“Never doubt Dawn Welch” June 4, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Restaurants.1 comment so far
Dave Cathey, the Food Dude for The Oklahoman, has a really good article and video about Rock Cafe owner Dawn Welch and the reopening of her historic Route 66 restaurant in Stroud, Okla., after a devastating fire.
A choice excerpt:
On opening day, the restaurant didn’t have nachos because the cheese warmer wasn’t ready. It only had tea and water because the soda guy had yet to show.
Walls once adorned with notes, pictures and records related to celebrities sometimes among the clientele await new memories.
One wall is claimed by pictures from the fire, the hard hats of the men who fought it and a broom worn to its threads.
One wall down, three to go.
Ford issues Route 66 challenges June 3, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Vehicles.add a comment
Ford’s Fiesta Movement site has issued challenges to a bunch of young, hip “agents” who are spending six months behind the wheel of a 2011 Ford Fiesta and posting videos of their adventures on the site.
Here’s one of the challenges:
It’s a long stretch of classic American road, but it doesn’t show up on most modern GPS systems. So plan your route ahead of time – you need to drive 100 miles of it straight through, without leaving the road, and without stopping.
Here’s Kara K in Carthage, Mo., fulfilling her mission:
Here’s Casey P. of Milwaukee and his fulfilled mission:
It’s a clever way to generate some buzz for a new model … which is illustrative of why Ford is by far the strongest financially of Detroit’s Big Three.
POPS nominated for a Nickelodeon award June 3, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Restaurants.1 comment so far
POPS on Route 66 in Arcadia, Okla., is a nominee for a Nickelodeon Parents Pick Award, and the ultimate winner is chosen via an online vote.
POPS has been nominated for Best Tourist Spot in the Oklahoma City area. The other nominees are the Oklahoma City Zoo, Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, the Paseo Arts District, AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma State Capitol, and the Ford Center.
As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, POPS had a wide lead, with 47 percent of the vote. The second-biggest vote-getter was the Oklahoma City National Memorial, with 22 percent. Voting will continue through mid-July.
Season 3 of “Route 66″ coming in November June 2, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Television.2 comments
TVShowsonDVD.com reports that the complete Season 3 of the original “Route 66″ television series will be released in an eight-DVD set on Nov. 10 with a $49.95 suggested retail price.
According to the report, however, Critics Choice Video might exclusively release the entire set as early as late June.
The release of “Route 66 — Season 3, Volume 1″ was slated for July 21 and “Route 66 — Season 3, Volume 2″ on Aug. 25.
Book review: “Lincoln Highway Companion” June 2, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Highways.1 comment so far
A number of guidebooks about the Lincoln Highway, an important predecessor to historic Route 66, exist for several states that the road traverses.
However, Brian Butko’s “Lincoln Highway Companion” (Stackpole Books, 192 pages, $26.95 retail) is the first book of which I’m aware that tries to compile all of the coast-to-coast road’s unique motels, restaurants, attractions and maps of its varying alignments in one place.
Butko is exceedingly well-qualified to produce a such a guidebook. He’s written two previous volumes about the Lincoln Highway, was a contributor to PBS-TV’s “A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway,” and is the proprietor of the Lincoln Highway News site.
“Lincoln Highway Companion” measures only 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches — compact enough to fit in a vehicle’s glove box. After briefly recounting the highway’s sometimes-unruly history, “Lincoln Highway Companion” begins in California at its terminus of San Francisco and moves its way east to the road’s end at Times Square in New York City.
The maps include not only each state, but details of certain regions and cities. Color-coded are the original 1913 alignments, intermediate alignments, and final alignments still in use by the late 1920s. Maps also show modern detours, impassable alignments and road segments that have been swallowed up by the interstates.
Chapters post a brief summary of each state on the Lincoln Highway (plus the Washington, D.C., feeder route and Colorado loop) and a listing of must-see spots. Just about every page contains at least one photo from the road.
“Lincoln Highway Companion” truly shines with descriptions of choice motels and restaurants by Butko and a slew of contributors (among them are longtime Route 66 roadies John and Lenore Weiss and “RoadDog” Don Hatch). It’s a pleasure to discover such places as Tortilla Flat in Placerville, Calif., which has a 1928 Lincoln Highway post imbedded in one wall; and Cindy’s Diner in Fort Wayne, Ind.:
A few minutes at Cindy’s Diner and you’ll think everyone in town stops by for a home-cooked meal. Their motto — “we serve the world … fifteen at a time” — refers to the 1952 Valentine-brand diner’s fifteen stools. The Garbage scramble of eggs, potatoes, cheese, onions and ham gets the publicity, but everything owner John Scheele cooks at the griddle is excellent. Try a donut from the old Murphy’s machine, just $4.35 a dozen. Cindy is his wife and co-owner. No smoking, cash only, daily 6 A.M.-2 P.M. (Sunday 7 A.M.).
