Space cowboy March 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Museums, People.2 comments
The Examiner.com has posted an article about the Thomas P. Stafford Air & Space Museum on Route 66 in Weatherford, Okla.
The museum pays tribute to Weatherford native Stafford, who logged six NASA missions and more than 500 hours in space, including the first manned flight to the moon.
The museum is a complete air and space experience. As the exhibit hall starts at the beginning of man’s dream to fly with a full size replica of the Wright Flyer that the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, NC in 1903. The exhibit continues on to a replica of the Spirit of St. Louis, fighter jets and the weapons they carried, then continues into space travel with a replica of the Apollo Command Module. The largest item in the museum is an actual 94 foot Titan II missile.
Incidentally, Oklahoma has produced more astronauts than any other state.
Book review: “Roadside USA: Route 66 and Beyond” March 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Highways, Photographs.add a comment
“Roadside USA: Route 66 and Beyond” by Shellee Graham and Jim Ross (64 pages, Ghost Town Press, $10.95) isn’t strictly a book as much as a bound collection of their vibrant travel photographs in postcard form.
The 30 postcards are detachable from the binding so you can mail them to friends and family. However, “Roadside USA” mostly likely will serve as a nice souvenir during a current road trip (a number of Route 66 businesses stock the book, including Afton Station in Afton, Okla., where I got mine) or will spark memories of previous two-lane voyages.
The colors and angles in the photographs stand out, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who know Ross and Graham’s work through Route66photographs.com.
Here’s a list of the photographs/postcards in the book:
- A backyard Texaco station in Springfield, Mo.
- A Route 66 highway shield at a former Texaco in Davenport, Okla.
- The closed Home Ranch Motel near Laramie, Wyo., on the Lincoln Highway.
- A portion of a 1,200-foot-long art display of highway signs in Meadville, Pa.
- An abandoned stretch of U.S. 34 near Albia, Iowa.
- Detail of a pink 1959 Cadillac Coupe DeVille.
- A rural scene on U.S. 6 near Grinnell, Iowa.
- Detail of a neon sign at the Silver Moon Drive-In on U.S. 92 in Lakeland, Fla.
- Remnants of a “cabins” neon sign at an old tourist court on the Lincoln Highway in Brady, Neb.
- Interior of a restored Valentine diner at the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Okla.
- Exterior of TeePee Curios on Route 66 in Tucumcari, N.M.
- Exterior of Eisler Bros. General Store on Route 66 in Riverton, Kan.
- Cadiz Summit on Route 66 in the Mojave Desert of Southern California.
- A mural off Route 66 in Kingman, Ariz.
- A cabin at Orr’s Ranch, off the Lincoln Highway in Utah.
- The neon sign of Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa.
- Road sign of the Extraterrestrial Highway, aka Nevada Highway 375.
- Close-up of the neon sign at El Don Motel on Route 66 in Albuquerque.
- A fading mural for Kis-Me Gum on U.S. 70 in Brinkley, Ark.
- The twisting mountain highway of Mokee Dugway, aka Utah Highway 261.
- A vintage Steak ‘n Shake in Springfield, Mo.
- The sign-festooned Preston’s Station on the Lincoln Highway in Belle Plaine, Iowa.
- Old gas pump on U.S. 83 in Wellington, Texas.
- Road sign of historic U.S. 80 in the Southwest.
- The historic Lincoln Highway Bridge in Tama, Iowa, built in 1915.
- Motorcycle riders on the Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada.
- The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, aka Route 66, in St. Louis.
- The “Loneliest Highway,” aka U.S. 50, near Ely, Nev.
- Nighttime shot of POPS on Route 66 in Arcadia, Okla.
- A montage of various highway signs.
The backs of the postcards contain a description of the front image, along with another thumbnail photo of the scene or one related to it.
“Roadside USA” should provide a short, inexpensive and enticing ride on our nation’s highways.
Recommended.
