classic diners and restaurants Archives - Page 2 of 2

Grand Canyon to Winslow AZ

Today was a more leisurely drive of around 200 miles. We could of taken the freeway to Winslow and our next hotel but we wanted to try and and do a bit more of route 66 and see some must see attractions along the way such as the wigwam motel in Holbrook, the Meteor Crater and the town of Williams, Arizona.

We headed out of the Grand Canyon Village relatively early still slightly disappointed at the village ( but not the canyon i must add). We made a huge mistake at stopping at a McDonalds just outside to sample their breakfast thinking it would be quick and cheap and that they would have decent wi-fi – we were wrong on all three unfortunately but it was sustenance and saw us through to our first stop in Williams, Arizona.

Amarillo to Tucumcari

We left the Big Texan early and headed just out of Amarillo to the Cadillac Ranch. For those who don’t know what the ranch is, its essentially a bunch of Old cadillac’s buried nose down in the desert in 1974 as an art installation which people spray paint.

We left our bit of graffiti after finding a couple of half used spray paint cans on the floor and carried on our way along single lane old road past abandoned filling stations and buildings and parts of the larger main I40 highway where 66 wasn’t accessible

Oklahoma to Amarillo and the best steak in Texas

It would appear that i can now answer Tony Christies question, YES, i do know the way to Amarillo. Now thats out of the way i can get on with todays blog post about the journey along Americas Mother Road from Oklahoma City to Amarillo in Texas I think we missed a lot of old 66 on the way out of Oklahoma but i was more concerned with finding fuel and a Best Buy or similar in order to buy more storage for my GoPro. Once that had all been sorted we made our way to Yukon to pick up Route 66 again.

Carthage to Oklahoma via Kansas

The day began with breakfast in the local pancake hut which was occupied by a couple of camouflage wearing hicks who were obviously on there way out hunting ( huge camo 4×4 in car park) and a bunch of old timers who left in various Vintage American cars and pickups and an Indian motorbike. After Breakfast it was off to Red Oak II, home of artist Lowell Davies.

St Louis to Cuba Mo

Getting out of St Louis was slightly easier than getting in. We still managed to make several wrong turns before finding route 66 towards Cuba and heading for our first stop of the day, the famous Ted Drewes Frozen Custard shop.

Unfortunately the shop was closed leaving a very disappointed Oz. This is something we have found a few times over the last couple of days. famous route 66 shops and businesses closing early or opening too late. Its a real shame to not see these institutions and be able to support them.

Chicago to Springfield Illinois

Our first day on the route 66 in Illinois was an eventful one. Firstly the taxi driver taking us back to O’Hare airport to pick up the hire car spoke very little English and didn’t have much of a clue where he was going.

After finally finding the Alamo offices and settling into our huge top of the range Ford Explorer we got completely lost on the airport roads, ended up on Toll roads that only excepted coins ( with no coins in our pockets) and generally drove around Illinois neighborhood’s like headless chickens

Chicago walking tour around the Windy City

just a quick outline of what we did in Chicago and where we visited on Thursday as we need to make tracks and head to St Louis today.

The day started with a traditional American breakfast at at the unofficial start to Route 66 in Chicago, Lou Mitchell’s. It’s exactly the kind of place a Brit would imagine if they were told to describe an all American diner. Booth seating, scarily cheery waitresses, coffee refills till the cows come home and piles upon piles of pancakes, crispy bacon and maple syrup. Absolutely perfect !

America here we come

Yesterday was a long 24 hours !

Our car arrived to take us to Heathrow at 4am. The two hour drive down passed without problem and the check in process went so smoothly that we found ourselves with 3 plus hours to waste away in Terminal 3. That was mainly spent eating a nice, but expensive breakfast in a french “restaurant” that had a French accented waiter who seemed to slip into an Essex drawl when he lowered his guard and browsing Gucci and other assorted expensive shops

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