New Oklahoma guide touts restaurant options January 23, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Publications, Restaurants, Television.add a comment
If you’re traveling Route 66 through the Sooner State and wondering about a place to eat, the state tourism department has just published its Discover Oklahoma Destination Dining Guide to help you decide, according to The Oklahoman newspaper.
This food lovers’ companion was compiled by the experts from the “Discover Oklahoma” television show and is the ultimate guide to exploring more than 100 uniquely Oklahoman diners, kitchens, drive-ins and restaurants across the state.
Inside the guide, you’ll find information about restaurants such as Clanton’s Cafe in Vinita, a Route 66 staple that’s been serving chicken fried steaks, lamb fries and other mouthwatering delicacies since 1929.
You can mail-order the guide, along with the department’s excellent Oklahoma Route 66 brochure, here at no charge. The guide also is being offered at the state’s tourism centers.
Electric art January 22, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Events, Museums, Radio, Signs.2 comments
Here’s a good video from Southern California Public Radio about the “On Route 66, Lights” exhibit along the street and median in West Hollywood, Calif., that includes four neon signs from the The Museum of Neon Art in Los Angeles.
More about the public art display can be found here.
Tucumcari motel named No. 3 bargain motel by Trip Advisor January 21, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Web sites.8 comments
The Historic Route 66 Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., was named the third-best bargain hotel in the United States in the Travelers Choice 2011 Awards by TripAdvisor.com.
The only lodging establishments to beat it were the SeaCoast Inn in Hyannis, Mass., and Cedarbrook Lodge of Seattle.
No other Route 66 establishments were ranked in the myriad other categories by TripAdvisor, including All-Inclusive, Romance, B&Bs and Inns, Relaxation and Spa, Luxury, Trendiest, Best Service, and more.
Ironically, the Historic Route 66 Motel isn’t even ranked as the best motel in Tucumcari by TripAdvisor. It’s No. 3 there as well. The top motels are Motel Safari and Blue Swallow Motel, ranked No. 1 and 2 respectively.
What the criteria is for “bargain” can’t be found on TripAdvisor, but the Historic 66 on its website lists its rooms for about $36 a night for one bed, two people. By comparison, Motel Safari and Blue Swallow both typically charge over $50 for rooms, especially during the summer tourism season.
By comparison, the “bargain” Seacoast Inn charges $78 to $118 a night. The also-bargain Cedarbrook Lodge charges a minimum of $125 a night. I can only conclude from the wide disparity of price ranges in the category that the “bargain” criteria is estimated relative to the region.
I’m happy for the Historic 66 Motel, and have heard good things about the management there in the past few years. But I don’t take a lot of stock in TripAdvisor ratings. I’ve found the site laden with dishonest and diva-like complainers, so I’d take any comment or rating with a bushel of salt. Instead, I’ve found the online reviews at Yelp to be more thoughtful and consistent.
Take a rhythmic trip January 21, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.add a comment
Here’s a version of “Route 66″ by Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings. Wyman is formerly the bass player of The Rolling Stones; he’s the one playing the red bass guitar.
Much ado over not much January 20, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Gas stations, Towns.2 comments
This story in the Quay County Sun about the closure of a Circle K gas station at the corner of First Street and Route 66 in Tucumcari, N.M., seems to be a case of a newspaper and a local official making a Tucumcari Mountain out of a proverbial molehill.
First, an excerpt:
“We have no idea why they would want to close,” said Mark Lake, Tucumcari MainStreet program director.
Lake said the station is located at a strategic point in the heart of Tucumcari. He said having it closed and boarded up may hurt tourism.
“As people enter Tucumcari off I-40 and proceed down First Street, we don’t want the first thing they see to be a series of closed businesses,” Lake said.
Now, a couple of observations:
- If you haven’t been to Tucumcari, it boasted two Circle K stations within four blocks of each other. I always thought it was strange for Circle K to have two stations within walking distance, and wondered whether they cannibalized business off each other. Apparently Circle K saw the light and finally decided to eliminate one of the redundancies.
- Not to belittle the closure of a gas station, but to harp about it hurting tourism seems like hyperbole — especially when one considers that many closed and boarded-up businesses dot Tucumcari’s main drags. One more isn’t going to make much of an impact.
I think with its gas-station beautification program along Route 66, good leadership being seen with its chamber of commerce, and the very real possibility it could land a Route 66 museum, things have been looking up for Tucumcari in recent months. It’s simply going to take a long time to reverse the decline.
From the back of a Harley January 19, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motorcycles, Road trips.add a comment
The description of the video says it’s in Oklahoma. But it’s actually a very old alignment of Route 66 in the ghost town of Spencer, Mo.
It’s a nice clip, regardless.
New life for a watering hole January 19, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Food, Restaurants.add a comment
Along Watson Road (aka Route 66) in west St. Louis County, there once was a friendly bar called George’s Route 66 Bar and Grill, which became Cruisin’ Route 66. Then the bar closed.
Those wondering what happened to that watering hole should find the answers in this week’s Riverfront Times. In the regular Bartender of the Week feature, we learn that the Route 66 tavern has reopened as Danno’s American Pub, at 7895 Watson Road.
