Get Your Kicks on Route 66

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been taking my blog readers at terryambrose.com on a virtual road trip along the iconic Route 66. Our tour began in Chicago on May 9, and concluded last Friday in Santa Monica, CA. Covering 2,448 miles, we began at the incredible Buckingham Fountain and finished up at the ever-manic Santa Monica Pier. (Click here to see a list of all the stops.)

Along the way, we saw some amazing sites:

• Missouri’s largest continuously flowing natural waterfall
• Historic bridges
• Palo Duro—home to one of the legendary seven cities of gold
• The Petrified Forest, Meteor Crater, and the Grand Canyon

I’ve always considered myself ‘a car guy.’ I participated in and designed car rallies in my younger days, so it shocked me when I learned how much I didn’t know about the Mother Road.

So, here we go. This is going to be a little quiz about Route 66. See how many of these questions you get right!

1) How did Route 66 earn the nickname “The Mother Road?” If you guessed that it was thanks to John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath, you were correct! In the book, Steinbeck described Route 66 as the “Mother Road” because it symbolized hope and opportunity for thousands of Dust Bowl migrants during the Great Depression.

2) What famous fast food restaurant put its first location on Route 66? It was McDonald’s! They opened their first restaurant along Route 66 in 1948 in San Bernardino, California.

3) How did the Mother Road change American history? The highway became a lifeline for families traveling west in search of a better life, connecting rural communities to larger cities and offering a path to new beginnings. The success of Route 66 as a major transportation route helped inspire the development of the U.S. Interstate Highway System.

4) Know a good place to stay? Along Route 66, you’ll find quirky Wigwam Motels, where guests can stay in rooms shaped like teepees. These are iconic examples of roadside Americana that still exist. Of the original seven Wigwam Villages built in the 1930s and 40s, three are still in operation today!

5) Why is Route 66 so famous? Not only did Route 66 have its own song, “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” but it also inspired the TV show Route 66 starring Martin Milner and George Maharis. Bonus points if you know this! Only a handful of episodes were directly tied to locations along the the route. I guess the Mother Road was great for inspiration, but Hollywood had other ideas about where the adventures took place.

Much like the iconic Route 66 TV series, the latest Beachtown Detective Agency Mystery series will also take you on a journey—only instead of highways and small towns, female PI Jade Cavendish explores the dark underbelly of international art theft and murder. The Case of the Beguiling Brooch is available in Kindle and paperback and will soon be available as an audiobook..

Okay, so how many of those little tidbits did you already know? I learned during my virtual road trip that many of my readers had been to places along Route 66. Have you ever been to someplace along the Mother Road? Leave a comment because I’d love to know!

Would you like to know more about our author Terry Ambrose? Visit his WEBSITE.

While you’re here, check out our August Giveaway at Booklover’s Bench. Our contest runs August 1-22. Enter today for a chance to win two cozy mysteries. CLICK HERE to enter.