Readers may be disappointed by the lack of turn-by-turn directions. This isn’t necessarily a shortcoming by Butko — it would be terribly daunting to do such research on a highway that is more than 1,000 miles longer than Route 66 and contains myriad alignments. It shows how blessed Route 66ers are — at least two books on the market (and one Web site) give turn-by-turn directions for the entire Mother Road.
Also, in the Nevada chapter, Butko notes that “Reno and Sparks offer many vintage motels but some are difficult to recommend since they now rarely serve tourists. A few are known for their signs but no one I know has ever stayed in them.”
Again, this shows how Route 66ers have been spoiled by the National Historic Route 66 Federation and its efforts to educate travelers. An “Adopt a Hundred” volunteer for the federation’s Route 66 Dining and Lodging Guide (now in its 14th edition) would have sussed out the good from the marginal motels such an area. (Disclosure: My wife and I are among the 66 guide’s two dozen or two volunteers.) Perhaps that is a model that the national Lincoln Highway Association could emulate.
But these are modest shortcomings. “Lincoln Highway Companion” is by far the most complete guidebook of America’s first coast-to-coast road, and it will remain useful to travelers for years. My copy is barely a week old, and the pages are already becoming bent from lots of use.
Highly recommended.
Postscript: Butko recently posted this video that neatly shows the book’s features.
Route 66 tour touts pet adoption June 1, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Animals, Events, Road trips.add a comment
North Shore Animal League America and Fido Friendly magazine are embarking (pun intended) on a cross-country pet adoption tour, called “Get Your Licks on Route 66,” this month.
The 36-foot-long mobile adoption center will make stops in Los Angeles, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Joplin, St. Louis, Springfield, Ill.; and Chicago Heights.
The logo for the event looks like this:
More about the stops can be found here.
Reality series takes place on Route 66 June 1, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Television.add a comment
I’d heard some inkling that a television reality series, “The Great American Road Trip,” would be shot on the Mother Road. Looks like it’s happening.
From UPI:
Produced by BBC Worldwide Productions and set to debut on NBC July 7, the show features seven families from divergent backgrounds going on “the journey of a lifetime,” a news release said.
“Collier will guide viewers and the participating families on an eight-episode journey along America’s legendary Route 66 [my emphasis],” NBC said. “Traveling through cities and towns large and small, the seven families, whose hometowns range from Montclair, Calif., to Yonkers, N.Y., will compete in a series of challenges that will ultimately lead one family to victory.”
NBC said the show would be set against “iconic American backdrops” such as the Grand Canyon and the St. Louis arch.
There is a video that plugs NBC’s new programming for the summer. The segment for “The Great American Road Trip” begins at the 2:56 mark of the video, but I saw nothing obvious that indicated Route 66.
A treat for you Ohioans June 1, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Events, Restaurants.add a comment
It isn’t on Route 66, but this establishment will suffice for folks in the state of Ohio who want to sample the Mother Road within their home state.
The Roadhouse 66 Bar & Grille in Westerville, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, opened a few days ago. It features live music and “quirky road food from all across America,” and takes its decor and theme from the Mother Road.
The proprietor is David Wickline, who earned instant roadie credibility with his much-praised “Images of 66″ book a few years ago.
Longtime roadie Denny Gibson was there and snapped a bunch of photos of the roadhouse.
Part of eastbound 66 in Chicago closed June 1, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Highways.add a comment
David G. Clark, an expert on Route 66 in the Chicago area, reports that a portion of eastbound Jackson Boulevard, aka Route 66, in Chicago will be closed to traffic until April 2010 for bridge repairs.
Clark makes some suggestions on his blog:
What does this mean to the Route 66 traveler? Well, if you drive into Chicago on Route 66 eastbound, you will be unaffected all the way to the block that contains Lou Mitchell’s restaurant. You will then need to detour, either by turning south at Clinton Street or north at Canal Street. I would suggest that the best detour would likely be south on Clinton one block to Van Buren, east (left) on Van Buren across the river to Wacker Drive, north (left) on Wacker back to Jackson, then east (right) on Jackson the rest of the way to the end of 66 at Lake Shore Drive. Westbound Route 66 will not be affected, since it travels on Adams Street.
The closure of that portion of street began today, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Scenes from the Route 66 Car Show June 1, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Vehicles.add a comment
Here is a slide show of nice-looking rides at Saturday’s Route 66 Car Show in Joplin, Mo.
The music choice of “Whiskey Lullaby” is a bit bizarre, though.