I’ve spoken about it before. Maybe it’s in my blood. I was a Navy kid. We moved from the East Coast to the West Coast and back; from New Jersey to Florida and Virginia. I loved learning about the history of the US, and Virginia, visiting Jamestown and Williamsburg, or St. Augustine in Florida, and other places throughout the country. Exploring beaches, battlefields, and beyond excited me.
One of my favorite points of interest is Route 66. The highway has many names – Highway 66, the Will Rogers Highway, the Mother Road, Main Street of America. As part of the US Highway system, the road signs went up on her shoulders in 1927. A 2,448 mile stretch of Americana, she crossed eight state lines and three time zones. Along the sides of her pathway from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California, landmarks like the Cozy Dog Drive-In in Springfield, IL, the giant red rocking chair in Fanning, MO, the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX, the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ, the Santa Monica Pier in California, and many, many more gave her an identity of her own. A ribbon of concrete and asphalt which came alive spiced and flavored in different stages by the portions of the country through which it passed.
Continue reading “The Open Road”