History Awakens

Every step into the State Historical Society of Missouri is an enriching experience. Yeah, I got the chhance to tell my story last year. But honestly, it’s more fun to learn. Last month was a photo essay recounting the Beatles’ … Read More

When a restaurant becomes more than a meal

Heading west on I-44, we hit a late-spring snowstorm that quickly turned the roads into a luge run. So we retreated to a town called Traveler’s Repose to let the snowstorm pass. Well, that was the name of the town … Read More

History in the Shadow of Six Flags

The end of prohibition killed the Smith brothers’ bootleg business. No matter. They opened two legal taverns, one in Eureka, one in Fenton. And when Route 66 came through Pacific, Missouri, in 1935 they opened the Red Cedar Inn. The … Read More

Panhandling

Cheryl wasn’t too keen on my motel choice. But water pressure was good. Route 66.

Carny Road

Two icons along Route 66 point to a third. Sticking up like a wart on the flat windy Texas Panhandle, where dust is a commodity spread liberally along the armpit of Oklahoma, a leaning tower teeters, posing for shutterbugs intent … Read More

The Route 66 Bridges Across the Piney River

Four bridges cross the Big Piney River at a spot so rugged it was damn near the last section of Route 66 to be completed. We floated downriver into the shadow of each bridge, close together, from oldest to newest. … Read More

Turquoise, Green Chiles and the U.S. Treasury

Gallup, New Mexico. Stopped at Jerry’s Cafe for the chiles, specifically New Mexico hatch chiles rellenos. We slid into a cozy two-top booth across the aisle from a spittin’ image for Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin. No shit. Doppelganger. I didn’t … Read More

It goes through Saint Louie

Here is a historic highway, a narrow concrete time capsule, complete with ghosts of gas stations pumping out charm and skeletons of roadside diners serving up simpler times. Route 66 is all attitude: Freedom. Adventure. Kicks.