Notes from the road March 27, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Blogroll, Books, Events, Food, History, Motels, Motorcycles, Museums, Preservation, Railroad, Restaurants, Road trips, Signs, Theaters, Towns, Web sites.5 comments
A vintage image of the Tower Theater in Oklahoma City.
The neon sign of the historic Tower Theater in Oklahoma City will be relighted during a ceremony Friday evening.
The theater, at 425 NW 23rd St. in Oklahoma City, will see its restored neon blazing away again at 6:30 p.m. that day after decades in the dark.
Here’s more about the theater, according to records by the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program:
Part of a 1926 retail complex, the Tower Theater has stood as a landmark on Route 66 since 1937. The theater is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [...] When overall restorations of the theater are complete, it will serve as a film and performing arts venue. The retail complex will provide restaurant, retail, and office space.
The Tower received a grant from the program to help restore the sign.
To give you an idea of what you will see next week, here’s a recent photo of the Tower’s sign.
— Here’s an interesting new blog about the history of Joplin, Mo.
— The Pow Wow Inn, a motel in Tucumcari, N.M., that was run by the now-deceased Bettie Ditto for decades, is up for sale. Here are the details from Scoggin Blue, a Realtor based in Albuquerque and Las Cruces.
— The Pre-1916 Motorcycle Cannonball Run is set for Sept. 10-26, and much of the path will be on Route 66 from Albuquerque westward. And, yes, all of the motorcycles participating will be 1916 models and earlier.
— Gordo, proprietor of the Handcolored66.com photographs site, launched a blog and is posting from the Mother Road.
— You don’t see a lot about the Route 66 town of West Hollywood, Calif., mostly because the greater Los Angeles region tends to overshadow everything. This feature by the San Francisco Chronicle should partly remedy this.
— A monthly farmers market makes its debut this morning at the historic Harvey House in Barstow, Calif. The Harvey House also serves as home to the Barstow Route 66 Mother Road Museum.
— Speaking of Harvey Houses, “Roadfood” authors Jane and Michael Stern review for the New York Times the “Appetite for America” book, which chronicles those railroad hospitality sites that greatly impacted the Southwest.
— Speaking of railroads, Parade magazine listed Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, which follows much of Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles, as one of the greatest train rides in America.
— GrahamSpencer, a strategic communications firm based in Ridgway, Colo., and Rockford, Ill., recently received 10 awards from the American Advertising Association. The company was awarded Best of Show for its Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway Web site and Best of Media for a video about the Palms Grill on Route 66 in Atlanta, Ill.
— Lonely Planet has come up with 10 destinations for those with a mid-life crisis. Route 66 is one of them.
— Claudia Heller, in her ongoing series about Route 66 in Southern California, tells about the orange groves that once dominated that San Gabriel Valley.
Campgrounds updates February 26, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Blogroll, Web sites.1 comment so far
On the suggestion of a reader, I updated the Campgrounds listings page on Route 66 News today. Most of the ones listed from the last update in December 2008 are still operating.
However, I found a few had gone out of business, and I added new ones as well. Google, I discovered, is getting better at finding such businesses than when I first compiled this list in 2006.
I do not go camping, so I cannot vouch for these campgrounds’ quality. However, I do try to include campgrounds that are on Route 66 or within a mile or so (thank you, Google Maps).
I first compiled the campgrounds list after a few suggestions from readers. I was surprised how well it was received and still is. Apparently, the page filled a niche that had been long neglected.
Also, I’ve trimmed a few blogs from the Blogroll that have gone inactive, and added a few. Drop me a line if you think there are others that should be included.
Notes from the road February 21, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Blogroll, Businesses, Events, History, Music, Road trips, Towns.1 comment so far
I’ve tried to glean a deeper look at the crisis in Needles, Calif., over the possible loss of its only grocery store, Bashas’. The grocer chain filed bankruptcy a few months ago, and it is set to close 10 stores in response, including Needles’.
This recent story in the Mohave Daily News provides additional information about the city’s effort to keep the grocer open.
Ideas include possibly returning some of Bashas’ city sales tax to them or lowering their electric rate to help them offset their lease payments, which Williams said were $17,500. Because Needles has a municipal electric company, they might be able to offer Bashas’ an incentive on their electric bill to the city, which currently runs around $25,000 per month, Williams said.
Bashas’ pays between $2,000 and $3,000 per month to the city of Needles in sales tax, Williams said. California does not tax food, so all of the tax money collected is on aluminum cans and non-food items sold at the store. [...]
“From what I understand, it’s a landlord issue,” he said. “It’s not Bashas’. Bashas’ wants to stay.”
KABC-TV also filed a report a few days ago on the crisis. One thing that was reported that I didn’t know is that Needles has no public transportation. So if the grocery store closes, there’s no public option for people to ride a bus to the nearest grocer 20 miles away.
And a letter to the editor by J. Maier in the San Bernardino County Sun had these interesting comments:
[C]an anybody tell me why we are helping everybody else in the world but fail to take care of those who work each and every day, and those past and present who have served our country with honor many who lost their lives for the freedom we all enjoy today?
With that said, I am asking folks like Jack Brown (CEO of Stater Bros. markets), actors and actresses, pro sports athletes, talk show hosts like Oprah and Dr. Phil, Bill Gates, etc., to step up to the plate and simply “help our own,” once and for all!
