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
Totem Pole face-lift
I didn't know this, but someone has been refurbishing the giant totem pole at Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park near Foyil, Okla., for the past year. Virginia Klugloff has been doing the work. Her work this year — which was the result of a grant from the local branch of the preservation group Questers — … Continue reading Totem Pole face-lift
Thesis becomes a virtual road trip
Pete Infelise, an alum of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, decided to make the Mother Road as a part of his thesis. The result was "Illinois Route 66," an interactive site that takes virtual travelers from the beginning of the road in Chicago and goes to the edge of St. Louis. To … Continue reading Thesis becomes a virtual road trip
Webb City seeks to play of Route 66 heritage
The Route 66 town of Webb City, Mo., has some ideas on how to revitalize its downtown, and Chuck Surface, economic development director, says playing up its Route 66 roots is one of them, reports the Joplin Globe. One vision, Surface said, is to turn the city’s east entrance at Broadway and Daugherty streets into … Continue reading Webb City seeks to play of Route 66 heritage
Route 66 State Park bridge gets a reprieve
A trustworthy Route 66 source wrote on his Facebook account that a Missouri Department of Transportation official told him off the record that the endangered Route 66 Bridge at Route 66 State Park near Eureka will not be torn down in 2010, as had been widely expected. MoDOT is hopeful another entity will take over … Continue reading Route 66 State Park bridge gets a reprieve
Former Club Cafe manager now an artist
Santiago Chavez, the longtime manager for the beloved but now-closed Club Cafe restaurant on Route 66 in Santa Rosa, N.M., apparently has found a second career as an artist based in Carson City, Nev. According to the Reno Gazette Journal, Chavez was the subject of an artist's reception Friday night at Fiesta La Posada in … Continue reading Former Club Cafe manager now an artist
Notes from the road
The Tulsa World reported that longtime Route 66 business McElroy Tire, at 1545 E. 11th St., will close at year's end. It had been there since the early 1930s, but company President Kent McElroy said the firm had been squeezed financially by national tire chains and discount stores. McElroy Tire is notable for its big … Continue reading Notes from the road
Don’t cramp their style
It was only a matter of time before this version of "Route 66" showed up. This version is by The Cramps, a psychobilly punk band that is now defunct, alas, because of the death of singer Lux Interior earlier this year.
Holbrook to mull opposition to bypass
I suspected that a proposed highway bypass in the Route 66 town of Holbrook, Ariz., would eventually encounter some opposition. It looks like the opposition is happening. According to the Tribune-News, the Holbrook City Council is considering a resolution to oppose a plan to route traffic from Highways 77 and 377 away from Holbrook and … Continue reading Holbrook to mull opposition to bypass