The historic Hotel Brunswick in Kingman, Ariz., may close its doors as early as next week because of rising costs and a poor economy, reported the Kingman Daily Miner. Co-owner Debra Sixta estimated that the hotel is losing $4,000 to $5,000 a month amid rising utility costs and dropping income. The hotel opened in 1909, … Continue reading Historic Kingman hotel may close
Category: Motels
“I have a dream”
(This was originally posted three years ago. It's appropriate to repost it for the holiday.) This is the full version of Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. So what does King have to do with Route 66? Well, there's this passage: There are those who are asking the devotees … Continue reading “I have a dream”
Logan County sees huge jump in tourism dollars
Geoff Ladd, tourism director for Logan County, Ill., saw an unprecedented jump of 30 percent in tourism revenue in 2009, and Route 66 played a role in that, reported the Lincoln Courier. There were a number of reasons cited in the rise in motel tax revenue: the opening of a Hampton Inn and the reopening … Continue reading Logan County sees huge jump in tourism dollars
Notes from the road
The historic Riviera Restaurant on Route 66 in Gardner, Ill., reopened on New Year's Eve. Check out this story in the Batavia Sun about it. However, there is one potential snag that will be worth watching: The new owner is dealing with a request from the Gardner Fire Department to put in an expensive commercial … Continue reading Notes from the road
New artist takes inspiration from Mother Road
Joseph Squires is 72 years old, so it seems a bit incongruous to say he's new at anything. However, after his wife Carolyn died four years ago, Squires decided to paint scenes on Route 66 in Missouri, based on his memories of the historic road, according to the Cuba Mural blog. “My Rt. 66 series … Continue reading New artist takes inspiration from Mother Road
Wagon Wheel Motel’s restaurant reopens as gift shop
That didn't take long. Just a few months after the Wagon Wheel Motel building in Cuba, Mo., changed owners, the motel's long-closed restaurant building has been renovated and converted into a gift shop. According to the Viva Cuba blog: The opening followed months of restoration, where windows and doors were put back to their original … Continue reading Wagon Wheel Motel’s restaurant reopens as gift shop
A whole lot of wrong in a small package
This unnamed opinion writer for the Nanaimo News Bulletin in British Columbia, Canada, packaged a whole lot of half-baked assumptions into one sentence of this travelogue through the American Southwest: Winslow probably takes first prize for the most run-down town on old Route 66 and the corner the Eagles sang about in 1973 is its … Continue reading A whole lot of wrong in a small package
A visit to La Posada
This slide show posted on YouTube turns out to be a good overview of the historic La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Ariz.
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 … Continue reading Notes from the road
A closer look at Gallup
This tourism video does a good job in showing many of the attractions of the Route 66 town of Gallup, N.M., including El Rancho Hotel and the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial.