Notes from the Route 66 festival June 10, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Attractions, Books, Events, Motels, Movies, People, Preservation, Publications, Web sites.6 comments
A lot is going on this weekend at the International Route 66 Festival in Amarillo. But Friday, most of the newsworthy stuff Friday could be found at the artists and authors exposition, housed in the San Jacinto Christian Academy cafeteria.
The inside of the cafeteria provides a good indication why it was used. Check out all the road signs:
Photographer Shannon Richardson was selling his new book, “Route 66 American Icon.” He’d received his very first copies just the day before. We’ll have a review about this volume in the coming days.
Carolyn Hasenfratz showed the QR codes (explanation can be found here) on flyers that will help promote her new website, Sell66Stuff.com. Her site has been live for several weeks, but she’s planning a full rollout soon.
I also saw QR codes being used on promotional materials used by 66 The Mother Road magazine.
Author Michael Wallis also attended the festival, promoting his new books about Davy Crockett and The Wild West. Here he is, chatting with Emily Priddy (aka Redforkhippie).
Also, he announced he would launch a Michael Wallis app for iPhones, iPod Touch, iPads and Androids for $3.99. The app will contain new stories, videos and photos posted weekly. The app is expected to arrive in the iTunes and Android stores within two weeks.
Wallis also is launching an online fan club at MichaelWallis.com for $9.99 a month, which also will contain original stories, photos and videos each week, along with a chance to win prizes and memorabilia monthly.
On a related note, Lynn Miller of the California Historic Route 66 Association said Wallis would be leading a Route 66 caravan from Chicago to Los Angeles in summer 2012 to commemorate the opening of the Cars Land amusement park in Disneyland Resort.
Organizers hope to schedule the 2012 International Route 66 festival, likely in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., during the same week Cars Land opens.
(The festival had originally been set in Santa Monica, but organizers found it difficult to secure affordable lodging.)
A firm date on the Cars Land opening hasn’t been announced, but it will probably be known within six weeks. Cars Land is inspired by the original 2006 Disney-Pixar movie “Cars” and the upcoming “Cars 2,” which opens June 24.
A collection jar for donations was set out by co-founder Rick Freeland of the Route 66 Alliance to help Harley and Annabelle Russell (aka the Mediocre Music Makers of Erick, Okla.) defray their medical expenses. Annabelle is undergoing an experimental treatment for ovarian cancer, and Freeland said she was progressing.
While roaming the exhibition hall, we spied artist Pete Morris at his booth, painting a watercolor of the Dolly’s Diner on Route 66 and Portraits by Tracy building across the street:
We also saw these cool-looking drinking glasses at the New Mexico booth:
Much of the festival area is along Amarillo’s Sixth Street corridor (aka Route 66), which contains a variety of antique stores, art shops, and restaurants in historic buildings. Here’s a couple of examples of old gas stations being converted into restaurants:
Traffic was fairly light Friday, but the crowds should increase dramatically when the city will close about 10 blocks of Sixth for a street fair.
Friday also turned into a scheduled work day at the Triangle Motel in Amarillo, where about a dozen volunteers dug out half-buried gutters and painted windows.
The Triangle Motel, after many years of neglect, is the subject of a long-term restoration project by owner Alan McNeil. Restoration should quicken in pace after a new roof was installed several weeks ago.
The day began with the annual Route 66 e-group breakfast, hosted by the Ambassador Hotel in Amarillo (which also serves as the official festival host hotel). Here, Mike Ward gives away dozens of door prizes:
And at the breakfast, longtime roadie George Game shows a poster from the very first national Route 66 gathering in 1996, which occurred in a tent in the near-ghost town of Landegrin, Texas.
Needless to say, the festival has come a long way since then.
Book about Wagon Wheel Motel published June 10, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Businesses, Gas stations, History, Motels, Preservation, Restaurants.add a comment
An illustrated book about the history of the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Mo., has just been published.
Riva Echols, sister of the motel’s owner Connie Echols, wrote “The History of a Route 66 Icon: The Wagon Wheel Motel on Route 66″ (102 pages, $15.99, paperback).
According to the news release about the book:
Riva became intrigued with the motel’s history and began interviewing, checking old records, and compiling the history of the motel that will soon reach its 75th birthday. With 102 pages of text and photos, both historical and current, Echols, follows the history of Route 66 development and the evolution of the motel through the decades. [...]
Conversations with waitresses and others associated with the motel provide some flavor and humor in the chronicle of the Wagon Wheel, as do the characters and personalities of the Wagon Wheel owners. [...]
Riva Echols chronicles the changes that her sister Connie has undertaken as the Wagon Wheel Motel steps into another decade with restoration and a new generation of travelers. Many before-and-after photos fill the pages of the last part of the book.
The release indicates the book was exhaustively researched. For instance, the motel’s first owners were Robert and Margaret Martin, and stonemason Leo Friesenhan designed its distinctive architecture. The book also delves into the motel’s long-running Wagon Wheel Cafe and nearby gas station building.
The book also is being sold at Connie’s Shoppe at the Wagon Wheel Motel.
