Visions of Arizona June 23, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Photographs.add a comment
Here is a video by photographer Michael Pancier of the many beautiful sights of Arizona, including several on Route 66.
Progress seen at Triangle Motel June 22, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation.2 comments
The pace is slow, but owner Alan McNeil is making progress on restoring the historic Triangle Motel along Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas — especially now that since a new roof is being repaired, reported the Amarillo Globe-News.
Alan McNeil acquired the property four years ago after it was condemned by the city. Demolition proceedings of the 1940s motel was halted after McNeil gave assurances that he could rehabilitate it. He and volunteers emptied the rooms of 70 tons junk and debris after the motel was used not to house overnight guests, but for storage for decades.
Roof repairs passed a city inspection earlier this month, city construction Plans Examiner Don Bartlett said. But the city’s condemnation case will remain open until the structures are repaired to meet building code and able to be inhabited once again, he said.
The walls of the buildings are structurally sound, said Amarillo architect Gregg Bliss, who conducted an architectural assessment of the buildings required by NPS.
Now, the Triangle Motel will be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, which should make it also eligible for cost-share grants to do additional rehab work.
More about the Triangle Motel can be found here.
A big statue for The Mick June 22, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Attractions, Sports.4 comments
Four decades after his retirement and nearly 15 years after his death, baseball legend Mickey Mantle finally received a larger-than-life tribute in his Route 66 hometown of Commerce, Okla.
Although Mantle was born in Sallisaw Spavinaw, Okla., his family moved to Commerce when he was 4 and remained there well after the New York Yankees slugger became known as “The Commerce Comet.” Charlie Duboise, who operates the Dairy King restaurant on Route 66 with his mother, said Mantle even owned a house in Commerce for a few years after he became a baseball star, until he eventually moved to Dallas.
Last week, Commerce officials dedicated a huge statue of Mantle swinging a bat, next to Mickey Mantle Field at Commerce High School. According to an article in the Joplin Globe, the statue is 9 feet tall and weighs 900 pounds. It sits on a 5-foot-tall pedestal. Artist Nick Calcagno designed the statue.
Local officials also plan to build a parking lot and sidewalk near the statue.
The project cost $75,000, and was paid with Oklahoma Centennial funds. The statue stands just west of a big curve of U.S. 69, aka Route 66, just outside the baseball diamond’s centerfield wall.
Commerce named a main street, a local baseball tournament, and the diamond after Mantle, but the town never had anything truly larger than life until now.
I found Calcagno’s creation to be an good likeness of Mantle, especially the facial features.
Mantle was baseball’s best player of the 1950s (only Willie Mays was close) and was one of the best of the 1960s. He was voted Most Valuable Player three times; won the Triple Crown in 1956 by leading the American League in home runs, RBI and batting average; earned a Gold Glove as a center fielder; led the league in home runs four times; hit more than 500 career home runs; and earned seven World Series rings.
He also was baseball’s best switch-hitter ever, bar none. If you want to see Mantle’s jaw-dropping statistics, go here.
Mantle, whose remarkable career was slowed somewhat by injuries, retired after the 1968 season. He died of cancer in 1995.
CNG journey to Route 66 began today June 21, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Vehicles.1 comment so far
The fellows who aim to drive all of Route 66 from Santa Monica to Chicago in a 1966 Pontiac GTO and Ford Fusion powered only by compressed natural gas started their journey to the West Coast today, reported the Birmingham (Ala.) News.
Mark McConville and Keith Barfield will stop at CNG stations where they’re available along the Mother Road. If no refueling station is available, a CNG tanker truck is following to make sure they don’t run out of gas.
Their “Drive to Inspire” campaign, which they began planning nearly two years ago when gasoline hit $4 a gallon, is more timely than ever due to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, McConville and Barfield said.
“The opportunity is here to raise attention about this issue and lessen dependence on foreign oil,” McConville said.
WRBC in Birmingham also filed a story.
Here’s a video the duo posted a few days ago:
According to the A Drive to Inspire website, the actual trek on Route 66 starts Saturday and is scheduled to end in Chicago on July 4 … if everything goes well.
Trailer for “Route 66: Ten Years Later” June 21, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Movies, Road trips.add a comment
Here’s the clip, posted today, of the trailer for the Jim Luning and Tim Steil documentary, “Route 66: Ten Years Later.”
Steil and Luning joined forces in 1999 to write a book, “Route 66.” In 2009, they decided to revisit those places on the Mother Road.
More clips from the video shoot can be seen here.
Interesting nuggets from Route 66 festival June 21, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Businesses, Highways, Publications, Theaters.add a comment
The Joplin Globe‘s story about the Tri-State Route 66 Festival at Downstream Casino Resort that contained a few pearls of useful information for roadies.
- Danny Charles and T.J. Davis this fall will open a 1895 building on historic Route 66 in downtown Galena, Kan., as a pizzeria and pub. Volunteers from the festival helped them clean the property. The town has been without a tavern on that stretch of the Mother Road since undermining destroyed the historic Green Parrot tavern in 2007.
- The state of Kansas wants its own Route 66 Scenic Byway on Route 66, like its neighbors Missouri and Oklahoma do.
