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The journey along the most famous road in the world started in earnest as we left Amarillo behind. We drove north east with Oklahoma City our planned destination and we really didn't know what to expect on the way.
Route 66 isn't a major highway or thoroughfare these days. In some places it joined the main interstate and in others it was a single lane virtual dirt track. For this reason we didn't know where we would be passing through and in what state of repair the motels and businesses would be that we would need to use on our route.
The first "main" town we hit was Mclean. I say "main" as it was what we describe as a village in the UK and seemed to be pretty much a ghost town. We needed lunch and petrol, sorry gas, so explored a bit deeper and came across a gas station and filled up the silver bullet before came across a local attraction we had seen in our road trip book. The first Phillips 66 gas station ever built. Phillips 66 is a famous company along Route 66 and in Mclean was a restored version of their first premises. It
was tiny and only warranted a five minute photo stop but it still gave us a glimpse of what this place was like decades ago when it was a popular stop off point for people travelling the mother road.
After driving a few more miles and bypassing another similar town called Shamrock (with Mclean and Shamrock as town names, I think some of the early Texan settlers must have had celtic connections!) we decided to put the fold away Walmart chairs to use for the first time and stop for a roadside lunch. Homemade chicken and mozarella wraps on our canvas chairs in the baking sun of the Texan countryside is a close to lunchtime perfection as we will ever get I think!
Soon after lunch Texas turned into the state of Oklahama. The terrain didn't really change too much, and after a couple of hours we arrived at Clinton. We stopped at a hotel and Rach jumped out to check the rates and whether there were any vacancies. She soon reported back that there was a room for $50 dollars and it had free breakfast and WiFi, which was perfect and just what we needed. She then
Mclean High Street
Route 66, how it used to bewent back in to book the room and check in.
After what seemed like an age, she returned looking victorious! I wondered why and she explained that we had secured another bargain! But this was no ordinary bargain, no, this was the ‘King’ of bargains! Whilst Rach had been checking with me, the lady at the front desk had sold the room to another family. It was the last room they had in the $50 dollar price range. The lady advised there were no more rooms with King sized beds left so as Rach turned to go she offered Rachel a room on the 2nd floor with no room number. The room was usually sold for a lot more but the lady felt bad she had let the other room go. It was nestled between 214 and 216 and as she explained, it was the room Elvis used to sleep in when he made his regular stop in Clinton, whilst travelling between his home in Memphis and shows performed in Vegas. We don’t know how we managed it, but we got it for $46 including tax (cheaper than the standard) instead of the usual $100 plus tax it usually
sells for. We checked out the facts on Google and they were correct. Room 215 at the Trade Winds in Clinton. Google it, it's true! At the time the hotel was under the Best Western brand, however they have kept the room as it was, same bed (different mattress we hope) and over the years they have restored the furniture. The room is now like a shrine to the king of Rock n Roll,; a red velvet throw on the bed, a black leather couch and framed Elvis memorabilia adorn this famous room that put Clinton on the map.
After a lovely night's sleep in a bed fit for a king (sorry, that was a dreadful pun, I should work for the Sun), we were up and packed and made our way across the road to the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum. It was a small but faithful tribute to Route 66 through the century. Each room represented a decade of Route 66, starting with the 20's and its construction through to the 70's and its decline. There were plenty of little snippets of info and even a fully restored American Diner from the 50's to show how the road
evolved and what it came to symbolise for millions and millions of people travelling mainly from East to West in the middle of the 20th century. This included hippies, people on holiday and people fleeing the dustbowl drought in Oklahoma to the promise of orange groves and sunshine in California.
The road to Oklahoma City was fairly unadventurous and saw us following Route 66 on and off for another 100 or so miles until we reached the capital of the state and our hotel for the night. Visiting Oklahoma City was a fairly late decision by us and we didn't really research too much as to what was there for us to do, but we were more than pleasantly suprised. The weather was glorious sunshine but bearable heat.
Our first stop in the city was the Oklahoma City Memorial and Museum, built in honour of the victims, rescuers and survivors of the April 19th 1995 bombing of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building by Timothy McVeigh.
