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Published: August 6th 2007
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22/04/07 - 27/04/07 Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri (The Great Plains)
We stopped at the Art Deco Conoco service station and ‘U Drop Inn’ café in Shamrock to snap some photos and a Porsche 356 pulled in with 2 guys also doing the route backwards but in just 6 days!! Then it was goodbye to Texas and Hello Oklahoma, the State with the largest population of Native Americans and longest stretch of original 66 tarmac. We had just entered the state when we spied a set of cowboys practicing for their local rodeo in a paddock at the front of their property, so we pulled up on their driveway, introduced ourselves, and watched them for a while. They didn’t mind our imposition!
It was impossible to miss the huge sign of the National Route 66 museum so we pulled up and spent an hour looking round the exhibits before it closed.
We stopped for food and some real draft beer (Wychwood brewery!!!) in Bricktown, Oklahoma City and then made Joplin for the night.
We swept through the 13 miles of Route 66 in Kansas, stopping to photograph the historic bandstand sign in Baxter Springs, crossing the Rainbow Bridge
and then stopping to chat at the Eisler Bros. store in Riverton, home of the Kansas Route 66 president. We were tipped off by some route 66 travelers that the actual old truck that Pixar modeled ‘Mater’ on was parked nearby, so we scoured the streets and soon spotted ‘Mater’ parked on a corner happily rusting away.
We were temped with the possibility of hanging around for night fall in Galena and following local directions to the Devil’s Promenade to look for the spooklight but we had hours to wait till dark and nothing else to do in town so we bypassed the opportunity for a scary story and headed on into Missouri.
In Carthage, we pulled up to the 66 Drive In Theater and the owner spotted our California plates and came over to talk to us. He kindly switched on his neon signs and gave us a guided tour of the Drive In including the projection room. Shame it wasn’t a Friday or Saturday night so we could watch a movie. This is the last original working Drive In theater of route 66 on the actual road itself.
Our guidebook had a small paragraph about
Porsche 356
A more appropriate way to travel route 66 making a detour to Branson, a town full of country music shows so we decided to head south and check it out for a laugh. Branson is a town in the Ozark Mountains which span the corner of Missouri and northwest Arkansas and has a central entertainment strip - just like Vegas - but that’s where the similarities end!! Branson is Hillbilly country. It has shows that run at convenient family times such as 10:00 am!! and what bizarre shows advertised. For example ‘The Promise’ - a Christian show, I think. I wanted to stay for the Baldknobbers Jamboree. Their website describes
the Baldknobbers Jamboree is an entertainment powerhouse honoring God and country with a patriotic blend of classic and contemporary country, golden gospel and outrageous comedy.
- but Jen found the pictures on the flyer just too disturbing so we decided to flee town!! (It was also worrying to see that both Bill Medley and Andy Williams of Righteous Bros. and Moon River fames are playing out their careers there.)
After running from town we picked up the 66 back in Springfield and followed the route through one of its most remote corners, the tiny town of Devil’s Elbow (pop. 70) where we stopped at the old Post Office (zip 65457) where they still have original Black and White 1940’s
post cards on their shelves. We crossed the Big Piney River on the famous old bridge and eventually headed into St Louis, home of the current World Series Champions, the Cardinals.
We decided to stay a couple of days in town where we could catch some Jazz and Blues and soak up some of the atmosphere on the banks of the Mississippi. From our corner room high up in the Adam’s Mark Hotel, we had fantastic views over the Gateway arch, Busch Stadium and the Old Courthouse - all 3 attractions that we would visit during our stay. We bought tickets to the day game - St Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds and watched the home team scrape a 7-5 victory with a small rain delay just into the 8th when we had to wait 30 minutes for the last 5 minutes of play - a mere 2 outs. The game was exciting viewing from our seats in the Redbird Club high up behind home plate. At one point I nearly knocked Jen’s head off diving to the side for a pop fly ball that came desperately close to us but just out of reach of my fingertips. It
landed in the guy’s beer just behind us, splashing his beer over Jen’s jumper!
We headed into the historical Solard neighbourhood district for live music at 1860 south Ninth Street Bar and watched a great Soul singer whilst munching down the Cajun spicy prawns and chicken.
In the morning we visited the Old Courthouse, a historical venue where Dredd Scott a black slave, filed suit for the freedom of himself and his family - a case which eventually reached the US Supreme Court, where, in 1857 Chief Justice Taney ruled that anyone descended from black Africans, whether slave or free could not be a citizen of the United States according to the US Constitution. The decision fuelled opinion of the time, directly leading to the US civil war. A short film shown inside the Court House was both informative and emotive, telling how husband and wife slaves were often split up during ‘Negro auctions’ of the time. Other historical figures that have influenced major political changes in the US were also featured in the exhibits including Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and the Little Rock 9 - individuals who often started political reform that didn’t live to see
Mater
(we think) from 'Cars' come to fruition in their livetime.
Before leaving town we headed up to the top of the Gateway Arch, an amazing monument, completed in 1965, that stands 630ft high on the banks of the Mississippi river. We rode the tiny claustrophobic pod to the top of the arch and peeked through the rectangular windows, overlooking the city of St Louis. At the top, I couldn’t help thinking that it would be a prime site for a bungee jump! Luckily it wasn’t a windy day. Supposedly you can feel the arch sway up to an inch in 20mph winds. I guess they close it when tornado warnings are out!
We left St Louis on the interstate and then jumped back onto route 66, which was well signposted (for once) and arrived in Springfield, Illinois (Our last Route 66 State!!) where we quickly found the ‘Cozy Drive in’ famed for the ‘Cozy Dog’ corn battered hot dog on a stick with pickles and covered in mustard. Mmm!!
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Lee
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Geoff Goodman
WOW - not only did you nearly catch the ball you met Geoff Goodman...was Rosanne Bar there also?