ROUTE February / March 19

ROUTE THE MAGAZINE THAT CELEBRATES ROAD TRAVEL, VINTAGE AMERICANA AND ROUTE 66

February/March 2019

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JIM ROSS TRAVELS AMERICA’S BACKROADS WHERE COWBOYS STILL GO TO DINE ROUTE Magazine i

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WANDERERS WELCOME Your perfect stop on the Mother Road. Occupying the historic Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Oklahoma City, 21c Museum Hotel is a multi-venue contemporary art museum coupled with boutique hotel and chef-driven restaurant.

Best New Hotels in the World - Travel + Leisure, It List 2017

900 W Main Street Oklahoma City 405.982.6900 | 21cOklahomaCity.com ROUTE Magazine 1

Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza

Edmond – Admire the 18-foot statue Edmond – Admire the 18-foot statue of Chief Touch the Clouds, of Chief Touch the Clouds, one one of of 150+ pieces of public artthe in city. the city.

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2 ROUTE Magazine

Oklahoma – Stroll the sidewalks Oklahoma CityCity – Stroll the sidewalks of Western Avenue, where colossal of Western Avenue, where colossal murals exude vibrant colors. murals exude vibrant colors.

– Stop at National the National Route Elk Elk CityCity – Stop at the Route 66 Museum a quick pic with Myrtle, 66 Museum for afor quick pic with Myrtle, the quirky Kachina the quirky (and(and tall!)tall!)

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El Reno – Snap a monumental

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Commerce – Marvel at the statue

of Oklahoma’s own Mickey Mantle before exploring his childhood home.

ROUTE Magazine 3

4 ROUTE Magazine

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#TrekJOMO ROUTE Magazine 5

CONTENTS

Vintage sign for the Cowboy Motel, Amarillo, Texas. Courtesy of Terrence Moore.

20 Where Cowboys Eat

Route 66 has no shortage of classically-quaint boutique shops, vintage hotels and restaurants, but a visit to Cattlemen’s Steakhouse – a famed Oklahoma staple – serves up more than just flavorful food. As fans of the restaurant will tell you, this gem’s unique history and nostalgic ambience offer visitors a taste of true Oklahoma hospitality and warmth.

26 Rarin’ To Go!

Though words may often fail, pictures simply speak volumes.

Jim Ross and Shellee Graham share their journey through the Western United States, as they visit iconic landmarks along the Lincoln Highway, gorgeous national parks and quaint, American-made wonders before circling back to the Mother Road, in this visually inspired adventure.

32 A Photographer’s Journey

46 Route 66 Odyssey

One of the biggest parts of any Route 66 journey is experiencing some of the memorable venues that The Mother Road has to offer. However, the selection is huge and not all hotels are created equal in the stay that they will offer. In this annual article, ROUTE showcases our top picks for key places to stay on the road when traveling down the Main Street of America.

62 When Fred Met The Mother Road

Few men influenced upper-class dining and accommodation in the southwest to the degree of Fred Harvey, the man who is reputed to have civilized the West, one meal at a time. Now long gone, the Fred Harvey Company has not officially been in operation since ��68, but the impact and presence of Harvey and his famed Harvey Girls still lives on in the properties that once bore his influential name. Nick Gerlich investigates.

In this haunting, vivid pictorial, Terrence Moore creates a photographic journey that celebrates Route 66 as it once was and in some cases, still is today.

40 Standing Tall: Kevin Hart

In an easygoing, humor-laced conversation with Brennen Matthews, car aficionado and family-man, Kevin Hart, opens up about his enviable, but not always simple career, his passion for vintage vehicles, his personal destination favs and his terrific new film, The Upside.

6 ROUTE Magazine

ON THE COVER The entrance to the Santa Monica pier, the end of Route 66.

Photograph courtesy of Frank Fell.

Experience the good life in the slow lane along

Illinois Route 66

Get youINr Kicks

Dwight & Pontiac Museums, Murals and More in Dwight and Pontiac Illinois.

of Fame te 66 Hall Illinois Rou - Pontiac, Illinois m & Museu

Oughton Estate Windmill Dwight, Illinois

side mural Route 66 road ois Pontiac, Illin Ambler’s Texaco Gas StationDwight, Illinois

visitpontiac.org #playinpontiacil 815.844.5847

dwightillinois.org #dwightillinois 815.584.3077 ROUTE Magazine 7

EDITORIAL It is hard to believe that a whole year has passed since ROUTE Magazine first hit shelves across America. So much has happened. We’ve been able to dive into so many amazing stories, to focus on personalities both familiar and lesserknown, and to bring to life tales that not only deserve to be narrated, but demand to be told. The past year has been serendipitous, rewarding and at times really hard. But as each issue was brought to life by an extraordinary team from various parts of the United States and abroad, and made its way into your hands, you responded with enthusiasm, support and feedback. Your input has guided us to celebrate today.

When we began this journey we wanted to do something different. To create something extraordinary, something that would stand out, be authentic. We wanted the stories behind the story we told, to inspire you and to bring together a community tied together not by age, career, background or circumstance, but by a shared interest. Reflecting on what we have created, against many odds, I feel extraordinarily proud to be part of such a heartfelt journey with an absolutely killer team. We are delighted to add a small footprint to the enormous and beneficial efforts that so many terrific individuals are making to promote and preserve some of America’s finest and most profound history.

In this first issue of ����, we tell the fascinating story of one of Oklahoma’s most iconic eateries, the historic Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in the stockyard of Oklahoma City. From when it first opened its doors to hungry cowboys in ����, to the must-stopover legend it is today, we bring the Cattlemen’s story to you.

Read it, share it, and most definitely make time to pay them a visit.

We also once again take you down a Route 66 Odyssey, with our picks of the top venues to enjoy when motoring down The Mother Road. We have worked hard to put together a list that will offer something for every traveler’s pallet.

From historic favorites, to mainstream brands, to venues where you can splurge a little, we have it all here. There is so much available for the discerning traveler to ensure that your journey down the two-lane highway is not only nostalgic but comfortable as well. Take a read, use it and certainly send us your feedback on who made the list, and if you do happen to frequent any of the venues, let us know about your stay.

ROUTE also has a fun, gregarious chat with one of the most sought-after actor comedians in the business today, Kevin Hart, and looks into the southwest’s romantic past to tell the story of the unforgettable, Fred Harvey – the man and the company – credited with civilizing the West, one meal at a time.

As we begin this new year, let me thank you all for your subscriptions, sage advice, ideas and support, both in the magazine, on our website and social media. To you our readers, you are the whole reason for us to continue producing ROUTE each and every issue. Your contribution has been, still is and certainly will be crucial to everything that makes ROUTE Magazine a vibrant reality. We owe a big thanks to our advertising partners. The first year would not have been possible without you. This year we are even more excited about what we can do together to share your amazing products with a discerning audience who deserves only the best. I am also incredibly grateful to the entire ROUTE team, who work tirelessly to bring you this publication.

I’m truly excited about the future and I believe that the best is yet to come.

Let’s continue the journey, together.

God bless, Brennen Matthews Editor

8 ROUTE Magazine

ROUTE PUBLISHER Thin Tread Media EDITOR Brennen Matthews DEPUTY EDITOR Kate Wambui EDITOR-AT-LARGE Nick Gerlich LEAD EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHER David J. Schwartz LAYOUT AND DESIGN Tom Heffron EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Kyley Warren Olivia McClure Rachel Fernandez DIGITAL Matthew Alves CONTRIBUTORS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS Daniel Lutzick Dennis Leupold Efren Lopez Frank Fell Jenny Mallon Jim Ross Old Trails Museum Robert Reck Shellee Graham Terrence Moore The Oklahoman Editorial submissions should be sent to brennen@routemagazine.us To subscribe visit www.routemagazine.us.

Advertising inquiries should be sent to advertising@routemagazine. us or call ��� ��� ����.

ROUTE is published six times per year by Thin Tread Media. No part of this publication may be copied or reprinted without the written consent of the publisher. The views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher, editor or staff. ROUTE does not take any responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photography.

ROUTE Magazine 9

Williams, Arizona has something for everyone.

Plan a visit and see why visitors have fallen in love with Williams.

ROUTE 66

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ROUTE Magazine 11

ROUTE REPORT While the route is steeped in history, it is also constantly changing, and we’re here to bring you all the latest news: what’s happening, who’s driving the future of The Mother Road, and why it all matters.

Route 66 Rising Sculpture in Tulsa is Finally Completed The installation of the massive Route 66 Rising sculpture at the Avery Traffic Circle at Mingo Road and East Admiral Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was completed in early December ���8. Part of the Vision ���5 project, the $65�,��� sculpture, whose location is on original ���6 alignment of Route 66, stands at �� feet long and 3� feet tall. Eric F. Garcia, of EFG Creative in Albuquerque, New Mexico, designer of the roadrunnerinfluenced Route 66 signs in Albuquerque almost three years ago, designed the Tulsa sculpture. The sculpture is positioned to become one of the iconic symbols of Route 66 in northeastern Oklahoma.

The Blades on Route 66’s One-of-a-kind Denny’s Windmill Are Spinning Once Again The blades of the windmill atop a last-of-its-kind Denny’s, located along Route 66, began spinning again in late ���8. The windmill, recognized as part of the local history and the history of Route 66, detached and fell into the restaurant toward the end of ����. A $���,��� reactivation of the windmill included a new modern motor, reinforcement of the blades and a new addition of LED lighting, capable of changing colors. With the improvements, the famed eatery intends to keep the windmill running �� hours a day, seven days a week.

Two Senators Introduce Route 66 National Historic Trail Legislation U.S. Senators,. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced legislation that would name Route 66 a National Historic Trail under the National Park Service. The bill S.36��, or the Route 66 Historic Trail Designation Act, is similar to the legislation the U.S. House of Representatives advanced in early ���8.

The odds of the House bill alone becoming law were initially regarded as being dim. But with a Senate version on the floor, the chance of Route 66 becoming a National Historic Trail are now much higher. The designation will ensure continued funding for the preservation of “The Mother Road.”

Landmark Sonrise Donuts Neon Sign Has a New Owner The ��-year-old Sonrise Donuts neon sign along Route 66 in Springfield, Illinois, went up for auction in early December ���8, garnering a lot of national attention. By mid December, the 6-by-8-foot sign, which belonged to the doughnut and coffee bar that used to be in the building on ���� S. Ninth St. but closed in ���8, had found a new owner in the City of Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau who purchased it for $��,���. Efforts for the restoration of the sign are already underway via an online fundraising initiative. ���8 saw another Illinois Route 66 sign auctioned, the 8-foot, fiberglass steer from the Lincoln Bonanza along Route 66.

All news and copy for this page has been sourced, created and written by www.route66news.com.

Revisions to text have been made in some instances by ROUTE Magazine.

12 ROUTE Magazine

Your “Must See” Destination in the Midwest!

The Mother Road, Route 66 and Interstate 40 run parallel to bring you into the heart of Oklahoma.

Emerging in 1901 from a rural settlement and growing into a thriving business hub during the oil boom, we are today, a lively tourist destination hosting five nationally recognized museums.

Our National Route 66 Museum Complex provides a unique experience for visitors that paints a pretty picture of the two-lane highways twisting through country towns of the golden era. Come be entertained, play, and dine with new friends where red clay earth blends into Oklahoma sunsets, perfectly framing what we call “God’s Country”.

Plan your Next Adventure with Us. Take a ride on The Mother Road to Elk City.

We’ll meet you with country smiles and even give you one for the road!

• ENTERTAINMENT • NIGHTLIFE • SHOPPING • GOLF • LODGING • CAFE’S • RESTAURANTS • DINERS • EDUCATION • ART • LAKES • PARKS • NATIONAL ROUTE 66 MUSEUM COMPLEX • TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM • FARM & RANCH MUSEUM • OLD TOWN MUSEUM • BLACKSMITH MUSEUM

O K L A H O M A

CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

580.225.0906 • VisitElkCity.com facebook.com/VisitElkCity

THE YEAR OF 1926

HENRY FORD INTRODUCES THE 40-HOUR WORK WEEK

he American economy is like a piece of fragile machinery – it is completely dependent on consistency and it requires constant care and attention from those who work on behalf of it. Today, the ��-hour work week is not only a norm for full-time employees, but it is also a staple of the modern American workforce. It seems almost impossible to recall a time when workers weren’t accustomed to a simple nine-to-five work day. But this schedule wasn’t always a factor within the labor force.

The idea of a shorter work day and week had been a hotly contested topic since after the Civil War. However, even though some eight-hour-day laws had been passed within specific areas of the United States in �86� and �868, nothing was really enforced, and working �� to �� hours, six days a week was the norm. That is, until an auto company decided to make its mark.

Ford Motor Company has served as the model trailblazer for dozens of ideas, techniques and practices since its inception from Henry Ford and several other associate investors in ���3. Amid a struggling economy, where unemployment was omnipresent, the Detroit-based business entity took a leap of faith in ���� when the company instituted eight-hour shifts and adopted a new minimum wage policy, which would increase the pay for male factory workers from $�.3� for a nine-hour work day, to $5 for an eight-hour work day. The audacious move by the worldrenowned business stunned the American economy, as Ford 14 ROUTE Magazine

essentially promised to double the pay of what was noted as being an average salary for American workers at the time.

What was regarded by many as a great risk in an otherwise unstable financial system, quickly developed into a gamechanging advancement that would only further Ford’s national dominance and solidify their reputation as being a leading producer in inventive automotive creations. The decision not only resulted in a surge of eager individuals seeking employment with Ford Motor Company, but it also helped to develop a loyal brand base and adopt more productive practices among its workforce.

This groundbreaking concept was followed by the Company adopting and implementing a five-day, ��hour work week in the fall of ���6. The adoption of this impactful policy became an immediate reality for those who worked in Ford’s automotive factories. Although the decision did not take full-effect for all of the company’s employees – including office workers – until the following year. While Ford’s ingenuity was not immediately or widely copied, the move by the company was indeed significant.

Following the decision, Henry Ford was noted as saying that, “It is high time to rid ourselves of the notion that leisure for workmen is either ‘lost time’ or a class privilege.”

The formation of unions further helped to solidify the idea of working five days, including the passing of the Fair Labor Standards Act by Congress in ��38. A further amendment to the Act by Congress in ���� gave us the Monday-to-Friday work week that we know today.

Photograph courtesy of National Photo Company Collection.

T

The numerical designation 66 was assigned to the Chicago-to-Los Angeles route in the summer of ���6, and US Highway 66 was established later that year on November ��th. But what else was happening in ���6? This series takes a look at the cultural and social milieu from which Route 66 emerged - the famous, the infamous, the inventions, and the scandals that marked ���6 as a pivotal year. In this issue, we highlight the impact that Henry Ford made on the American economy, after he introduced the concept of a ��-hour week for employees who worked within the company’s automotive factories.

ROUTE 66 WAS COM MISSIONED IN 1926, A ND W HEN THE SIGNS W ENT UP ON JACKSON BOULEVA R D, TR AV ELER S FOU ND LOU MITCHELL’S WA ITING FOR THEM. We’ve been feeding hungr y travelers with comfort food since 1923. Drop in and enjoy our famous breakfast and/ or lunch. Lou Mitchell ’s is steeped in tradition and is the oldest continually-running restaurant in Chicago.

Lou Mitchell’s 565 W. Jackson Blvd • Chicago, IL 60661-5701 Tel: (312) 939-3111 • www.loumitchells.com

R OU T E 6 6 ’ S F I R S T S T OP S I N C E 19 2 6 ROUTE Magazine 15

ESSENTIALS

ESSENTIAL Route 66 BookS Route 66 has inspired and captured the hearts of an enormous number of travelers since its inception in ���6. Every year, travelers, authors, photographers, historians and others take this passion and interest and pour themselves into books that add to the colorful literature that is available on the fabled Mother Road. This year, we have seen numerous respectable additions to the vast library of Route 66 literature and photography books available online and in stores nationwide. ROUTE has compiled our list of this year’s most noteworthy reads.

66 ON 66: A PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNEY Captured over the course of �� years, from Missouri to California, photographer Terrence Moore’s work takes readers through a striking journey of America’s most famous road.

Moore has been documenting his travels along Route 66 since his first trip with his parents as a young boy in the ‘6�s.

Containing 66 of his best 35 mm color film images, this collection will inspire others to pick up their own camera and hit the road. It is an enviable assortment of some of the most unique spots on The Mother Road, glimpses of a past that in many instances, has now long vanished.

POP 66 From aliens to beauty queens, Wes Pope captures all the dreams and life Route 66 has to offer through pinhole cameras. The creative art of pinhole photography adds life to the already lively Mother Road and the iconic sights found along her.

Pope’s unique photography style creates a striking visual narrative for any Route 66 admirer — even the experts.

BR ITS ON ROUTE 66 As proof that Route 66 touches the lives of people all over the world, English traveler, Vicki Graves, shares her uniquely British perspective on America’s Main Street. This travel guide, with its practical, honest advice, 16 ROUTE Magazine

is the perfect tool to make any Route 66 adventure a breeze, especially to non-Americans. With pre-travel planning tips, state-by-state itineraries, and attraction recommendations, Graves makes sure any eager traveler will get the most out of the world’s greatest road trip. But what makes this guide most fun is its constant cultural references and inclusion of the author’s uniquely British reaction to all that she encounters.

ROADTR I P AM ER ICA’S AR I ZONA A ND NEW M E X ICO: 25 SCE N IC SI DE TR I PS Make your southwestern road trip a fun, jaw-dropping experience with this helpful guide to the best �5 scenic side trips to take in Arizona and New Mexico. Complete with easyto-read full-color route maps, color-coded pages for easy identification of information, and insider tips that will help you in discovering all of the beauty and breathtaking landscapes this part of America has to offer. We don’t often recommend guides, but this one is worth your time.

ROUTE 66: TH E N A ND NOW

Take a journey in time with Joe Sonderman’s Route 66: Then and Now. This photography book offers a look at the most unique gas stations, motels and diners found on the Mother Road and how those structures have fared throughout the many years. Some are still on the National Historic Register while others have vanished entirely. With photos and in-depth history, you’ll get the full scoop on Route 66’s vibrant life from the Windy City to the sunny shores of Santa Monica.

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Where Co 20 ROUTE Magazine

wboys Eat

By Rachel Fernandez

Photographs by Efren Lopez/Route66Images ROUTE Magazine 21

Y

ou might not believe Joy’s full name the first time she tells it to you. When you initially ask her, she’ll say something like, “If I told you my name, you’d just die laughing.” You’ll probably think she’s making it up, but honestly, her full name is Joy A. Weed.

Weed is �� years young with short silver hair and long, shiny, dark-purple nails that make a satisfying ‘click click click’ every time she types on her phone. She’s chatty and honest and exactly the kind of customer you can expect to meet at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in Oklahoma City.

“My family’s been eating there since ��6�, and my husband’s family has been eating there for 3� years before that,” she said. “Every Sunday we go for breakfast. Any other time, we go for a steak or a chicken-fry.”

If you ask for a suggestion from the menu, she might urge you to try the lamb fries (fried lamb testicles) and “don’t make a face until you try them!” They’re a Cattlemen’s delicacy and one of their most popular appetizers.

Other than swearing by the great quality of the steak, she might also rave about the salad and the creamy house dressing and wonder about which spice they use because her and her family “have been trying to figure out for 5� years what spice he uses in that.”

The current owner later confirmed that they sprinkle a little bit of paprika over the top.

Even if you’re just stopping at Cattlemen’s on a Route 66 journey or during a visit to the Oklahoma National Stockyards, Weed will reassure you that “if you’re new in town, that’s alright, they still treat you like you’re home.

The food is good and the service is excellent.”

Packing Town Cattlemen’s Steakhouse is an Oklahoma staple. The restaurant first opened west of downtown Oklahoma City in ����, the same year that the stockyards started operating as a public livestock market. The stockyards, established to serve as the country’s primary source for meat processing and packing, had the highest

Outside of the restaurant.

22 ROUTE Magazine

concentration of labor at the time, with two meat packing plants operating along with the stockyards and employing over �,��� people. The area became a hub for cattlemen, farmers, ranchers, and cowboys. And so it was against this backdrop that the beginnings of an industry that would later place Oklahoma City stockyards as the world’s largest market for livestock handling, that a restaurant made its debut as Cattlemen’s Cafe, a place where both locals and stockyard visitors could stop in for a good meal or a cup of coffee. Part of its draw was that it stayed open late and even had a history of serving ‘liquid delights’ during the prohibition era.

To put the age of Cattlemen’s into perspective, the restaurant is almost two decades older than the invention of sliced bread which was first commercially sold in ���8. The restaurant has been around for two world wars, �� presidents and two sightings of Halley’s Comet.

Cattlemen’s is a treasure chest of stories. Perhaps a bit unassuming from the outside, but its walls hold memories as precious as gold and gems. From the restaurant’s ownership changing on a gamble, to U.S. presidents going in for a bite, to simply generations of people who’ve been going there since they were kids, Cattlemen’s has a history and a story that has turned the steakhouse into a legacy.

A Hard Six By the ��3�s, Stockyard City was a bustling town within a town. The stockyards were a tough place, run by tough people. Think old western film. Cowboys on their horses.

Spurred boots kicking up dusty dirt roads. Farmers and ranchers coming in to pick up their weekly supplies. Rowdy bars. Seedy hotels. Bootleggers selling whisky and spirits in secret, and gamblers betting big bucks in basements and back rooms. The air foul with the stench from the meat packing plant. And Cattlemen’s Cafe was there, open around the clock, ready to sate the hearty appetites of Stockyard City patrons. Day or night.

The ownership of Cattlemen’s Cafe between ���� and ���5 is not very clear. However, it appears that H.V. ‘Homer” Paul took ownership of the already popular establishment in ���6. There are tales of Paul and Hank Frey - a known gambler and bootlegger betting the restaurant back and forth while bootlegging.

What is known for certain is that in ���5, Cattlemen’s Cafe was in the hands of Hank Frey.

The chilly Christmas eve of December ���5 found Frey playing a game of craps with a local rancher named Gene Wade Jr.. Wade Jr. most likely got involved in the game because of his rather dubious father, Percy Wade Sr., who was notorious for running underground gambling

Like it Used to Be “A banker friend of mine called me, and I guess he had loans against Cattlemen’s,” Stubbs said.

“Cattlemen’s Restaurant at the time was not doing very well, and so he asked me if I was friends with the owner, and I said, ‘yeah,’ and he said, ‘will you go down there and help him try to save that restaurant?’ because he did not want to be the banker that closed the restaurant after 8� years. So, I went in as kind of a consultant at first, and one day the owner [Frey]

said, ‘why don’t you just take this and go pay off my debts before I die?’ And so we did!”

And just like that, a game of chance, Stubbs took over Cattlemen’s Cafe, changing its name later to Cattlemen’s Steakhouse. Stubbs had owned another popular restaurant in Oklahoma City called Applewoods for over �� years, so he was no stranger to the game. He first leased the restaurant for about eight years, before finally buying it in ����. When he came on board at Cattlemen’s, his main goal was to upgrade the quality, while still keeping it the same restaurant that generations of people knew and loved.

“I had a philosophy that people tend to forget the bad and remember the good,” Stubbs said. “So, what we tried to do is start out with a campaign: ‘It’s just like it used to be’. A lot of people hadn’t eaten there in almost a decade, and they started coming back to try it.” Stubbs undertook a strategic marketing campaign that began with advertising on radio stations and then television, before finally approaching the state’s tourism bureau to promote Cattlemen’s as a tourist attraction.

Since taking over, Stubbs has been running Cattlemen’s with David Egan, the Chief of Operations. The two have been working together in the restaurant business for over �� years. Egan himself has been going to the steakhouse since his dad took him there as a kid. Multigenerational customers are one of the hallmarks of Cattlemen’s.

“I’ve gotta say that probably our biggest pleasure comes from people who’ve moved out of town and come back and tell the stories of how they ate here as a kid with their grandfather when he brought cattle here and how the place looks the same, and is the same, and they’re so happy that this memory that they have from ���� or ��6� or ��8� is David Egan and Dick Stubbs. still alive and well,” Egan said.

ROUTE Magazine 23

Photograph courtesy of The Oklahoman.

circles and peddling illegal liquor, and had a sizeable arrest record to show for it. Historical accounts suggest that Wade Sr. had been involved in underground gambling as early as ���3 and had a particular liking for running high-stakes dice games. And so, the story goes: On one fateful night, Frey was on a losing streak at one of Wade Sr.’s popular dice games held at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. The 33-story Biltmore Hotel, built in ��3�, was at one time among Oklahoma City’s tallest buildings, and was a favorite location for Wade Sr.’s gambling ways. The Inside the dining area. hotel was demolished in ����.

Running out of money, Frey put Cattlemen’s Cafe in as collateral. Not an entirely surprising wager for someone in the competitive Oklahoma City gambling circle at the time. The bet was that if Wade Jr. could roll a “hard six” (two threes) with the pair of dice, the restaurant would be his. Just like that.

Some stories are of the opinion that Wade Jr., being just �6 years old, did not have much money and so his father, Percy Wade Sr., convinced that lady luck was on his son’s side, put down the $�5,��� bet, against Frey’s restaurant.

The ending is easy to figure out: After a flick of his wrist and a brilliant stroke of luck, Wade Jr. was the next rightful owner of Cattlemen’s Cafe. A ‘33’ brand on the wall of Cattlemen’s stands as a reminder of Wade Jr.’s lucky streak. The Wades operated the restaurant for the next �5 years, expanding it and continuing to build on its reputation. Wade Jr. became a feature at Cattlemen’s, known to personally welcome guests as they entered the restaurant. But as times changed, packing houses started closing their doors and Cattlemen’s clientele numbers started to fade; the restaurant fell on hard times.

Wade Jr. was ready to pass the torch to a current owner, Dick Stubbs, who also ended up with the restaurant in a rather interesting way.

Inside the dining area.

Cattlemen’s has two very distinct dining rooms: one that acts as a coffee shop and mirrors the original ���� Cattlemen’s Café, with its red vinyl booths and low countertop seating, and another that acts as a more upscale steakhouse dining room with dim lighting, intricate murals of livestock and photos of notable guests who have dined on a famous Cattlemen’s steak, including the late George H.W. Bush, Dr. Phil and country singer Reba McEntire.

The steakhouse dining room came later as Cattlemen’s expanded in the ‘5�s, but the spirit of the restaurant remained no matter where you were standing in the building. The menu is the same on both sides of the restaurant, despite the juxtaposing looks, and that sentiment reflects itself in the diverse clientele.

“It kind of tells a story of its own, I think, when you have the mayor and the governor, the publisher of the [local] newspaper that come in at lunch with their coat and tie with business associates, and then they come back at night with their family, and they have jeans and a flannel shirt on, and maybe a cowboy hat or a ballcap or whatever,” Egan said. “It’s just that anybody and everybody feels comfortable here, whether you’re dressed up or dressed down. You might be in overalls and ratty-looking shoes, or you might have just signed a multi-million dollar deal for someone punching a bunch of oil wells in your farmland, and people are very — for the most part — very meek and humble around here.”

Where’s the Beef The steakhouse is almost always busy. There’s a �5-minute wait at � p.m. on a Monday, so one can only imagine what a Sunday post-church rush would look like. Throughout the restaurant during the push, waiters and waitresses weave in and out of the tight aisles, narrowly avoiding collisions in what almost seems like a choreographed dance, to deliver people their food.

“It’s a very fast-paced restaurant, so it’s constantly busy.

Not a lot of down time, so it keeps you on your toes,” waiter Robert Santi said. “You don’t want to be bogged down and not able to do anything. That’s when you make mistakes. When you’re slow.”

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Santi has been working at Cattlemen’s for almost �� years now and waiting tables for years before that. His easy-going personality, yet efficient service, seem to be what Cattlemen’s is all about.

“I found my nitch and I ran with it. Waiting tables, I get to meet people every day — new people, people I’ve known forever — and make money. So I ran with it, and it’s been my career ever since. People have just been coming in here all their lives.

It’s generations. Their grandma and grandpa brought them, mom and dad brought them, and now they’re bringing their kids. I think that’s the best thing about it. I wait on grown-ups now that I waited on when they were children. It’s crazy.”

When asked to describe the atmosphere of Cattlemen’s, Joy A. Weed gave a two-word answer that said it all: “It’s Oklahoma. In other words, it’s friendly, it’s Western.

It’s something you would see if you walked back in the ‘5�s or the ‘6�s. The way things used to be a long time ago, because it’s just been there that long ... if you know anything about Oklahoma, we’re kind of crazy people here.

