While in the Route 66 town of Needles, Calif., this summer, it appeared there was little recent activity in the restoration of the historic El Garces Hotel. A sign said the century-old Harvey House would have a "limited" opening by winter 2008, and the hotel's Web site hadn't been updated since last year. El Garces' … Continue reading What’s happening with El Garces?
Month: August 2009
In the footsteps of the Joads
Chris McGreal of The Guardian newspaper in London is retracing the Route 66 path of the Joad family from John Steinbeck's seminal novel, "The Grapes of Wrath." Day Two of his journey includes a lot of material from Adrian, Texas, and the ghost town of Glenrio on the Texas-New Mexico border. Be sure to check … Continue reading In the footsteps of the Joads
A brief history
Here's a video produced by the Arizona Office of Tourism. It uses the Powerhouse Visitors Center in Kingman as a jumping-off point about the history of Route 66.
Grand El Rancho Grande
El Rancho Grande restaurant on Route 66 in Tulsa had been working for the past few months in restoring its vintage neon sign. On Wednesday night, Modern Tulsa hosted a celebration as the refurbished sign was turned on. Here a video of the lighting by the Oklahoma Modern blog: El Rancho Grande has been in … Continue reading Grand El Rancho Grande
Authentic American Spook Light
Time magazine put out a list of 50 Authentic American Experiences 2009 -- one from each state. The state-by-state listing can be seen browsed here. It's a great list, with many obscure and quirky attractions. One that made the cut was the mysterious Spook Light, which is a few miles off Route 66 in a … Continue reading Authentic American Spook Light
Route 66 documentary in the works
California-based Waterline Entertainment is producing a historical documentary about Route 66 that is tentatively slated to be released sometime in 2011. Geoff Foley, a writer and producer at Waterline, and I recently made connections through my Twitter account. He said the working title of the film is "Route 66: America's Main Street." His partner on … Continue reading Route 66 documentary in the works
A tour of Jim Ross’ property
Oklahoma Route 66 historian and author Jim Ross gives a tour of his house, the design which was inspired by Phillips 66 cottage-style gas stations from the 1930s. Ross also built roadside-based guest cabin on his property, which sits on a piece of land where two alignments of Route 66 run nearby. I've been to … Continue reading A tour of Jim Ross’ property
Red rock country
Here's a nice video that popped up a few hours ago. This is Route 66 from about Laguna, N.M. You can even see Owl Rock near the beginning. The music is part of the soundtrack from the "Cars" movie.
Woman soon will travel part of Route 66 on horseback
Megan Carter soon will begin her Buffalo Moon Expedition -- riding on horseback from southeastern Oklahoma to Chicago partly on Route 66. Carter's journey begins Sept. 1, but she reckons she won't be on the Mother Road until later in the month. She figures she'll be averaging about 10 miles a day. Carter's blog is … Continue reading Woman soon will travel part of Route 66 on horseback
New museum opening in St. James
If you're in the area of St. James, Mo., tomorrow, it might be advisable to pull off that interstate and check out the new Vacuum Cleaner Museum and Factory Outlet holding its grand opening at 1:30 p.m. that day. According to the Hit the Road blog of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The museum’s collection includes … Continue reading New museum opening in St. James