Route 66 is perhaps the most well known road in the world, the closest thing America has that is equal to a Grand Tour in Europe.
The phrase “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” evokes the freedom of taking a road trip and driving along the Mother Road. The Mother Road as America’s Main Street, embodies the core small town values of America, with its Mom-and-Pop stores, its vintage service stations, motels, and diners.
Route 66 doesn’t always surface on Google Maps, but it’s there. The most celebrated stretch of asphalt in America rolls out from the heart of downtown Chicago and begins its epic journey west toward the Pacific.
During your Route 66 road trip, the highway will take you take you by plenty of awesome attractions that range from the “must-see” to the offbeat and unusual. These landmarks include classic roadtrip sights like 1950s motels, vintage gas stations and diners, antique neon signs, wacky sights, weird, and kitschy spots and also magnificent outdoors and National Parks.
Seligman, Arizona
This is just one section of the route, the Seligman section in Arizona. Unlike contrary belief, the route did not go through Las Vegas. But the nearest spot would Seligman in Arizona. During its heydays, Seligman was filled with diners, motels and shops catering to motorists on the route.
Seligman is the place where Route 66 was reborn and rescued from oblivion, thanks to daily tours from Las Vegas. This town is located on the western Arizona section of the Mother Road and has many Route 66 classic spots.
Supai Motel is an iconic Route 66 motel with its distinctive neon-light sign. It opened in 1952. The early 1950s postcard of the motel states: “SUPAI MOTEL SELIGMAN, ARIZONA. Phone – 953. Seligman’s newest and finest motel. (In center of City on Highway 66.) Tile baths, tubs or showers. Air-Conditioned by Frigidaire, panel type heat. Franciscan furniture, spring air mattresses, carpeted floors. Owned & Operated by Mr. and Mrs. H. Lanier.“
The Black Cat Bar has been a part of Seligman since the early 1900’s and going strong today. The original name was Jolly’s Café near the railroad tracks of Seligman and named after then owner Maude Jolly. It became a bar just at the end of prohibition in 1934.
Across Main Street, on the south side of the street, Copper Cart is a restaurant that was built in 1952. The postcard below, from the 1960s advertises it: “THE COPPER CART RESTAURANT in Seligman, Arizona This is a delightful spot to stop for a meal when you are driving along U.S. Highway 66. With food comparable to that found in fine city eating places and with its clean and attractively decorated cafe and dining room, you’ll want to make it a point to stop here for a meal.“
Right besides Copper Cart is the oldest kid on the block – Historic Seligman Sundries. This place is without a doubt a landmark of Seligman or, if anything, the most photographed place.
Historic Seligman Sundries
Housed in one of Seligman’s oldest commercial structures – built in 1904 – the centerpiece of the Historic Seligman Sundries is a vintage soda fountain. Today, the Historic Seligman Sundries is Seligman’s only gourmet coffee bar and gift shop. It was the Pioneer Hall Theatre and Dancehall.
When Route 66 opened in 1926 it switched to become a soda fountain, trading post, and drugstore: Ted’s Fountain Trading Post.
While cleaning and organising the interior, the current owners found a treasure trove of antiques and vintage product signs. It was natural to create a small museum of sorts to prominently display those items.
Many tourists these days would stop here to admire those vintage motorcycles and other memorabilia from a simpler time, when raw speed was mechanical and the world moved along in analog.
Nearly two decades after its debut, it’s almost impossible to travel along any portion of Route 66 and not see several references to Disney Pixar’s 2006 animated movie Cars.
Inspired by director John Lasseter’s real-life cross-country road trip, the film still draws families and fans to iconic attractions featured (or riffed on) in the movie, including the remaining Wigwam Villages, trading posts, curiosity shops, and vintage filling stations. It was said that he stopped here and got the initial inspirations of the characters.
Much of the history of the movie “Cars” was inspired by memories of Angel Delgadillo, a road character and owner of a “Barber Shop” in Seligman, Arizona, who welcomed and served thousands of travelers during the heyday of the mythical route.
End of the Road
This double pier, which is over one hundred years old, is the most recently nominated “Endpoint of Route 66”. It contains the “Pacific Park” amusement park and many shops and restaurants.
Every fall it is the venue of “The Taste of Santa Monica on the Santa Monica Pier“, where visitors sample food and drinks from Santa Monica’s restaurants.
They formalized the notion held by the general public that Route 66 actually ended on the Pier, and therefore designated Santa Monica Pier as the West Coast’s end to Route 66.
Since the D.O.T. had no more say in the matter (U.S. 66 had been decommissioned long ago), this is a local “official” post-mortem relocation of the western end point of an “officially” defunct highway. Marketing and promotion are the prime movers of this new endpoint.
Visited Jan 2023
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