Historic Route 66 is a trip down nostalgia lane even if you weren’t around in the highway’s heyday.
John Steinbeck named it The Mother Road in his novel The Grapes of Wrath. And, at one time, Route 66 was the main road from east to west across the USA.
Route 66 runs from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California and crosses the states of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona this 2,000 mile stretch of scenery is a great road trip!.
From the streets of Chicago and St. Louis, the Grand Canyon, Native American communities, and the beaches in Santa Monica you’ll never have to leave the route.
The highway was built in the 1920s and in the mid-1940s, Route 66 wound through small towns across the Midwest and Southwest. Called the “Main Street of America” it was revered for its old time shops, cafes, motels and gas stations. In the late 1950s, the old Route 66 was bypassed as high-speed interstate highways were built.
The route was the star of a television show in the 1960s, Route 66. And singer Nat King Cole had a popular hit with a song by the same name. The Pixar movie Cars was inspired by a road trip on Route 66. Along the route travelers will find an vast array of 1950s nostalgia from general stores to diners to quirky motels equipped with neon signs.
In 1984, Route 66 was decommissioned and designated as Historic Route 66.
Must sees along Route 66 include:
- The Munger Moss Hotel in Lebanon
- Missouri the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook
- Arizona where you can “sleep in a Wigwam”
- El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico, known as “Home of the Movie Stars” once visited by celebrities like John Wayne and Humphrey Bogart
- The Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago, Illinois
- The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri
- The Mojave National Preserve in Nipton, California
- The “World’s Largest Concrete Totem Pole” near Foyil, Oklahoma
- The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City
- The Ariston Café is a Route 66 Hall of Fame member and a popular stop for food in Litchfield, Illinois
- Visit the Big Texan Steak Ranch steakhouse and motel in Amarillo, Texas. The restaurant is famous for serving massive 72 oz. steaks
- Santa Monica Pier marks the original end of the route
Enjoy Road Tripping on Route 66!
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