With transportation options ranging from rooftop helipads to rare vintage cars and bespoke Rolls-Royce Phantoms, the AAA Five Diamond-rated Peninsula hotels have long been the exclusive enclave of tycoons, movie stars, royalty and glamorous multi-hyphenates of all kinds. Innovative and luxurious transportation has long been part of the Peninsula signature experience.

But lately, even the ultra-rich have been struggling. Now they may have to choose between a private submarine and a space hotel. Yes, they still light their cigars with twenty dollars bills, only now they’re using Canadian money.

And even if you’re still living large, it may no longer be socially responsible to look quite so flush. So what is your average out-of-town oligarch supposed to do when they require more austere transportation?

The Peninsula New York and the Peninsula Chicago hotels recently unveiled two customized Mini Cooper S Clubman vehicles. Offered as a complimentary amenity to suite guests, the chauffeur-driven Minis are a rare opportunity for well-heeled guests to feel almost like the rest of us.

Of course these are not your run-of-the-mill Minis. The Peninsula collaborated with BMW to create a custom-made bespoke Mini Cooper S Clubman, with the personalization process taking more than two years to perfect. Bespoke, for those of you without your own personal shopper, is a fancy British term for hand-tailored men’s wear, somewhat analogous to women’s haute couture. A made-to-measure suit from London’s Savile Row for example, requires multiple fittings, up to 50 hours of labor, and can set you back as much as $18,000.

Lately, the meaning has been expanded to include hand-crafted timepieces, furniture and even fragrances. Who wouldn’t gladly fork over $80,000 for a custom-made scent that “recalls the smells of your childhood”?

Devotees of the $150,000 Brough Superior motorcycle have included such luminaries as Lawrence of Arabia. Each one is custom-built to suit the weight, size and riding style of the buyer.

You can even order a bespoke automobile, the Bristol Type 603, a vehicle so exclusive you can only buy one by invitation. It should be pointed out that the Bristol’s Chrysler engine and transmission are decidedly not “bespoken.”

The Mini’s dedicated features include a custom-illuminated Peninsula logo on door entry sills, leather finishing to match the existing Rolls-Royce interiors, and the signature Peninsula Green color that adorns every vehicle in the hotel’s transportation fleet. Each car is also specially fitted with a tailor-made rooftop box providing extra cargo space with a mini-fridge offering complimentary refreshments.

The Peninsula hotels have a long history of providing stylish rides for their guests, including the Hong Kong property’s legendary fleet of 14 Rolls-Royce Phantoms and four 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II’s belonging to the Peninsula hotels in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai and Paris, all finished in signature Peninsula green.

In case you’re interested, AAA’s Diamond ratings are the only ratings system that covers all of North America and one of only two that conducts physical, on-site evaluations. Full-time, professionally-trained evaluators inspect each property on an annual basis using a set of guidelines that are made available to all establishments. Five Diamond Award winners are a very select group. This year, just 124 lodgings and 55 restaurants (0.3 percent of the total 59,000 AAA Approved and Diamond Rated lodgings and restaurants across the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean) received this prestigious designation.

Oklahoma has no AAA rated Five Diamond hotels but the state has five Four Diamond rated hotels and two Four Diamond rated restaurants. You may access detailed listings of all of AAA’s Diamond rated hotels and restaurants by visiting AAA.com. This information is available to AAA members and nonmembers alike.

I just kind of figured it was a fun weekend and my dad didn’t have to work on Monday, which meant that I was out in the yard with him doing things I really didn’t want to do: mowing the grass, edging the lawn, pulling weeds, you know, the things that he didn’t want to do.

My dad passed away last year, and for the first time, I didn’t have him around for Memorial Day weekend. I caught myself out in my yard, doing the things that he made me do as a child, hands in the soil, thinking about some of the funny things he used to say to me.

I think maybe as you get older, these holidays mean more to you, because the older I get, the more people I know have passed away. Sad at first thinking about them, then chuckles when the sadness turns to good memories of days gone by, funny things they used to say and do.

I miss my dad, he was a little crazy, but a good crazy. He could always make me laugh when I didn’t want to.

His son was in his early 20s and was working at a used car lot in south Oklahoma City. The father knew his son was addicted to drugs. There had been a long history of serious consequences directly related to his addiction, including several arrests that led to lengthy times in jail.

At this time, the father lost contact with his son. When he called the car lot to speak to his boy, he was given vague reasons his son was not available. The father’s suspicions grew.

