BBQ in Tucumcari February 15, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Food, Restaurants.add a comment
On a recent visit to Tucumcari, N.M., we noticed a battered pickup parked at the corner of Route 66 and Lake Street, with a sandwich-board sign on its bed advertising Watson’s Bar-B-Que two blocks north.
Tucumcari had long boasted good dining options, but barbecue was not one of them in the dozens of times in the past decade we had visited the eastern New Mexico town. Intrigued, we decided to pay it a visit on a Saturday afternoon.
Watson’s Bar-B-Que lists its address at 502 S. Lake St. (map here), next to Tucumcari Ranch Supply. Both businesses have the same owner.
Watson’s operates out of a large trailer (smoker included), and the dining area contains a series of wooden picnic tables on a wooden floor under a large, open-air canopy. The dining area is dotted with Western and railroad decor.
It serves three types of barbecue sandwiches — chopped brisket, sliced brisket and pork riblet — for $5.50. Plus it serves BBQ plates of sliced brisket, sausage, ribs, or combinations of all three that range from $8.75 to $10.75, including sides of potato salad and pinto beans. A full rack of pork ribs runs $13.25; a half-rack is $7.75.
Watson’s also offers sausage on a stick, a plain hot dog and Frito pies. It sells to-go orders by the pound, or by the ring for the sausages.
We were told that the meat is smoked with mesquite wood, common to that region and very popular for barbecue.
We ordered a sliced barbecued brisket sandwich, an order of pinto beans and a special — green chile stew.
The brisket turned out to be well-smoked and tender, with plenty of crispy ends that I like. Happily, the sauce tasted tangy with a hint of spice, but not too sweet. I’ve encountered many pit bosses who all but ruined decent barbecue by making a sauce that was too sugary.
Typical for restaurants in the area, the pinto beans were tender and just fine. But I was especially enthused by the green chile stew, which contained the right unfussy balance of heat and taste amid chunks of meat, potato, tomato and New Mexico green chiles. Jimmy Watson, who co-owns the ranch-supply store and the barbecue restaurant, said the stew came from a cook he admired in Albuquerque.
After hearing complements for his barbecue sauce, Watson said he used a “base” sauce to start, but adds his own ingredients. Watson said he wasn’t a chef or self-vowed expert, but “I know what I like.” He decided to take the plunge into the barbecue business in August after thinking about it for a number of years.
Watson’s Bar-B-Q is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., or until the food runs out, on Saturdays only. Watson said he might expand business hours to Friday evenings during the summer as well, if business merits it. That may happen, as motorcycle tours have already discovered him.
Watson’s Bar-B-Que’s phone number is 575-461-9620.
Needles’ only grocery likely will close February 14, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Towns.1 comment so far
This is a fairly catastrophic situation for the Route 66 town of Needles, Calif. I’ll let an excerpt of a report from the Whittier Daily News explain:
Bashas’, the only grocery store in this tiny Colorado River town on old Route 66 is closing for good in six weeks. Its owners made the announcement this week, and it has left the townspeople stunned and frightened.
The nearest market is 27 miles away in Arizona, and many of the retirees in Needles don’t drive anymore.
It’s even worse for the mothers in town who are receiving aid under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program — they’ll need to travel nearly 100 miles to Blythe to use their WIC vouchers.
The big problem is the Brashas’ chain has been in bankruptcy since July and that it will have to close about 10 stores, including Needles’, which is right on the main alignment of Route 66.
Needles has an estimated population of more than 5,000. I’ve never heard of a town that large not having a grocery store.
The city council is trying to figure out how to keep the Brashas’ store in the town. According to the report, the planned closing took city officials by surprise.
The huge problem is that the WIC cards cannot be used out-of-state. The closest grocery outside of Needles is in the southern Bullhead City, Ariz., which is about 20 miles away. If the city or other parties cannot keep a grocery open in Needles, it would seem prudent to waive the in-state WIC requirements for those residents. According to a USDA official, there is precedent for such a waiver, but it’s up to the state of California to do so.
“Welcome to the Future” February 14, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music, Web sites.2 comments
This terrific song by Brad Paisley, as I recently found, is also a very good tune for a road trip.
And it’s a doggone good celebration of American progress and optimism.
This tune got me thinking about how ironic it is that modern technology has greatly helped spread the word about an old and even archaic highway such as Route 66.
