This story from the Rocky Mount Telegram in North Carolina focuses on a few of the more unusual museums that are in the Duke City, including the Turquoise Museum, the Rattlesnake Museum, the Explora children’s science museum, and the Unser Racing Museum (Al Unser is a native of Albuquerque).

Here’s a good-quality video clip of the Rolling Stones performing Bobby Troup’s classic, “Route 66,” during a concert in 1976.

This is the lineup that features Ron Wood on lead guitar. Nothing against Ronnie, but I’d sure like to hear previous lead guitarist Mick Taylor rip into that tune.

You can skip the chit-chat after the song. I’m not sure why the poster wasted bandwidth with it.

Robby Love, aka the Roller Rapper, has posted a montage of video clips from last year’s Route 66 tour, including a few spills while roller-skating on the Mother Road that make you wonder how he kept his teeth.

And here’s the original music video that got the Roller Rapper’s music career started. The song was produced by the same people behind KC and the Sunshine Band, and it sounds like it (this is not criticism).

Oklahoma is celebrating its centennial this year. In this story in the Tahlequah (Okla.) Daily Press, local artist Murv Jacob has designed an Oklahoma Centennial clay plate.

Who is producing the plate? Why, Frankoma Pottery on Route 66 near Sapulpa, of course.

The plate should be available for sale “in a couple of months.”

It’s hard to believe now, but from 1926 until 1937, driving Route 66 from eastern New Mexico to Albuquerque was hardly a straight line.

Near Santa Rosa, one had to drive north to Santa Fe, then drop southward, following a mostly parallel path of the Rio Grande, to the Duke City.

The Free New Mexican recounts the story that finally created what was known as the “Santa Rosa Cut-off.”

In short, Gov. Arthur Thomas Hannett had tried for years to built a new 69-mile road from Santa Rosa to Moriarty, which is just east of Albuquerque. When he lost his bid for re-election, he had 31 days before leaving office. He gathered together road workers that were loyal to him and, defying the protests of his rivals in Santa Fe, started work on that road.

The work advanced at lightning speed in spite of snow, bitter cold and instances of sabotage, including sand put in the gas tanks of tractors and graders. The men even gave up their day off for Christmas.

The outcome was related many years later by engineer Bail: Republican Richard C. Dillon assumed the governor’s office on Jan. 1, 1927. That same day, a new engineer was sent out from Santa Fe to put an end to “Hannett’s joke.”

The weather was bad, so the engineer delayed his departure from Santa Fe a couple of days. When he arrived at the construction site on Jan. 3, he discovered the Santa Rosa Cut-off, a graded and graveled road, had been completed hours earlier and was now open to traffic.

Dillon was so impressed by the achievement that he relented and kept all the laborers on the state payroll.

The new road cut off nearly 100 miles of distance of Route 66. It’s not a coincidence that Albuquerque’s population more than tripled from 1937 to 1950, and doubled again from 1950 to 1960. A straight east-west road fueled that growth.

The Austin Chronicle took a trip up to the Route 66 town of Groom, Texas, to eat at the Blessed Mary’s Restaurant.

The restaurant isn’t all that different compared to others in that part of the country. You can order coffee, cheeseburgers or enchiladas — typical diner fare.

The restaurant is unique in that you aren’t charged for your meal. Instead, there is a tip jar, and you pay what you think it’s worth. Proceeds are donated to charity, including the folks who run the humongous cross in town.

The honor system seems to work well for the most part:

Jim and Carolyn Moraniec opened the cafe off of I-40 east of Amarillo four years ago come this August. Jim says that most people will pay a fair amount for the food. “Some people will stiff me, and some people will take money out [of the jar], but God sees,” he says in a friendly, low voice. “I know those are the ones I need to pray for the most.”

I find it interesting that Jim worked in a nuclear bomb factory in nearby Amarillo for over 30 years. It makes you wonder how he reconciled his faith with a job that created the most destructive war device on Earth.