We visited the 9/11 Ground Zero site and took a tour led by a woman whose husband had died in atrocity which was very moving, but there was something more personal and touching
Room 215
The new king on the old kings bed! about this memorial. Maybe it was because this memorial was complete or because 13 children died here but there was something that made us both very sad about this tragedy. The memorial included a reflection lake, two gates depicting the time 09:01 just before the bombing and 09:03 just after the bombing and in the footprint of the building targeted, was a field with 171 chairs, each one etched with a victim’s name. 168 people were killed, and the extra three chairs represented unborn children of three of the pregnant women murdered.
The museum was very informative, and full of news reports, coverage and personal testimonies from rescuers and survivors about the day, the aftermath and recovery.
The one thing that stood out to Rachel and I, the same can be said for the 9/11 tour, was the underlying message of hope and forgiveness. It seems as though there is less hatred and thirst for revenge amongst the people involved and who lost loved ones than there is in the general public itself.
In the evening we went for dinner and a walk in the Bricktown area of the city. Its along the canal and is the rejuvenated
Elvis Room
Lovely leather couch area where all the industrial companies and buildings were situated during the oil rush. Its been restored very well and included a lovely little water taxi ride on the canal itself, as well as a visit to a very authentic tiny blues bar on the waterside. Rachel was also very excited by the visit we made to the Coyote Ugly bar! Although having (begrudgingly) seen the film, I can safely say the actresses in that are under no threat from the calibre of the ladies (I use that term loosely) drinking in this one and dancing on the bar!
We had two places to visit the following day, before we set out for our return to Texas. The first was the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. At the memorial museum the previous day, we met a volunteer there (a small man of about 80 years old) who was showing people round. He seemed to take a shine to us because we were foreign, and told us about the Cowboy museum and that he also volunteered there. We said we would visit and try and say hello (he said he started work at noon.) We arrived at the Cowboy
museum at noon and sure enough he came over to see us as we were queueing. He was delighted to see us and introduced himself properly as Morris and even gave Rachel a kiss hello (the sly old dog!) He told the attendant that we were his guests and therefore didn't have to pay (saved us $25, he can kiss Rachel as often as he wants if it saves us that much money!) He was a really lovely man and proceeded to explain the museum layout and spent half an hour showing us the art exhibits includung his favourite artist and some important pieces of Western art.
The rest of the museum was good fun and had an extensive collecion of artefacts, information and clothing from the west throughout the ages. It also included a full size replica of a Western town at dusk in the early 1900's which was atmospheric and great to wander around. After an age walking round and looking at things in the brilliantly named Edward Gaylord wing we reconvened with Morris to say goodbye. It was the end of his shift and his wife was coming to collect him, so we were promptly introduced
Route 66 Museum
Old Style 50's diner to her as "his new English friends"! He has given us his address and we promised to keep in touch with him. It was great to meet and speak to a native of the city and it made us smile as to just how kindly he was. (He even offered to let us use his discount card in the store until he was told he wasn't allowed!)
We spent the early hours of the afternoon in a place called Stockyard City in Oklahoma City. It was the major trading post for cattle and horses earlier in the century and still is now. It is full of shops selling everything a cowboy would need and had smattering of tourist shops to keep non equine related visitors happy. We had lunch in the Cattleman's Cafe, which is famous in the area and has even attracted George W. Bush to eat there (not sure if that is an honour or a curse though!) I decided on Lamb Fries for starter and a Chicken Fried Steak for my main. Lambs Fries are lambs testicles and are delicious (they taste like kidney or liver), Rachel was horrified but had a couple and stayed horrified,
she didn't like them and was happy with her plain steak for main course.The Chicken Fried Steak is the signature dish of Oklahoma and I assumed it would be a big "steak" of fried chicken (that's what the name says after all). Wrong. It was a thin slice of steak dipped in flour and then deep fried. It wasn't nice at all. Although it was the only negative thing about our stay in Oklahoma, so that isn't too bad!
When we left Oklahoma City we had done over 1900 miles on our road trip and were on twelve states visited since we arrived in the States on the 7th June.
The next blog will be all about Texas again, and our time in Fort Worth, Dallas and Houston, including JFK, a rodeo, Independance Day and a monetary mishap!
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greg
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DALLAS/FORT WORTH/HOUSTON
Looking forward to seeing some pictures from these great cities.......