We will continue to struggle to preserve old businesses and stretches of that historic road in the coming years.
But without the Internet, there’s not a doubt in my mind that the Mother Road would have been in much worse shape today.
The phantom musician February 13, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music, Theaters.add a comment
This is the restored Mighty Wurlitzer organ that you can hear when you tour the historic Coleman Theatre Beautiful in Miami, Okla.
The medley of songs from “The Phantom of the Opera” musical comes from an electronic player-recording of a local musician when she performed it.
The last part of this video is taken in one of the pipe rooms. The sound from these pipes is so rich, full and loud that it vibrates your internal organs.
I shot this video months ago for a project that recently got the axe, so I’m glad to finally share this with you. If you get the opportunity to take a tour or, better yet, attend a show at the Coleman, do it.
Hopping with the Time Jumpers February 12, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.2 comments
For years, a number of studio musicians in Nashville have been meeting every Monday night at the Station Inn, a nightclub that’s been a haven for traditional country music and bluegrass for years. The musicians called themselves The Time Jumpers.
As for what came next, I’ll let Great American Country explain …
Started as a jam session in which off-the-road and off-the-clock pros got together to unwind by playing their favorite kinds of songs, the performances were scheduled for the club’s slowest night of the week, a time when only the most hardcore and appreciative fans were likely to show up. If nobody came, that was OK, too, because the pickers and singers were quite content to play for each other’s entertainment.
At first, only the critics went wild about the show. Then, as word spread, some very famous folk began dropping in. Reba McEntire was so excited on her first visit that she joined the band to belt out some Bob Wills tunes. Vince Gill often sits in. Following one of her concerts, Bonnie Raitt came by with her band and listened in awe as the Time Jumpers breezed through an unforgettable program of Western swing, jazz, country, pop and cowboy classics. Recently, rock icon Robert Plant even pulled up a chair. [...]
On any given Monday, fans might find themselves rubbing shoulders with the likes of Rhonda Vincent, Ronnie Dunn, Delbert McClinton, Pam Tillis, Sonya Isaacs, Mel Tillis, Sheryl Crow, Lee Ann Womack, Jimmy C. Newman and Linda Davis; Nashville execs Tony Brown, Buddy Cannon; and legendary musicians Charlie McCoy, Paul Franklin, Gary Nicholson, Bob Moore, all of whom have been there to cheer the Time Jumpers on.
The Time Jumpers recently released a two-CD set of a live performance at the Station Inn, and a DVD of one of their concerts. Looking over the song list, it’s heavy with Bob Wills western swing tunes. Hearing the samples, fiddles and pedal steel guitar dominate the sound.
They include a performance of Bobby Troup’s “Route 66,” of which you can hear a sample here.
Here’s a video of a typical performance:
Such performances bring back great memories of the Station Inn, where I once saw the late, great Don Walser.
Bringing help to Haiti February 11, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in bicycling, People, Road trips.add a comment
Two high-school seniors from Memphis, Tenn., will be bicycling on portions of Route 66 starting next month to raise infrastructure funds for earthquake-stricken Haiti, according to WPTY-TV in Memphis.
Eighteen-year-old Christian Kauffman and his friend Cort Gatliff have been training to bike across 10 states hoping to raise money to help people in Haiti get access to clean water.
Kauffman says, “I would say about 300 (miles) per week and we’ll have to do 700 (miles) during the ride, so we’re ramping it up a good bit.” [...]
They’ll fly to California and follow the famous Route 66 through several cities until they reach Memphis.
Their parents will follow them in cars. [...]
They’re trying to raise $50,000, so they can get 10 water wells built for Haiti survivors.
According to their The Water Cycle Web site, Kauffman and Gatliff will go through the Route 66 towns of Santa Monica, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Ludlow in California; Kingman and Seligman in Arizona; and Gallup, Grants and Los Lunas in New Mexico before taking a more southerly route through the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma. They’ll be going through their hometown, and finish their journey in Savannah, Ga., in April.
Here’s a promotional video of the two boys:
In case you’re wondering, the boys are getting much of their schoolwork done ahead of time before the trip.
Waynesville is hopping February 11, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Businesses, Restaurants, Towns.add a comment
This story in the Pulaski County Daily contains several interesting items that indicate the Route 66 town of Wayneville, Mo., is on the verge of an economic revival, if it isn’t already.