I’m still absolutely stunned that a town like Needles, Calif., which numbers more than 5,000 people, may lose its only grocery store. A grocery store may be a private enterprise, but they’re as much of a necessity as power, water and shelter. If Bashas’ leaves, maybe it’s time for a nonprofit, publicly owned store.
— Check out the Greetings from Coldwater blog, which is a fictional account of a young woman, Sierra, who buys a historic motel on Route 66 in eastern New Mexico.
— The Road Crew musical group will perform at the Route 66 & Classic Car Festival in Litchfield, Ill., starting at 7:30 p.m. on June 25. The group, based in Nashville, recorded an entire album based around Route 66.
— Essential Travel reports that travelers from the United Kingdom are increasingly drawn to the United States as a destination. And a UK travel representative said that Route 66 is “still a firm favourite.”
— Here’s Claudia Heller’s latest entry in her series about Route 66 towns in the Mojave Desert. This one delves into the desolation and history of the town of Bagdad.
— Finally, Willem Bor of the Netherlands has completed another 1/25 scale model of a Route 66 landmark, this time the Twin Arrows complex in Twin Arrows, Ariz. Here’s a photo of the model he sent me:
New blogs on the Blogroll March 29, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Blogroll, Web sites.4 comments
In recent weeks, I’ve taken note of promising new blogs, or blogs that I’ve overlooked, that should be good resources for the roadie in all of us.
Here are new additions to the Blogroll, located in the upper right side of the home page:
– Alan Dunn’s Mrzip66 blog, which is subtitled “Road Blogging Route 66 and Life on a Harley-Davidson.” His latest post has a bunch of photos from the Mother Road in 1991, including the historic Cool Springs Camp right before it was literally blown up for the film “Universal Soldier.” Cool Springs Camp has since been restored.
– David Schwartz’s Photo Blog has a nice portrait of Bill Shea in his Route 66 gas station museum in Springfield, Ill. Schwartz also has a separate site for his fine-art photos from Route 66.
– RoadDog has been a longtime commenter on this blog. RoadDog’s Roadlog Blog not only includes trips on the Mother Road, but on other historic highways as well. He’s enough of a veteran of two-lane roads to know what a Liars Table is.
– Photographer Quinta Scott has been documenting the Mother Road since it was decommissioned for as long as anyone I can think of (just read the books “Along Route 66″ and “Route 66: The Highway and Its People” for proof). So Quinta Scott’s Along Route 66 Weblog is worth checking out.
– Alan Copson is a travel stock photographer. He boasts a bunch of Route 66 photos on his Alan Copson Pictures blog, including cool shots of Jerry Ueckert’s Redtop Diner in Edgewood, N.M.
– Shelby Rigg is 17 years old, and she works with her mom at 4 Women on the Route in Galena, Kan. Shelby’s an enthusiastic Route 66 supporter, and you can read about it at her Shelby’s Route 66 blog.
I’m also pruning a couple of blogs that have gone dormant. Historic Highways and Route 66 Spots haven’t been updated in many moons and will go by the wayside. If you’re the owners of these blogs, update them and I’ll gladly put them back on the Blogroll.
If there are other Route 66 or historic road-related blogs that you think I should include, shoot me an e-mail or make a comment. I’ll definitely give it due consideration.
UPDATE: Here’s the Indy Kicks It Online site, which describes itself as “3 musicians and a journalist on the Mother Road.” It’s a decent enough description — the quartet is taking off from Chicago in September “for a trip of a lifetime.”
Also, here’s Julie Bernabe’s Old Route 66 blog. She’s a Missourian who describes herself as an artist and Route 66 enthusiast.
Bill and Karen’s Travel Journal is about their Route 66 trip last summer. They’ll later blog their adventures this summer on the Lincoln Highway.
The Wombat, a frequent poster on the Route 66 yahoogroup and a Route 66 traveler, has a various-topics blog in It Comes from Albany.
An addition to the blogroll September 19, 2008
Posted by Ron Warnick in Blogroll, People, Photographs, Road trips, Web sites.add a comment
Andie Smith and Holly McCaig are two young women who will embark on a Route 66 trip from St. Louis to Santa Monica, beginning Tuesday.
They have a nice eye for photography, and they plan to post photographs and video during their trip on the Mother Road on their F2 Chicks blog. The blog hasn’t been up long, but a number of stories already have been posted.
Above is a screen capture of their blog’s front page, with the historic Field Bros. gas station in Pauls Valley, Okla., among one of the images.
If you give a minimum $5 donation to help defray the costs of their trip, they’ll send a set of eight postcards.
I’m looking forward to seeing what images they post in a few days.
Join discussion about El Vado December 21, 2007
Posted by Ron Warnick in Blogroll, Motels, Preservation, Web sites.add a comment
I’m a member of the Duke City Fix blog collective based in Albuquerque, and I posted the latest news about El Vado Motel.
Considering it’s iffy on whether El Vado can return as a motel if it’s saved, I asked for suggestions on other ways El Vado can be re-used, yet keep its historic look. A number of good suggestions resulted.
If you want to add your two cents, sign up and have at ‘er.
Duke City Fix takes up El Vado’s cause November 4, 2007
Posted by Ron Warnick in Blogroll, Motels, Preservation.add a comment
Duke City Fix, one of the most popular blogs in Albuquerque, has jumped on board with the cause to save El Vado Motel on Route 66 — not that it never was on board in the first place. Duke City Fix has been an enthusiastic supporter of Route 66 preservation since the beginning.
E-mails in support should be sent by Monday, if possible. For details, go here.