Author: japlady

Luna Café, Granite City, Illinois

First opened in 1924, The Luna Cafe in Mitchel Illinois on historic Route 66 is a dive bar with historic value… supposedly Al Capone used to hang out here.

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Sadly, their Neon signs, which to be honest is half of why the place is worthy of note… were in a horrible state of disrepair when I saw it.

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The 66 sign is not part of the neon; it is reflective, and I had my flash on… so…

According to what I read, the upstairs at Luna’s was a whore house, and when the local ladies where ‘ready’ to see gentleman callers the cherry in the martini would get lit up with red neon… otherwise it was “apparently not working.” (Since this was NOT visible on the neon at all, I swung by the next day to get a picture of it in daylight. Good thing I was staying for two nights).

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That said, the place has HORRIBLE Yelp reviews, so I stuck my head in, took a look around — spotted a lot of people too drunk to drive… and left

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The former historic Bel Air movie theater on Route 66, Granite City, Illinois

More history has disappeared… I came to the corner of Chain of Rocks Road (Route 66) and Bel Air Drive which is where the Bel Air movie theater sign is supposed to be and it was not there.

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Instead, there’s a great big empty lot and a truck that says Bel-air commerce Park one and a half to five acre lots available, with the name of who to call. They tore down the sign. Now that I’m home, I researched and found this article — they only just removed it at the end this July… and it is now in the hands of private collectors

 

Munger-Moss Motel in Lebanon Missouri

Passed this Route 66 Icon, the Munger-Moss Motel… which is celebrating 72 years on 66 and stopped to snap a picture.

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You know you’re looking at a historic motel when the neon sign advertises, “Free TV”

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That said, later while driving on 66 I passed a roadside sign (aimed to be seen by the drivers on I-44) advertising the place

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Scanning through the reviews (google, yelp, tripadvisor, etc) apparently this is one of the better cheap places to stay. It has 1950’s decor and the sort of privately owned place where you need to arrive before the owner goes to sleep.

The ARK Community & Sports Center, Waynesville, Missouri

Was driving down Route 66 in Waynesville Missouri and spotted Noah’s Ark… WTF? At first I assumed it must be a church, but no, it’s a gym but one that’s run by a church group so I wasn’t entirely wrong…

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This picture really doesn’t do it justice but the thing looks exactly like Noah’s Ark. As I was sitting there trying to figure out what Noah’s Ark has to do with physically fitness, I saw a pick up truck drive by proudly flying a really big American flag and an equally big confederate one…  I admit it, will breathe easier when I’m out of this part of the country.

The Nut House, Claremore, OK

One of the places that I kept hearing about as MUST see on Route 66 was The Nut House in Claremore Oklahoma and for the life of me I don’t know why.

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It’s a 40 year old store. As such it dates from 1978, when 66 was already being decommissioned, and is not even one located within interesting architecture. Why This is a must see makes about as much sense as saying ANY gift shop along the route is a must see.  It sells nuts, fresh fudge (tasty, but fudge) and has a deli. The goods for sale are a wider variety than one normally sees in these Route 66 places, but most of it was made in China so … a generic gift shop none-the-less.

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The ONLY interesting thing about this place is that it’s located adjacent to a store that sells RV’s which makes good sense as I’m sure more than a few people at this point are wishing they had one.

 

Pryor Creek Bridge Route 66, Chelsea, OK

I was driving down 66 (on the left lane) when I saw an exit off the right line for Old 66 and veered over to get to it (no traffic, it was safe), and came across this Pryor Creek Bridge, which was built in 1926, and I think it’s questionable that it is wide enough for two modern cars. fullsizeoutput_4c16.jpeg

Almost as soon as I got there there another driver pulled in right after me. He first asked if I was all right, he’d seen me veer than stop. I assured him I was, just being a tourist. Then he took this picture for me.

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Turned out he was a fellow Route 66 traveler … in fact this was his third time doing it, and he suggested an app for me should I ever want to do it again. Apparently this guy lives a lifestyle similar to my own and has even had bumper stickers made to that effect that he hands out to people he meets.

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None of the maps I’ve looked at mark this road as having been 66, the blue line NS-426 is what my GPS in my car saw, and see below for what google sees

Clanton’s Cafe, Vinita, OK

Clanton’s cafe on Route 66 in Vinita was one of the places I had marked as MUST try their foods… and I even planned my day to arrive there around dinner time… only to find it was closed!

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Clanton’s was one of the restaurants along the trek I was really looking forward to trying. This place has no shortage of accolades from TV and magazines, not to mention getting almost 5 stars on TripAdvisor and 4 on yelp. AND they’re supposed to have the best Chicken Fried Steak on Route 66, which is one of my favorite dishes

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But MY good luck, between me planning my trip and arriving there, they’d posted NEW hours which include being closed on Sundays. So

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Afton Station’s classic Packards, Afton, OK

Located directly on Route 66, The Afton Station Packard Museum, is yet another historic Gas station and mechanics shop that has been repurposed into a museum. This one is dedicated to the Packard and other classic cars — but I can’t tell you much as it was closed-up by the time I got there (4:30 ish on Sunday).

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That said, the town it is in is DEAD… to the point of scary; I’d say a good 80% of the businesses on this street are closed up and the few people that I saw (were more stumbling than) walking around all looked suspiciously like meth users.

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So between that and the weather, I was pretty motivated to not stay here too long. I did however peer through the windows, and from the look of it,

IMG_1127.JPGA very large gift shop that once again is mostly filled with EXACTLY the same merchandise I’ve seen elsewhere. IMG_1126.JPGAnd a collection that consists of seven cars shoved into the garage, with very little to no explanations. IMG_1129IMG_1128