- The city’s sales-tax revenue rose 7 percent last year — a big contrast to many area towns that are seeing double-digit decreases. And city fathers anticipate sales-tax receipts to go higher when a planned hotel and national military museum open near Interstate 44.
- Improvements to the historic Roubidoux Creek Bridge, which once carried Route 66, are reportedly edging closer to fruition.
- The city council is considering mixed zoning in portions of downtown so it would allow people to rent apartments on the second floor of historic buildings.
- The old Brown’s shoe store on the Square will be replaced by a boutique and an Irish pub called Hoppers, named in honor of the Waynesville frog mascot. Local developer Tom Campbell bought an abandoned three-story building on the southeast side of Benton Street and Route 66. New downtown developments also include the Paradise Deli and The Drynk restaurant and lounge.
I’ve always found downtown Waynesville to contain a lot of rustic charm. Now it appears that others are discovering this as well.
Mr. Food heads southwest February 11, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Food, Television.add a comment
Mr. Food takes a brief culinary cruise down the Mother Road in New Mexico, and gives out the ingredients for the Southwestern Breakfast Bake.
This link takes you to a video, along with the text.
From one toke to one take February 11, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music, People, Road trips, Television, Vehicles.1 comment so far
Jim Motavalli, a columnist for The Daily Green alternative-energy magazine, tells about the fascinating background of Tom Shipley.
Shipley works as a video producer at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. According to the article, among Shipley’s favorite work is documenting students’ efforts at building vehicles for the North American Solar Car Challenge, which has taken place on Route 66 several times in its history and will return to the road this summer.
The races cover routes such as Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles, or Dallas to Calgary, and Shipley goes along with his high-def cameras. The films help the school find sponsors to get the teams on the road. “By the time the students graduate, they’re in demand,” Shipley said. “I feel really blessed,” he added. “I’ve won tons of awards, and I’ve had two really good careers.”
Here is some of Shipley’s camera and editing work:
But Shipley is a lot more well-known for being one-half of Brewer & Shipley, whose biggest hit was “One Toke Over the Line” in 1971.
The sly pro-marijuana song reached No. 10 on the singles chart, and landed them on President Nixon’s notorious enemies list.
“When we wrote ‘One Toke Over the Line,’ I think we were one toke over the line,” said Shipley told Motavalli.
Still, it had to be a kick for the duo when they saw their song being performed on “The Lawrence Welk Show” — and the host being seemingly oblivious to its meaning.
Notes from the road February 10, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Animals, Attractions, bicycling, Magazines, Motels, People, Road trips, Towns, Web sites.add a comment
It looks like planning on the proposed Route 66 bicycle trail in Logan County, Ill., is proceeding again after a hiatus.
The county board this week discussed the possibility of leasing a gravel road parallel to the railroad tracks from AmerenCILCO to use as part of Logan County’s portion in the statewide, north-south bike route, reported the Lincoln Courier. The towns of Williamsville and Springfield entered into similar agreements.
The trail’s organizers seek to link the Logan County trail to Williamsville’s.
Organizers hope the road would be converted into a concrete trail, but an oil-and-chip surface may have to suffice for a few years. Sen. Dick Durbin has offered to help make the trail a reality, if possible.
— Campingroadtrip.com recently posted an interview with Sandi Wheaton, the Canadian woman who lost her Detroit job and decided to use the down time to photographically document Route 66. Wheaton’s excellent blog is here.
— The upcoming March issue of Texas Highways magazine will feature Route 66 on the cover and focuses on Texas tourism, according to KAMR in Amarillo. The content isn’t online yet, so be on the lookout for the magazine at bookstores in the Lone Star State.
— McClatchy News Service has posted another story about Marshall Lee and his dog, Antigone. Lee, after losing his job, contemplated suicide but stopped his self-destructive thoughts when he considered that he would be leaving his dog alone. Lee and Antigone have been bicycling from Chicago to San Francisco — much of it on Route 66 — to raise awareness for suicide prevention and Basset hound rescue.
— We’re pleased to add the Three Roses Bed and Breakfast of Pontiac, Ill., to the list on the Lodging Page. A number of roadies have stayed there, and the B&B is just a short walk from the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown.