Lou Mitchell’s has been feeding hungry travelers since 1923. Don’t miss out on the free donut holes for everyone!
565 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661
Historic Place
Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket started as a gas station lunch counter in the late 1930’s. Legend has it that one day, two local farm women approached owner Irv Kolarik and promised to share a recipe for cooking fried chicken with him if he promised to buy their chickens and The Chicken Basket began.
645 Joliet Rd, Willowbrook, IL 60527
Historic Place
Cozy Dog Drive In claims the title of ‘Home of the “Original” hot dog on a stick, dipped in batter and deep fried’ and they’ve been serving them up since 1949 with the same recipe that Ed Waldmire developed in 1946.
2935 S 6th St, Springfield, IL 62703
Pink Elephant Antique Mall has loads of antiques plus the retro Mother Road Fudge-n-Candy shop where you can eat fudge and candy made from vintage recipes all inside the old Livingston High School building. Outside take some fun kitschy pictures with a giant pink elephant, muffler people, and more.
908 Veterans Memorial Dr, Livingston, IL 62058
PASSPORT STAMPS
Twistee Treat Diner is a 50’s style diner with a giant ice cream cone building located at the Pink Elephant Antique Mall.
908 Veterans Memorial Dr, Livingston, IL 62058
Alberta’s Hotel was opened in the 1940’s by local entrepreneur Alberta Ellis serving all races. It was listed in the Greenbook and several celebrities stayed here, including the Harlem Globetrotters.
625 N Benton Ave, Springfield, MO 65806
Demolisihed
Red Oak II was the brainchild of internationally known artist, Lowell Davis. It’s part art installation and part neighborhood mixed with a blast from the past. It features buildings bought and moved from the original Red Oak to a farm. It’s a private community that visitors can visit for free.
10917 County Loop 122, Carthage, MO 64836
Big A Muffler Man is a newer muffler man located outside a restore Texico station at Gearhead Curios.
520 S Main St, Galena, KS 66739
Old Riverton Store is a mom-and-pop shop and eatery that’s remain nearly unchanged inside since it opened in 1925. Stop in and grab a sandwich, the get rave reviews!
7109 KS-66, Riverton, KS 66770
Historic Place & PASSPORT STAMPS
Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios on 66 has a quirky selection of Route 66 goods located in a restored 1950’s gas station. You can’t miss it, just look for the 21-foot space cowboy Muffler Man, Buck Atom and his 19-foot space cowgirl companion, Stella Atom. You can even stay at Buck’s Cosmic Crash Pad behind the shop!
1347 E 11th St, Tulsa, OK 74120
PASSPORT STAMPS
Blue Whale of Catoosa was completed in 1972 by Hugh S. Davis, a zoologist, for his wife and grandchildren. It’s 20 feet tall and 80 feet long. Visit with a picnic basket for a memorable day of fishing and feeding the turtles with a giant blue whale!
2600 US Rotue 66, Catoosa, OK 74015
Threatt Filling Station was the only known Black American-owned gas station and cafe on Route 66. The Threatt family built the filling station on the edge their farm in 1915 and rebuilt it in 1933. They also started an African American baseball team, had dances on the 150 acres of land, and were listed in the Green Book. It has been owned by the family for over 90 years and they spearheaded having it restored in 2023.
21940 OK-66, Luther, OK 73054
Historic Place
Arcadia Round Barn was built in 1898 by local farmer William Harrison Odor. He made it round because he thought it would be cyclone-proof according to his son. It was built without any straight walls by bending bur oak boards-soaked while green and forced into the curves of the walls and rafters making it an engineering marvel. Its restoration was completed in 1992 with the help of Luke Robison and a group of volunteers.
107 E Highway 66, Arcadia, OK 73007
Historic Place
Pop's on Route 66 offers over 500 different sodas and beverages to try! Plus, there are burgers, fries, shakes, and breakfast available. Fill up with snacks and gas and check out the 66-foot neon pop bottle out front.
660 W Highway 66, Arcadia, OK 73007
Milk Bottle Grocery is a giant milk bottle on top of a tiny building that was constructed in 1948 out of sheet metal. It’s an example of quirky roadside marketing.
2426 North Classen Blvd
Historic Place
Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Café is an Art Deco style building built in 1936 after a man named John Nunn drew his idea for it on the ground with an old nail. The U-Drop Inn Café got its name from a schoolboy’s entry in a naming contest.
105 E 12th St, Shamrock, TX 79079
Historic Place
Leaning Tower of Texas was installed by Ralph Britten in the early 1980s. After gaining attention on its side for two years, it was set upright and the CB conversations stopped. It was then reset at an angle for marketing.
I-40 US Rte 66, Groom, TX 79039
Big Texan Steak Ranch opened in 1960 and is best known for owner R.J. Lee’s marketing idea of the free 72 oz steak! Legend has it that after a contest where a cowboy ate 4 ½ steaks (72 oz), plus all the fixings in one hour, Bob (R.J.) Lee stood up on a chair and proclaimed to everyone that from that day in 1962 forward, anyone who could eat it all in one hour, would get it for FREE!