Then again, it appears Jim isn’t a stickler about everything with his beliefs.

The local “liars” club meets there in the afternoons to swap stories, talk about the weather, and drink coffee. “No problem in the world too big for us to solve,” says one of the members who’s arrived early. […]

The overt religious messages around the dining room doesn’t mean that Jim is hardcore evangelical. He is a willing witness for his faith, but he will talk for hours on just about any subject. Jim’s faith in a higher being is what inspires him to do good for his fellow man. He claims that many of his business decisions have been driven by his conversations with God. […]
One of just a few restaurants mentioned in the Texas State Travel Guide, Blessed Mary’s has accomplished good even as Jim struggles to keep the doors open. He has helped others with groceries, rent, and utility bills. He bought a mother with two children a car. Some of the money from the business goes to help maintain the 190-foot-tall cross by the interstate that can be seen for miles.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve been broke,” Jim says with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. “It’s a blessing just being alive.” The back of his business card says: Faith, Hope, Love, Don’t Worry.

I’ve heard some good things before from roadies about Blessed Mary’s. Now that it’s getting some attention from one of Texas’ most prominent newspapers, perhaps Jim’s financial struggles will become less frequent.

Here’s a place very close to historic Route 66 and the Old Town neighborhood of Albuquerque that I was previously unaware — Bottger Mansion of Old Town.

According to this travel article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Bottger, built in 1910, is the only survivor of four mansions built in Old Town.

The B&B’s policies may be stringent for some people. But its history makes it intriguing, and the room rates — especially for its location — are quite good.

KOTV in Tulsa has a short article about a vintage Phillips 66 gas station in downtown being restored to its former appearance, including photos.

The Vickery Phillips 66 station is located at 602 S. Elgin Ave.  It’s going to be converted into a rental-car business. In September 2006, it was awarded a grant from the Route 66 Corrodor Preservation Program to help fix up the property.

I’m doubtful about this factoid in the TV station’s report, however:

Only four examples of this style of gas station are left standing.

There’s a nicely restored one in Chandler, Okla., less than 100 miles away. There’s another one in Cuba, Mo.  There’s one in McLean, Texas. Another one is in Creston, Iowa. That’s five. A quick Google search found a similar structure in Kansas. I’m sure there are more.

Unless there are some finer points about the Tulsa cottage-style Phillips 66 station that I’m missing, I find it hard to believe there are just four left. I suspect there are a few dozen, scattered across the country.

The Joplin (Mo.) Globe reports an upswing in developer interest in Seventh Street, a prominent alignment of historic Route 66.

In the past three years, the city has issued 38 commercial building permits for work on Seventh Street — for a total of more than $6 million in new construction and renovation of existing structures. […]

Sandra Robertson, owner of the new business Three Turtles: An Eclectic Marketplace, chose to start her venture on Seventh Street, just east of Maiden Lane, because she saw the location’s potential.

“It really was taking a chance,” Robertson said. “This building looked pretty rough, but it was a Route 66 building with good bones.”

The building that houses Three Turtles was constructed in the 1940s. During Seventh Street’s glory years, it served as a gas station, a barbershop, a liquor store, a used furniture shop and a used appliance store. Regardless of how the building looked when she bought it, Robertson said all she had to do was stand in the doorway and count the number of cars that passed by each hour to remind herself why it was worth a shot.

I admit I’m a little startled that developers were slow to see the potential of Seventh Street in Joplin. I guess entrepreneurs and corporate bigwigs are so obsessed with locating right on top of interstate highways, they tended to overlook main arteries like Seventh. It’s as short-sighted as ignoring Central Avenue in Albuquerque or Foothill Boulevard in the Los Angeles area.

We were gone all weekend to visit family, and there was no real Internet connection available. However, my parents finally have cable TV for the first time in their lives. So they’re finally entering the latter portion of the 20th century.

But there’s plenty of news going on with Route 66, and you’ll see it reported here in the next few days. Just let me get caught up on some sleep and other duties first.