Ever since I can remember I’ve had an obsession with Route 66. I made it my goal that for my 30th I would tick it off my bucket list.  So here it is my route 66 (with detours). Enjoy.

Destination: Chicago-Springfield,IL-St Louis-Memphis-Springfield,MO-
Oklahoma-Amarillo-Santa Fe-Mesa Verde-Grand Canyon-Las Vegas-LA
Transportation: Car.
Date:August 2017
Time: 2 weeks
Tour Operator: Bon-voyage 
Highlights: Open road, care free, untouched landscape and friendly townspeople 
Lowlights: Derelict towns, struggling businesses and driving in LA.

Day 1. Chicago We stayed at The Drake Hotel. Great location, but needs updating. We only stayed here for a night. We walked 30 mins from the hotel to E Jackson Blvd to take a picture of the start of the route. Picked up our car the next day from the airport and started the long drive ahead.

Day 2. Chicago to Springfield, Illinois. On the way to Springfield, we stopped at the Gemini Giant landmark next to the Launching Pad Drive-In, Wilmington, IL. It was closed like most things on the Route 66.

Two ladies on their deck chairs, sitting at this gas station in Dwight, IL caught our attention. We parked up to ask if we could take a picture. They were happy for us to do so as long as we signed their book and pinned on the map where we had come from. There were no more spaces left for London. I decided to go with where my parents are from as no one had pinned Madeira (Winner, winner).

They had cool things in the gas station including the last two gas pumps used on RT 66 from Illinois to California.

 

On with our journey, we tried to stick to the Route 66 as much as possible, but it was time-consuming and we only had two weeks to try to fit as much as possible. A  lot of the time it was nothing but the road with only us on it and that was great! Doing our research we had marked out what we wanted to see and zip codes. On that list was the town of Odell, known for its 1930’s Sinclair Gas Station. Again, it was closed.  I was easily pleased as there was something about these gas stations that were nostalgic.

Following the Old Route 66 we arrived in Atlanta, IL, to capture our second giant statue“The 19-foot Bunyan Statue holding a hot dog.” I had even managed to capture the car we received (Toyota) and the car you’re supposed to do the journey in (Ford, Mustang).

Welcome to Springfield, IL, the hometown of Abraham Lincoln.

Duration: 1 night
Liked: Abraham Lincoln Museum and his restored house. 
Disliked: Cockroaches at night, breakfast at the hotel. 
Missed: Cozy Dog Drive Inn, Route 66 Drive In-Theatre and Shea's Gas 
Station.

 

Day 3. Springfield, IL to St Louis, MO. We stayed for about an hour before we had to hit the road to our next destination. They had restored his house and town so people had an idea of how they use to live. Pretty cool.

The Lauterbach Giant. We scored a hat-trick, yay! We were introduced to all the Muffler Men in Illinois. What a result.

Welcome to St Louis, MO.

Duration: 1 night
Liked: Vibrant city, Gateway Arch, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, Chain of Rock
Bridge. 
Disliked: TGIF
Missed: Sweetie Pies Kitchen and Blueberry Hill Restaurant. A boat trip on 
the Mississippi River.

Just outside downtown St. Louis, we drove to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. It was a mission trying to find the entrance as our GPS kept taking us to the Missouri entrance which was closed. Thankfully, Illinois entrance has a car park. You can only go so far with your car, then you will have to walk/cycle the rest of the way.

 

 

Once we reached our hotel the Hilton, St Louis Downtown, we walked to the Gateway Arch to get the elevator to the top. The views are amazing and the ride up there was an experience, definitely not for the claustrophobic. The courthouse where you purchase your Gateway Arch tickets has a lot of interesting history and its free! Bargain.

 

Home to the St. Louis Cardinal Baseball field and Ball Park Village, where we sat down and enjoyed a couple of Buds.

Day 4: St. Louis to Memphis (my 30th)

Up early to breakfast in bed as we had a long trip ahead to Memphis (detour). I wanted to get a Ted Drewes Frozen Custard for the journey. That was a mouthful.

