This time of year, a number of Route 66 businesses reduce their hours or even close because revenues become too sluggish to justify staying open. It’s also an opportunity for these owners to make repairs or get some R&R.
One example is Ted Drewes Frozen Custard in St. Louis, which closes in January. It’s common for ice-cream stands to shut down during the winter months, and Ted Drewes is no exception. Ted’s been known to reopen a day or so if the weather turns unseasonably warm. I was the beneficiary of that on a Jan. 2 a decade ago when the high temperature reached 72 degrees.
The Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., closed for the season on October and plans to reopen March 5. Owners Bill Kinder and Terri Johnson boarded up the windows to thwart vandals (someone with a pellet gun broke a few windows one winter) and are doing some traveling. They still are taking e-mail reservations for 2008 through the motel’s Web site.
Today, we learned that the Rock Cafe of Stroud, Okla., is shutting down for about 10 days for remodeling. It should reopen in mid-January. Owner Dawn Welch told us it’s been years since the Rock Cafe has undergone a thorough renovation, and she’s finally going to do it as tourism business ebbs. (As an aside, the Rock Cafe’s Web site has been down for a few weeks; she’s working getting that relaunched, too.)
So if you see your favorite Route 66 business closed this time of year, don’t panic. Chances are its owner is taking time off.