Skippy’s restaurant keeps making improvements March 15, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Restaurants.add a comment
Skippy’s Route 66 Restaurant, near the Mother Road in Leasburg, Mo., has a new sign to beckon travelers and will open its Gravel Bar patio for the season next month.
Skippy’s is a story of a proprietor learning on the job and making continual improvements.
From a news release:
The Gravel Bar boasts its own custom stonework bar. Larger groups can reserve the space for special occasions without a room charge. The covered patio proved a great attraction for customers during the fall season, and Basham anticipates an even greater spring and summer this year. The Missouri Route 66 Association will hold their July meeting at Skippy’s.
Skippy bought the former Coachlight Inn and opened it on Labor Day of 2000 as The Route 66 Inn. Things were not smooth at first. When Skippy bought the restaurant, he was a body shop manager in St. Louis. He learned that trying to manage from afar was a nightmare with a lot of quality problems.
He decided it was necessary to be a “hands on” owner and took over running the restaurant himself. He also convinced Denise Basham to quit a successful job in Human Resources and join him in managing the restaurant. [...]
Denise and Skippy joined forces in cleaning, improving, remodeling, and plowing profits back into the restaurant and bar. After two years Skippy’s put his own name on the business because he wanted to let his customers know that there was someone there with pride in the establishment and that they could bring their comments to him.
Skippy’s specializes in home-style food, including fried chicken, walleye, steaks, hot wings, and a roast beef sandwich with provolone cheese. The restaurant goes through about 100 pounds of wings and burgers a week. Other daily specials include meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken enchiladas, beef tips and noodles, chicken fettuccini, and bratwurst and sauerkraut.
(Photo montage by Jane Reed)
A visit to Amboy Crater March 14, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions.add a comment
This article by Examiner.com about Amboy Crater near the Route 66 hamlet of Amboy, Calif., is worth checking out for the photographs of wildflowers around the cinder cone.
Route 66 national monument proposed in Mojave March 14, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Highways, Preservation.3 comments
The fledgling national Route 66 Alliance is proposing making a national monument out of an area of Mojave Desert in Southern California to protect 70 miles of Route 66, reports the Press-Enterprise.
According to the newspaper, the proposal would:
– Designate “Mother Road National Monument,” which could be twice as big as Joshua Tree National Park.
– Preserve an off-road vehicle area southeast of Barstow that has been threatened by expansion of a military training base.
– Protect more than a half-million acres of scattered desert land donated to the federal government as open space but now subject to energy development.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., signaled this week through an aide that she will craft legislation to protect the donated property.[...]
The Wildlands Conservancy, based in Oak Glen, raised about $45 million to buy Mojave Desert land from the Catellus Development Corp., a former arm of the Santa Fe Railway. [...]
Feinstein has not endorsed the Mother Road National Monument concept and other specific provisions sought by The Wildlands Conservancy, Sierra Club California/Nevada Desert Committee and Route 66 preservationists, said Feinstein spokeswoman Laura Wilkinson.
However, the senator plans to ensure the former Catellus land is protected, Wilkinson said.
I don’t think that Conkle and many Route 66ers are against solar-energy development in the desert, although a number of residents in the region are.
However, a proposal to expand Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center would cut off access to miles of Route 66, which clearly would be vehemently opposed by Mother Roaders. The expansion would swallow up Amboy, Calif., home to Roy’s, a longtime Route 66 business that’s being resurrected.
Incidentally, Conkle served in the Marines. So his stance on this issue should never be construed as being anti-military.
There’s been talk for years about eventually designating a Route 66 National Park on all 2,200 miles of so of the Mother Road. Advocates of that idea undoubtedly will be watching developments with this Mojave Desert proposal; it may provide a springboard to the national park idea.
UPDATE 3/24/09: Here’s a new story about the issue from the Los Angeles Times.
Business is booming March 14, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Attractions, Businesses.add a comment
Not content with owning the world’s largest rocking chair, the Fanning 66 Outpost and General Store on Route 66 in Fanning, Mo., has added at least one more unusual attraction to its arsenal.
