If you plan to motor west
Take my way, the highway that's the best;
Get your kicks on Route 66
John Steinbeck christened her "The Mother Road" in his novel The Grapes of Wrath. For those with little means and even fewer prospects, she was a lifeline of concrete that led the way to the promised land out west and away from the ravages and misery of the Dust Bowl.
Its that storied past of determination and grit of the folks that traveled the legendary highway, coupled with the friendly, down home charm of the small towns through which it passed that has kept alive the memory of Route 66 long after its demise as a near-mythical piece of Americana.
It's also many of those very same cities and hamlets scattered along the old road's 2,448-mile expanse that will mark her 75th anniversary with a variety of festivals, tours, street parties and commerations.
Starting off at Grant Park near Lake Michigan in Chicago and winding south through the heart of Illinois and Missouri, with a short turn across the south-eastern corner of Kansas, Route 66 angled off for a near straight run across Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, New Mexico and Arizona before coming to an abrupt halt at the Santa Monica Pier, and the Pacific Ocean, in California.
Much more than a steadfast means of transportation, Route 66 bound the country together as the main link between the heartland's agriculturial and industrial regions and the booming population centers of the west.
Affectionally dubbed "the Main Street of America", the highway did indeed at times run parallel along the main throughfares of countless places with names like Texola and Hackberry and Daggett. Places where weary travelers making the trek could be assured a welcome smile and even a kindly chat by unassuming strangers. It was, after all, the people you'd encounter that gave Route 66 it's unique and engaging appeal.
There was always the fellow motorist journeying the opposite way with whom to share anecdotes of life on the road and the snappy service station attendant standing by to fill your tank as well as clean the windows, check under the hood, and point the way to the best roadside diner around where the potroast tasted almost as good as mom's home cooking.
Even the lodging establishments took on fanciful characteristics to lure patrons and set themselves apart, such as the teepee-shaped accommodations of the Wigwam Village Motel in Holbrook, Arizona and the famous Blue Swallow Motel located in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Built in 1939 and recently restored, the familiar landmark is now listed on state and national historic registers.
Go To Page: 1 2