We’re kind of these people who go, ‘where’s the beef?’”

100 Years On The future for Cattlemen’s looks much like its past.

There’s no intention to drastically change the menu or the look or the feel of what has already stood the test of time.

Today, Stockyard City is Historic Stockyard City, and has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The western flavor remains unchanged, cattlemen still bring their livestock to the auctions and stockyards, and locals, as well people from around the globe, still flock through the doors at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse.

“We hope to have it go on for another ��� years,” Stubbs said. “Of course, I’m not going to be around, but I do think that our goal today is basically to keep it growing and to protect the high-quality legacy that we’ve created.”

In a fast-paced society where phone upgrades feel like they happen every week and a single day can render an article as “old news,” comfort and consistency are novelties that keep people coming back.

The value that Cattlemen’s places on its patrons is summed up pretty clearly by Egan as he reflects on the past and the future of the establishment: “Honestly, I know everyone is looking for an earth-shattering story that will make everybody’s heads swim, but I really think that probably our biggest story really happens every day when people come in and say, ‘Golly, I haven’t been here since I was �5 years old, and I’m 68 now, and I used to eat here with my dad, and every time we brought cattle or every time we had a birthday, they’d bring us here to eat,’ and people get a connection with a restaurant.”

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RARIN’ A Photographic Essay by Jim Ross and Shellee Graham

THE WEST LASSOED: Sights on the Lincoln Highway include a lone rider rumbling toward Ely, Nevada; Sidney, Nebraska’s Brandin’ Iron Lounge; and Cheyenne’s Lincoln Theater. Ponies exercise in central Nebraska and roadside entrepreneurs peddle snow cones near Rush Valley, Utah.

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TO GO!

T

here was no plan. No real plan, anyway. Our knapsack held a bundle of maps, four cameras, the promise of friendly weather, and an attitude. Other than that, we knew only that our smorgasbord of wanderings would include the western wonders of the Lincoln Highway, a few national parks and, for dessert, a healthy wedge of Route 66 to carry us home. We had thirteen days to rock and roll. Before it was done we would spin rubber over �,��� miles of roadway and shoot, well, a bunch of photos. Being devout junkies of roadside culture, a low-tech approach bearing some resemblance to a mid-��th century vacation was preferable, so we made no reservations and scheduled no daily destinations. It was a “circle the west” kind of ramble, and we were rarin’ to go.

We motored north from Oklahoma, through Kansas and into Nebraska, catching the Lincoln Highway in a rainstorm at Lexington, Kentucky. Shellee kept a detailed trip log, where she noted everything from photo locations and songs on the dial (5:5� p.m. – “Friends in Low Places” on radio) to smart remarks (Asked about cows with white faces, JR says, “I’m not into bovine genetics.”) In western Wyoming the realization that the I-8� corridor in summertime is a bloated launch pad for Yellowstone tourists forced a night spent in the car at the Evanston visitor center with others of similar intelligence. Undaunted, in central Utah we took a crack at getting on the Army’s Dugway Proving Grounds, where the heart of that state’s Lincoln Highway is sequestered. Following a lengthy inquisition, Jim’s military ROUTE Magazine 27

I.D. finally won out, but our pass authorized only limited access, leaving our wheels un-kissed by the vintage roadbed quarantined behind other gates.

We rattled across �� miles of fractured asphalt in the Great Salt Lake Desert and negotiated a day’s worth of unpaved roads slithering through Utah hideouts like Gold Hill and Ibapah. Beyond Ely, Nevada, and the “loneliest road” we headed for the even more remote Extraterrestrial Highway before drifting back into Utah to gaze at hoodoos and panoramas in Bryce and Zion. From the Grand Canyon’s north rim, lofty elevations were left behind for the haunts of Route 66 from Arizona eastward to Oklahoma, completing the circle.

Our affinity for bygone days and for those who blazed the trails, whether in flivvers or flashy fins, had an influence that is evident in these galleries. Modern icons were not purposely ignored; even so, daily downloads revealed an undeniable leaning toward landscapes, signage, and subjects flavored with age. For us, exploring the skeletons and castaway fragments of the great highways and their tributaries is a way to render time permeable, to cultivate a free-flow between past and present. This is the lure that keeps us on yesteryear’s trails, searching for history we can touch and for a spiritual deliverance we don’t fully understand, but are driven to seek.

Kansas & Nebraska To cross the prairies of Kansas and Nebraska is to roll through the soul of the nation. When it comes to frontier spirit and pulling oneself up by the bootstraps, few places compare with this land of big sky and bigger dreams. It is on these prairies that Laura Ingalls Wilder brought her characters to life and where James Michener birthed his epic novel Centennial. It is a naked land, where surviving nature’s wrath to carve a living from the soil once depended almost entirely on the resourcefulness of those brave enough to try.

The grain elevators in Englewood, Kansas—just over the Oklahoma line on US �83—perfectly capture the feel of the land and set the mood for our sojourn through the wideopenness of America’s heartland. Storm clouds boiled in

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the distance, and the sinking sun had set shadows sneaking across the highway. Only a dozen miles north, a pair of road signs sparkled against a purple backdrop as a dust-churning farm truck made its escape from the fields.

Once on the Lincoln Highway, heading west, the neon delights of North Platte, Nebraska, awaited, including the Hub Bar, a downtown cornerstone in a “hub” city for the Union Pacific Railroad and where the North and South Platte Rivers converge. Farther west, we found the town of Sidney nicely populated with historic buildings such as the Fox Theater, one of many there that have been beautifully preserved.

Wyoming Much of Wyoming’s appeal is rooted in its geographical diversity, which ranges from grasslands and the wonders of Yellowstone to the majesty of the Grand Teton Range.

To experience a change in scenery requires only a short drive in any direction. The unforgiving winters here test a homesteader’s mettle, but cannot discourage those who relish their independence and the pioneer lifestyle found only in the west.

The small community of Pine Bluffs nudges the Nebraska border, where the Lincoln Highway slips in from the east along old US 3�.

The first eye-catcher facing the right of way here is Pete’s Service, a former station whose front drive is now stuffed with an amazing collection of aging gas pumps.

From Laramie, the Lincoln Highway veers away from the I-8� corridor for a ���-mile jaunt into the wilderness, clicking through remote outposts and railroad sidings with names like Bosier and Rock River. Beyond Medicine Bow, the abandoned Home Ranch Motel sits perched on barren ground like a tombstone—one of those salient, hushed places where wanderers who happen upon it feel compelled to stop.

Just shy of the Utah line, icons of the road like the Sunset Cabins and a vintage sign are a source of pride in the city of Evanston, another late-�8��s offspring of the Union Pacific where historic buildings dominate the old business district.

the Lincoln’s early years, it has been marooned here for decades.

Westward from Salt Lake City, a sizable chunk of Utah’s historic highway is now trapped inside the wire of the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Grounds, forcing an abrupt turn to the north on Skull Valley Road. Nearby and just off the pavement is the landmark Orr’s Ranch. A historic watering hole homesteaded in �8�5 by Scotsman Matthew Orr, the ranch became an oasis of legendary proportions that continued to serve travelers well into the age of the auto.

Farther north, I-8� westbound from Skull Valley Rd. is the gateway to the Great Salt Lake Desert, a stark wasteland blanketing �,��� square miles. It is a place where the sand has the texture of salt and life forms are few. The Lincoln Highway was here long before the interstate, and a decayed �� miles of it still exists as a non-maintained roadway that the adventurous sometimes navigate from Exit �� to the border town of Wendover.

Exploring the Lincoln on the opposite side of the Dugway base involves billowing dust supplied by unpaved roads.

But the rewards are ample as parts of the highway here join Utah’s Pony Express route, and isolated hamlets like

Utah The Lincoln Highway enters eastern Utah from Wyoming disguised as I-8�, finally emerging from the super-slab at Echo Canyon Road. From there it clings to the railroad as it snakes its way through the canyon on a downhill grade to Echo Reservoir. It is a mouth-watering drive that offers a glimpse into what lies ahead in the land of bees and honey. With eighty percent of Utah’s population centered on Salt Lake City, elbow room is unlimited. Between the spectacular geological formations served up by the continuous vistas lathered in breath-taking color, one can amble about endlessly.

In the rolling hills about a dozen miles east of the capital city, Lamb’s Canyon Road twists through a forested mountain crevice to a dead-end, chased by a creek that hops from one side of the blacktop to the other. Tucked within the foliage alongside this narrow road is the ���� Lamb’s Canyon Bridge. A scarred but sturdy survivor of ROUTE Magazine 29

for rest and replenishment before moving on. The town’s anchor is the historic ���� Hotel Nevada. The city’s main boulevard is choked with lesser hotels and taverns, like the Club Rio, but Ely is also a place where families thrive and where youngsters can play ball at the park or catch a movie at the Central Theater.

At the state’s midpoint, US 5� junctions with NV 3�6.

Here, a left turn leaves the Lincoln behind. For ��8 miles it stabs through desolate, baked land before colliding with US 6. A left here leads to NV 3�5—known as the Extraterrestrial Highway—where another barren hundred miles flirts with the boundary of the mysterious Area 5�.

The only township to be found—Rachel—is home to the Little A’le’Inn and not much else. A pair of easy riders near here passed us like apparitions and soon vanished, leaving only the echo of their pipes behind.

Arizona & New Mexico

Ibapah, where a creaky old trading post still operates, offer glimpses of life snagged in a time warp.

A return to civilization and paved roads demands a detour to sample incomparable scenery found far to the south.

A massive stone wall fronts UT � in Zion National Park only a short distance from a tunnel bored through solid rock.

