Smithsonian magazine details Route 66′s revival January 20, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, Magazines, Motels, Preservation.1 comment so far
David Lamb of Smithsonian magazine has written an excellent article about Route 66′s abandonment by the U.S. highway system and the Mother Road’s eventual revival.
It’s in the February issue, but you can read it online here.
The article focuses on Arizona — Angel Delgadillo and the small Route 66 town of Seligman, La Posada in Winslow, Frontier Motel in Truxton, and a few other places.
The whole article is worth reading, but this excerpt about Alan Affeldt and the rejuvenation of La Posada is amazing:
After three years of negotiation, the Santa Fe Railway sold them La Posada for the price of the land, $158,000 for 20 acres. The hotel was thrown in free. The trio moved in on April Fool’s Day 1997, shooing away some hobos, and set to work. Seven months later, La Posada reopened with five meticulously restored guest rooms. The new owners operated in the red for five years; sometimes they met payroll with Affeldt’s credit cards. They scrambled for grants and put everything they made back into the project.
Now the 53-room hotel is booked to capacity virtually every night. Its Turquoise Room is regarded as one of the Southwest’s top restaurants. The grounds are landscaped with towering cottonwoods and hollyhocks. With a paid staff of 50, La Posada is the largest locally owned employer. Winslow has awakened from a 50-year slumber with a revived downtown, new shops, sidewalks and streets.
“Architecture is what brought us here,” Affeldt told me. “But what Route 66 gave us was a built-in audience—the people going up and down the road for whatever reason: architecture, history, nostalgia. Having 66 on our doorstep made all the difference.”
The thing is, Route 66 is still moving up. The revival hasn’t even plateaued.
A word from our sponsor … November 22, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Magazines, Television.add a comment
This is an ad created by Sarah Laird and Good Company:
The information on the video is scant, but I’m pretty sure it’s a spot for this magazine.
Food magazine devotes entire issue to Route 66 August 28, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Food, Magazines, Restaurants, Road trips, Web sites.2 comments
Popular Plates magazine is devoting its current issue to food and restaurants along Route 66. This particular magazine boasts the added cachet of employing Michael and Jane Stern, authors of the popular “Roadfood” book and website, as the editors.
The magazine is 96 pages and costs $9.99. It will be on sale at bookstores and other retailers (I found it Saturday in a grocery) through Oct. 3.
The magazine’s content includes a forward written by the Sterns, a history and overview of Route 66, 12 must-stop dining places on the Mother Road, an advertorial about a trip on Route 66 in three General Motors vehicles, specific food specialties from Chicago to Los Angeles, and more than 75 recipes inspired by Route 66′s regions.
The last part contains how-to-make instructions on cowboy caviar, Navajo lamb and hominy chili, horseshoe sandwiches, buttermilk pie, and even an old-fashioned beer-battered brain sandwich.
The magazine is sprinkled with short sidebar stories about Route attractions. And the photography is gorgeous and even scrumptious. I nearly groaned with hunger when I saw a close-up image of a slice of Texas pecan pie.
An inside look at Popular Plates' Route 66 issue.
Some of the content from the Route 66 issue can be found online here. But the dead-tree issue is worth your money and time — especially with longtime road warriors such as the Sterns guiding the way.
You also can order the Route 66 issue from Popular Plates here.
New photo-op in Albuquerque June 30, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, Magazines, Preservation, Signs, Theaters.1 comment so far
If you love the glow of neon, you’ll find a new attraction among the many you’ll find along Central Avenue (aka Route 66) in Albuquerque.
A re-created sign was installed on the side of the KiMo Theatre during a ceremony on June 3. Because the theater was originally opened in 1927, the street during the ceremony was closed off except for 1920s and ’30s automobiles. That resulted in the striking image you see above.
The KiMo was restored and reopened by the city in 2000, save for the neon sign.
Above is a photo of the sign being lifted into place.
Johnnie Meier, a longtime champion of Route 66 in New Mexico, led the charge to have the sign re-installed. He explained in an email:
In order to create engineering drawings, I gained access to the roof of the KiMo and dangled a weighted rope over the edge to measure architectural features. With these measurements, and old photographs for reference, I proceded to make scaled drawings of the sign. I generated the drawings which specified a vertical “flag” sign 23 feet tall topped with a neon thunderbird. I created a complete set of drawings including the mechanical drawings, neon layout and paint scheme which I submitted for bids to three neon contractors.
