Downshifting Through History

Route 66, Chicago to California


The Route How can it be that America’s most famous highway is left off most road atlases? Route 66, which was long ago bypassed by interstate freeways, has been decommissioned and is no longer an official federal highway, so it doesn’t appear on normal maps. About 85 percent of the original Chicago-to-Santa Monica route is still there, however, and you can navigate it by getting a series of maps from the National Historical Route 66 Federation, which also publishes an excellent Route 66 eating and lodging guide and offers tons of other useful info — an essential resource for anyone planning a trip on the Mother Road.

• Know a good place to eat or sleep along the way? Add it here.

Route 66 has achieved such iconic status in the American imagination that it’s hard for the 2,400-mile route (which takes about two weeks to traverse) to live up to the legend, especially now that many of the bypassed towns and businesses have fallen on hard times. But you can still get your kicks on Route 66 if you know where to stop.

The classically nostalgic Cozy Dog Drive In located in Springfield, Ill., claims to be the commercial birthplace of the corn dog. The massive praying hands statue at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa is a jaw-dropper — either glorious or kitschy, depending on your point of view. But it’s nothing compared to the magnificent Meteor Crater near Two Guns, Ariz. And it’s hard (for some) not to pull over in Helendale, Calif., at the Exotic World Burlesque Museum.


Worth a Detour
Six miles west of Amarillo, Texas, is the oddball masterpiece known as Cadillac Ranch, a series of 10 vintage Caddies half-buried nose-down in the ground. Visitors are welcome 24/7, and you can do almost anything to the cars — climb on them, paint graffiti on them, whatever. But don’t even think about taking the wheels or hubcaps; they’re welded in place.

• Been to the Cadillac Ranch? Post your photos here!

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Worth a Day
With several amusement parks and a seemingly endless lineup of vintage music acts (the Osmonds, Tony Orlando, etc.), Branson, Mo., is like a mix of Nashville and Vegas.

• Have a great day trip you discovered along the way? Click here to add it.

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