While in the Route 66 town of Needles, Calif., this summer, it appeared there was little recent activity in the restoration of the historic El Garces Hotel. A sign said the century-old Harvey House would have a "limited" opening by winter 2008, and the hotel's Web site hadn't been updated since last year. El Garces' … Continue reading What’s happening with El Garces?
Category: Restaurants
Grand El Rancho Grande
El Rancho Grande restaurant on Route 66 in Tulsa had been working for the past few months in restoring its vintage neon sign. On Wednesday night, Modern Tulsa hosted a celebration as the refurbished sign was turned on. Here a video of the lighting by the Oklahoma Modern blog: El Rancho Grande has been in … Continue reading Grand El Rancho Grande
Authentic American Spook Light
Time magazine put out a list of 50 Authentic American Experiences 2009 -- one from each state. The state-by-state listing can be seen browsed here. It's a great list, with many obscure and quirky attractions. One that made the cut was the mysterious Spook Light, which is a few miles off Route 66 in a … Continue reading Authentic American Spook Light
Wow, man
There's no particular reason why I'm posting this video of the 66-foot-tall pop bottle at POPS in Arcadia, Okla., except that I like it in a vaguely psychedelic way.
Castle Car Wash being restored
The historic Castle Car Wash building on Odgen Avenue, aka Route 66, in Chicago is being restored after years of neglect and will be converted into a Greek restaurant. Debra Jane Seltzer of the terrific Roadside Architecture site got the scoop when she saw workers at the site and asked them what was going on. Seltzer said the work at the building has been going on for about two weeks. According to … Continue reading Castle Car Wash being restored
Chicago chicken trip
The Chicagoland area is blessed with not one, but two, great fried-chicken restaurants on Route 66. WLS-TV took a trip down the Mother Road to check out these places -- Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket in Willowbrook and White Fence Farm in Romeoville. Both places are more than 50 years old. And they're less than 10 … Continue reading Chicago chicken trip
A toast to Strafford restaurant
On Thursday, the owners of Bev's Country Kettle restaurant in Strafford, Mo., served wine and beer with its usual fare of hamburgers, pork chops and tenderloin. This shouldn't sound like a big deal. But it was the first time that an eating establishment in the Route 66 town had served alcohol with meals in 53 … Continue reading A toast to Strafford restaurant
The Mill gets $10,000 grant
The Mill, a historic former restaurant on Route 66 in Lincoln, Ill., will receive a $10,000 cost-share grant from the National Park Service's Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, reported the Bloomington Pantagraph. "This is really good news for us because it allows us to put a new foundation around the building, which will give it … Continue reading The Mill gets $10,000 grant
Notes from the “Road Trip”
Some notes from the latest episode of the NBC reality series "The Great American Road Trip": The good. The Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas -- along with its gift shop -- got quite a bit of air time during Monday's episode, even though the pie-eating contest in the restaurant was a bit repulsive. The good. … Continue reading Notes from the “Road Trip”
Going through The Mill
The Lincoln Daily News has posted a few photos from the 80th-anniversary celebration of The Mill in Lincoln, Ill. The re-enactors of old characters at the mostly restored Route 66 restaurant are a hoot. I didn't know the place had an association with gangster Al Capone. The main story is here. A lot of interesting … Continue reading Going through The Mill