 

“All the way from Memphis, Tennessee”

Duration: 2 nights
Liked: Sheraton Hotel, Flight Restaurant, Shelby's Farm Park, Beale Street
Disliked: Neglected and eerie city, paying for parking at the hotel
Missed:The Pyramid, Graceland

When I think of Memphis, I think of Elvis, Soul Food, The Blues, Rock n Roll and of course Justin Timberlake. We had two nights planned for Memphis as a birthday treat. We had booked reservations for the Flight Restaurant, which was a delightful experience. The concept of why have one meal when you can have three.

I’m officially in the 30’s club. Three, free desserts for my thirtieth. That’s my kind of dessert!

With our bellies full, we hunted down Beales Street. The road had barriers to get through and police officers checking our handbags. Once in, the atmosphere reminded me of Notting Hill Carnival, music coming from every direction, people dancing and performing on the streets. Walked down, grabbed a drink in the liveliest bars and appreciated the blues.

We walked back to the hotel, which I wouldn’t recommend as Memphis can be scary after dark. A lot of people approach you asking for money, buildings were derelict and abandoned on the way home, trams are no longer in use so its a perfect recipe for something bad to happen.

Day 5. Memphis

The next day we headed down to The National Civil Rights Museum in the Lorraine Motel, also where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated.

 

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Whilst down there we bumped into Jacqueline Smith who was the last tenant of this Motel before they decided to change it into a National Civil Rights Museum. She has dedicated her life actively protesting to change the Motel to a shelter.

After listening to her story, we decided to boycott The National Civil Rights Museum. You can make your own mind up.

Following that anticlimax, we drove to Graceland on the way to Shelby Park. We didn’t go in as it was a maniac. Elvis has a lot of fans.

I researched what outdoor activities were available in Memphis. Sitting down for a long period of time and eating was making us feel sluggish. I found Shelby Farm and it was a breath of fresh…warm air. We hired a bike and went around the park and sat down to a healthy picnic. Just what the doctor ordered.

 

Dinner reservations were booked for 6pm at BB King’s Blues Club at Beales Street. We had to at least try the catfish on the table and gospel in the air.

 

Sunday, Beale Street was empty, not like how we saw it yesterday. We had a walk down for some photo opportunities and souvenir shopping before we headed back to the hotel.

Day 6. Memphis to Springfield, MO. 

Springfield, MO. Birthplace of Route 66 (before they extended it to Chicago)

Duration: 1 night
Liked: Trendy Town, Birth place, History, Batting cages, Location of hotel
Disliked: Arrived late. 
Missed: The Route 66 Annual Fair

We arrived at the Holiday Inn Express, our hotel for the evening. It was a 15-minute walk to the main square. The town felt very young; trendy, with lots of sports bars, restaurants and coffee shops.

We only had a night, we couldn’t see much as we arrived late and most things were closed. We decided to do something active and go to the batting cages.  A quarter for 5 pitches…swing batter batter swing!

Next morning, we visited the Route 66 Springfield Visitor Centre, we received a warm welcoming, some free goodies and we even managed to watch the history of the Route in the theatre.

Before we set off we made a pit stop to Missouri State University (home of the bears and lady bears), just to say we been there, done that and got the t-shirt (literally). We even managed to see the fraternity and sorority houses.

 

Day 7. Springfield, MO to Oklahoma City.

We stayed on most of the Route 66 from Springfield to Oklahoma as it had a lot of good photo opportunities and attractions. We made pit stops in Gay Parita, Carthage, Joplin, Jasper, Galena, and Quapaw.

Gay Parita Sinclair Station. 

This was such a cool place and the guy who owned it was so helpful and full of facts. Definitely worth popping in.

 

Carthage 

 

Grabbed a coffee in Mother Road Coffee and signed the book, we wanted to make sure we put our stamp everywhere, also had a kodak moment with the picturesque Jasper Casper Courthouse and the historic Boots Motel.  Found the Route 66 Drive-In Theatre. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to catch a movie. One of the things I did regret is not going to Drive-In.  You would need two or three nights in to explore Springfield and the outskirts, you can tell it once was the birthplace of Route 66 from all the attractions nearby.

