– (Fido Nesti)
THE PLAN
Inaugurated in 1938, the Route 66 it was part of the US National Highway Plan, which established 96 highways. The north-south routes would be odd and the east-west routes even. The numbering grows in these same senses, that is, the route 1 starts at the east end and 98 is the last one, further south.
The original layout of 66 it was about 4,000 km long, crossing almost 200 cities and eight US states, going from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California. The exact middle is identified by the “Mid Point” sign. From there, it’s about 1,830 km to each of these two cities.
Today, many parts of the route were absorbed by express routes. There are still passable original pieces, but they don’t go anywhere. Hundreds of motels still stand on its edge; some still in operation, and others with just the facade preserved for tourists to photograph.
1) STARTING POINT
The tour starts in the state of Illinois. But the ground zero sign has changed places throughout history. Today, it stands at Adam Street and Michigan Avenue in Chicago. On this stretch, the tourist route includes the Eagle Hotel, the first motel on the road, inaugurated before the routeand the Museum 66one of the most complete on the route.
2) MOVIE SCRIPT
A route became famous thanks to Easy Rider (1969). In the film, two friends travel by motorcycle from Los Angeles to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras party. But other successes were also played there, such as Forrest Gump (1994) and Masterstroke (1973) and the series route 66 (1960).
She has other ties to film culture: a drive-in in Missouri. At the 66 Drive-in Theater, it is possible to watch an open-air movie from inside the car. In the same state is also the tallest monument in the US: the Gateway Arch, in Saint Louis, with 192 m high.
The road was also immortalized by the greatest writer of the beat generation, Jack Kerouac. He spent seven years walking the road and writing on the road. The book became a film, directed by Brazilian Walter Salles, in 2012.
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3) SCRATCH
The road passes very lightly through Kansas: it’s only 18 km inside the state. But, in this excerpt is the rusty winch that inspired the character Mate, from the animation franchise Cars, parked at a gas station. In the movies, the fictional town of Radiator Springs is located on Route 66.
4) GHOST CITY
Oklahoma holds the longest route in Route: about 600 km. In Calico is Ghost Town – an iron ore mining village turned theme park. Another state attraction is the Blue Whale in Catoosa. It is a fiberglass sculpture of a whale, which served as a pier and water slide in the 1960s.
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5) INFINITE HIGHWAY
In Texas, 280 km of the route (about 91%) is original. This way is the Cadillac Ranch: ten Cadillacs, of different types and years, buried in the sand. Idealized by millionaire Stanley Marsh II, the point represents the “American dream”, which, for him, was “a trip in a Cadillac, with a blonde, to the beaches of California”.
6) PIT STOP
The oldest fuel pump on the road is at a Texaco station in Tucumari, New Mexico. It is the only one that has remained in operation since its inauguration. As the city of Albuquerque is the largest producer of precast homes in the world, it is common to see giant trucks carrying finished homes along the road.
7) STONE IN THE WAY
Although the Grand Canyon is not on the edge of the Route 66, one of the road exits, in the state of Arizona, leads to the tourist spot. Another attraction in this region is the city of Otman, which dates back to the Old West: in addition to donkeys strolling through the streets, there are warehouses, shops, taverns and hotels from the beginning of the 20th century.
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8) TRENDY POINT
The first Mc Donald’s was created in Route 66 Californian. Today, it houses an unofficial museum of the fast-food chain. On the side of the road, there is also the Bagdad Café snack bar (theme of the 1987 cult film) and the Amboy Crater – an extinct volcano. The freeway termination sign on the Santa Monica Pier marks the end of the route
SOURCES national66.org, historic66.com, route66.orgFederal Highway Administration (FHWA)
CONSULTANCY Fábio Francfort, member of the Brazilian Association of Route 66