The Bartender of the Week, Chris Muether, seems to have arrived with this honor legitimately:
Chris Muether crafted a creative list of microbrews and went to work studying spirits and the history of cocktail culture. Inspired by a trip to the Asian-inspired New York City speakeasy Angel’s Share, he began flourishing a cocktail shaker. Aspiring to the mixological stylings of local luminaries Ted Kilgore (Taste by Niche) and T.J. Vytlacil, Muether joined the local chapter of the United States Bartenders’ Guild and dove headfirst into the competitive cocktailing scene.
“Me and T.J. qualified for the finals of the Greater Kansas City Bartending Competition,” Muether says. The young upstart finished in the top ten, raising eyebrows around town — including, presumably, those of Kilgore, who judged the event.
The story says that Danno’s will expand its food and cocktail menu in the next few weeks. In the meantime, you can surf over to the RFT’s story to see a video of how Muether mixes his Agent Orange cocktail.
An impressive tenure January 19, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, History.add a comment
The business section of the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader turned its spotlight to Barnes Town & Country Furniture, which has been on Highway 266 (aka Route 66) west of town for 77 years.
That’s just a few years after Route 66 was certified in 1926.
Co-owner Randy Perryman attributed the store’s longevity to low overhead and that it’s outside Springfield, so it doesn’t have to pay a city tax. And there’s something else:
“It’s right on the highway, no traffic or parking problem, a relaxed atmosphere, kind of like going back in time,” said Randy. “Most of our customers don’t want to be pounded on… or ignored either. We allow them to look and take their time… we’ll answer questions.” [...]
“We’re not the big box stores and don’t want to be,” Randy said. “People understand the quality we have. We’re still an old fashioned store concerned about our customers. We want to make sure they come back because we took care of them when they were here.”
The store began as a roadside fruit stand owned by J.R. Barnes in 1934. It eventually turned into a grocery store and kept expanding over the years.
“This was back in the Route 66 days,” said Randy. “They used to have everything — groceries, hardware, furniture, clothes, feed.” [...]
Randy said their mother grew up west of the store. “They’d come over and meet friends, got their groceries, stood around and talked. It was their Saturday night entertainment.”
Rick recalled old pictures of the store with cars and trucks lined up on both sides of the road.
“Of course, the interstate took some of that away because this (66) was the mother road, but we still have days that the lot fills up out here,” he said.
Buck and Marjorie Perryman bought the store in 1972, but kept the name. Their two sons began working in the store and do to this day. Feeling pressure from the big grocers, Buck decided to change over the store to all furniture shortly after.
A Google Street View image of Barnes Town & Country can be seen here.
“Independent America” online January 19, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Movies, Road trips.4 comments
A few years ago, we reviewed a terrific documentary, “Independent America,” about independent businesses fighting back against corporations.
The film included scenes on Route 66 in Seligman, Ariz., and Hackberry, Ariz.
A leaner version of the film now can be watched on Hulu:
This film is recommended viewing for all roadies.
Route 66 television show being filmed January 19, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Television, Web sites.2 comments
Longtime Route 66 advocate Jim Conkle recently started a blog. In one of those posts, he mentioned that he and a camera crew are traveling Route 66 to produce a television show.
That included recent filming at Elmer Long’s Bottletree Ranch near Oro Grande, Calif., and the Harvey House in Barstow.
Conkle wrote:
So what is this NEW TV show going to be all about, you ask? Would you believe me if I said Route 66? Well at least the people and places that make the road what it is. In our post production meeting in the afternoon the question came up as to what venue do I see this show falling under? Good question so here is my answer; Looking at all the different channels now on TV we could be under the Travel-Discovery-Military-Food-Kids-Green-Outdoors-Sports-Paranormal-News-Weather, etc. As each of those headings will be covered in a full season for the show, if not in each episode.
In an e-mail, I asked him questions about the Route 66 television series. (Quotes from him are lightly edited.)
- Conkle says the production is being funded “out of our own pocket.” He says PBS has agreed to air the show “based on what I’ve shown them.” But he said he would consider commercial TV because public television brings in little income.
- The production company is Valle Vista Productions, based in California. “Don Fish Jr. heads up the team. Also Joe Loesch and his cousin Chris Loesch and their companies are going to be involved. Chris has a studio on old Route 66 in St Louis, and Joe is out of Nashville. So we have a really great team.”
- He said the show might be considered reality TV, but could evolve into something else. “The idea is to be multi-faceted in that we will feature in each episode the people who live, work and travel the road as well as the places to eat, sleep, shop and visit on the road. Sort of like what Huell Howser does with his California Gold show or Charles Kuralt used to do [...] The show is NOT about me it is about the entire Route 66 community nationally and internationally.”
- Conkle really wants to get the production crew fully on the road by late spring or early summer.
- Conkle said a pilot episode has been created, but “we are not happy with it, so a new one is in the works.”
- Conkle was asked about New Jersey-based Vincent Video, which spent much of the summer on Route 66 and soon will shop a series for television. He said he was unaware of the company before my e-mail. “At this time, I don’t see a conflict and wish them luck.”