As Route 66 celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, we asked Tribune readers what the famed highway meant to them.
Here is some of what they had to say, accompanied by images taken last year by staff photographer E. Jason Wambsgans.
- One Century, One Road: Route 66, ‘The Main Street of America,’ turns 100
- Route 66 road trip: The first 300 miles in Illinois
- Meet the people keeping iconic Route 66 motels alive: ‘Highly endangered properties’
- In Arizona, a fading Route 66 motel hides a story of the Navajo Code Talkers
- Route 66 road trip: The end of the road at a pier in Santa Monica, California
Reader Corrine Zartler wrote the town of Tucumcari, New Mexico, is a favorite stop.
“Americana at its BEST! Family vacations traveling from Long Beach, CA, to Downers Grove, IL … five kids plus two parents all squished into an F100 Ford with a camper shell. Closeness at its best! Favorite stop? Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, St Louis, MO. Their pistachio concrete is to die for.” — Michelle Chilvers Murphy
Reader Earl Cory wrote that the Santa Monica Pier is one of his favorite stops.
Route 66 road trip: Devil’s rope, an infamous gap and a Panhandle-sized challenge in Amarillo, Texas
Reader Alexandra Franke wrote the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, is a favorite stop, adding: “Route 66 represents something deeply American. It connects people across thousands of miles to an idea of a (huge) place that we all share. It showcases the value of the journey, the people that can help you, the people who you might help. It is a reminder of those who traveled the same road in the past. It provides glorious evidence of all the space that we have not yet filled up.”
- Route 66 road trip: Devil’s rope, an infamous gap and a Panhandle-sized challenge in Amarillo, Texas
“The Blue Whale, it is local to me, but I never fail to appreciate it.” — Erin Porter of the Catoosa, Oklahoma, tourist attraction
“The Mother Road talked to me with the hope of fun and adventure all the way to the Golden State!” — Bob Behounek
Reader Jane Hopson wrote that the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona is a favorite stop.
“In 1946, my parents and I drove from Chicago to Santa Monica on Route 66. My dad had carefully cared for his 1941 Buick Super, but age had taken its toll. We had to stop every 100 miles and pour in a quart of oil! No air conditioning, of course. It was hot and humid. There were asphalt strips across the road about every 100 feet so it was bump, bump, bump. Nausea took its toll on this then-8 year old so on many days the oil stop wasn’t the only one. The trip took five days. We used the AAA guide to find motels and restaurants, but the only way to reserve ahead was an expensive long distance call or snail mail. After one long hot day on the road, we learned that the motel we had reserved somewhere in Oklahoma had a swimming pool!” — Al Wiener
Yellowhorse Trading Post is a favorite stop of Guy Ludwig.
Reader Gary Case wrote that Sid’s Diner in El Reno, Oklahoma, is a favorite stop.
The La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona, is a favorite of Jack Markowski.
Reader Sheila Haennicke wrote that the Route History Museum in Springfield, Illinois, which documents the Black experience on Route 66, is a favorite stop.
Chris Johns wrote that the Texaco Big Friend at the American Giants museum in Atlanta, Illinois, is a favorite stop, adding: “Route 66 is a complicated and wonderful road, like America itself, still trying to discover itself. One can easily get trapped in the fake nostalgia of the ’50s when retracing the route, a time when things were “great.” For instance, Black folk at the same time couldn’t drive most of it at night (including Nat King Cole who sang the famous song) as half the route went through sundown counties.”
“It means the unknown. I didn’t overschedule my journey and was stopping when I saw fit. One night I got the last room at the WigWam motel in Holbrook, AZ. It’s the unknown, the spontaneity, the leisure of a long-lost era. It’s truly not about the destination.” — Duncan Heidkamp said of Wigwam Village #6 in Holbrook, Arizona
Historic El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico, was opened in 1937 and hosted Hollywood movie stars filming westerns in the 1940s and ’50s. Reader Fred Brostoff wrote it’s a favorite stop.
Cozy Dog Drive In in Springfield, Illinois, is a favorite stop of Valeri DeCastris and Roger Whitaker.
The currently shuttered Munger Moss Motel was built in 1946 as an addition to a roadside restaurant and filling station in Lebanon, Missouri. Reader Gary Sosniecki wrote it’s a favorite stop.