The bids were collected and I printed out the feasibility study with historic photos, engineering drawings, specifications, and bids. I submitted the document to the City of Albuquerque. Although the proposal was enthusiastically received, funding wasn’t obtained until a year later when the Albuquerque Arts Council voted to fund the project. The cost was approximately $12,000 installed. Zeon Signs was selected as the contractor. Zeon had restored the Aztec Motel sign in Albuquerque as a contractor on one of my previous projects.
The KiMo is not just a photo-op on the outside. Meier also said the folks at the KiMo’s front office are happy to accommodate visitors who want to take a look around inside.
A full story about the new sign at the KiMo will appear in the fall 2011 issue of Route 66 Magazine.
UPDATE 7/3/2011: The Albuquerque Journal today posted a story about the KiMo sign’s history and how it was re-created.
(Photos courtesy of Johnnie Meier)
Magazine: Rod’s Steak House one of Arizona’s best March 29, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Magazines, Restaurants.add a comment
I’d heard a couple of weeks ago that Arizona Highways magazine in its April issue had chosen Rod’s Steak House, a stalwart establishment in Williams, Ariz., since 1946, one of the 25 best restaurants in the state.
The magazine, which I recently received in the mail, did more than just give Rod’s a listing. Check out the two-page spread that you can see above, including the luscious vittles.
Here’s what the magazine said about Rod’s:
The iconic neon sign and steer-shaped menu have been integral parts of the Rod’s experience since Rodney and Helen Graves opened this Historic Route 66 fixture back in 1946. Nearly 40 years later, Graves sold the place to longtime employee Lawrence Sanchez, who’d been everything from busboy and dishwasher to head chef and manager in his 25-year tenure there. When Sanchez and his wife, Stella, took over they had the good sense to stick with a winning formula, offering the same dandy steaks, prime rib, beef liver and fried chicken that have kept locals and Grand Canyon tourists well-fed for more than 50 years.
The article also gained the notice of the Williams-Grand Canyon News, which talked to the magazine’s food critic, Nikki Buchanan:
“I did pick this restaurant and it is because, first of all, I remember going there years ago when my son was little when we were making a trip to Williams, so that was on my radar, and then we did a bunch of investigations on the internet to see if it was still good and if it was viable, that sort of thing,” she said. [...]
“We had a meeting where we were going over the final list and make some decisions and when I said Rod’s, our photographer jumped out of his seat and said ‘Oh my god, I love that place, it was such a big deal to me as a kid, I loved the menu cut out and the big neon sign.’ It hit for everyone. It had that really old Arizona feel to it, and we love that,” she said.
Rod’s even survived a strange accident in January when a carriage horse, spooked by an attacking dog, crashed into the restaurant. Fortunately, Rod’s was closed for renovations at the time, and no one was hurt. The horse suffered lacerations.
Two more listed restaurants were in Flagstaff, although both aren’t on the Mother Road. One is Criollo Latin Kitchen, and the other, Fratelli Pizza.
Missouri’s Mother Road September 22, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Magazines, Road trips.add a comment
An intern for Joplin Metro Magazine, noting how a recent issue sports a Route 66 theme, decided to take a Route 66 trip of his own across the Show-Me State.
Several Route 66 sites make Arizona magazine’s “best of” list July 20, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Magazines, Motels, Museums, Restaurants.1 comment so far
Several Route 66 establishments made the final cut in Arizona Highways magazine’s annual “Best of Arizona” feature, which is in the August issue that’s out now.
Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner in Kingman was mentioned in the Kingman Daily Miner for having the “Best Beer without a Buzz,” a reference to the restaurant’s acclaimed root beer.
The magazine story can’t be viewed online, but associate editor Kelly Kramer e-mailed a “Best of Arizona” list involving Route 66 towns:
- Best Opportunity for High-Altitude Peer Review: Flagstaff Photography Club, Flagstaff
- Best Opportunity to Dream in Black and White: Wigwam Motel, Holbrook
- Best Beer Without a Buzz: Mr D’z Route 66 Diner, Kingman
- Best Bet for Experiencing the Upper Crust: Miz Zip’s, Flagstaff
- Best Place to Stare at a Rock: Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff (Winona Meteorite)
- Best Place to Flip a Disc: McPherson Park, Flagstaff
- Best Opportunity to Be Blown Away: Wupatki National Monument, near Flagstaff
In case you’re wondering about the “upper crust” for Miz Zip’s, that refers to the restaurant’s pies.
Arizona Highways is sold at major bookstores, including Borders and Barnes & Noble, as well as grocery stores across the state.