Pontiac’s impressive tourism surge December 14, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Museums, Towns.1 comment so far
Today’s story in the Pontiac Daily Leader gave many details about a tourism summit Monday in the Route 66 town of Pontiac, Ill., and how local officials and businesses will handle travelers in the future.
It’d been previously reported that Pontiac was seeing a 30 percent increase in tourists in 2011. But City Administrator Bob Karls provided information that showed how impressive and sustaining that increase is:
“The tourism thing really took off in 2004 with the opening of the Route 66 Museum and after the opening, we were seeing about a 5 percent increase in the attendance at the museum every year,” said Karls.
“In 2009, something happened and we went up 30 percent. In 2010 up another 30 percent and 2011 — another 30 percent. So we are really starting to grow this thing exponentially. If you carry this out with a 30-percent growth over the next three years, the 20,000 visitors will become 40,000 visitors, and three years later those 40,000 will become 80,000. So the visitors are coming,” said Karls.
Some other tidbits from the meeting:
- Karls expects an invasion of British travelers in 2012 after “Billy Connolly’s Route 66″ aired in the United Kingdom a few weeks ago. He said British travel companies are “inundated” with Route 66 tour requests, and next year will likely be Pontiac’s biggest ever for international travelers.
- Pontiac is trying to figure how to better communicate with non-English-speaking tourists.
- Also, the city is seeking solutions for airline restrictions; baggage rules restrict the amount of souvenirs international tourists can buy.
- Karls urged that businesses open on Sundays to take advantage of the large number of tourists on weekends.
- Pontiac Tourism director Ellie Alexander said the city’s tourism calendar already is filled for 2012, which is unusually early.
- Pontiac tourism was boosted by a Chicago Tribune article that was distributed by the Associated Press nationwide.
- Tourists are praising the hospitality and cooperation of residents. The mayor received many “flattering” cards and e-mails about this.
- Future plans include a new Route 66 Plaza, near the new parking lot west of the Law and Justice Center.
- The state of Illinois estimates that Pontiac’s tourism activities have created 210 jobs.
Tribute to Bob Waldmire December 14, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in People, Road trips.3 comments
This video popped up in my YouTube feed today, and it hit me like a ton of bricks, especially the last 30 seconds or so.
In case you’re new to the site, here’s more about Bob Waldmire.
We’re fast approaching the second anniversary of Waldmire’s death from abdominal cancer on Dec. 16, 2009.
The song is “Life Is a Love Song,” by Jethro Tull. It’s an appropriate choice, because that was Waldmire’s favorite band.
There’s no name listed with the YouTube account that posted this. Regardless, he/she deserves thanks for doing this.
Winter wonderland December 13, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Road trips, Weather.2 comments
Longtime roadie Jim Hinckley was traveling Route 66 through Seligman, Ariz., on Monday and encountered this snowstorm.
Among the businesses in the background is Angel “Guardian Angel of Route 66″ Delgadillo‘s barbershop and his Route 66 gift shop.
If you have seasonal or Christmas-themed photos on Route 66, email them to route66news@yahoo.com for consideration to be published here.
A Mini road trip December 13, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Vehicles.add a comment
Here is the description of this charming video:
Dean Wilhite, a graphic designer at Ackerman McQueen, loves his Mini Cooper. He met up with a few Frenchmen who shipped their minis to the U.S. and drove with them for a while on their trip across America on Route 66.
Ackerman McQueen is a multimedia advertising agency based in Oklahoma City. The video was shot and edited by Sarah Gomez.
In case you miseed it, the video took place on the Mother Road in the Chandler, Okla., region.
Grand entertainment December 13, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music, Railroad.add a comment
According to the poster of this video, this performance of Bobby Troup’s best-known song was on the Grand Canyon Railway, which starts in the Route 66 town of Williams, Ariz.
St. Nick visits Tucumcari December 12, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Motels.add a comment
Kevin and Nancy Mueller, co-owners of the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., sent these photos of an early visit by Santa Claus at the historic Route 66 motel and other businesses.
They wrote in an email:
Thought you should know that Old Saint Nick was spotted along Route 66 in Tucumcari last night! He was captured visiting a couple of motel owners, trying to determine if they’ve been naughty or nice this year. Not an easy task for the jolly old elf! Santa was seen at the Blue Swallow, and captured in the lobby of the Motel Safari. Then, he waved to a few passers-by along historic Route 66, before jumping into his sleigh (conveniently parked atop the lobby of the Blue Swallow), and high-tailing it back to the North Pole to finish preparations for his big night, December 25th. He will also be analyzing data from his naughty/nice meter in order to determine if presents or lumps of coal are in order when he heads back to Tucumcari in a couple of weeks.
No photos of sleigh or reindeer are available, unfortunately!
If you’ve got colorful or unusual photos along Route 66 this Christmas, send them to route66news@yahoo.com, and I’ll consider them.
Footage from the Mother Road December 12, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Road trips.5 comments
Here’s a new, 14-minute video by Ludwig Bispink, using a high-quality Panasonic camera.
I like the way it was shot and edited. It contains no narration, just the images and crisp editing to show scenes from Route 66.
Gary Turner at Gay Parita Station gets a generous segment about the 11 1/2-minute mark.
This video is listed as Part 1, and covers just Illinois and Missouri. I’m looking forward to the future segments.
UPDATE 12/14/2011: Part 2 is up. It goes from Kansas to Arizona:
UPDATE 12/15/2011: The final part has been posted. It starts with a side trip to Las Vegas, then heads westward to the Pacific Ocean.