Notes from the road

I’m playing a bit of catch-up, ever since I left town this past weekend to see Bob Waldmire’s Last Art Show. Here are a few things of interest to roadies …

— The Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa this year was a doozy, with more than 7,000 runners participating, along with 60 classic cars and 30 bands performing. The route essentially crossed Route 66 twice, with it going on the 1920s alignment near downtown and also the Southwest Boulevard alignment. Zac Freudenburg of St. Louis set a world record by running the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 32 minutes, 10 seconds while pushing his son in a baby stroller (yes, there is such a record) and was the overall winner. He’d hoped to run it in 2:40, but blew that goal out of the water. The top women’s runner was Chelsea Jones, running it in 3 hours, 38 seconds.

— It looks like Bill Scales, who attempted a full restoration of the historic Eagle Hotel building on Route 66 in Wilmington, Ill.,  has dropped the asking price for the property to $150,000 if the buyer commits to preserving it. Scales tried to restore the building, but fell into financial trouble and kept missing deadlines set by the city. If you’re interested in buying the hotel, you can contact Scales at 815-806-1815.

— An apartment fire threatened the historic Hotel Cuba building in Cuba, Mo., but did not destroy it. There was some damage, but apparently not enough to seriously compromise the structure.

— Also in Cuba, the new owner of the historic Wagon Wheel Motel tore down an unsightly structure that was next to the Wagon Wheel Cafe building, revealing the smaller, most historically significant gas-station building underneath. This is part of a long-term project to restore the motel. The cafe building will be reopened as Connie’s Shoppe at the Wagon Wheel Motel as a gift shop and registration area for the motel rooms.

— Gordo of Handcolored66.com now has a Web site to display some of the striking images he shot during a Route 66 trip in August and September. He’s an old-school photographer who shoots with film and hand-colors the prints himself. You can see some of his work at Miller’s Grill in St. Robert, Mo. He’s looking for galleries to display his work and maybe acquire a storefront on or near Route 66 in mid-Missouri. If you know of anyplace, please drop him a line at the contact page.

— If you want a weird and wonderful holiday experience, go to the Santa’s Magical Kingdom, which is just off Route 66 west of Eureka, Mo., at the Jellystone Park Resort grounds. Santa’s Magical Kingdom combines a bazillion Christmas lights and decorations with a heapin’ helpin’ of Ozark hillbilly kitsch. It even has its own radio station. It has to be seen to be believed. It runs nightly through Jan. 3.

— Rand Elliott, the architect of POPS in Arcadia, Okla., and the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Okla., and his firm of Elliott + Associates in Oklahoma City recently were honored by the International Architecture Awards in Florence, Italy.