If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time you know I like to travel and I am obsessed with Route 66. Doesn’t matter if it’s a day trip or an all-out vacation, I. LOVE. IT.

Route 66

This past weekend I attended #BBCSTL. It was great! My husband came along for a mini-vacay after the conference, in honor of our 34th anniversary. We are doing Route 66 from St. Louis to Chicago. I will be sharing soon but until then I decided to re-post from last year’s trip to Scottsdale for the NSA conference. Here it is:

This is my last post about our vacation. I got distracted with other things to write about this week but I did want to finish.

I am a Route 66 fanatic. Well a fan anyway. I love looking at all the old attractions when I just happen to find myself on the Mother Road.

When we were on our way home we stopped for the night in Amarillo, Texas. As luck would have it Route 66 was alive and well in Amarillo.

There were several attractions that we were able to squeeze into this brief pit stop as we travelled home. This sign was one such marker.

 

We had driven to a see a building that once housed an indoor pool turned dance hall in 1926 which hosted such artists as Louie Armstrong, Nat King Cole and Roy Orbison. The building was called The Nat and closed it’s doors in the early 1960s. Though not the best part of town these days, I just love that I got to see that building and read the sign that marks this historic sight.

And another quirky sight in Amarillo was Cadillac Ranch, a privately owned piece of land. The owner would “plant” a Cadillac  nose down into the ground back in the day, though I never really discovered exactly why he did this. I think there were a total of ten. It makes quite a spectacle as you are driving by on Interstate 40.

The tragedy lies in the graffiti, in my humble opinion. And the horrific litter of spay paint cans tossed aside after folks finished getting their kicks on Route 66 by painting a car. But maybe that’s part of the experience? Who am I to judge?

I have a feeling when the gentleman planted those cars they looked a little more like the ones marking this RV campground which was right down the road.

When we crossed the Missouri State Line we stopped at the Welcome Center to stretch our legs, and much to my delight this is what awaited us. This rest area is definitely one of my favorites!

Inside the building, along with the usual travel information and maps, a room was decorated as a Route 66 haven.

Behind the building was a paved walking path made to look like the infamous highway with all the roadside stops. Loved it!

We drove 1,050 miles that day. It was a long haul but the sights along the way made it worth the while.

Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.