Quapaw, Miami, and Galena 

Galena was a cool place, if you’re a fan of Disney’s movie Cars, you will love this place. It was like I was in Radiator Springs. You can have a selfie with Mater himself. In Miami, we took a picture of the Art deco Coleman Theatre.

 

 

Totem Pole Park. 

Based in Foyil, it was a long day and by the time we finally arrived at Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park, everything was closed.

OKLAHOMA is OK

Duration: 1 night
Hotel: Best Western Plus Saddleback Inn. 
Liked: Bricktown, Route 66 Museum (Clinton)and National Route 66 (Elk City)
Disliked: Empty town.

 

We stayed at the Best Western Plus Saddleback Inn. The hotel really did have a southwest decor. It was too far from the city centre if you’d fancy walking, which we did as we had spent all day in the car.

Bricktown looked like a vibrant place, full of restaurants and bars. You could stroll down the river or take a water taxi, but there weren’t many people around and it felt quite deserted.

Day 8. Oklahoma to Amarillo. 

Before we got to Amarillo, we had to stop off at Clinton to see the Route 66 Museum. This was a good stop with a lot of information and history about the route. We also stopped to see the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City. It gives you a glimpse of how settlers lived with replicas of schoolhouses, chapels, doctors etc.

 

Is this the way to Amarillo?

Duration: 1 night
Liked: Cadillac Ranch
Disliked: Location of the hotel, breakfast
Missed: The Big Texan Steak Ranch, downtown

We drove down the Amarillo Boulevard to see the roadside motels which were apart of the original Route 66.

By the time we reached our hotel,  it was dinner time. We grabbed a quick bite at Furr’s Fresh Buffet and headed to bed. Our hotel wasn’t in the best location to see what the city had to offer.

Groom, Texas- Giant Cross and Leaning water tower.

 

Day 9. Amarillo to Santa Fe. 

Up and early we were on our way to the supermarket to buy spray paint to mark our names on a Cadillac. Luckily, one of the locals told us that it gets really muddy so to wear wellies, which we didn’t have so plastic bags around our feet it was. The Cadillac Ranch was only a 7-minute drive from the hotel.

We swung by the gift shop beforehand to get a picture with the 2nd Amendment Cowboy and a horizontal Cadillac. To get to the Ranch you just have to park up on the side of the road and head down to the cars. Unfortunately, as it was raining the night before it was in deep water and people hadn’t used the bin provided to put their empty cans in.

 

Next stop Adrian, Texas for the midpoint photo.  Had to sample one of their pies, the staff were really friendly. It was nice to bump into other people doing the route and talk about what we had seen on the way.

 

New Mexico True

Duration: 1 night (phew)
Liked: Beautiful town, lively with people dancing and music
Disliked: Hotel and their customer service. 
Missed: The Tee Pee curios in Tucumcari

Instead of following the route into Albuquerque, we went to Santa Fe as we heard it was a popular holiday destination for Americans. It didn’t fail to impress.

Our stay for that evening was at the El Rey Inn. From the reviews of fellow Route 66 voyagers and the look of this place on their website, I was most looking forward to staying here. Unfortunately, looks were deceiving!! I can imagine it was a lovely place to stay once upon a time, but needed updating and a good scrub.

Time to explore New Mexico’s state capital,  Santa Fe (the oldest state capital in the USA). It was a lovely drive into the city,  with high desert landscape and pueblo-style buildings it was a contrast from any other place we had seen on our journey.

 

We parked up on the plaza, grabbed a chilled beer and watched the live band. We were in no hurry to get back to the hotel.

Day 10. Santa Fe to Mesa Verde. 

Colorado: Fresh Air and Fond Memories Served Daily

Duration: 2 nights
Liked: Far View Lodge accomodation
Disliked: Long drive, bears, limited and bad quality food
Missed: Walking in the park as we were warned the bears were just hungry not angry!

