A road trip on Leviticus March 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Religion.add a comment
The latest chapter of “Route 66: A Road Trip through the Bible” is Leviticus, a book in which the pastor apparently acknowledges is tedious.
I don’t think it’s terribly safe to barbecue goat in a convertible, however.
Salute to a King March 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music, People.1 comment so far
Today is what would have been the 90th birthday of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole, whose version of Bobby Troup’s “Route 66″ became a big hit in 1946 and helped inspire generations to explore the Mother Road.
A number of news outlets have published tributes to the man, including the Los Angeles Times, the Power Line blog, the Arizona Daily Sun, which provided details from a 1957 gig in a Tucson high school stadium; and the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, which is his hometown.
An art exhibit opened last week in Los Angele for Cole. And the same week, Capitol Records released an album of remixes of performances, dubbed “Re: Generations,” that is getting warm reviews. The album includes Will.I.Am, The Roots, Stephen Marley and others.
What’s especially notable is Cole was beloved by millions of white Americans before the civil rights movement started to take hold. Whether it was his smooth enunciation or his geniality, Cole’s records were found in households that would have been otherwise reluctant to host a black man. Cole also was the first African-American to host a nationwide TV program, “The Nat King Cole Show,” in 1956-57. So he quietly was a racial pioneer.
Cole, a chain smoker, died in 1965 of lung cancer.
Here is Cole, performing one of his most famous songs:
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.