A new classic March 3, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation, Signs.3 comments
It’s apparent the folks that own the Campbell Hotel, aka former Casa Loma Motel in Tulsa, are getting close to opening when they put up this retro-looking neon sign on the side of that historic building.
I shot these photos in the early evening today. The hotel, which was closed for many years, is at 2600 E. 11th St., aka Route 66.
It’s always good to have a new or restored neon sign on Route 66.
The owners are getting ready for the Designers Showcase 2011, where designers will help spruce up the hotel’s renovated rooms. The showcase is slated for April 29 to May 22.
The Max Campbell building was built in 1927, and added to the National Register of Historic Places last year. It became the the Casa Loma Hotel during the 1940s, when it also housed a barbershop, drugstore and a Safeway.
The revamped hotel will contain 26 rooms. It’s scheduled to open in June.
Oatman’s burros March 3, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Animals, Attractions, Towns.1 comment so far
This is one of the best videos I’ve seen about the semi-wild burros that roam the streets of the Route 66 town of Oatman, Ariz.
You see the burros interacting with people and each other, plus you get to gaze on a cute young burro named Jelly Bean. The video was shot in 2004; Jelly Bean would long be an adult burro by now.
The burros are descendants of the burros that once worked in the area’s gold mines many decades ago. The townsfolk periodically bring in a few wild burros from Mexico to keep the population from getting too inbred.
New twist on an old classic March 3, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Food, Restaurants.1 comment so far
Ribs N’ More Bar-B-Que on Sixth Street (aka Route 66) in Amarillo, Texas, has added an interesting way of cooking a dish that’s been served for many decades on the Mother Road.
According to the Amarillo Globe-News:
The barbecue joint recently began serving a new unique item, smoked meatloaf.
The newspaper article shows the co-owner, Charles Lax, getting ready to cut into a big hunk of that smoke-kissed loaf. Folks usually put ketchup on meat loaf, but it seems barbecue sauce is a more appropriate — and tastier — addition.
I’m also intrigued by another dish the restaurant serves — spicy corn. According to the restaurant’s menu, it comes in bowls. So it’s not just corn on the cob with a sprinkling of cayenne pepper.
Ribs N’ More Bar-B-Que has operated on Sixth Street since 2006. Might check them out during the upcoming International Route 66 Festival in town.
Admiral Twin slated to reopen March 3, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Theaters.2 comments
The historic Admiral Twin Drive-In theater in Tulsa, which saw its screens destroyed by a fire in September 2010, will almost certainly reopen later this year, reported KTUL-TV in Tulsa.
The station reported:
The owner told me that he is 99.9% sure the drive-in will be open this season.
“We are pushing forward and I still believe that we are going to make this year,” says co-owner Blake Smith. [...]
“We are doing it ourselves, we are not seeking any other investors or any donations,” says Smith. [...]
They are hoping to get the rebuilding started in April, as it would only take 60-70 days to build the tower.
Hopefully by July Fourth the Admiral Twin will be reopened.
To date, about $30,000 has been donated for the rebuilding, which helped cover the costs of architects, planners and engineers. To cover the rest of the estimated $250,000 to $300,000 cost, Smith says he’ll take out a loan.
KTUL says the new screen will be made of steel instead of wood, and will be eight stories tall instead of nine, along with a few modern features.
Blueprints of the proposed twin screen can be seen at SavetheAdmiralTwin.com. Donations also can still be made there. Save the Admiral Twin also has a Facebook page.
The drive-in opened in 1951, and the second screen was built a year later. Even as the number of drive-ins in the United States fell over the decades, the Admiral Twin continued to show first-run movies. In addition to its association with Route 66, the Admiral Twin served as a location during a scene in the film adaptation of Tulsa native S.E. Hinton’s famous novel, “The Outsiders.”
“Get Your Tricks on Route 66″ March 2, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, People, Sports.2 comments
I found this documentary video about skateboarders who live in the Route 66 town of Glendora, Calif.
The interviews aren’t much, but the slow-motion footage of their skateboard tricks is worth viewing.
Hello from Finland March 2, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.2 comments
This performance of Bobby Troup’s most famous song is by Joe Vestich & Friends.
A word from our sponsor March 1, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motorcycles, Television.add a comment
I have no idea what’s going on here, except that you see the Bagdad Cafe in Newberry Springs, Calif.
“Dodge and Burn” trailer March 1, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Road trips, Television, Vehicles.1 comment so far
While surfing Vimeo for videos, I stumbled onto this well-edited clip. Music is “All Summer Long” by Kid Rock (with a nod to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Warren Zevon):
It’s a trailer for a film by Stephen Vernon-Clarke with the working title “Dodge and Burn,” and it comes with this summary:
Whilst traveling through the United States late last year we decided to document the journey. From meeting Mike in Sacramento, California who collects car license plates to Lodi in Cripple Creek, Colorado who was fighting hard to save The Old Homestead Parlour House from closure. Then from Bozo who restores classic cars on the old route 66 to Leonard Knight who for the the last 30 years has been creating a Biblical mountain to spread the word of God.
In an e-mail, Vernon-Clarke said:
Most of the destinations and interviews were the result of instinct and the flip of a coin.
I had seen ‘Roadside America’s’ website and that gave me the locations of Cripple Creek in Colorado where Lodi was fighting to save the museum from closure and it also gave me the idea of Salvation Mountain in Niland, California. After seeing some pictures of Leonard Knight and his creation I just had to go there and record the event.
The rest of the trip just happened and we just found ourselves on the ‘Old Route 66′. Wished I could have spent longer on that section, the stretch of road between Shamrock and Albuquerque gave me the most photographic opportunities and not forgetting Bozo and his fantastic collection of cars.
Vernon-Clarke said once the film is completed, he may shop it around to television.