Trevor Summons of the San Bernardino County Sun drove Route 66 deep into California’s Mojave Desert to see whether he could find the hamlet of Bagdad.
He didn’t find much. “Blink, and you’ll miss it” is the common description of what now is a ghost town.
However, he motored on to the nearby Route 66 town of Amboy and its closed flagship business, Roy’s. Albert Okura, the owner of the Juan Pollo restaurant chain, bought the town and vowed to bring Roy’s back from the dead. Larry Stevens is Roy’s caretaker.
… There was no water, and no proper electricity, all of which had to be brought in, plus a serious upgrade to the facilities in order to bring the buildings up to modern-day code.
The new owner has expressed his concern at all this extra work, but as the new savior of the town he must be pleased that it’s only a few more weeks before gasoline will flow out of the shiny new pumps outside Roy’s famous cafe. The old motel too should not have to wait too long before it can open its doors to clientele for the 24 rooms and six cabins.
“We fully expect half of the rooms to go to local businesses in the area,” Stevens said. He also said that he expected most of the clients for the cafe and gas station to be locals as well, and that traveling Route 66 aficionados would be just the icing on the cake.
Hopefully, they will be able to enjoy a bowl of the delicious chili that was always a staple of the old menus.
If that motel reopens, I’m there.