Former Route 66 Cafe, motel put up for sale June 4, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, History, Motels, Restaurants.add a comment
The former Route 66 Cafe and adjacent Belvidere Motel along old 825 Old Route 66 South in Litchfield, Ill., have been put up for sale for $150,000.
The restaurant’s operators left the property a few years ago, telling me at the time that the landlord hadn’t fixed the roof. But, according to the listing for the property on Century 21, a new roof has been installed. The listing says:
Be a part of Historic Route 66 History!!! Great investment opportunity on Historic Rt 66 in Litchfield. Formerly operated as the Belvidere Hotel and Route 66 Cafe. Units are leased monthly. Sold As Is. Great location with lots of potential. Has new roof.
Century 21 also put a slide show of the property on YouTube:
According to Quinta Scott in her book “Along Route 66″:
Lester and Edith Kranich owned the Belvedere, built in the years following the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. The cafe was of the same ochre-tweed brick as the Ariston and in a style that was somewhere between Streamline Moderne and Spanish Colonial. By contrast, the motel was a plain white clapboard building housing a series of attached units, unusual in an era when motel owners generally built individual cabins.
It’s a sign June 3, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Religion, Signs.add a comment
I’ve always liked churches that use cleverness or humor with their signs to help convey a serious message. Here’s one from the Cuba United Methodist Church in Cuba, Mo.
And, yes, the church is right next to the Mother Road. It’s been there since 1928.
(Photo courtesy of Jane Reed)
Photographer launches Route 66 promotional project June 2, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Movies, Photographs, Road trips.add a comment
Christian Gideon, a photographer who hails from Springfield, Mo., is undertaking a “Is Route 66 Dead?” multimedia project in an effort to draw more young people to the Mother Road.
Here’s a video he created that introduces us to the project:
Gideon’s Kickstarter project seeks to raise $15,000 in 90 days. He writes:
Myself along with 3 friends are setting out to prove Route 66 is still very much alive. Our goal is to show a generation of young Americans how beautiful this country is when you leave the interstates, suburbs, and fast food chains behind. We will be documenting our journey through photographs-from Chicago to Santa Monica, California. Equal parts discovery, adventure, and introspective – it’s a sleepover at a complete strangers house, spontaneous side trip, follow your heart road trip. Follow us as we seek to rediscover America’s lost highway – not just for ourselves but for a generation. We’re traveling the Mother Road as it was meant to be done. Just our cameras, conversation, and companionship. We hope to turn back the clock to a time when this country was full of dreamers – and inspire it to become that once again. [...]
Your funding will aid us in our travel expenses, publishing a coffee table book of photographs and stories from our journey, as well as a behind the scenes DVD. We’re not trying to get rich-we’re trying to start a movement.
Those who contribute to the Kickstarter project will receive an array of prizes ranging from exclusive e-mail updates ($5 pledge), limited-edition T-shirt ($50), limited-edition “Is Route 66 Dead?” book ($350), behind-the-scenes DVD ($500) and joining the crew for a 300-mile portion of the journey ($2,000).
“Why Take the Interstate?” June 2, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Road trips, Web sites.1 comment so far
Ed Klein, who runs the Route 66 World website, recently gave a five-minute presentation at Ignite Phoenix that explains the appeal of Route 66 as well as anything.
Waldmire mural is finished June 1, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Attractions.2 comments
The Bob Waldmire-designed mural of a Route 66 map on a downtown building in Pontiac, Ill., was recently finished, according to an e-mail I received from Pontiac Tourism.
Click on the image to enlarge it in another window:
Pontiac Tourism says it probably will lobby to have the tree removed, however. A mural isn’t much good when vegetation blocks it.
(Photo courtesy of Pontiac Tourism)
New “Cars 2″ featurette June 1, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies.add a comment
Director John Lassetter and several of the actors who provide voices for “Cars 2″ talk about the film:
“Cars 2″ will be in theaters on June 24.
Cadillac uses Route 66 to market to Chinese June 1, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Television, Vehicles.add a comment
Taking note of the growing affluence of the Chinese market, Cadillac used the allure of Route 66 during this rather epic three-minute commercial to tout the automaker’s Chinese vehicle.
Autoblog reports:
In a new short film for the Chinese-market SRX, Cadillac attempts to bridge East with West via Route 66. The ad shows actress and singer-songwriter Karen Mok taking on Will Rogers Highway with a male friend. The Mother Road calls, romance blooms and the Cadillac SRX is the tool that unites the pair.
You can view the video here. It’s in Chinese, but you shouldn’t have trouble following the plot. And, yes, parts of it take place on the real Route 66.
UPDATE: The ad was just posted on YouTube:
Don’t be surprised if this ad spurs new interest in Route 66 in China. A recent New Yorker magazine article took note that the Chinese are becoming a big force in world travel:
Most countries begin to send large numbers of tourists overseas only when the average citizen has a disposable income of five thousand dollars. But China—where urban residents are at barely half that level—has made travel affordable by booking tickets in bulk and bargaining mercilessly for hotels in distant suburbs. Last year, more than fifty-seven million Chinese people went abroad, ranking China third worldwide in international tourism. The World Tourism Organization predicts that before the end of the decade China will double that.
Don’t be surprised to see a bunch of Chinese tourists on Route 66 in the coming years.
Joplin tornado, continued June 1, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Sports, Towns, Weather.add a comment
Today closed a chapter in the tragic story of the Joplin tornado. Gov. Jay Nixon announced that all of the missing people from the May 22 twister had been accounted for, and that the final death toll stood at 134.
The Springfield News-Leader reported:
The total of 134 includes 124 people on the unaccounted for list who died, 7 people who died whose bodies were never taken to the temporary morgue, and 3 people who died in the hospital since the tornado.
The Joplin Globe reported that 300 storm-affected businesses contacted by the city’s chamber of commerce said they were optimistic about their future in Joplin. Only two were pessimistic. That is remarkable.
ABC News posted a good report about the Joplin Outlaws, the city’s nonprofit collegiate baseball team. The team’s ballpark at the Joplin Athletic Complex just north of Route 66 was undamaged. Amazingly, all 16 host families for the players this summer saw their homes emerge unscathed from the tornado. The team is waiving admission fees to all its games this season. The team also is waiving its $30 fee for a two-day kids baseball camp. The Outlaws are banking on donations to pull this off without revenues.
Finally, here’s a video by photographer Christian Gideon of the tornado damage. You’ll hear more about him later:
Missouri TV station posts Route 66 clips online June 1, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Television.1 comment so far
KYTV (KY3) in Springfield, Mo., a few weeks ago produced and broadcast a one-hour special, “Celebrate the Ozarks: Route 66.”
Tim Leimkuhler, a news photographer at KY3 and producer of the program, says the program dealt with the Mother Road from Rolla, Mo., to just across the border in Galena, Kan. He promised to eventually place the program online.
Well, it’s piecemeal in about one-minute clips, but the program has indeed been posted on KY3. The total running time of these clips is a little over 37 minutes, which very close to the running time for a one-hour program with commercials.
Clips include features about Route 66 author Michael Wallis, John’s Modern Cabins, Stony Dell Resort, “The Grapes of Wrath,” Elbow Inn, Munger Moss Motel, Red’s Giant Hamburg, and Elvis Presley’s performance at the Gillioz Theatre. You can see them all here.