Traveling Route 66: 2250 Miles of Motoring History from Chicago to L.A. [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

It's small but its got it all. Rather than turn out another normal size book on Route 66 the publishers had the great idea of making it pocket size, four by six inches, landscape and with FOUR-HUNDRED all-color pages. I predict that this will be the standard book for those who want to make the trip. Each of the eight states that 66 goes through has a chapter, they start with a simple map, comments about landscape and climate, then the text details what to look for along the way, with the help of historical and contemporary photos, a linear map with places and mileage goes across the top of all of these pages.

Between all the route pages are some lovely spreads of Route 66 Americana which repeat themselves throughout the book, Route Food (pages 174-175 has Red-Hot BBQ Beef Ribs) Transport (168-169 has a 1936 Harley-Davidson) Music of the Road (Woody Guthrie on 156-157) and Famous Sites (Wigwam Village, Holbrook, AZ, on 294-295). The books production is excellent, good choice of photos, well laid out pages (a tip of the hat to designer Phillip Clucas) with colourful graphics behind the text on most of them. The back has a book list, useful resources guide (including websites) and index.

I recently reviewed 'The Final Cut Route 66' by German photographer Gerd Kittel. Eighty-three wonderful photographs of what he saw along 66 and I think it is the perfect book to complement Nick Freeth's travelogue. Kittel has the knack of producing really good color in his photos. Both books do justice to a unique and fascinating bit of America.

I grew up about 1 mile from Route 66 in San Bernardino, California, and loved to hear the name of our town in the famous Bobby Troup song. I was even more thrilled when I found Route 66 in The Grapes of Wrath.

But the ultimate for me was when the television series, Route 66, ran from 1960-64.

For anyone with nostalgia or curiosity about Route 66 in its heyday, this pictorial tribute will be very rewarding. I recommend the book for personal pleasure, as a gift to those who loved Route 66, and to show to your children who missed the experience of this great road.

Many more dimensions of Route 66 are captured here than in any other book I have seen, including:

the speed traps; gangsters who made their getaways on the road; Burma Shave signs; water bags on car radiators; Phillips 66 gasoline signs; buses; diners; motels; and truck stops. To add to this color, you see photographs of classic automobiles and motorcycles, tourist sights, bridges, gas stations, drive-in theaters, and meet many of the famous people who operated well-known businesses along the route.

Route 66 started in the east in downtown Chicago, near the headquarters of the Santa Fe Railway (the company where my father worked), and there's a nice photograph of the building here. You then mosey through Illinois (including Mitchell, Illinois), Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California through to Santa Monica. Each state's section shows you the names of the key towns passed through, the mileage to each one, and visual highlights from many of these areas.

For my own home area, I was delighted to see a nice section on Cajon Pass, just a few miles northwest of my childhood home, a photograph of the Wigwam Motel in Rialto (about 10 miles away) where I always wanted to stay overnight on my birthday (until I found out how expensive it was to stay in a small concrete teepee), and the first McDonald's restaurant on E Street in San Bernardino (about a mile from my home) where I began eating fast food hamburgers and those great french fries in 1948.

Sadly, the Interstate Highway program was begun in 1956 and began to replace Route 66. Two of the first sections were from San Bernardino to Los Angeles and Barstow (through Cajon Pass). We loved the speed of the new roads, and our lives have been busier and faster ever since. Sometimes when I'm back in Southern California, I'll slow, relaxing drive however down Foothill Boulevard, which was Route 66 in this area. I enjoy those trips enormously!

Route 66 was decertified as a federal highway in 1985. You will still find signs along parts of its route letting you know you are on "Historical Route 66.") The roads glories are fading now, as the many seedy motels and rundown diners will show you in this book.

But, if you should be near any of these sights, take time to go see them. And say hello to the people described in the book who operate them. I particularly recommend the Genuine Giant in Elwood, Illinois.

What did you enjoy doing when you were young that is disappearing today? Have you taken time lately to stir up a little reunion with those happy experiences?

Stop, look, and listen . . . for America's romance with the open road!