Travels on the Mother Road, Route 66: Part 18, Amarillo, Texas

Amarillo is the "big city" in west Texas. Heading west, it was the largest town that a Route 66 tourist drove through until he reached Albuquerque. Heading east, Oklahoma City was the next major metropolis. Today, Amarillo is a busy city with a lot of construction and renovation, thanks to oil money. It is a bit difficult to see much of the old Route 66 because it followed city streets, which have new or modified buildings over the decades.

Coming in from the west, I think Route 66 followed what is now W. Amarillo Boulevard, which is also Business 40. Amarillo Blvd. is a bit seedy (all right, very seedy), and most Route 66 structures have been recycled or greatly modified.

The English Motel is one of the few Route 66 remnants. It is just north of Amarillo Lake, at the junction of NW 9th Ave and N. Lipscomb St. The place looked mostly abandoned, but I met this gent in the photograph above, who said he lived in one of the units. He was the caretaker and  made sure no one vandalized the site.

Downtown on Polk Avenue, I was pleased to see historic buildings being restored. For example, this Kress store, with its distinctive architecture, was in beautiful condition. S.H. Kress & Co. operated five and dime department stores throughout the United States from 1896 to 1981. The Kress chain was known for its architecture, which often included Art Deco motifs and the exuberant use of terra cotta tiles, curved glass, and stone floors - high end features intended to make the shopper comfortable and linger (for white shoppers, not African-Americans).

The former Woolworth store on Polk Avenue is also being restored. The F. W. Woolworth Company (also known as Woolworth's or Woolworth) was one of America's most successful retail companies in the early 20th century, one of the original pioneers of the five-and-dime store. Woolworth's thrived until the 1970s, when it began a rapid decline. The rise and fall of these retailing empires is a fascinating social and economic history. None seem to last more than about a century or maybe 150 years (examples include Sears & Roebuck, S.H. Kress, S.S. Kresge Company, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, and Montgomery Ward). WalMart is about 50 years old; could it already be half way through its era of marketing dominance? (WalMart certainly will not leave behind an architectural heritage of any value.)

When you drive through Amarillo and are feeling carnivorous, the Big Texan Steak Ranch & Brewery is a mandatory stop. Big Texan served Route 66 travelers but in recent years relocated nearer I-40. Now it is at 7701 Interstate 40 Access Rd. Texan is famous for a 72-ounce steak which is free if you can devour it within an hour. The evening we were there, a video crew was filming a fellow on his gastronomic marathon with the steak (see the bright lights in the interior scene above). Oddly, when I mentioned this to a coworker, he told me that his brother took up the challenge and ate the steak in the obligatory hour. And my friend and his brother are not big people by any means. Amazing. My ribs were some of the best I have eaten in years.

After digesting our ribs, we will continue east on the Mother Road. To be continued....

Travels on the Mother Road, Route 66: Part 17, Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo

Cadillac Ranch is the odd work commissioned by Stanley Marsh 3, an Amarillo businessman who commissioned other odd things, like the Dynamite museum. In 1974, Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of an art group known as the Ant Farm, half-buried 10 ponderous post-war Cadillacs to show how the tail fins had evolved over time. The burial site was originally located in a wheat field south of Amarillo, but according to Wikipedia, in 1997, a local contractor moved the installation to a cow pasture off Interstate 40 about two miles west in order to place it farther from the development limits of the city. When the original Cadillac Ranch was built (planted?), it was too late to be coincident with the real Route 66, but many people still consider it to be a Route 66 attraction.

Well, today's Cadillac Ranch is overrun with tourists and is a cheesy remnant of what must have once been an impressive display. I do not know if all the cars were moved and reburied. But the site is certainly popular. Cars and motor homes were parked all along the I-40 frontage road, and we heard many languages spoken. Of course, tourists were taking selfies.

The thing to do (I suppose) is to buy some spray paint, make your mark on some of the cars, and then drop your spray can on the dirt. I guess the empty can is too heavy to take it back to the car. Hmmm. Anyway, if you are driving on I-40 and have never seen Cadillac Ranch, stop and take a look, but I recommend you not go out of your way just to see it.

The square photographs are from Kodak Tri-X 400 film exposed with a Hasselblad 501CM camera.