John Sharpe, chef at the acclaimed Turquoise Room restaurant at the historic and massively successful La Posada hotel in Winslow, Ariz., revealed a few newsworthy items in his regular email newsletter Sunday. First, construction on all the hotel's rooms is about to come to an end. Sharpe said: We are presently at 49 and will top … Continue reading La Posada nearly finished with all the rooms
Category: Motels
El Garces makes slow progress
It's been slow, but the Needles (Calif.) Desert Star reported this week that the effort to restore and eventually reopen the historic El Garces hotel, restaurant, and railroad depot in Needles is making progress. The stumbling point has been whether the Federal Transportation Administration will approve a joint operating agreement between El Garces LLC and the … Continue reading El Garces makes slow progress
Wigwam Motel in Rialto named to National Register
The Wigwam Motel on Route 66 in Rialto, Calif., was placed on the National Register of Historic Places effective Jan. 3, according to an email Thursday afternoon from the National Park Service. The Wigwam, which features individual motel cabins in the shape of tepees, was nominated in late 2011; its inclusion on the National Register was … Continue reading Wigwam Motel in Rialto named to National Register
Smithsonian magazine details Route 66’s revival
David Lamb of Smithsonian magazine has written an excellent article about Route 66's abandonment by the U.S. highway system and the Mother Road's eventual revival. It's in the February issue, but you can read it online here. The article focuses on Arizona -- Angel Delgadillo and the small Route 66 town of Seligman, La Posada … Continue reading Smithsonian magazine details Route 66’s revival
Old-time cruising
Here's a new video from Jane Reed, the driving force behind the Cuba Murals blog based in Cuba, Mo. She describes it this way: This slide shows photos of cars from the 2011 September Lions Club Car Show in Cuba and from the Wagon Wheel Motel's 75th Anniversary Celebration, also in Cuba. https://youtu.be/18G2N8EDkoE Music is … Continue reading Old-time cruising
“My father taught me how to drive and dream”
This 13-minute film by Karla Berry from 2004 is well worth watching all the way through. But in particular it contains footage of the Coral Court Motel in St. Louis shortly before the bulldozers came. https://vimeo.com/34475388 The Coral Court footage begins around the 7 1/2-minute mark.
Shimmering in the night
Here's a short-but-sweet new video of the great neon sign at the Supai Motel, along Route 66 in Seligman, Ariz. https://youtu.be/V7BistQ0xv4 The video was created by Andrew Wood, a professor at San Jose State University and a longtime roadie. He owns the Motel Americana website, and published "City Ubiquitous," in which Route 66 played a … Continue reading Shimmering in the night
A tour of John’s Modern Cabins
This well-produced video gives you a tour and a history of the abandoned and fast-decaying John's Modern Cabins, located near Arlington, Mo., off old Route 66. https://youtu.be/wQBIbvEOdrM The video was produced by Texas-based Synergy Media. Most of the historical information about John's Modern Cabins was gathered by Emily and me a decade ago. The story … Continue reading A tour of John’s Modern Cabins
Christmas Eve at the Wagon Wheel Motel
One year ago today, I woke up to this at the lovingly restored Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Mo. https://youtu.be/1ukiW5B-whE Music is “Song of Assisi,” by Marc Gunn.
Continuing the tradition
This nativity set was erected each Christmas season for at least 50 years by Pauline Armstrong, longtime co-owner of the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Mo. Connie Echols, the new owner of the historic Route 66 motel, has continued the tradition: If you have other wintry scenes of Christmas-related photos along Route 66, email them to … Continue reading Continuing the tradition