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U.S. Route 66: a Journey for Travelers Seeking Americana

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U.S. Route 66: a Journey for Travelers Seeking Americana Embassy of the United States of America U.S. Route 66 A Journey for Travelers Seeking “Americana” © AP Images s the Disney-Pixar movie Unlike today’s interstate high- local culinary treats, and the Cars explains, there was ways, which bypass places where generous people happy with Aonce a thoroughfare Americans actually live and work, things just as they are—can find through the southwestern United Route 66 took motorists into the it on Route 66. States that weaved from Chicago heart of America, with kitschy The first North American trans- to Los Angeles through small motels advertised by neon signs, continental automobile journey towns, prairie and open desert. Indian trading posts, and oddly was completed in 1903 by a gentle- For most travelers, Route 66 was named bars and restaurants. As man wealthy enough to own a simply the best route west to part of the journey, the long- vehicle, his mechanic and a bull- California, one immortalized in distance traveler experienced the dog named Bud, considerately John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of local culture, and that culture equipped with his own goggles. It Wrath as the “Mother Road” the achieved a connection with the was not a pleasant journey. Joad family took to flee poverty outside world. during the Great Depression of Interest in old Route 66 has the 1930s. spiked, even outside the United Route 66 embodies a nostalgic States, among those who see the © AP Images place and time, before the advent journey itself as the goal, not of the U.S. interstate highway simply a means to a destination. system in the late 1950s, when a Luckily, nearly 80 percent of the road-trip experience was more old route still exists, and many than a test of how long drivers now seek to preserve the wonder could endure scenery flashing by of a road trip that takes the trav- at 110 kilometers per hour until, eler off the beaten path. wearily, they must pull off for Those searching for the “Real food and a place to sleep. America”—the regional accents, 1406_US Route 66_A Journey for Travelers Seeking Americana_English.indd 1 6/12/14 3:59 PM U.S. ROUTE 66: A Journey for Travelers Seeking “Americana” © AP Images The record shows it took 63 days to meet, what experiences you will Today’s motorists can follow the drive between California and have, and what you will see. It Joads’ harsh journey or the care- Vermont, but it neglects to mention drives today’s pioneers to the open free path of the film Easy Rider the days spent digging the car out road. Many of them now come to along the parts of Route 66 that of muddy horse trails, fording riv- the United States to travel what remain in service. They can still ers, and waiting in towns for trains was once the main route west to see motels, restaurants and even to bring replacement parts. By the the paradise known as California. gas stations that might have time more Americans could afford catered to those earlier travelers. The route’s founder, Cyrus Avery, an automobile, Route 66 offered a in 1926 saw that when eastern resi- Route 66 is no longer the most effi- paved and friendlier path west. dents of the United States arrived cient route west for drivers, but it “It should not be denied that being at St. Louis, the traditional outfit- offers a glimpse into a previous footloose has always exhilarated ting and supply point going west, world, when travelling meant us. It is associated in our minds the best way onward to the Pacific exploration, rather than simply a with escape from history and Coast was to follow his southwest- means to an end. oppression and law and irksome ern trail, through small towns in obligations. Absolute freedom. Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, And the road has always led west,” New Mexico, Nevada and, ulti- said Christopher McCandless who mately, California. inspired the book and filmInto Businesses soon thrived along the the Wild. route, with eager owners of restau- The very act of travel symbolizes rants, gasoline stations and motels the coming of age and self-realiza- taking advantage of the steady tion, and the unknown element of stream of new customers and it: not knowing whom you will competing to lure their business. Published June 2014 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE ISBN 978–1–625–92362–2 BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS 1406_US Route 66_A Journey for Travelers Seeking Americana_English.indd 2 6/12/14 4:00 PM.
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