By Thomas Best
Are you ready for another installment of traveling Route 66? I hope you are, as today I discuss crossing Texas, the “Lone Star” state.
While everything is supposed to be bigger in Texas, Route 66 crosses just 178 miles across it’s northern panhandle. And note: 92% of the old Route 66 in Texas is still available for driving.
I have been in Texas before, but not in this region of arid and dusty plains. Our first stop was in Shamrock, a name highlighting that community’s Irish heritage. We paused and took a few pictures at one of the better restored old gas stations and diners, found just inside the Texas border. This is the 1936 “Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Café.” This waystation was once considered one of the fanciest or “swank” places to get gas and eat along the whole Route 66. And guess who once stopped here for gas and a bite to eat? Elvis!
Next, it was on to one of our favorite stops: Amarillo, which means “yellow” in Spanish. That is where I went to a AA baseball game with the Amarillo “Sod Poodles.” What is a “Sod Poodle?” A prairie dog, of course.
Before the game, Pam and I ate in one of the places not to be missed on Route 66. This is the “Big Texan” known for having a food eating challenge. If you can eat a 72-ounce steak and all the fixings within one hour, the meal is free! Pam and I settled for our own 8-ounce challenge! We loved the strolling singers and they even sang the “Route 66” song for us!
Just to the west of this city is one of the many fun things about Route 66 in terms of strange works of art. This would be the Cadillac Ranch. A collection of 1970s era Cadillacs are half buried in the ground. You are allowed—even encouraged—to go out and spray paint these old cars. We couldn’t lend our names and colors to the vintage cars as the area was covered in standing water and mud. This display was the idea of an eccentric millionaire, Stanley Marsh, who in 1974, buried ten Cadillacs in the Texas dirt. We had a particularly great time sharing cameras and perspectives of the art work with a family visiting from China.
One of the most enjoyable stops on the whole trip was at Adrian, Texas. You enter the town after by passing the leaning water tower in nearby Groom, Texas (which was deliberately built an 80-degree angle to fetch drivers’ attention). In Adrian, you have reached the half-way point between Chicago and Los Angles (1,139 miles both ways). The friendly 1928 “Midpoint Café” is a must visit. It is a wonderfully pleasant diner where you can get a great meal, shop for souvenirs, and then pose along the signs and markers placed just outside. We had such a good time conversing with people from England and Scotland. One of the two retired fellas from Scotland were so talkative and charming as we chatted about our past careers (Sandy worked for the “motor trade as we hear in one Beatles song”), our connection to the Scots (think Monmouth College Fighting Scots), and the settlement of the country by many Scottish immigrants sharing their culture of independent thinking and lifestyle.
Next week, we are on to New Mexico.
picture from: https://www.defensivedriving.org/dmv-handbook/21-essential-route-66-attractions-you-cant-miss/