7701 I-40, Amarillo, TX 79118
(moved to new highway)
6th Street is a 1-mile stretch of historic Route 66 filled with locally owned antique shops, record stores, book emporiums, eateries, and more! Stop by Texas Ivy Antiques to get your Route 66 passport stamped!
6th Street between Georgia and Western Streets, Amarillo, TX 79106
PASSPORT STAMPS
Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation of 10 Cadillacs buried nose-down in the ground at the same angle as the pyramids of Giza. It was created by an art group called the Ant Farm in 1974. It’s an interactive art piece, so you can spray paint them! It’s even encouraged!
13651 I-40 Frontage Rd, Amarillo, TX 79124
Midpoint Café is located at the midpoint of Route 66 where there’s a sign to let you know you’ve reached it! They have lots of flavors of self-named “ugly pies” to choose from, like the Elvis with peanut butter, chocolate, and bananas!
305 Historic Route 66, Adrian, TX 79001
Tee Pee Curios started as a Gulf gas station in 1942. When Route 66 was widened in the late 1950s, early 60s, the gas pumps were removed and it became Tee Pee Curios.
924 E Route 66 Blvd, Tucumcari, NM 88401
Blue Swallow Motel was an engagement gift in 1942 for 2nd owner Lilian Redman. She was dedicated to its longevity and reportedly said, "I end up traveling the highway in my heart with whoever stops here for the night.”
815 E Route 66 Blvd, Tucumcari, NM 88401
66 Diner transports you back to a retro dining experience straight out of the 1950’s. They serve traditional diner fare with a soda fountain and a restored 1958 jukebox! It was opened in 1987 in an old Phillips 66 gas station built in 1945.
1405 Central Ave NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106
Yellowhorse Trading Post started by Juan “Chief” Yellowhorse, a Navajo Indian born in 1930, opened his trading post as a place for Navajo people to sell their handmade goods.
1-40 Exit 359, Lupton, AZ
Painted Desert Inn was the vision of Herbert David Lore who built it around 1920 as a tourist attraction. Sadly, he had built it on a seam of bentonite clay that began to cause cracks in the building. To save it, he sold it to the park in the 1930’s “in order that it could be preserved and protected.”
1 Park Rd, Petrified Forest National Park, AZ 86028
The Rainbow Rock Shop owner and artist Adam Luna spent 20 years building __ concrete dinosaur statues. There’s an impressive collection of geodes, stones, and petrified wood for sale too!
101 Navajo Blvd, Holbrook, AZ 86025
Wigwam Motel owner Chester E. Lewis built in 1950 after being inspired by the original Wigwam Village designed by Frank A. Redford in 1937. He purchased the rights to the name “Wigwam Village” with a unique royalty agreement where the dimes put in coin-operated radios in each wigwam when to Redford as payment.
811 W Hopi Dr, Holbrook, AZ 86025
PASSPORT STAMPS
Jack Rabbit Trading Post is most recognizable by their clever marketing ‘Here it is’ sign and their mile markers all along Route 66 showing the way to this trading post. It all started when the original owner Jim Taylor moved to Joseph City, Arizona via convertible with a large black rabbit statue in the car in 1949!
3386 Historic U.S. 66, Joseph City, Arizona
Delgadillo’s Snow Cap was built in 1953 by Juan Delgadillo (brother of Angel). The iconic outside has tons of fun things to look at and there’s nothing more Route 66 than burgers, hot dogs, shakes and ice-cream!
301 AZ-66, Seligman, AZ, 86337
Angel & Vilma Delgadillo's Original Route 66 Gift Shop started in the home of Delgadillo's Barbershop started in 1950’s by Angel to serve his cities Mexican and Basque population. Route 66 travelers helped fuel his dream to a reality with travelers stopping for haircuts too.
22265 Historic Route 66, Seligman, AZ 86337
Mr. D'z Route 66 Diner is most famous for it’s colorful building, retro décor & root beer.
105 E. Andy Devine Ave, Kingman, AZ 86401
Mitla Café is famous for their hard-shell tacos! It was started by the Montaño family who wanted to serve traditional Mexican food after immigrating from Mexico in 1937 and it’s still family owned and run in its original location.
602 N. Mount Vernon Ave, San Bernardino, CA 92411
Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel was the first solar powered wheel in the world! It’s since been updated with a newer version, but it still has the same iconic look with red and yellow cars!
380 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA 90401
(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 was written by aspiring songwriter Bobby Troup with his wife Cynthia coming up with Get Your Kicks on Route 66 during road trip across the country to Los Angeles in 1946. That same year, Nat King Cole recorded it and it became so popular, other singers wanted to sing it too.
Muffler Men and Women are giant statues of men and women. It all started in 1962 when a fiberglass artist named Bob Prewitt got an order for a 20-foot-tall Paul Bunyan statue. After months of working on the statue, the buyer never paid. So, Prewitt hit the road, Route 66, with his giant statue and sold it to the Lumberjack Café in Flagstaff, AZ. He then used the original mold to make many more!