At nearby Bryce Canyon, a young cowboy and his trail scouts behold the wonder of hoodoos, while a raven refuses to flinch during a close encounter with the lens.

At 8,��� feet, windshields stay bug-free at the Grand Canyon’s north rim. The downside is that getting there from the I-�� corridor is a long ride beyond the more convenient southern side. Even so, lookouts like Angel’s Window make

Nevada From its border with Utah to Carson City, US 5� bisects Nevada across its midsection like a cleaver. Ely is the eastern port—a springboard for those figuring to make that lonely 3��-mile trek, though traffic on America’s “loneliest road” has picked up some since it earned that notorious label long ago.

Ely is a gambling town that doubles as a gathering place for bikers, Lincoln Highway pilgrims, and those simply out for adventure. It’s an energetic place and a handy location

the extra time involved worthwhile. Deer and other critters roam freely here, and with fewer people getting in the way, aspiring photographers can hone their craft.

From there, the drift down US 8� Alternate follows the Vermillion Cliffs in a steep descent to Marble Canyon, where a swing to the south becomes a fast track alongside the Echo Cliffs to Flagstaff, Arizona, and a rendezvous with Route 66.

Back on America’s Main Street, the dependable old road makes a cozy companion as it glides through eastern Arizona and into New Mexico. The weathered two-lane slips lazily over terrain where the sunsets inspire communion with the land and where wispy clouds hint that friendly spirits are afoot. It is a reassuring place, one that suggests safe travels ahead as The Mother Road threads its way across Texas and onto the red earth of Oklahoma, our home.

The work of veteran road historians and photographers Jim Ross and Shellee Graham has been widely published in both books and periodicals. Visit their sites at www.shelleegraham.com and www.66maps.com.

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ROUTE Magazine 31

A PHOTOGRAPH Photographs and Words by Terrence Moore

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ER’S JOURNEY ROUTE Magazine 33

ABOVE: Chief Juan Yellowhorse was the P.T. Barnum of 66. He knew how to get you to stop: buffalo, Indian ruins, teepees on cliff above-petrified wood, and he even accepted “plastic money” (credit cards). Lupton, Arizona, ����.

RIGHT: This was taken in ��8� when you could drive right up to the Ranch.

I was doing an article for Rolling Stone about the end of the highway. Amarillo, Texas.

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RIGHT: Take your first breath of fresh air as you cross the Colorado River from crowded southern California into Arizona. And there are cute cowgirls to boot! Topock, Arizona, ���6.

RIGHT: Dancers on the Desert Hills Trading Post and Bar on the mesa West of Albuquerque.

It was a desert classic: gas, arrows, teepees and booze.

What more could a traveler want? ����.

BELOW: Kodak film was my favorite film of all-time; you can still get it at the Cubero Trading Post. The mountain range in the background is the San Mateo Range with Mt. Taylor, which is one of the Navajo Sacred mountains. ����.

ROUTE Magazine 35

ABOVE: The Villa de Cubero Cafe was part of the Cubero Trading Post, Motel and Cafe complex. It was built and is still operated by the Gottlieb family. The cafe closed in ����.

RIGHT: North of Albuquerque in the village of Algodones, New Mexico. This shop was typical of the trading posts and curio shops in New Mexico - many were originally made of adobe.

RIGHT: Ella’s Frontier: it is debatable if it really was “the oldest trading Post on 66”, but it was old and unique as was Ella herself. Joseph City, Arizona, ��8�.

36 ROUTE Magazine

ABOVE: The Santo Domingo Trading Post was one of the greatest trading posts in the southwest and even JFK was there on ��-�-��6�. ����.

ABOVE: The Regal Reptile Ranch may have been the last Reptile Ranch in the Southwest. There used to be many scattered throughout the region. Now, most attractions are owned by corporations and are sterile and boring. Alanreed, Texas, ���6.

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ABOVE: ��� Miles of Desert written on the Kiva Trading Post west of Albuquerque. If you didn’t stop for a water bag and ice you would never make it to California. ����.

My involvement with Highway 66 goes way back

to the mid 5�s when we moved from northern Minnesota to southern California, right off of Foothill Blvd. (Route 66 in Claremont).

Unfortunately, I didn’t photograph the Highway in those early days, but experienced great pain while watching the old homes and businesses disappear along with the citrus groves that had dominated the area for over 6� years. When I moved to New Mexico after college, it hit me how unique the Highway was and is, and I was inspired to take my camera and begin photographing it.

I have seen amazing changes all along its length, so when putting images together for my book, Route 66 on 66: A Photographer's Journey, I emphasized largely on

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what has disappeared, in order to give all ages a look at how the road looked and felt in its recent past, especially in the ��s and early 8�s. I also deliberately included locations that can be experienced today. So in a way, the photos represent a then and now. Even though many of the locations have crumbled back into the Earth, much of the roadbed is still there and there are many stretches that don’t feel much different than they did 5� years ago.

Many places remain available for anyone traveling the Highway today.

My images are a glimpse of Western America as it was and in some places, still is.

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ROUTE Magazine 39

40 ROUTE Magazine

STANDING TALL

KEVIN HART

By Brennen Matthews Introduction by Olivia McClure Photographs by Dennis Leupold

ROUTE Magazine 41

W

hen Kevin Hart isn’t busy touring the world, performing stand-up comedy or shooting his next blockbuster, he’s most likely on dad duty for his three children. He could also be managing his intense fear of reptiles or adding to his extensive automobile collection.

Given the veracity of his personality and life experiences, Hart often looks to one obvious source for comedic inspiration — himself. Hart uses self-deprecation to his fullest advantage, observing the implications of race and masculinity, as well as his dysfunctional family history and shorter stature. Hart is only 5’� but has a giant personality and a huge amount of talent to back it up.

Far from the image of a prototypical Hollywood progeny, Hart, born and raised in Philadelphia, and his older brother Robert, were raised by a single mother while his cocaineaddicted father spent the majority of their childhoods in and out of jail. With plenty of life experience behind him from a young age, Hart naturally adopted a humorous mindset to cope with life’s chaos and uncertainties. Now, he shares his unique perspective with audiences around the world.

Since making his ���� television debut on Undeclared, Hart has appeared in numerous films, including ���6’s Central Intelligence, ����’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and

this year’s Night School. Since ����, Hart has taken part in several top-selling comedy tours, one of which — ����’s Laugh at My Pain — grossed over $�5 million, and his social media presence is enormous: Hart has close to 35 million followers on Twitter and 65 million on Instagram.

For Hart, whose previous characters relied heavily on his comedic presence, his latest role in director Neil Burger’s The Upside signifies a step into uncharted territory — and it’s one he was more than willing to take on.

In the film, Hart trades in his typical comedic persona for one of a more dramatic hue. He portrays recently paroled convict Dell Scott, who forms an unlikely friendship with wealthy quadriplegic Phillip Lacasse, played by veteran actor Bryan Cranston.

Considering his long list of achievements, it can be difficult to imagine Hart as an aspiring comic operating under the name “Lil Kev,” jumping between various comedy clubs on the East Coast, vying to get his foot firmly in the world of stand-up comedy. It’s even more difficult to believe disgruntled audience members used to boo the nowlegendary comedian offstage at early gigs. It’s safe to say that fame often comes at a price. In Hart’s case, this price has surely been paid off.

There’s no question that Hart is a man on the move — and it looks like his career is only heading sky-high from here.

You recently did a great short video with David Beckham for H&M called The Roadtrip. Are you and your family a “road trip” bunch? Do you travel very often by road together?

There’s a point when you come to realize that running the streets and being out all the time isn’t what life is about, and you find other things to peak your interests. And for me, it’s cars. You know, I love the fact that these are things being built — things that I can start from the ground up and treat as projects and I can pass onto my kids when they get older — that they can attach to their father and know how much love and time and energy I spent in purchasing these various things. So, there’s a lot that goes into it. I’ve developed a love over the years, and I don’t see it calming down anytime soon.

Not much by road. We travel — we are a vacation family. We love to go to different destinations and, you know, create our moments — create things we can hold onto. So the holidays are a big time for us, during Christmas, spring break and during the summer, and we try to go to very different places.

But we’re definitely big with the vacation mindset.

Where is your favorite place to vacation in the United States?

We love Aspen [Colorado] around the holidays. I don’t think there’s anything better. It’s just festive — the snow brings a different element to the environment. Of course, the kids love it because they love snow and, you know, just the whole cabinlike feel, depending on where you are or where you’re staying.

It just feels like Christmas, so it’s something that I enjoy, they enjoy, the wife enjoys it, so we’ve been very consistent with making that our thing. It’s a Hart family vacay every year.

So, do you ski?

Not well, but I’ll get on them. Not to say that it’s the smoothest thing you’ve ever seen, but I’m out there with my kids, you know, and if they want to do it, I’ve got to do it. So there is no halfway moment.

You have been a car enthusiast and collector for some time now. Where did it start?

Well, when you’re a man and you start to get older, you start to realize that you’ve got to get hobbies. It’s things that you can throw your attention to, you know, that are home-based.

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What was the first car you ever acquired for your collection?

The first one that I’ll say is a good one: my SLS MercedesBenz. It’s a ���� SLS with the gullwings.

And you have a ’66 Pontiac GTO as well?

Yes, sir.

Do you ever drive these cars?

I drive them all.

If you were going to do a road trip down Route 66 — a proper across-America two-lane highway — which car would you take?

The best car for me, right now, is my Ferrari.

So, you want to move fast?

No, I think that’s the most comfortable ride. I mean, there are a lot of choices that I can make. So, I could have said

my Corvette, there’s a ’6� that I have. I could have said my Mustang, my Eleanor — that’s another good ride. That’s a strong engine, so to deal with that noise the whole way would be a lot. My Bronco — there’s a ’6� Bronco, which would be a fun ride. I’ve got a Jeep Wrangler, and I’ve got a Rubicon now. The Rubicon is actually an off-road one, which would be good.

Actually, you know what would be a good ride? The Maybach. I could just enjoy the scenery from the back because it has a dual sunroof. I can put my kids in the Sprinter and make it a family trip. Because the Sprinter, I basically customized to fit our needs from the inside, so whether it’s playing video games or watching movies or eating various fruits out of the cooler — we can do all that stuff.

No — I’ve got it! My wife’s Bentley. That’s the coolest car.

I didn’t expect it to be. Like, when you close the door, the seat belt automatically goes on. You don’t even have to do it.

Yeah, it’s pretty dope. Those are the little tricks they show you to get you to buy it.

If you were going to do a road trip, which celebrity friend would you bring with you?

Will Ferrell. One hundred percent, Will Ferrell. Will is funny non-stop. You know, he’s a guy that loves bits, loves improv, and I’ve spent a lot of time with him, and after spending time with him, I’ve found our comedy back-andforth is not just funny, but special. So, the constant playing out or acting out of bits is just — carrying on and on — I feel like if you’re going to be in a car, you’ve got to be in a car with who you laugh with [and] who you’re not going to get tired of, and I don’t think I would get tired of Will at all.

When did you realize that you were funny?

I would probably say at the young age of ��. It’s at �� when your personality kicks in and your friends — your friendships start to grow. And people also wanted to be around because they’d say, “Kev is funny,” or “we want to be with Kev,” or “we want to ride with Kev and be on the bus with Kev.” And people started to laugh, so it started to click with me that the funny presence that’s associated with myself is one that’s welcome. I like it, and it’s something that I’ve really enjoyed.

How does your family feel about you including them in your stand-up routine?

They have no feelings because it’s not malicious. It’s all told from my point of view, you know? Self-deprecation is what I love. It’s what I do very well, so it’s all told through a lens that comes back to me, and you’re laughing at my response or my actions or my reaction from something involving other people. So, no matter what, it all comes back to me.

Do you see any of your kids following in your footsteps?

My daughter has a very strong personality, I would say. She for sure has it. My son is a late bloomer. I see it starting to come with him and, you know, my youngest, of course, I can’t see nothing yet because he’s not talking. Mainly with my oldest, my daughter — she’s �3. But her personality

is just amazing — you know, life of the party, center of attention, funny, loves to tell jokes. She definitely has it, for sure.

You seem to be very close with your children. What’s your favorite part about being a dad?

My favorite part about being a dad is that you get to watch these little lives develop into adults, you know? You get to really see your imprint. When you’re an active part of your child’s life, you get to see them slowly mold into mini versions of you, and they’re literally parrots. What you say is what they’ll repeat, what you do is what they’ll repeat. So, for me, it’s about being present. I learned the mistakes that were made from my dad with me coming up, and I know where there should have been a lot of time spent, but there wasn’t, and it left a sour taste in my mouth. It’s a crashcourse education of what I have to make sure I do better ROUTE Magazine 43

when I have kids, and now that I have them, I understand that the most important thing you can give is time. So spending time with my kids, just being present, is the most important and best thing about parenthood in my mind.

When you were starting out, you hit a couple of bumps with non-appreciative audiences. What was going through your mind in the early days when your work was not being embraced?

I mean, look, at that time, you’ve got to understand that it’s all a learning experience. You know, you’re going through the good, the bad and the ugly to get an understanding of just that. Those experiences only make you better. They only

make you stronger. So, you have to understand that a lot of people quit because [it’s not] easy. Not many stay put and fight through it. The ones that push through are the ones that end up making it because they have the will and ability to stay through it all. That’s my opinion.

Were there times when you thought, “I’m done with this”?

No, I was pretty positive. I never contemplated quitting or turning my back on it at all. It was always, “This is what I’m doing, this is what I chose, this is my life, this is what I’m investing all my time and energy into. I’m not turning my back on it.”

Was there any particular moment in time, or with a certain project when you felt, “Wow, I made it! Now I am successful”?

I mean, look, to date, I still don’t have the feeling like it’s over. I just feel like everything — I guess you could say I feel a fulfillment knowing all your hard work is paying off, but where you’re still putting in a crazy amount of hard work. Then, that’s your way of saying, “You know what? Not only is my hard work paying off, but it only gets better. It only continues to grow. How much bigger can I make it?

How much further can I get in this?” You know, with that being the case, it’s more of a motivating factor to me. It’s not necessarily “made it,” it’s just that I made monumental steps on a road that’s a long one, — that’s full of many goals that are still trying to be achieved.

Do you have any projects you’ve done so far that stand out to you as your favorite?

As a comedian, nothing’s ever going to surpass stand-up comedy and my tours — that’s always going to be number one. Outside of that, I definitely have to say The Upside is very high on that list, just because of who I got to work with, the type of movie that it is, and I love that I took my time in doing it and finding the right project. I would say right now, this would be my favorite film.

You have a lot of scripts coming your way, but you took your time with this one. What drew you to The Upside?

The material within itself; the opportunity to play an individual who went through hardship in life and is trying to do the right thing and make it out and has the feeling that he’s being held back because of, not just race, but because of the fact that these people have no will to go and address situations correctly. I like that it’s about a guy who feels that he’s being held back by a system and by “the man,” but [then] realizes that “the man” isn’t as bad as he thought he was and that just because you have money doesn’t mean you have everything. And I also give that man a life lesson in that having that happiness is a choice and that he can still make the choice. We find good in one another. We find reason to live and love through the friendships that came across unexpectedly. And for me, playing a character that can address a kind of situation within the times that we live in — be grounded, be authentic, be real and act as a voice — it just made sense. It’s a time for me to do it in my career because it’s so different from anything I’ve done.

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There are some very funny scenes in the picture. Were there any in particular that were really hard to get through because of people laughing?

The catheter scene was probably the hardest to get through.

That was a classic scene for sure. The other scene that really stood out was when Dell, your character, got tired of waiting and burst in for his interview.

That scene was a great scene because it was a scene where you got to see the difference in Dell from everybody else that Phil’s been dealing with throughout the day, throughout the week. You know, interviewing for a position and everything sounds the same, everybody’s kissing his ass.

And I come in without knowledge of who he is or what he has, and I’m speaking to him in a way that he’s never been talked to before. And that was interesting to him because that’s something new, and I became a person of interest and that’s when I decided, “Ok, I want him.” It was a sabotage move without the feeling or expectation that he would end up liking me. Phil just wanted to go against the grain and piss off everybody else around him by bringing somebody that was not going to qualify for the position.

The Upside showcases the natural cultural tensions between your character, a black ex-con from an underprivileged background and Phil, a white, billionaire who is now a quadriplegic, but who has been very successful in life. Do you think that racial tension has reduced or gotten higher in today’s America?

Well, I don’t think racism ever went anywhere. It’s always been existent. Right now, you’re just seeing the people who were hiding it for so long. They’re now being bold enough to express. You know, in times like these, this is where the good has to overpower the bad, and I think the best way to do that is to give you good material to watch, things to see. This movie acts as just that. You know, when you’re looking at two different sides of the spectrum, and you’re addressing problems of race and being vocal about it … from Dell’s perception of a white man and what a white man has and what a white man should be, and Phil’s perception of a black guy who’s been in jail and what he’s done and what he’ll do for the rest of his life … When you get to see these two opinions that are formed, you realize the problem that is formed today. And that’s that we’re so in love with assuming, that we have yet to set out what the true problems are, and have a true understanding to what the problems are, on both sides. Because if we did it properly, we’d have understood that we could have a conversation accordingly and help move in a direction that appeals to both sides, to where you feel like you’re being heard. But I feel like right now, there’s a lot of yelling and not enough listening and understanding, which allows the problem to just continue to grow until it can be resolved.

You made a decision a while back not to include politics into your stand-up. Moving forward, will you still steer clear of politics in your comedy?

You know, I’ve never been a political voice. Because I have a massive following and a large fan base, that doesn’t mean that, out of nowhere, I’ll become a political figure. It’s not who I am. It’s not authentic to who I’ve been. So, you know, in that particular case, you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t. Because if you do start talking about it out of nowhere, then people are going to go, “Well, that’s not you. You’ve never done it before. Why are you doing it now?” And if you don’t, then you don’t say the right things and it’s not what you should be saying. I’m a comedian, and I feel like, for me, people are choosing to go to comedy shows to step away from the problems in the world today.

You can watch CNN all day if you want to hear debates about it, you can watch the news, you can go on social media. It’s a non-stop conversation. When you choose to go to see live entertainment, it’s because you’re looking for entertainment, you’re looking for relief. That’s what comedy is. I’m not going to take that time to divide when I can use it for better and bring people together through laughter.

That’s my choice.

You’ve developed a huge following and a lot of success, Kevin. At the end of the day, how do you stay grounded?

The thing is to keep your circle tight. You’ve got to surround yourself with individuals that you really know and that really know you. When you do that, you put yourself in the best position to stay true to yourself and your beginnings, because this can all change overnight, and the one thing that shouldn’t change is your friends and your family. You just can’t lose the perspective of life, and as long as you’re constantly thinking like that, you’re in a good place. When you feel like it’s supposed to be this way, and it’s never going to change, and everybody can kiss my ass, and you better do what I think is right, you won’t last. Because you become part of the problem — a problem where people don’t appreciate the fact that they are fortunate enough to do what they love on a very high level. There’s not a large group of people that can say that, so if you’re fortunate enough to do what you love, then be humble and appreciative enough of it and make sure that you’re a voice of positivity for others around you to understand that, “Hey, you can do it. Work hard. Inspire,” you know?

What’s next for Kevin Hart?

I think the next thing for me now is getting the business of Kevin Hart to catch up to the star. Right now, if you look at the star, he’s accomplished so much and done so much, but I want the business. I want the production company, I want so much to go into that — so much time, energy and effort. So that that’s a company that’s running by itself with or without the involvement of the actor, and that’s a journey. It’s a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears that have to go into it, but it will pay off. These are all things that I’m focusing on to get to a place where I feel like I’m progressing, but I just want to see more. I want more.

One hundred percent. It’s not who I am. What society loves to do is put situations on people who don’t ask for them.

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ROUTE 66

ODYSSEY

ROUTE Magazine’s Picks for the Top Places to Stay Along the Mother Road

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F

rom the outset, Route 66 was intended to connect the main streets of urban and rural communities and bring access to a major national thoroughfare to places that didn’t have it before.

Its popularity grew even as America rapidly began to change, and in ��3�, the road rivaled the railroad in dominance over the American shipping industry.

John Steinbeck’s classic ��3� novel, The Grapes of Wrath, referred to the route as “The Mother Road”, further cementing it into the American consciousness and many of those who escaped to California during the Depression era used Route 66 in their travels, making it known as the “road of opportunity.”

The Mother Road saw the beginnings of tourist-targeted businesses early on, as people motoring West naturally required somewhere to bed for the night and food and fuel while they traveled. Initially, entrepreneurial farmers opened up some of their land for camping and industrious women on the road began to serve up simple but affordable meals. Soon after, cabin camps were developed to offer minimal comfort at manageable prices. By the 5�s, the economy in the US was booming and a culture of leisure focused road travel developing. Where were people heading? West. And what road were they using? Route 66.

And to meet them blossomed some of the most colorful, quirky, memorable motels, restaurants and attractions

imaginable. The entrepreneurial spirit presented a myriad of options to pull people off of the highway, the most notable being flashy neon that beckoned the curious or weary traveler as they headed to Disneyland, the Grand Canyon or the pure blue Pacific Ocean.

Today, there are innumerable options for where to stay when traveling down Route 66, from the chain brands to the iconic choices. This year ROUTE has narrowed the options of our must-visits on Route 66 into three categories that will make your trip an even more unique experience: brands we love, vintage favorites and luxury lodging. Experience The Mother Road in every way possible. Brands we love will give you the flair and convenience you need and expect, vintage venues are guaranteed to offer the ultimate nostalgic experience, and retiring in luxury lodging will ensure you have all the comforts a ��st Century Route 66 traveler needs and more.

This list is not an exhaustive one and certainly we have not forgotten must-see stops like The Blue Swallow in Tucumcari, New Mexico, La Posada in Winslow, Arizona, La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Wigwam Motels in Rialto, California, and Holbrook, Arizona, or Munger Moss in Lebanon, Missouri. We also recognize that for many die-hard Mother Road travelers, including more modern boutique hotels and chain brand selections will potentially raise an eyebrow, but we are urging readers to keep an open mind and to embrace all that Route 66 offers today. When you motor West, on the highway, that’s the best, be sure to do so in whatever fashion suits your needs and desires, including where you decide to get your rest.

This year’s Odyssey list represents ROUTE’s suggestions on where you should prioritize as you travel the most famous highway in the world. Visit them, enjoy them and let us know about your experience.

Photographs: La Fonda Hotel, Robert Reck; Munger Moss Motel, David J. Schwartz – Pics On Route 66; The Blue Swallow Motel, David J. Schwartz – Pics On Route 66; La Posada Hotel, Efren Lopez/Route66Images.

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Vintage Venues

Fall in love with these unique, eclectic properties, which all have a neon-laced story to tell. Filled with substance, soul and a distinct sense of place, you will enjoy exploring the fascinating bits of history that can be found in each of these classic lodgings.

Braidwood Motel, Braidwood, IL Starting off the list on the pseudo-Homeric epic along The Mother Road is none other than the Braidwood Motel in Braidwood, Illinois.

Boasting clean, affordable rooms for less than $5� per night, Braidwood Motel makes the list as a great option for those looking to spend their money on sights and not nights.

Recently remodeled, each room comes with the necessities: wi-fi, a microwave, TV and mini-fridge.

Situated right along Route 66, the town of Braidwood flourished with the coal boom in �86�, and still maintains its ties with the nostalgic days of the past. With its quirky attractions like the Braidwood “Zoo”, (a cage holding an assortment of “animals” such as a pink elephant, cow, steer, polar bear, and giraffe, all created by artist Jack Barker), and the PolkA-Dot Drive-In, a ��5�s style diner, one-block off Route 66, showcasing fiberglass figures from the era such as Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Betty Boop, James Dean and more, Braidwood is one place you won’t want to just pass by.

Built and operating since ��35, The Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri, is the oldest continuously operated motel on Route 66. Holding a place on the National Register of Historic Places, this motel is a destination onto itself. From its distinct neon sign to its unique gift shop, The Wagon Wheel is an essential stop regardless of if you’re spending the night.

The iconic stone cottage motel has been restored within the past decade, and offers all of the historic vintage appeal that made it famous in its prime: wooden doors with glass knobs that open up to cozy rooms with original hardwood floors.

The venue is perfect for taking in the ethereal beauty and historic story of Cuba and Missouri’s Route 66.

As night time falls over The Wagon Wheel Motel, that is when the real magic happens. The original and iconic Wagon Wheel neon sign, built by John Mathis in ���� to welcome visitors from all over the world, comes alive.

Be mesmerized by the bright neon and allow the energy of the experience to transport you back to the hey-days of the road in the ‘5�s, enjoy the seating area amongst the wellkept landscaped grounds and listen to the night sounds of Cuba, or grab a drink and sit around a roaring fire where memorable moments swapping road travel stories with fellow travelers can be had. If you love historic and quaint locations, you will love this place.

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Image courtesy of Efren Lopez/Route66Images.

Wagon Wheel, Cuba, MO

Located at the crossroads of historic U.S. Route 66 and U.S. Route ��, Boots Court is one of the few places you can visit where you will actually feel like you’re being transported back to the ����s.

Arthur Boots began establishing the roadside motel in ��38 while the United States was still struggling to overcome the economic depression of ����. The motor court officially opened in ��3�, and the business was a success for many years. After decades of trading owners and even almost being demolished in the ‘��s, Boots Court eventually fell into the loving hands of the current owners, sisters Debye Harvey and Priscilla Bledsaw who continue to restore it to resemble the look the motel had in ����.

The archetypal motel features original hardwood floors, ceramic tile bathrooms, built-in vanity dressing tables, period chenille bedspreads and has a radio in every room, playing big band music from the ‘��s. No televisions - TV was not available in the Carthage area until the mid-��5�s. And if you really want to step back into the past, a stay in the Clark Gable room - and that’s not just a title, he did indeed stay here - will have you completely absorbed in the moment.

When the sun sets, sit outside and watch as the retro building becomes covered in the warm glow of green neon lights.

The “Boots Court Motel” neon sign out front also comes to life, illuminating the small-town streets at night.

If you’re there during the warmer seasons, going to the 66 Drive-In Theatre is a must while visiting Carthage. It’s one of the last remaining operating drive-ins on the route and it shows two movies a night during the weekends. The Battle of Carthage Civil War Museum is also a mere minutes from Boots Court and offers visitors a detailed history of the first full-scale land battle of the Civil War and the odd and colorful Red Oak II attraction is but a short drive through pretty countryside.

A stay at Boots Court offers a great way to step back in time and experience US history and Americana at its finest.

Image courtesy of Efren Lopez/Route66Images.

Boots Court, Carthage, MO

What started as just eight sandstone cottages in ��38, known then as the Rail Haven Motor Court, was expanded and developed to what is today the Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven.

Without sacrificing grounding comforts of home, the motel gives a nod to the past with its black-and-white tile floors and vintage decor in the lobby, and classic cars, old school Phillips 66 fuel pumps and telephone booth out front. Upon check-in, park your car right outside your room like in the old days and enjoy the display of framed historic photos in your room that tell the tale of the motel as it was back ‘in the day’. There’s even an extra special (and quite extravagant) Elvisthemed room for super fans of the king of rock n’ roll. Ask to see it. Tucked amongst the buildings is a pretty cool vintage Best Western Sign. And don’t miss the Rail Haven Motel sign at the back of the property, especially when it is lit up at night.

As Missouri’s third largest city and the birthplace of Route 66 - where The Mother Road was designated the numerical number 66 - Springfield offers a host of unique attractions: Route 66 Car Museum, History Museum on the Square, ���6 historic Gillioz Theatre, original and largest of the Bass Pro Shops, Discovery Center and lots more. You are spoilt for choice for things to see and do.

But at the end of the day, plan to grab a seat near the pool and enjoy watching Springfield in its quieter state as residents of the town slowly roll by, and allow the serene warmth of the neon that wraps around the motel’s office, to transport you back to a simpler time.

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Image courtesy of David J. Schwartz – Pics On Route 66.

Best Western Route Rail Haven, Springfield, MO

If you’re looking for classic luxury on The Mother Road, look no further than the Campbell Hotel in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This boutique hotel, located right on Historic Route 66, will have you living like royalty with its extravagant rooms, elegant spa and fancy cocktail bar.

Originally built in ����, this time-honored hotel was renovated in ���� and recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. If you are looking for a hotel with tons of character and personality, then the Campbell Hotel is it. Each of its �6 rooms is uniquely and distinctly furnished, influenced by a different piece of Tulsa’s history. Some of the featured rooms include a Rose Bowl room, a Tulsa Art Deco room and, of course, a suite inspired by Route 66. The Route 66 Suite is where “rustic style meets simple detail.” Complete with a faux fireplace and old license plates and street signs covering the walls, this suite is perfect for The Mother Road traveler looking for a place where history and luxury collide.

