Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
7
7
Places to Eat Along . . . Route 66
Long before the Eisenhower administration sanitized coast-to-coast car travel with
its network of cookie-cutter interstate highways, there was Route 66. Running from
Chicago to Los Angeles, this two-lane blacktop ribbon cut through existentially
lonely swaths of the still-undeveloped American West, building its own mythic aura
as the miles ticked past. There've been pop songs about it (Nat King Cole's 1946 hit
“Get Your Kicks On Route 66”) and even an early 1960s TV series starring George
Chakiris and Martin Milner as two drifters in a jazzy sports car. Even though the road
was long ago disbanded and the famous signs torn down, its iconic status persists,
with guidebooks still tracing the route. In the summer of 2008, no less a fan than Paul
McCartney drove it in a red Ford pickup. Driving Route 66 is a spunky adventure in
blue-highway travel, with plenty of mom-and-pop motels and cafes.
Just east of Oklahoma City, Route 66's romantic Dust
Bowl vibe is startlingly interrupted by
Pops
(660 W.
Hwy. 66, Arcadia;
&
877/266-7677;
www.pops66.
com), a brand-new diner/gas station that looks like a
futuristic spaceport set down on the site of an old gas
station. At heart, however, Pops has a nostalgic streak
a mile wide. Owner Aubrey McClendon stocks over 500
brands of soda pop from all over the world, champion-
ing quirky independent brands over the mass-marketed
nationals. You'll know you're there when you see a
66-ft.-high (20m) neon soda bottle rising like a beacon
over the wheat fields. Head west through Oklahoma
City, catching State Road 66 again on the far side, to
find El Reno, Oklahoma, and vintage
Jobe's Drive-In
(1220 Sunset Dr.;
&
405/262-0194
). Intercoms at each
parking space let you order a classic Oklahoma-style
onion burger (not listed as such—
all
burgers here
come with onions smashed into the meat); carhops
bring the food out on a tray that gets clipped to your
car window.
Crossing the state line into Texas, Route 66 parallels
I-40 as a series of unnumbered roads; halfway through,
in Amarillo—a town that lovingly preserves its Route 66
heritage—stop off at the red-brick storefront
Golden Light Café
(2908 W. 6th
St.;
&
806/374-9237
) for a cowboy-style burger, superlative thin-cut french fries,
and frosty mugs of local beer.
Pop's roadside icon east of
Oklahoma City on Route 66.
