You Can Travel for Less on Route 66 by LB Sedlacek

This is an article I wrote about traveling on Route 66 some time ago. It was originally available via email, but now it's here!

One of the most popular U.S. destinations for Europeans, especially Germans, is not a typical American city or even resort hotel like in Las Vegas. It’s that famed old Highway that originated in the 1920’s and is now known as Route 66. Replaced years ago mainly by Interstate 40, Route 66 used to be the way to travel from the Midwest to the West coast. It’s beginning was considered to be Chicago with L.A. the end destination.

Route 66 reached the beginning of it’s heyday during the Great Depression and during the period known as the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s when poor farmers started traveling the Route to California looking for jobs as migrant farm laborers and a better life immortalized in John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” -- usually available for check-out at most libraries. In the 1940’s, the military heavily used the route to transport supplies and troops while in the fifties the increase in automobile traffic caused for a surge in restaurants, gas stations, motels and shops along the Route. During the sixties, the TV series known as “Route 66” romanticized what is sometimes referred to as America’s Highway. The final section of Route 66 was bypassed by Interstate 40 in Williams, Arizona in 1984. Today only parts of Route 66 remain – although with the resurgence in its popularity, many of the Route 66 states have begun restorations projects and many cities have begun revitalizing old hotels, shops and gas stations along the popular highway.

Besides the Europeans, there are many U.S. fan clubs or car clubs that revolve around the Route and the ancient cars that used to travel it. Even if you’re not one for nostalgia, traveling Route 66 is still the ultimate road trip and one of the cheapest vacations around.

Remnants or entire sections of Route 66 can be found in eight states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Because all these states have at least one major city or more, that makes it easy to find and acquire cheap airfare to any number of these cities from anywhere in the U.S. or even from international locations. It’s even better for you if you already live in or within driving distance of a Route 66 state.

Starting off at a airport in a major city (or even at an Amtrak or Greyhound station) makes car or motorcycle rentals easier and less costly as well. Depending on what kind of car trip you want to make any kind of car will do, but if you’re really intent on driving or touring abandoned sections of the Route you may need an SUV to reach certain parts of it. Depending on the number of travelers, a compact size car will do fine in most stretches of remaining highway.

Since so much of Route 66 is about the people and the places, it isn’t necessary to travel from Chicago to L.A. or from one end to the other (unless you really want to and have about 3-4 weeks for your vacation!). It is entirely possible and just as much fun to center your Route 66 road trip around a couple of states at a time.

For example, the first Route 66 trip our family took originated in St. Louis with us flying up from Charlotte, NC. Our first stop in St. Louis was not on Route 66, but instead a quick trip over to the Arch. Because we went after dinner, we had a great night view of the city and the Mississippi River from the top of the St. Louis Arch. Plus, there were no lines so we didn’t have to wait at all to go up. The next morning we toured the old Chain of Rocks Bridge that connected Route 66 from Illinois to Missouri. It appears that on the Illinois side, the Chain of Rocks bridge is only open certain days of the week and on certain hours, but even if you arrive when it’s closed you can still see plenty of it from the highway. There are also several Route 66 motels (some still open, some abandoned) right at the Illinois side entrance.

From the Chain of Rocks bridge, we traveled west on old sections of Route 66 in Stanton, Rolla, Carthage and Joplin stopping in Stanton for a couple of hours at the Meramac Caverns (a former hiding place for Jesse James). From Joplin we stopped at the Eisler Bros. Store and the Rainbow Bridge in Riverton, Kansas and crossed the line over into Oklahoma. At Claremont, OK we stopped at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum, in Catoosa we saw the Blue Whale water park, in Arcadia we shopped at the Round Barn, in Oklahoma City we couldn’t pass up a few hours at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, and in Clinton we spent some time at the Oklahoma Route 66 museum. We took about two weeks for our trip so having extra time at the Oklahoma state line, we drove on into Texas all the way to see the leaning water tower, the largest cross in North America (not a part of Route 66 but interesting just the same), Cadillac Ranch (looks sort of like Stonehenge with cars instead of stone) and stopped at the Big Texan steak ranch which is not only a restaurant but a motel offering a free 72 ounce steak if you can eat it and all the sides that come with it in an hour. Another short two-hour drive put us in Tucumcari, New Mexico where we enjoyed shopping at Tee Pee Curios and spent the night at the Blue Swallow Motel (an original Route 66 motel) where many of the rooms have been refurbished.

All in all, we traveled roughly 1000 miles or so of Route 66’s 2200 total. On the way back to St. Louis, we stopped again at the places we liked the most along the way or a few that we missed. Although one needs to enjoy road trips because long hours are spent in the car when vacationing on Route 66, traveling in this manner gives the freedom to start and stop whenever or wherever you want.

Another one of the great things about the stops on Route 66 is not just the fact that they are historic, but because many of the establishments still use reasonable prices! For instance, many of the motels that can be found along Route 66 don’t have many of the modern conveniences like fancy furniture or pools, but they still provide clean beds, showers and sometimes a complimentary light breakfast a lot of times for less than $50 a night for two adults.

Because traveling and vacationing on Route 66 is essentially a glorified car or motorcycle trip that makes it easy to stop in grocery stores and buy the trimmings to make a picnic. Since much of Route 66 was replaced or runs parallel to Interstate 40, there are several rest areas with picnic tables.

Additionally, many of the stops along Route 66 such as the Totem Pole in Foyil, OK, or the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo are free or suggest a donation only. Purchasing a national parks pass, can help save on admission like it did for us at the St. Louis Arch. All of the stops along Route 66 whether they are on the Route or simply nearby are interesting places to see and provide terrific photo opportunities.

We knew little about Route 66 when we decided to take our first trip and learned what we needed to do by buying an inexpensive video that highlighted Route 66 and must see stops. Plus, there are many free resources and map planners specifically pertaining to Route 66 on the Internet.

Not only did we get to learn about America’s past, but we had a great trip for a fourth of the cost of an expensive trip we took the year before to an island resort. On the road on Route 66 is an essential way to experience a piece of American history and to have a wonderful vacation.

Websites

National Historic Route 66 Federation

Historic Route 66