McAlester is the commercial hub of southeastern Oklahoma, a city of nearly 18,000 people set in the wooded hills of Pittsburg County. Italian immigrants came here to work the coal mines in the late 1800s, and their influence lingers in the local food and the annual Italian Festival each May, a weekend of pasta, sausage, bocce, and grape stomping that draws tens of thousands of visitors.
The town sits at the crossroads of US-69 and the Indian Nation Turnpike, making it a natural stopping point on drives through this part of the state. The nearby McAlester Army Ammunition Plant is one of the largest in the country. Lake Eufaula, about 30 miles north, offers excellent bass fishing and camping. To the south, the old mining towns of the Choctaw Nation are scattered through the hills.
Downtown McAlester has a handful of good restaurants, including Pete's Place on South Seventh Street, a family-run Italian restaurant that has been serving enormous platters of spaghetti, lamb fries, and ravioli since 1925. If you are driving through southeastern Oklahoma, McAlester is worth a stop for the food alone.