I came to see it, but it’s closed for the entire month…
but apparently it’s running a sort of haunted house type thing… that said
There a lot of buildings in this town that are on the historic register…
Category: Route 66
The Round Barn of Arcadia, Oklahoma
This is one of those seriously iconic Route 66 things. Numerous times along the route people had asked me had I seen it yet, or was I intending to go see it. It’s a barn, it is old, it is red, and unlike most barns it is round…. that’s about it
When I first arrived I was a bit excited about what I was going to see.
But, other than some placards on the walls that talk about it’s history….
From which I learned that back when they were building this there was a folk-belief that round barns were tornado proof, and that there had been a huge preservation movement in support of the barn that began in the 1970’s, which resulted in it being placed on the Register of Historic Places, … really not much of major interest was offered.
currently, the ground floor, for the most part…. it’s a great big shop full of junk… no seriously, the sort of stuff you find at flea markets in poor neighborhoods. (I didn’t bother taking photos of it) Well, that and some obligatory Route 66 stuff you could easily find on Amazon and pretty much EVERY other 66 stop, but that said… it is mostly junk. As a potential marketing space it is being completely wasted. WHY the community doesn’t make it gallery for promoting local artists or something of the like, I don’t know.
That said, the UPSTAIRS is GORGEOUS, and is rightly used a venue for weddings.
Chandler Oklahoma’s Route 66 interpretive center
Located in Chandler Oklahoma on Route 66 in a beautiful building that once served as their national guard armory, is a museum dedicated to the Route 66 experience. Smartly, its designer looked at the other museums dedicated to 66 (the good and the not so good) and opted to compliment them rather than to repeat them … So, this exhibit is about the experience of some of the local high-points, rather than the road itself — for the low price of $5
I have got to admit, this is one of the better local attempts at a museum I’ve seen.
It has a docent, who, as soon as you walk in…. gives you a little tour of the place. First she talks a bit about the history of the building and it’s construction
Then she showed us the drill hall which has now been repurposed by the community for things like a wedding venue
and finally she took us into the exhibit hall and explained how the interpretive center works. She told us (me, and two women I had run into previously at Pops), about how they had hired a curator to design the space, and I could have told her that just based on layout. (As you guys all know nothing pisses me off more than museums that don’t even TRY to curate themselves). Less is more people, less is more…
The suggested way to start the exhibit, is a 20 minute movie (assuming you have the time) about a man originally from IL who made about his first trip on 66 in his 20s (in 1939 going road-tripping with a buddy to their university in Arizona). On that trip he had written letters to parents at every top along the way, and had taken photographs. Years later, when it was time to move his mom into managed care, upon clearing out the family home he found his mother had kept all the letters and post cards… and this stimulated in him a desire to do the trip a 2nd time, in 2000, now that he was retired. He did so, making a point of trying to stop at all the same motels (or finding out what had happened to them) and focusing on the differences between the two trips. With the help of a friend, a documentary was created which is being shown only in this museum (I looked for it on-line and couldn’t find it, other than references saying it was showing at the museum.
Then you move into a section where you can lie on beds (as though you were staying at one of the Route 66 motor homes), or sit in chairs (which were pulled from classic cars), And watch from a large selection of shorts (about 5 minutes or so each) on a variety of different topics
This one showed either a movie about renovating the Round Barn, that I had visited earlier that day, or a movie about the former icons that are no more — and the changing awareness of local communities and the government that these road side attractions actually need preserving as they are part of our history.
The Rock Cafe on Route 66, in Stroud Oklahoma
Per the suggestion of a friend, and one of those “places you need to check out on Route 66 lists” I stopped for a meal at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Oklahoma. Not only is the Cafe original to the 66 experience (the place has been there since 1939, and used to be a Grey Hound Bus stop), but when the Pixar folks were doing their Route 66 road trip as research for the animated movie Cars, they came here, and so fell in love with the place’s owner, Dawn Welch, a Route 66 restoration activist who had moved to Stroud and bought the restaurant in large part to help resurrect the town… that they based one of the main characters for the movie on her; namely, the animated character Sally Carrera (shown as a blue, 2002 Porsche 911) the owner of the Cozy Cone Motel, who serves both as the love interest of/and protagonist against Lightning McQueen, was based almost entirely on .
I found YouTube video by her, where you a taste of what the Pixar folks saw
That said, she wasn’t there the day I visited, and odds are you won’t meet her either… so lets talk about the restaurant she owns.
I found the menu of the Rock Cafe to be far more upmarket/chef driven than I would have expected based on most of the other historic eateries in town (and more than a few of the dishes made me wonder about the German Heritage of Stroud)
Of course anyone know knows me well knows which of the items on this menu I went for (although I admit the Jagersnitzel & Spaetzle with cheese were calling to me)…. but I opted for food more in line with my dietary restrictions (low fat)
The Buffalo burger was ok. The meat patty was thin and crunchy rather than thick and juicy, and the amount of mustard they put on completely overwhelmed the flavor of the meat (which should have been the star of the dish). But it had a good bun…
After eating I checked out the gift shop and IF they had offered this T-shirt on a more feminine cut shirt (a V neck or a scoop neck) I would have purchased it…. but they didn’t.
It’s the Sally Carrera character that’s based on the Rock Cafe’s owner, in front of the cafe and a route 66 sign. (I’ve emailed the owner and she’s agreed she needs some women’s versions, hopefully she’ll get back to me when she has one and I’ll buy it on-line).
The original Route 66’s Rock Creek Bridge, Sapulpa, Oklahoma
This is another one of those places where current maps tell you 66 is one road, when it’s deathly obvious that it’s not. As your driving along on a modern concrete highway bridge, off to the left there’s an antique metal one with a massive Route 66 sign on it.
I double backed to learn it was two lane bridge, brick paved bridge connected to what was the ORIGINAL route 66 in this area, i.e., the Ozark Trail .
…and the road that I took to get here is a deviation from that route… which can clearly be seen going off into the distance from the bridge (and cutting the 2nd leg of a sort of V from the road current maps tell me is 66).
When I got close to the bridge I found these guys their social media folks who have a blog page for the dogs and their dogs travel Route 66. When I doubled back to the other side I found the same couple with their dogs also trying to get onto the actual 66
These guys apparently travel all over take photos of their pups lined up in a row, and then sell them to people. I ran into them finishing off their Route 66 collection… they told me they don’t do it as one big trip, they do it section by section as fits their schedules.
A VERY big historic gas pump: Sapulpa, Oklahoma
Located directly in front of the Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum, is a VERY big gas pump, but of the sorts that used to be used back when Route 66 was a thing.
The gas pump stands along side car museum. I found the juxtaposition of the very OLD fashioned gas pump with the Tesla charging stations amusing.
Unfortunately the places closes at 4pm and I got there at around 6pm… At first I thought it was open because so many cars were the parking lot and people were standing around, but it turned out to be a high-school reunion for the class of 1968 from the local high school
Sapulpa, Oklahoma, one of America’s crossroads
In Sapulpa, Route 66 (from LA to Chicacgo) crosses with Route 75 a north-south highway that travels from Noyes, MN at the Canadian Border to Dallas Texas… it USED to run all the way to the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston Texas, but that last bit (like 66) has been replaced by I-45.
Where the two road meet the town created a really nice Neon display…which for some reason google maps doesn’t know about (will try to submit it) … the maple below the neon is right where Main street and Dewey meet.
Ludlow Cafe on historic Route 66
From what I’ve been seeing on line, the current Ludlow Cafe on Route 66 in Ludlow, CA is resurrection of what had been. That said, this whole area is kind of disturbing. As you drive, its through the mohave desert, where there’s nothing… and then you come across this cafe. I didn’t eat here (it looked kind of sketchy to tell you the truth) … but when I started reading the various plaques on exterior walls… well it was a bit disturbing.
So if you head just pass this café heading back north you’ll see the route 66 that no longer exists. The road’s blocked, but you can see where it was.
I’m currently seeing truckers, as the sun is starting to go down, parking their trucks on a closed off stretch of road that is in fact where 66 used to be. The last few miles I was driving on the opposite side of the freeway from where 66 had been (it was fairly obvious that this was the case) even though the signs were telling me I was on 66 (I think it was more a marketing ploy than the reality… I wasn’t on 66 but rather a frontage road constructed after I-40 had cut off that piece of it) …
because the road had been cut off by the freeway construction… if that makes sense. ANYWAY, when I got to the building I started seeing the signs below embedded into the walls and into concrete pillars in front of the place
Spooky shit dude!
The mega Cross in Groom Texas
This Mega Cross belonging to “Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries” is located directly between I-40 and Route 66 in Groom Texas, is impossible to not see from either. That said, even as a Jew, the artistry of some of these things tends to impress me… whoever did this installation was actually pretty gifted, and has a tongue in cheek sense of humor, that I have got to wonder if the owners of the property who paid for it actually get.
According to Atlas Obscura, this is the seventh-largest ‘freestanding’ cross in the world (at 190 feet)… so pretty frigging big. Like I’ve said before at other Catholic “Station of the Cross” tourist traps, Jews just don’t do shit like this… cause you know… the fourth commandment and all that good stuff.
What I found kind of interesting was that at the base of the statue of Jesus on the cross, people had left engraved bits of stone
At the bottom of the hill is the last supper… And for reasons beyond me, into the dish from which Jesus is supposed to have lifted the bread, people were placing money
surrounding the ginormous cross are the stations of the cross…. all of them impressive bits of work
But what finally made me decide that I have to pat the artist on the back was the view as I walked towards the building with the gift store…. you don’t really get the full impact from a distance. Standing near the cross it’s just looks really pretty and inviting… but as you walk towards it, the impact hit me like a ton of bricks, so hard that it actually made me uncomfortable. I took a step back, looked again, and SURE enough I was damned sure the effect was intentional
From about this position (and I’m not sure the photo does it justice) it looks like you’re looking between a woman’s legs into her vagina ….which is a paradise of gushing waters with the cross as her clitoris
The alignment staying true even as you walk closer… wondering if Jesus is the G-spot
… and note the placement of the huge phallic symbol. I’m sorry but there’s no way a professional artist did any of this by accident…. talk about the ecstatic moment of Christ’s love….
And of course inside you find a massive gift shop….
Even the bathroom art made me giggle nervously… Seriously who was the artist and HOW in Christs name did he or her manage to convince the the folks footing the bill to allow any of this? Or were they THIS oblivious?
My ex-boyfriend who I was with in college …who my parents assumed would be the son-in-law, his mom was a painter who worked mostly in watercolors and used to do a lot of flowers along with Japanese inspired images (in spite of being Korean which I always found interesting). Anyway, my mom felt that she had to support this woman’s endeavors (since she might soon be family) and asked her to bring over some stuff that my mom could buy from her. I told her my mom liked flowers, so she brought a lot of those, and my mom looked through the pile, focusing ultimately on one image that she said called to her, but she wasn’t sure why. That’s the one she wanted….
I looked at my dad, who looked knowingly at me… and we both looked at Mrs Cha (my boyfriend’s mom), who was trying to smile. We all knew what she was drawn to even if she didn’t. Of ALL the images my mom had opted for the one with a massive phallic symbol in the middle. People do this all the time… artists know exactly what they’re looking at but the naive don’t see the hidden sexual messages in the art. THAT is what was going on here.
I horrified this one nice southern lady by pointing out the art she was oggling (see above) because of what it cost for what it was, had to have been made in China. I’m serious, she dropped it like it was anathema, saying, “Oh you MUST be wrong, they wouldn’t sell that here.”… so I picked it up, turned it over and quickly found the “Made in China” mark… and showed it to her. Keep in mind almost all of these folks are the Pro-Trump, Make America Great sort.
And then there was a movie theater showing a movie talk
Grand Canyon, South Rim, Arizona
It’s the Grand Canyon, South Rim… it’s a classic! Rather than drive here, however, I took the train ride from Williams, AZ (on Route 66) where I was spending the night.
To be honest, the three hours the Train service allowed me was ENOUGH, in large part because my pinky toe on my right foot was seriously unhappy with me (I had sprained it and rather than let it rest and keeping it elevated, I had been driving cross-country and doing a load of walking.) As such, rather than walk I first took the shuttle bus for invalids (organized by the train company) from the train to
El Tovar.. in order to get some lunch, and to see it because … HARVEY HOUSE!!!
On the train I had asked the girl to suggest which of the restaurants had the best food, and she said the main restaurant at the El Tovar for sure… but I had done so much snacking on the way over that, while looking over their lunch menu, I found I wasn’t actually all that hungry, so I opted for the Onion Soup
It was VERY good (definitely a cut above the average), and every person I spoke to at the surrounding tables was also extremely happy with their food. Let’s face it, you don’t expect food at restaurants like this actually be good, especially when the food prices are relatively reasonable. (You’re paying for the location, ambiance and view).
That said, the room is also quite spectacular…. both its interior and decorations,
And of course if you’re very lucky (I wasn’t) you’ll be placed next to a widow with an amazing view.
The bottom right image was from my table… I was WAY in the back but that said, ….Heh, my table was RIGHT next to the electric plug and my iPhone’s battery was down to 20% after the train ride.
I wandered around the building a bit afterwards, cause it was gorgeous (and a Hardy House that had been kept authentic over time)… ‘
Directly adjacent to the El Tovar is Hopi House, which is also a historic landmark, that is used as store for mostly high-end Native American goods. It was designed by Mary Colter, the same woman who designed almost all of the Harvey Houses. 
After checking it out, I went to look at the rim…. pictures don’t do it justice, there’s something unreal about it.
That said, I was in AWE of how clear the view was. I kept saying to people, “do you realize that a few years ago you wouldn’t have seen this? That there was a horrible haze mucking it up? That its only because of the Clean air act, and the recent closing of some near by coal-burning power stations that you can see this so clearly” Apparently nobody did… Not only that but some Trump supporters actually started yelling at me (I’m shitting you not.)
My weather karma is continuing— like I said it was supposed to be raining today…
At the other end of the part of the southern rim that I had walked along, is the Bright Angel Lodge which was also designed by Mary Colter, and this one has a very famous fireplace (that the one behind me in the images below)…. which again has amazing views at its restaurant… only the girl on the train told me the food isn’t quite as good.
Adjacent to it is an ice-cream place that also serves sandwiches, and pretzels and snacks (all the food you’d eat while standing outside)… although while I was there mostly all people were buying was the ice cream.
As they warned us on the train, there’s a HUGE fine, like $500 if they catch you feeding a squirrel… and that they will try to steal your food if you don’t watch out… what they neglected to mention is the little buggers bite, and will infect you with the plague!!!!
After this I took an un-scenic shortcut back to the train station, because it was about time to go back to Williams, and if you miss the train you’re kind of screwed.
Rebecca Radnor's Personal Blog: Consider yourselves warned! 