Jim Viehman, a reporter for KSDK-TV in St. Louis, interviewed store owners Dan and Carolyn Sanazaro a few days ago about the rocking chair and got more than what he bargained for.
From the news release:
Viehman’s presence prompted Sanazaro to fire his Civil War replica cannon for the newsman. With a flash of fire and billowing smoke, the cannon will no doubt become a new attraction at The Outpost General Store this travel season. Viehman asked Sanazaro why he wanted to add a cannon to the other attractions at the store and its satellite businesses, an archery center and taxidermy business.
“Well, we are the ‘Outpost’, and I thought an outpost should have a cannon like they would have in the old days of the outpost forts. It just adds another attraction to break up travel for folks.”
Here’s the store’s cannon blasting away. I sure hope some wise guy doesn’t put a cannonball into the thing before Sanazaro fires it next time.
Also, the Fanning Outpost has a new Route 66-themed mural on the side of the building. You can see it here:
The Mother Road can always use a few more cheerful eccentrics like Dan Sanazaro.
(Photos and colorful descriptions courtesy of Jane Reed)
Lake Overholser Bridge to be repaired March 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Preservation.2 comments
The historic Lake Overholser Bridge, on an old alignment of Route 66 in the western edge of Oklahoma City, will eventually be rehabilitated without affecting its appearance.
The Oklahoma Route 66 Association informed me that the bridge had been recently closed to traffic because it had deteriorated too much. However, a letter from David Wrights at the City of Oklahoma City to the association clarified a lot of things about the bridge’s future:
The bridge is a historic structure and will be preserved in as near the original state as possible. At this time plans are being prepared to repair the bridge so it can be used for vehicular traffic. The schedule is not certain, but it should be such that all repairs are completed within 5 years from now.
The bridge was built in 1924, thus predating Route 66, and was mentioned in John Steinbeck’s novel “The Grapes of Wrath.”
The bridge is used frequently by residents living on the west side of the lake, so the city undoubtedly has some incentive to repair it.
(Photo courtesy of Guy Randall.)
Bridge near Vinita named to National Register March 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Preservation.add a comment
A 1926 bridge on Route 66 east of Vinita, Okla., was named to the National Register of Historic Places, effective March 4, according to a release sent today by the National Park Service.
The bridge is over the Little Cabin Creek on what is also U.S. 60/69 east of town. I don’t have a photo of it handy, but it’s my recollection that it’s a small pony truss bridge.
UPDATE 3/29/09: The Tulsa World today has a nice photo of the bridge, along with the announcement and photo of a stone arch bridge also being placed on the National Register. The stone bridge isn’t on Route 66, but it’s still a beauty to see.
End of an era in Afton March 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses.add a comment
The Miami (Okla.) News Record has a story about the imminent closing of Bassett’s Grocery on Route 66 in nearby Afton, Okla.
After 89 years, Tommy Bassett says it’s time to close the doors.
“With the population being half of what it used to be and being no jobs to support the town, the business is no longer profitable,” said Bassett.
Since 1975, when the store was passed onto him by his parents, Bassett has got up every morning and opened for business.
As did his parents and grandparents before him.
Photograph’s from long ago greet everyone who enters Bassett’s office.
“I get to come to work every day and see them,” Bassett says, pointing to the photographs of his parents and grandparents.
The store will close once the merchandise is liquidated. More about Bassett’s closing is here.
Pontiac’s prison is saved March 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Towns.2 comments
The city of Pontiac, Ill., which had been under the imminent threat of the closure of its prison for months, learned Thursday that the nearly 140-year-old facility will remain open.
The decision preserves nearly 600 jobs and an estimated $54 million in revenue.
The announcement to keep Pontiac Correction Center open was made by new Gov. Pat Quinn.
The preservation of the prison was no doubt hastened by the impeachment and recent ouster of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who seemed determined to shut the prison down as a cost-cutting move.