Since its no longer the fastest way between Chicago and California, and what is left is often no more than a frontage road, Route 66's contribution must be measured in the broader context of American culture and history. The sense of exploration that led wagon trains across the Northern Route to Oregon is the same vision of brighter futures that travels with every vehicle on Route 66. Throughout history the road led people to freedom, first as a way out of the Dust Bowl and again after WWII when America was booming with opportunity and hope. It was the "Mother Road," as John Steinbeck called it, which enabled the America's second mass migration west.
This summer Route 66 celebrates its 75th birthday. We are proud to raise our glasses to the most famous byway in America. The journey lives on through those who actively preserve the original stretches of highway, through those who staff the gift shops and diners along the way, and through those who make the pilgrimage from the continent's farthest reaches to drive part of the American dream.
Below are a few uniquely Route 66 places to stop along your journey. Go on, grab your camera, a convertible, and some money for the gift shops, and head out west.
Meremac Caverns
Sixty miles west of St. Louis in Stanton, Missouri stand the Meremac Caverns (from St. Louis, get there by taking the road now known as Interstate 44). Over the years they have sheltered Native Americans, been mined for saltpeter, and enjoyed fame as a star attraction along Route 66. The caverns were opened in 1935 by Lester Dill as one of the first roadside attractions on the Mother Road. Dill, who was all too advertising savvy, painted barns with the cavern's slogan in more than 40 states around the country. One hundred of these barns still stand today.
Stop in for a guided tour and learn some local lore and geological history. Tours begin in the Ballroom, which was in fact used as a dance hall in the 1800s. While the room has had 2,000 chairs, a stage, lighting, and sound installed, the walls and ceiling are naturally made of beautiful and unforgettable limestone and stalactites. Next stop is in the Jungle Room, where you get a close-up look at stalagmites. The tour also visits the Mirror River, which really only runs a few feet deep, but strangely enough, appears as big as the Grand Canyon.
Open year-round and still family-run, the Caverns still host special events in the stunning grand ballroom. Other must-sees are the gift shop, restaurant, and of course, an 80-minute tour of the seven caves. In the true fashion of a roadside attraction, the Meremac Caverns also offer camping, a motel, riverboat rides, gold panning, and even canoeing (you can rent a boat there).
Wigwam Village Motel
People came from far and wide to drive on this famous patch of pavement. All along the way they needed gas, food and finally, lodging. And so the motel was born: a new kind of hotel catering to motorists by providing an entrance to each room via an outside hallway. When Frank Redford built his first teepee-shaped structure, he ran a gift shop out of it. Soon after realizing its appeal, he built 15 more teepees to use as motel rooms, and by 1936 he patented the idea. In the 50s there were wigwam motels stretching from Florida all the way to California, and the travelers, especially the children, found them irresistible. The most famous of these still standing on Route 66 is the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona.
The sign on the front playfully asks: "Have you slept in a wigwam lately?" During their heyday, people from all over the country lined up to stay in a teepee, which could accommodate up to eight people. The teepees here were completely renovated, and since their re-opening in 1988, the motel has enjoyed a steady success. Its location, less than a half day's drive to the Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest, has kept the visitors coming, despite the faster and more direct I-40 that shut down many of the other businesses on this strip of Route 66. (Holbrook is just off I-40, a few miles east of the intersection with U.S. Highway 180.)
Drive-Thru Dining in Barstow
Once a transportation hub, and still a transportation hub. While I-15, I-40, Highway 247, Highway 18, and even the Pacific Crest Trail go through Barstow, Route 66 remains the city's true love. (Here is one of many places where the old Route 66 is now I-40.) The primary street in Barstow is an old stretch of Route 66 still named "Main Street of America." Today, besides being a fast-food lover's dream come true and a great place for a bathroom stop, Barstow is the proud home of the Route 66 Mother Road Museum.
The museum houses memorabilia and artifacts from the road and its travelers. Old cars, antique souvenirs, outdated road maps, and historic photographs. The collection also includes a comprehensive exhibit on the development of Route 66 from its roots as an early pioneer trail, through its association with railroads, automotive history, businesses, and historic sites.
The building itself has seen a few cycles of American expansion and progress. During the heyday of rail passenger service in the Western United States, Barstow boasted a splendid rail depot/restaurant/hotel complex called the Casa del Desierto (House of the Desert). Completed in 1911, the Casa del Desierto was the fourth Harvey House built by the Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company. These Harvey Houses offered an unparalleled standard of food service to the rail traveler, and entered Barstow into the lore of American railroading and the West.•
