An evening at The Green Mill Jazz Club to hear the Alan Gesik Band recreate an old-time radio broadcast: "This portion of the evening is brought to you by Coleman's Mustard ... add a little spice to your life." This art-deco piece of history was a favourite of Al Capone. All served as the start of our Route 66 tour of nostalgia for my wife Diane and me.
Armed with our Route 66 Handbook and series of historical maps of the route, we politely refused a GPS system from the car rental outfit at O'Hare Airport.
Route 66 is a fairly straight line through Oklahoma, a state famous for the John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath in which he coined the phrase the Mother Road. My wife and me had a ritual of singing Bobby Toupe's Get Your Kicks ... every morning. Other music for the road included big bands, Hank Williams and Hank Snow, along with lots of train songs.
The Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., was the highlight stay of the trip, a 1940s classic; $66 per night, of course.
A day at the Grand Canyon, and then into California. Over 2,000 miles all the way, we loved every minute. Highly recommended ... and leave your GPS behind.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun BY RAY SODEN, SPECIAL TO THE SUN
From Route 66 Motel - and don't forget to visit us @route66motel in Barstow.