Nothing but road and views. Once we arrived it was a $20 charge into Mesa Verde. We booked two nights at the Far View Lodge in a Kiva Room. The room comes with no TV, just a balcony overlooking the beautiful mountains.  We grabbed a couple of beers from the only shop in the park, got our pack of cards out and watched the sunset.

Day 11. Mesa Verde

The plan today was to take part in a Cliff Dwelling Tour. We decided to go to the most famous and largest dwelling in the park, Cliff Palace. It involved hiking down man-made ladders, in between rocks to get a closer look to see how people lived here.

 

We asked if it was safe to go for a walk around the park by ourselves, the receptionist handed us a leaflet warning us of the dangers that lie within the park.  To quote her “If you see a bear, remember it is not angry, it’s just hungry” On that note, we decided to go and explore, with our car and take pictures of the dwellings we found.

 

Day 12. Mesa Verde to Grand Canyon.

Breakfast was a massive disappointment in the park and it’s very expensive. All food for that matter was very limited, low quality, small portioned and extremely expensive. My recommendation would be to come out of the park and go to Cortez to find a decent place to eat. This nutritious breakfast can set you back $40, on the positive note the coffee was decent.

We stopped off at Four Corner Monument and paid $5 to get a picture.

Arizona: The Grand Canyon State.

Duration: 1 night
Liked: Peaceful, picturesque and all the view points alongside the road 
Disliked: Maswik Lodge. 
Missed: Trails, sky walk, bike tour and a hike.

It was $30 charge to enter the park. We had a short amount of time at the Grand Canyon. We stayed at Maswik Lodge in the South Rim. It was only a short walk to the Grand Canyon Village, again rooms needed updating and didn’t feel clean. A nice morning greeting from a local deer.

 

Day 13. Grand Canyon to Las Vegas

We got back on the Route 66 at Williams and what a treat it was. I appreciated the quiet time but happy to be on the Route again.

Stopped off at Zettler’s Route 66 Store in Ash Fork for some more photo opportunities.

 

25 miles down the road, a small town called Seligman caught our attention with all the Route 66 signs. Another opportunity to get some cool photos and souvenirs.

 

Nevada:  The Silver State

 

Duration: 1 night
Liked: Helicopter ride, Casino and the strip.  
Disliked: That we only stayed 1 night.
Missed: Everything that Vegas had to offer

 

Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas! Love it or hate it, Vegas is a city that never sleeps and I love it! What’s not to love big, bright, lights in every direction. Our hotel for the night was MGM Grand and what a grand hotel it was.

When we got to Vegas we managed to swim, shop, grab dinner, gamble, have a drink,  and then came out of the hotel to explore the strip.

We decided to get a bird’s eye view of Vegas and so we paid for a Maverick Helicopter Tour. I thought it was a bargain for £86 to see the city, you also get picked up and dropped off from your hotel and to top that, a free glass of champagne. (Tip: if it’s your birthday they give you a free bottle of bubbly)

You do go with other people so make sure you call shotgun to get the best views.

Day 14. Las Vegas to LA.

Duration: 1 night
Liked: Santa Monica Pier
Disliked: Driving in LA
Missed: Hollywood sign, walk of frame and other beaches

 

From Vegas, we saw a sign for Peggy Sue’s 50’s Diner. We popped in to sample one of their freshly made milkshakes and checked out the cool features this place had to offer (like this cowboy in the ladies). Great place, felt like we stepped right back into the 50’s.

Finally, we made it to the land of plastics, where we finished our journey to Santa Monica Pier.  Driving in LA was crazy, they must follow their own highway code. We witnessed so many car crashes from downtown to the pier, so make sure you are alert and prepared to push in.

Our stay for the night was at LA Quinta Resort and Club. We didn’t have the energy to explore the rest of LA as the traffic jams were so bad, no matter what time of the day. We decided to chill on the beach, watch the surfers, grab an ice cream and speak to the guy who owned the 66-to-Cali hut.  He had a lot of stories and information on the Route 66. He rewarded us with an official certificate for completing the Route.

 

Sadly, it was time to go home. It was a great adventure on the road, good music, great company, and beautiful scenery.