogled a "Virginity is Curable" sticker on the wall.

Charlie: Some of that drive is awful.
Sloan: West Texas. West Texas is so boring, it makes you happy to get to Oklahoma.

We couldn't find Billy Preston in his piles, but we did find a great Shuggie Otis compilation that carried us all the way to Tulsa.