Cars Land set for summer 2012 opening June 9, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Movies.add a comment
The Cars Land theme park — based on the Route 66 town of Radiator Springs from the 2006 Disney-Pixar film “Cars” — at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., will open in summer 2012, according to a report in the Orange County Register.
Cars Land is part of $1 billion, 12-acre expansion of Disney California Adventure. The newspaper said Cars Land previously had an unspecified opening date of 2012.
Cars Land is a re-creation of the fictional town of Radiator Springs from the 2006 Pixar animated film “Cars.” The land is scheduled to feature three rides, as well eateries and shops based on the movie’s theme of a town located along iconic Route 66. The highlight of the the land is the Radiator Springs Racers ride, which will take up roughly half the acreage of the new land.
The sequel to the film is scheduled for release on June 24.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes video about Cars Land:
Aztec Motel being torn down June 8, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Signs.5 comments
The historic Aztec Motel along Central Avenue (aka Route 66) in Albuquerque is being torn down, although its restored neon sign will remain indefinitely, said the property’s co-owner.
The tear-down started just a few days ago, judging by posts on the Duke City Fix, a collective blog based in Albuquerque. One of the blog’s contributors also reported the motel being “yellow-tagged” by the city on April 1 as unsafe for occupation.
The motel, originally called Aztec Auto Court, was built in 1933, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. In 2003, the motel earned a cost-share grant from the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program to restore its neon sign. The Aztec also was listed as a registered historic place by the City of Albuquerque, but that designation gave it little protection.
Matthew Terry, co-owner of Nob Hill Development Corp., which owned the Aztec, said during a phone interview that the motel had “outlived its useful life” and was so dilapidated that no good alternative use could be found for it. He said the motel had been closed to guests for months, and vagrants were breaking into the rooms.
Terry said he and his partner are “exploring all options” for the property. He said the restored neon sign would remain for the time being, and likely would be adapted for re-use in any redevelopment project.
Longtime Aztec Motel residents started decorating the motel with plastic flowers, paintings, and other items during the 1990s, making the building a sort of an Albuquerque art landmark and one of the most photographed on the Web. Terry said some items were saved from the motel, but that souvenir-hunters stripped much of the building in the days before the razing.
It should be noted that Terry’s group has been dedicated in preserving other historic Route 66 properties in Albuquerque. It re-adapted the Nob Hill Motel into an office complex and is remodeling the Premiere Motel into extended-stay lodging, despite a setback from a fire.
UPDATE 6/10/2011: This report by KRQE-TV indicates how grim the motel’s condition was:
The Aztec’s owner, Jerry Landgraf, said it would have cost $1 million to restore it to its glory.
“Everything just kept falling apart to the point where we were spending more trying to maintain it than we were getting any kind of income out of it,” said Landgraf.
Soon after he bought the building five years ago, Landgraf realized it couldn’t be saved.
“There were floor joists sitting on sewer pipes underneath the foundation to the extent there was a foundation,” he said.
6/16/2011 UPDATE: Here’s a sort of obituary today from Albuquerque Journal columnist Leslie Linthicum.
(Photo courtesy of Rick Martin)
A road trip by the seat of their pants June 8, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Road trips.1 comment so far
I’ll let the description of this in-production film speak for itself:
Three strapping lads from Cleveland make it their quest to venture out into the barren wilderness along the Historic Route 66 armed with food, water, a 1979 Duster and a thirty dollar BB gun. To donate to the cause, contact the guys at route66orbust@gmail.com. God speed, gents.
The film is being produced by Ace of Spades Productions, based in Cleveland. The tentative title of the film is “South by Southwest.”
Their trip starts July 2, and the crew will return later that month. Luke Szabados said in an email:
Although we are trying to stay as true to 66 as we can, we will venture off to hit 4 corners and a Native American reservation on the way up. [...] The angle of the documentary itself will try to hit home with the question: what happened to roadside America? While we do not want to exploit the trip with cameras and everything, we want to find that happy medium where we can really enjoy the trip and do some interviews and find out more.
I sure hope they have AAA.
A royal tour on the Mother Road? June 8, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in People, Road trips.1 comment so far
Britain’s Prince William and his new wife Catherine are set to visit Southern California next month, bringing speculation on where the royal couple will go, reports The Australian newspaper.
The couple announced last week they planned to visit “Los Angeles and surrounding areas” after a seven-city tour of Canada. Visits with soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria in Beverly Hills seem likely, as does with Elton John, who owns a home in the region.
Then again, they might prefer to hang out in Santa Monica, home to a huge British population who have long flocked to the sea-front community and its lively pier, end of the world-famous Route 66.
“We are very excited to have the royals coming to California, and would very much welcome a visit from them,” said Lisa Powers, manager of Ye Olde King’s Head pub, steps from the pier and beach.
“A lot of our customers are anticipating that they will show up for a pint of British beer and some fish and chips – we would of course welcome them with open arms.”
The last time British royals visited California was in 1983, by Queen Elizabeth II.
A little of the Land of Lincoln June 7, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Photographs, Road trips.add a comment
Here’s a fast-paced photographic look down Route 66 in Illinois, courtesy of the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway.