Gems & Hidden Histories on Route 66

I was talking with my younger brother earlier this evening. He noted that until just a few years ago he was unaware the town where we grew up was located right on Route 66. I mentioned that this was the road that we would travel on when we would go to visit our grandfather, etc.. I can still remember at least one barn in our area along the old highway painted with HUGE lettering (at least to my young eyes) that read “Meramec Caverns”. This was to advertise the tourist attraction located down the road in Missouri just a few miles off of the highway.
 
Timmyjoe said:
One of my favorite spots on the Mother Road, and one I've visited dozens of times since 2006.

View attachment 4850782
Nikon S2 w/Nikkor 3.5cm f1.8 and Kodak Ektachrome

Best,
-Tim
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This is a remarkable image with great colors and composition. Thanks for sharing!

The Motel website reveals just how cool it really is. Period decor, relaxed ambiance and attached garages!😮

blueswallowmotel.com

Home - Blue Swallow Motel

Welcome to the Blue Swallow Motel on Historic Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico! The Blue Swallow has been serving travelers along the Mother Road since 1939, and today, our guests enjoy a pleasant reminder of what it was like to travel across the USA in the "good old days." Unlike the
blueswallowmotel.com blueswallowmotel.com

Great thread Tim!
 
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Timmyjoe said:
One of my favorite spots on the Mother Road, and one I've visited dozens of times since 2006.

View attachment 4850782
Nikon S2 w/Nikkor 3.5cm f1.8 and Kodak Ektachrome

Best,
-Tim
Click to expand...


Yes, yes. I believe I spent a night there while following 66 west on a drive from Massachusetts to Northern California where I tried to get in as much of 66 as I could. Tucumcari is advertised for about 1,000 miles heading west so I had to stop. Had a great meal across the street in a diner run by a Mexican fellow named Lupe - "My parents were expecting a girl and did not want to change the name" - and his wife. That was in '83. The food was good and I was treated to pupusas, which were very good. His were puffy like a popover and dressed in honey. Yum.

Maybe I should try another run down 66 while I still can. It is a great part of the American saga. That time I picked it up in Springfield, MO, and followed it as far west as probably Barstow. We have so much to see in this country.
 
Guth said:
I was talking with my younger brother earlier this evening. He noted that until just a few years ago he was unaware the town where we grew up was located right on Route 66. I mentioned that this was the road that we would travel on when we would go to visit our grandfather, etc.. I can still remember at least one barn in our area along the old highway painted with HUGE lettering (at least to my young eyes) that read “Meramec Caverns”. This was to advertise the tourist attraction located down the road in Missouri just a few miles off of the highway.
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I remember those barns.

Best,
-Tim
 
Oh, the memories. I did the '66' trip in 1966 and again in 1979. The first time in an old Peugeot 403 which I later learned was running all the while on three cylinders, the second time in a 1970 Ford Maverick that looked like it had barely survived a cyclone.

I was young, and with my ratty clothes and dinged-up cars I reckon many locals I met on those journeys must have felt sorry for me. Whatever, they were kind and hospitable and always helpful with suggestions about local places to visit. Which I often took the time to go and see. I took several thousand Ektachrome and Kodachrome slides. I still have all those, but sadly my notebooks from the two journeys are missing, and I find I cannot easily identify the geographic of many places I photographed. Thankfully, all the memories remain.

The cafe in #5 and the late Charjohn Carter's evocative images in #13, are places I distinctly recall seeing.

Now in my old age, as much as I would still enjoy buying an old car in California and hitting the road on one of those return trips, those days are passed, as has my time hit the road again. Too old now. But I did it when and while the going was good. And I have the memories - along with the slides.
 
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Franko said:
My working days used to take me to Kingman , Arizona occasionally. The motel we stayed in was like a small Route 66 museum with a lot of memorabilia in the lobby. Also, there was a fantastic Mexican restaurant downtown that had one of those tin plate ceilings that looked original, straight out of the 1880s. I've wanted to go back (on my schedule) and do just what you're doing Tim. I am really enjoying your series because I can remember pre-McDonalds restaurants and pre-Holiday Inn roadside inns, just like the ones in your videos. Well done.
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More memories. This post may be slightly off-topic here but I found and stopped at a fair few such places in the US Southwest during my three trips (1966, 1979, 1982).

One I greatly enjoyed was in Silver City, NM where I hung out for three months in '79 and got involved in the local cultural scene until I felt almost like a long established local and it was a sad day for me to have to tear myself away to continue my long drive to eastern Canada.

That Mex eating place I often ate in had been there for decades. Mondays to Fridays there was a buffet lunch for $5 with two chicken tacos for $1 extra and two enchiladas for $2, freshly made and stuffed with good things. I ate there several times every week as it was close to the local library and the UNM campus in SC where I spent a lot of time.

The cafe owners were American-Mexicans and Catholics so there was no alcohol, but a small bar nearby filled that gap for me and after a good feed I would waddle over for a tequila margarita or a sunrise. I forget what I paid for the drinks but it sure wasn't much.

Now when I recall all the good Mex food I stuffed into my face in any one sitting I am madly keen to return. My time has passed but this thread has revived many happy and pleasant old memories for me. Many thanks to the OP for this.
 
DownUnder said:
Oh, the memories. I did the '66' trip in 1966 and again in 1979. The first time in an old Peugeot 403 which I later learned was running all the while on three cylinders, the second time in a 1970 Ford Maverick that looked like it had barely survived a cyclone.

I was young, and with my ratty clothes and dinged-up cars I reckon many locals I met on those journeys must have felt sorry for me. Whatever, they were kind and hospitable and always helpful with suggestions about local places to visit. Which I often took the time to go and see. I took several thousand Ektachrome and Kodachrome slides. I still have all those, but sadly my notebooks from the two journeys are missing, and I find I cannot easily identify the geographic of many places I photographed. Thankfully, all the memories remain.

The cafe in #5 and the late Charjohn Carter's evocative images in #13, are places I distinctly recall seeing.

Now in my old age, as much as I would still enjoy buying an old car in California and hitting the road on one of those return trips, those days are passed, as has my time hit the road again. Too old now. But I did it when and while the going was good. And I have the memories - along with the slides.
Click to expand...

I would LOVE to see some of those Ektachrome and Kodachrome slides!

Best,
-Tim
 
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