Hey, I’m on a roll with all the rock from last week’s post. Music is today’s theme as well, but this time the spotlight is on a 62-year-old icon. No, don't yawn. I'm not talking ageing rock stars, I'm talking songs. I'm willing to bet you know it, and I'm fairly sure it'll make you smile. Its name is Route 66.
If you're planning a US road-trip, and you’re into R&B, or enjoyed the movie Cars - or just like the idea of a rental car and an open road, you might fancy planning your itinerary around the Route 66 lyrics and seeing all those famous place-names come to life. Sounds like a good idea? I thought so too. But guess what? Decommissioned in the 1980s, the legendary “Mother Road” has ceased to exist!
Photo by Simon Shek
This is indeed a sorry state of affairs, but it’s not the end of the world. Even though Route 66 is no longer "officially" there, it continues to offer a fantastic adventure and plenty of “kicks” to those who don’t mind leaving the interstates behind. And it's well sign-posted. You can still follow it from Chicago to LA: a distance, as the song says, of “more than two thousand miles all the way” (2,400-odd). In fact, the journey made famous by people as wildly dissimilar as Nat King Cole, Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode and the Cheetah Girls is possibly more fun than ever, as it’s no longer the beaten track.
So... fasten your seat belts and here we go:
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Chicago
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St Louis (down to Missouri)
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Oklahoma City (looks oh so pretty)
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Amarillo
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Gallup, New Mexico
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Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget...
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...Winona
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Kingman
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Barstow
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San Bernadino
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Los Angeles
Photo by puroticorico
By the way, Barstow is the home of the Mother Road Museum. And San Bernadino is the home of the world's first McDonald's, believe it or not. Gallup (pictured right) is the gateway to a number of Native American sites, including the stunning Canyon de Chelly in the Navajo Reservation.
But hold on, let’s take a closer look. Some of those places, while interesting in their own right, aren’t high on the list of fab overnight stays. Unless you’re an R&B purist, you might want to tweak things somewhat. A number of people, including wikitravel, suggest something along the lines of: Chicago to Springfield, Illinois (day 1); to St Louis (day 2); to Springfield, Missouri (day 3); to Oklahoma City (day 4); to Amarillo (day 5); to Albuquerque (day 6); to Flagstaff (day 7); to Barstow (day 8), cruising triumphantly into LA - Santa Monica on day 9. Sounds good, doesn’t it? And of course, you’ll be singing all the way. And reading John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.
So, it’s given cult status to a piece of old tarmac, but whose song is it? Route 66 was written in 1946 by Bobby Troup and has been recorded by more than 30 artists, including punk rockers and Bing Crosby. Amazing, really.
Anyway, if you'd like to know more about the real Route 66 - the road itself - then have a look at the National Historic Route 66 Federation and Historic Route 66.
Let me know if you'd like a passenger.
Photo by squeakymarmot