- Webb City, Mo., hopes to open its Route 66 Welcome Center, formerly a gas station in downtown, by August.
- Barbara Smith of the Coleman Theatre in Miami, Okla., said that work is progressing on a tourism publication to promote Route 66 from Carthage, Mo., to Miami.
Golf star Montgomerie wants to drive 66 June 21, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motorcycles, Road trips, Sports.add a comment
Professional golf star Colin Montgomerie of Scotland wants to drive Route 66 on a motorcycle this fall — but only after he leads the British team to a Ryder Cup victory over the U.S., reports the Daily Record of Glasgow.
Despite his posh persona, Monty has always fancied himself as an Easy Rider clad in biker’s leathers powering down Route 66 on a Harley Davidson.
Now he plans to make this long-held fantasy come true to help him let off steam after leading Europe in the high-pressure showdown at Celtic Manor in October.
But the 46-year-old Scot admits he will have to learn to ride a bike first!
Turbulent He said: “I want to cross America on a motorbike because it’s something I’ve been longing to do for years. [...]
“I will have to pass the relevant tests but I can’t wait to take to the big, open highways and have a really good look at the Grand Canyon and Arizona in general.
“I imagine we will be on the road for two to three weeks.”
Montgomerie, 47, has earned $21 million in prize money during his golf career — and likely will take home quite a bit more money once he turns 50 and enters the senior circuit. He’s finished second five times in major championships.
New products galore at festival June 21, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Books, Photographs, Publications.add a comment
With a bunch of roadies coming from all over the nation to attend the Tri-State Route 66 Festival near Quapaw, Okla., the folks in the Authors and Artists vendors area took the opportunity over the weekend to introduce very new products. Here are the ones I found to be of interest.
The first is photographer David Schwartz and his 2011 Route 66 calendar, titled “Pics on Route 66.”
Looking over the calendar, I thought Schwartz did a magnificent job finding fresh angles to familiar Route 66 people and locations. Check out this image of the late Bob Delgadillo at the Snow Cap Drive-In in Seligman, Ariz., squirting a gag mustard bottle. The hand-coloring makes the black-and-white photo really stand out.
More of the calendar can be perused and ordered here for $18.50, including shipping.
Longtime St. Louis roadie Kip Welborn wrote a guidebook about Route 66 in the Gateway City. This is a welcome addition to any Route 66er’s library, mainly because St. Louis contains at least six alignments of the Mother Road. This book attempts to sort them out.
Best of all, proceeds of the sale of this spiral-bound book will go to Friends of the Mother Road, a nonprofit preservation group. If you want one delivered to you, mail a $12.25 check to Friends of the Mother Road, 3947 Russell, St. Louis, MO 63110.
Another new publication is “Keeping You on the Mother Road,” loosely called the Route 66 Yellow Pages, It contains comprehensive information about events, campgrounds, tourism bureaus, maps, roadside services, stories, attractions, color photos and radio stations down the Mother Road.
The price of this publication is $19.66, and a new, updated version of this is planned for March 2011. For more about buying the guide, go here.
Route 66 artist and author Jerry McClanahan showed a print of his latest painting, “Neon Sixty-Six,” that’s inspired by neon signs on the Mother Road. McClanahan researched each sign to make sure the colors were correct in the painting. Contact him here if you’re interested in the print.
Finally, of the arts and crafts I saw at the festival, I was most impressed with the merchandise designed and made by Betty Baumann. Much of her Route 66-related merchandise can be found at 4 Women on the Route in Galena, Kan., and Afton Station in Afton, Okla.
My favorite Baumann creation is this one, inspired by the Scrabble game and the Pixar Studios “Cars” movie:
Baumann can be reached at 918-253-8553 or 918-964-1136.
I’ll have a report about the two guidebooks in more detail later, after I examine them more fully.
Requiem June 20, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music, Road trips.add a comment
Sometimes, no comment is required …
(Hat tip to BethFenwick.com; music by U2)
Wildfires surround much of Flagstaff June 20, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Towns, Weather.2 comments
Many residents of Flagstaff, Ariz., are on edge Sunday evening because of wildfires around the city that closed a major highway and caused evacuations, according to varying news reports.
A 3,000-acre fire north of town has forced the closure of U.S. Highway 89 north of town, according to the Arizona Daily Sun. Another fire Saturday burned 500 to 600 acres south of Interstate 40 forced evacuations and the temporary closure of the Little America hotel.
And, as of Sunday evening, there were reports of a third fire on west Route 66 and Flag Ranch Road west of town.
Here’s a time-lapse video of one of the fires, as seen on Route 66 from the southeastern part of town:
Here are photos of the fires from Twitter users.
Here’s a live feed of radio transmissions from fire agencies fighting the wildfires.
This sort of grave fire situation has lurked in the minds of Flagstaff residents for years, as the city is surrounded on all sides by dense forest.
We’ll keep an eye on this situation …
UPDATE 6/21/10: The fire north of town has expanded to 5,000 acres.
UPDATE2: The fire north of town has swelled to nearly 9,000 acres, with more evacuations ordered.