Then, in 1932, the county section’s main axis changed from Manchester to Chippewa/ Watson and I-44-prompting construction of the Meramec River U.S. First the (now-Old) Chain of Rocks Bridge was built to carry Route 66 across the Mississippi. Louis where Bobby Troup’s wife whispered the first line of the song he’d eventually write: “Get your kicks on Route 66.” Nat King Cole sang it, then Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode. In 2016, a Route 66 festival was held in Germany another will be held this August in the Czech Republic. On the Mother Road, you’ll see Aussies, Asians, tons of Brits, and other Europeans. Without a great map (and there aren’t many), you’re doing breadcrumb navigation, flipping a coin at a four-way and waiting to exclaim with relief when (if ) you see the blue-and-white Historic Route 66 sign.
Today, the route’s a patchwork of winding roads and bits of freeway, and traveling it is a scavenger hunt that pieces together a bygone America. Route 66 was about Americans’ worship of motion and ingenuity, their love affair with their cars, the open road’s adventures.īut by the late 1950s, the new interstates had begun to chop up our 2,400-mile Main Street. What sprang up around them was pure Americana: neon-signed diners pouring thick malts Streamline Moderne “motor courts” wigwams and kitschy trading posts gas stations that couldįix your Ford Fairlane glittering caves and alligator ranches and caged tigers.
Soon, you could find just about anybody chugging along Route 66-movie stars, hobos, families, soldiers, illicit lovers and gangsters looking for anonymity, Dust Bowl migrants, musicians, “tin can tourists” camping by the side of the road. In 1926, Route 66 was supposed to be the Main Street of America, stretching from Chicago to L.A. Motoring was exciting, roadhouses were sexy, and motels were about to be invented.
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