He drove to the car lot and, upon his arrival, was told by a salesman that his son had not been seen in more than two weeks.

It was very unusual that the son had not called in that length of time. The father was terrified and knew he had to find out if his son was alive.

The father was once in law enforcement and called his contacts. However, another week went by and there was no new information.

The father, in desperation, hired a private investigator, who was was experienced in law enforcement and who knew the area drug culture.

Within four days, the PI learned that the son was living in a drug house. They developed a plan that the father and the PI would meet with a contact and give this person $300. The contact said that the son owed that amount of money to the drug dealer. Once this transaction was completed, the father would be given a location and a time to meet his son.

The father decided to trap his son and force him into a treatment program. The father’s van was rigged so that when he entered through the rear doors, they could not be opened from the inside.

The father and the PI waited patiently at a gas station. The father was standing outside the van, looking in every direction in anticipation of the arrival of his son. Off in the distance, he saw his son walking in his direction and he went to greet him. They hugged each other and walked back toward the van.

The son entered the van through the rear doors and the trap was set. The father explained to his son that he was taking him to a treatment program out of state.

As the van began to move toward the interstate, the son went into a rage and began kicking the van doors, screaming that he wanted out. The situation was escalating toward a violent ending, so the father pulled to the side of the road.

He went to the rear of the van and opened the doors. His son jumped out and stood there, looking at his father. Neither one spoke, but rather just stared at one another.

Finally, the son said: “I love you, Dad. I have to go now.”

The father responded: “I love you, too, Son, and I will always be here for you.”

They hugged one another and the father watched helplessly as his son walked out of sight.

Parents will go to any length to save their child from the disease of addiction. This is understandable, but at some point in the journey, parents will need to understand Step One of the 12 Steps: “We admitted we were powerless over drugs and other people’s lives — that our lives had become unmanageable.”

At one time, we had three, count them, three theaters.

There was the Apollo Twin at the corner of SE 15 and Air Depot. It’s now a furniture store.

There was the Heritage Park 3 in the now-defunct Heritage Park Mall. That’s a whole other story.

There was the Heritage Plaza Cinemas 5 behind the mall, which is a church now.

Why can’t Midwest City support a theater? Tinker people go to movies. I know this because I run into them all of the time at Crossroads movies, Tinseltown, Bricktown and Warren theaters.

I know for a fact that Midwest City teenagers go to movies. I frequently hear and see them — especially hear them — at all of the theaters mentioned.

So why doesn’t someone invest in the community and put in a nice theater here?

I, for one, would frequent the establishment, and I know my three teenage daughters would as well, and I would feel much safer knowing that they would be staying in Midwest City limits instead of driving to the other theaters out of town.

So, my request is simple.

Someone with a lot of money and a sound business mind, please build us a nice, safe movie theater here in Midwest City and keep it running for years to come.

I will even volunteer to pop some popcorn for you free of charge. Well, maybe free other than a bag or two for private consumption.

Thanks in advance for investing in your community and filling a large gap in our local entertainment.

It’s the first holiday of summer, even though the change of seasons doesn’t occur for nearly a month. That means it’s time to enjoy those warm-weather activities.

Of course, in Oklahoma, warm weather sometimes arrives early, which can sure play havoc with those of us who have allergies.

Memorial Day is a confirmation in many communities that school is — or nearly is — out. Like most people, when I was a student, I looked forward to those weeks when I got a break from the books and assignments.

I also enjoyed my summer job, earning a little money while spending time with people I knew well. I was lucky in having that opportunity.

Much of time in the summers was spent playing baseball. The older I got, the more fun it became. Again, it was spending time with people I knew well, traveling to ballparks and working together.

I always enjoyed watching the Indianapolis 500, from the prerace pageantry to the dueling on the track to the final lap. When I got to take a lap around the Brickyard while on vacation one year, I thought about all those drivers I had seen competing on that very same track.

That also made watching the race on TV more enjoyable because I was able to recall certain areas of the race course.

Taking a trip, even a short venture to the lake, to relax and check out the scenery or play in the water also has been something I have tried to do.

And I always remember those who no longer are with us, including those who gave their lives in service to our country so that we might have those opportunities such as I mentioned above. “Thank you” never could adequately cover that debt.

We should all remember them … always.

See more about those in our armed forces in KNOWIT.NEWSOK.COM/MILITARY-OKLAHOMA, as well as in The Oklahoman.

