Get Your Kicks on Route 66

Wow! What an amazing day this was. After listening to several naysayers (all native Californians I must add) who claimed there either were no remnants of Route 66, or that the remnants that did exist were not worth seeing, I was a bit skeptical. Nevertheless, we set out with my oldies playlist (think Elvis) going on my IPod and set out to see what is affectionately referred to as the “Mother Road” … and let me say it was an amazing experience. Road trip + Americana at its best!

For those of you who don’t know, a quick summary of Route 66 is that it is one of the original U.S. highways … it went all the way from Chicago to Los Angeles. There is a lot I could tell about my trip down just a short let of this famous road, but I am just going to summarize here. The day began with a stop in San Bernardino to see the world’s first McDonalds.

No, they don’t serve food as you can see here:

But the place is filled with memorabilia that would make even the most avid of Americana collectors green with envy. Except there was this creepy Ronald McDonald doll … clowns freak me out:

Next we stopped at the infamous Wigwam Motel, one of those roadside attractions you always see on T.V.

They let us go inside one of the teepees … and the little details were fun to look at. Notice the triangular mirror.

Cute, but not where I would want to stay on my honeymoon.

We also saw one of the old orange juice stands that used to be all along Route 66 to sate the thirst of weary travelers.

And there was this really famous restaurant called Bono’s … I had read online that it was closed, but as we were peaking in the windows to see inside there was this old man who was in there. He saw us looking in. Turns out he is the owner, his name is Joe Bono, and his family goes way back with the place. He let us in, showed us around, told us the history, and even gave us a much needed bottle of water.

If you are ever in Fontana, visit him! They are opening the place back up in a couple of weeks … trying to keep that Route 66 heritage going.

Next we visited a couple of other vintage diners/restaurants, including the Magic Genie, complete with smoke coming out of the lamp, andthe Sycamore Inn ... a pricey but great restaurant that has been around for over 150 years. Think about that … 150 YEARS! Kind of a creepy place, though. Rumor has it that the Black Dahlia and Marilyn Monroe ate here shortly before their untimely deaths. The manager found out we were Route 66 tourists and took us upstairs to where there used to be a bordello way back in the day, and legend has it that a murder took place here. I looked at those rooms and thought, yep, this looks like a bordello. Anytime you use velvety looking stuff for wallpaper you are just asking for it.

Also creepy were the really old sycamore trees out front. They go way back to when the place was a stagecoach stop, this is the cowboy and Indian days I am talking about here! Well … apparently they liked to hang people from those trees. So of course there are all sorts of ghost legends and what not that surround the place. It was really surreal.

We also stopped by a souvenir shop and bought some Route 66 t-shirts. There was a lot of cool memorabilia at this place. The owner’s name was Rosa. She talked to us about how she came to own the store, she was a sweetheart.

Last but not least, we finally sat down to eat at the very popular Buffalo Inn. This place has been serving travelers of the “Mother Road” for a long time. When we went there were a lot of people sitting on the patio area, listening to the band and enjoying some good ol’ buffalo burgers. Buffalo meat tastes gamey to me, so I stuck with a regular old cheeseburger.

This isn’t even all of it, but you get the idea. The best part of this trip was the people we met. Everyone was so kind to us when they found out we were driving their beloved road. Their devotion to keeping the spirit of Route 66 alive was incredible. This is a piece of American history, and I hope that these businesses will never be taken down by “progress” … so the next time you are in California, consider getting your kicks on Route 66!