A Honeymoon Road Trip: Historic Route 66--from The World's Greatest Honeymoons

Great Honeymoon Road Trips

• Historic Route 66: An Overview •

• Arizona Route 66 • Illinois Route 66 • New Mexico Route 66 •

Famed in history, legend, song, film, TV, and the happy memories of a great many Americans, U. S. Route 66 is probably the most famous road in the nation.

The 2448-mile highway opened in 1926, running from Chicago through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before finishing up in downtown Los Angeles (the end point was later changed to Santa Monica). You can see a National Park Service map of the entire route here.

In the 1930s, Route 66 witnessed a tragic migration. Thousands of despairing Dust Bowl refugees abandoned their dust-choked farms, packed up what belongings they could, crammed into rickety trucks and old jalopies, and fled westward across the plains in search of a better life. John Steinbeck documented their difficult passage in his Pulitzer-prize winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath. Route 66, he wrote, was “the mother road, the road of flight.” To this day people still refer to Route 66 as The Mother Road.

But there were happier moments along the road. A high-spirited 1946 jazz song, “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” composed by pianist Bobby Troup, not only became a giant hit for Nat King Cole, it celebrated the romance of the road like nothing ever had before:

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.

It winds from Chicago to LA,
More than two thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.

Now you go through Saint Looey
Joplin, Missouri,
And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty.
You see Amarillo,
Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona.
Don't forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino...

In the decades since, the song has been recorded by scores of musicians, including Chuck Berry, The Manhattan Transfer, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Bing Crosby, John Pizzarelli, Tom Petty, Depeche Mode, and Dr. Feelgood. The Chuck Berry version was featured in the 2006 Disney/Pixar film, Cars. The movie also included another version by blues rocker John Mayer, which was nominated for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. That song has legs!

Speaking of the 40s, Jack Kerouac never mentioned the words Route 66 in that Beat bible, On the Road—but that’s the route he and Neil Cassady traveled late in that decade. Their journey formed the basis for the ultimate road trip book—one that’s probably inspired thousands of would-be imitation auto excursions.

Teepee motel cabin

The famous Twin Arrows stuck into the ground

In the 1950s, when family car travel really began to boom, the highway became popular with vacationing moms, dads, and their Baby Boomers traveling to California. And why not? The wild west scenery was vast, stretching out under big skies, gas was incredibly cheap, and there were fascinating places on or near Route 66 to enjoy: the Painted Desert, the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, the Petrified Forest... The rise in tourism created a lively competition among roadside businesses, resulting in kitschy architecture such as Arizona’s still-existing Wigwam Motel, where rooms are shaped like teepees. People hurrying along in their cars didn’t want to dawdle over long meals, which gave rise to fast food. In fact, the original McDonald’s—selling 15¢ hamburgers, 10¢ fries, and featuring "speedee service"—started life in 1948 along Route 66 in San Bernardino, California.

For four years in the early 1960s a popular TV show, Route 66, ruled the airwaves. In the show, two good-looking young men (Martin Milner and George Maharis) ranged the highway in a souped-up Corvette finding adventure and helping people in trouble. Among the show’s guests were Alan Alda, Robert Redford, Rod Steiger, and legendary blues singer Ethel Waters (who received an Emmy nomination for her performance). Later in that decade Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper traveled along Route 66 looking for America in Easy Rider. We all know how that turned out...

Maybe the demise of Easy Rider's characters along the road presaged the ending of Route 66. With the birth of the Interstate Highway system, Route 66 became outmoded. Travelers preferred the quicker, modern highway with its broader and safer lanes. In 1985, Route 66 was decommissioned and began to disappear from newer maps. Sections of the highway fell into disuse or were abandoned; others became state or local roads.

»» Route 66 Road Trips in Arizona, Illinois, New Mexico

In recent years, however, the National Park Service has come to the rescue with its Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, which raises public awareness about the road and awards preservation grants for its historic buildings. Many community preservation groups have sprung up along the road to help save or restore nearby segments (learn more at the National Historic Route 66 Federation). In addition, a few portions of the road are now National Scenic Byways. The famous old road is increasingly appearing on maps, listed now as “Historic Route 66.”

But the way forward will not be easy. In 2007 and 2008, Route 66 was listed as one of the 100 Most Endangered Sites on the planet by the World Monuments Fund, and the historic motels on the highway were named as one of America’s Eleven Most Endangered Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

So don’t just think about it—get going. Take the highway that's the best, and get your kicks on good ol' Route 66!

All written material ©WGH ~ Photos: Thanks to Patty Kuhn and www.byways.org (Soulsby's Service Station), Carol M. Highsmith & National Trust for Historic Preservation (Hubbell's Motel sign), Raleigh Muns (Wigwam Motel)