When I was 14, my sister was dating a guy named Jim Fleming. She was 19, a freshman at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., and he was two years older than she was. Jim had kind of a Paul McCartney haircut (this was in 1964 – the Beatles had just invaded the U.S.), he drove a ’58 red and white Corvette convertible, and I thought he was just about the coolest guy around.
One weekend, Jim and my sister were going to the movies in Lawrence, 16 miles north of Baldwin, and they invited me to go with them. Riding with them in Jim’s Corvette with the top down, sitting in what passed for the back seat, I was in heaven.
I think of Jim a lot when I’m driving, especially when I am following a pickup carrying what appears to be an unsecured or a poorly-secured load. You see, one day Jim was driving alone on I-35 just outside Kansas City when the pickup he was following hit a bump and a couple of the tires the truck was hauling bounced out and onto the roadway. Jim swerved to miss them and ran into a bridge support. He died instantly.
Debris on the roadway is nothing new. We see all kinds of things alongside Oklahoma highways every day: large black plastic bags filled with who-knows-what, 2x4s, tree limbs, sofas – and most of these things got there by falling off trucks, usually pickups.
As the load is being tied down, everything may appear to be okay. But once the vehicle starts moving, the inescapable laws of physics take over. Factor in the force of the wind and the action of the air on that load as the truck gains speed – and anything can happen. Those who use their trucks daily to haul stuff are well aware of these concerns; it’s the occasional haulers and the weekend movers we should worry about.
So I guess my message here is twofold: if you’re the guy with the pickup, make extra certain your load is well secured. And if you’re the guy in a vehicle following a loaded pickup or any kind of open-bed truck, stay alert, eliminate distractions and give that vehicle a wide berth.

For three years running Rep Danny Morgan has introduced legislation and worked tirelessly in education of his peers. And for three straight years legislation has been defeated.

The last cell phone and texting laws to be passed were in 2009 when those under GDL laws were restricted from using cell phones until they had their full license. This sounds pretty good and had some nice implications.

The problem is that it fell short because many or most new drivers have their full license by the time they are 16 1/2. A 15 1/2 yr old can obtain a driving permit and then can take a driving school class and ultimately qualify for their full unrestricted license in one year.

At this point  they can go back to legally texting or talking on cell phone to their hearts content.   Oklahoman must step up and recognize the hazards of cell phone use while driving and we must start with texting. Polls show that 85% of the population agrees. Won’t you?

How can parent’s control their emotions? How do you stop the fear and worry as your child continues a path of self-destruction?

It’s not easy but it is possible for parents to regain their sanity. This is why organizations like Al-Anon, Families Anonymous and Celebrate Recovery were started. They are support groups based on the 12 steps and adopted specifically for family members who are dealing with a loved one’s addiction.

These programs allow us to change. They provide us a proven path that will allow us to regain the life we were called to live and one that brings back the peace and serenity that was taken from us by our loved one’s addiction.

Change is difficult and this why it is such a challenge for us to accept the fact that we need to be in recovery as much as our loved one does.

That is the true challenge we face. I speak from experience as it took me seven years to begin to understand what I have just written. It was another two years before I began attending 12-step meetings and worked the 12 steps with a sponsor.

I credit my renewed faith in God and the 12 steps for giving me back my life. A life of meaning and purpose.

I pray for your child and recovery for all who suffer from this disease.

I remember my buddies and I in grade school daring one another to climb it.  Of course, no one was brave enough for the task.

Compared to the new tower, the old tower is really unattractive, although something about it takes me back to the days of piling into someone’s car and going to Bomber football games, the crispness of the air, the sound of the band playing Bomber Fight, the smell of fireworks (no names mentioned here to protect the guilty), the wildly inappropriate chants coming out of the student section.

The old tower harkens back to more innocent times, when you could let your children roam the streets and not worry about them, and gasoline was affordable.

Yes, the old tower will come down soon, but we will always remember the days that she kept watch over, the good old days, the innocent days.

I have lived in Midwest City for most of my life, graduated a Bomber, and still live there with my three beautiful daughters.

I will be talking about everything Midwest City, including past, present and future goings on. I am very passionate about my home town and I hope to bring some insight into Midwest City from someone who not only grew up here, but also from someone who is raising children here as well.

I am new to this blogging thing, but I’m very excited about the opportunity to share my love of Midwest City.

I look forward to hearing from you all, and I look forward to sharing my thoughts about this wonderful city!