The Campbell Hotel is also home to Spa Maxx, Tulsa’s most elegant luxury salon and spa. Here you can completely pamper yourself with different massages, aromatherapy, skin treatments and detoxes. While staying at the hotel, you’re not going to want to miss visiting the Campbell Bar & Lounge. Cap off the night in a space that offers an intimate atmosphere and premiere mixed drinks. Whether you’re looking for a perfectly crafted old fashioned or just a whisky on the rocks, the bar has got you covered with experienced bartenders and a relaxing aura. The Campbell Hotel is certainly a worthwhile splurge while traveling down The Mother Road.

And while in town, Tulsa boasts amazing cultural and historical attractions, including lots of Route 66 gas stations, neon signs and diners: Admiral Twin Drive-In, Meadow Gold Neon Sign, Golden Driller, Blue Dome Service Station and more.

Plenty to see and do to get your kicks in Tulsa.

Image courtesy of Efren Lopez/Route66Images.

The Campbell Hotel, Tulsa, OK

Part motel, part steakhouse restaurant, The Big Texan Ranch is one of the most iconic and famous stops on The Mother Road. R. J. “Bob” Lee, a Kansas City born, idyllic-Texas dreamer, grew up in the Midwest on the stories and movies about the Texas cowboys, Indians, and cattle ranchers that finally drew him to the state. Unable to find a first-class Texas-style steakhouse, he opened his own in ��6�, right on Route 66, on the �5�� block of East Amarillo Boulevard. Moving with the times, Lee moved his restaurant to its present location off Interstate ��, determined to keep his business a popular attraction after the introduction of the modern highway system. After a large fire in ���6 that destroyed almost $���,��� of the restaurants antiques, The Big Texan Ranch opened in a larger facility in ����.

After eating your heart to near-blockage at The Big Texan Steakhouse, stay the night in The Big Texan Motel, a 5�-unit motel on the restaurant’s property, designed to resemble Main Street in an old western town. With features of the motel including colorful front western-themed facades, a Texas-shaped pool and exclusive Texas-themed decor, this motel will have you feeling deep in the heart of Texas.

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Image courtesy of Efren Lopez/Route66Images.

Big Texan Motel, Amarillo, TX

Roadrunner Motel is the place to stay for Route 66 travelers looking for a hidden piece of classic Americana. Rotary phones, bold colors, and even a short-range radio station that plays songs and commercials from the ‘6�s make this lodging experience feel truly authentic. With fewer and fewer family-owned and independent motels that candidly reflect the ‘5�s and ‘6�s surviving in the United States, it’s always pleasant to know that a few still stand.

Roadrunner Motel started as two different properties, La Plaza Court and Leatherwood Manor. La Plaza Court was originally built in ���� on the west side and Leatherwood Manor was built in ��6� on the east side. Over the years, the two establishments joined forces, extended the roof, and have been running as a single property ever since. The property has had several different owners over the decades and was even closed for five years before current owners and husband and wife duo David and Amanda Brenner acquired it in ���� and turned it into the Roadrunner Motel that travelers rave about today.

While staying at Roadrunner - named after the official state bird of New Mexico - visitors can enjoy much of what the town of Tucumcari has to offer, including the New Mexico Route 66 Museum and Mesalands Dinosaur Museum and Natural Sciences Laboratory, both of which are mere minutes from the motel. For those looking for more outdoorsy adventures, Roadrunner is also close to Tucumcari Mountain, where travelers can plan a hike or nature walk.

At the end of the evening, relax and meet some other Route 66 travelers by the firepit. People from all over the world have found their way to Roadrunner; there’s something about The Mother Road that brings people together. From the architecture to the interior decor to the welcoming hospitality, David and Amanda have been working tirelessly to keep the retro ‘6�s feel alive, so a stay here is unlikely to disappoint.

Image courtesy of Tim Anderson.

Roadrunner Motel, Tucumcari, NM

Historic 66 Motel, Seligman, AZ

Image courtesy of David J. Schwartz – Pics On Route 66.

No Route 66 trip is complete without a stop in the town of Seligman. Founded in �886 and named after Jesse Seligman, a prominent New York banker who financed railway construction and subsequent companies in the area, Seligman has the honor of being the starting point for the longest remaining stretch of old Route 66 in the U.S., an unblemished, picturesque portion that runs all the way to Kingman, �6 miles to the West.

A retro-inspired, single-storied motel, the Historic 66 Motel has all the charms of a vintage motel, including a classic neon sign out front. Themed rooms are decorated with Route 66 memorabilia paying homage to yesteryear, without sacrificing on modern comforts and amenities. If you’re lucky, you might just get to book Room #�, the John Provost room, named after Provost, who played Timmy on the ��5�’s classic Lassie. The actor once stayed at the motel. Without a doubt, the Historic 66 Motel may be the best place in town from which to take a break from the vehicle and enjoy Seligman.

The town has retained its historic charm and is full of kitschy cafes, antique shops galore, and an old Arizona jail that once housed real outlaws. Seligman was even the inspiration behind the town of Radiator Spring in Disney’s ultra-successful animated movie Cars.

A stroll down Main Street and you will be glad that you chose to stay. Although the town is small and unincorporated, it sits in the Upland Mountains of North Arizona, providing some breathtaking views that you’ll remember long after your trip down The Mother Road is complete.

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El Trovatore, Kingman, AZ

Image courtesy of David J. Schwartz – Pics On Route 66.

While it might be a little rough around the edges, this old-style American motel, where you park your car right in front of your room - beats with the rhythm of The Mother Road. From the ��5�s car parked outside, the many murals of cartoon characters and movie stars and a Route 66 map with sights adorning its walls, the Hollywood themed rooms and the magnificent historic ���-foot high neon tower sign, beckoning weary travelers like a mirage, El Trovatore is filled with kitschy panache.

Originally owned and operated by John F. Miller, El Trovatore opened in ��3� as a service station right along Route 66, with a tourist court added in ��3�. As one of the few pre-World War II motels in Kingman still standing, El Trovatore motel beams with nostalgic flair, with a guest list of notable icons such as Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and James Dean having been guests here. The venue is a great place to sit back and take in the vibrant neon and unpretentious architecture that has become so synonymous with the Main Street of America.

If you are a history buff or fan of Route 66, El Trovatore fits the bill, primed to create some unforgettable road trip memories.

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Luxury on the Route

Expertly blending a taste of luxury, combined with a touch of history and a dash of contemporary flair, these hotels guarantee an extraordinary experience down to the finest details. With old-world grandeur and timeless charm, see for yourself what you can experience with our picks for luxury stays while on the Route.

The Whitehall Hotel, Chicago, IL This landmark lodging, first constructed in ���8 along what would become Chicago’s premier commercial district, dubbed “The Magnificent Mile,” is Chicago’s true independent boutique hotel, and it comes with quite the storied past.

Legend has it that The Whitehall Club was one of the first bars to start serving liquor after Prohibition ended in ��3�.

It has also been frequented by legends such as The Beatles, Katherine Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Mick Jagger, Richard Pryor, Paul Newman, Barry Manilow, Robert Redford and corporate presidents and other world leaders. The hotel has its own public holiday, “The Whitehall Day” in the state of Illinois, granted by the Governor Jim Edgar. As one of the first luxury high-rises in the city, The White Hall quickly became one of the five great hotels of Chicago.

Since its purchase by current owners, Su and Bert Yen, in the early ‘��s, the hotel has undergone two multi-million dollar restoration and renovation projects reinstating the classic hotel to its original splendor. The moment the doorman welcomes you into the compact lobby, you will be taken in by the old world charm that characterizes this hotel: wood paneling, oil paintings, grandiose antique chandeliers, even the tight fit elevator evokes a sense of nostalgia.

The guest rooms which underwent major renovation several years ago, retain a sense of atmosphere with restored antique furniture, plus all the opulent comforts of a time-honored hotel: hypnos cashmere mattresses, 3��-count Egyptian cotton linens, and Gilchrist and Soames bathroom products.

The Whitehall checks all the boxes: historic charm, friendly service (a shout out to doorman Mo - pleasant, helpful and a delight!) and a top notch location. Located right in downtown Chicago in the Gold Coast neighborhood, the Whitehall is within steps of many of the city’s most famous attractions, including Oak Street Beach, the ���-storied John Hancock Center, Water Tower Place, and the picturesque Chicago lakefront. And for those in the know, iconic restaurants like Lou Mitchell’s and the Berghoff are but a few minutes away by car.

Eastland Suites, Bloomington, IL An indoor heated pool, a relaxing courtyard with a pond lined with pretty flowers and rocks, and a daily complimentary hot buffet breakfast, plus a cocktail hour in the evenings, is a hotel scene that should match your sense of adventure. Each spacious two-storied suite at Eastland Suites comes equipped with a stove, microwave, refrigerator and all the utensils and cutlery you will need to make you feel right at home. If the kids are in tow, a hotel room with a little more space and home comfort perks should win you right over. Located in a popular city at the front of Route 66, Eastland Suites gives every type of traveler top-notch amenities and proximity to sights and events around Bloomington.

If you’re visiting Bloomington during the summer season, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival is not to be missed. Hosted on the grounds of the Ewing Cultural Center located minutes from Eastland Suites, this annual festival is dedicated to using Shakespearean canon “to produce energetic new interpretations of theatrical works, engaging audience and artist in an impassioned exploration of the human condition.” If the warmer months pass you by, the hotel is also minutes away from a year-long local live theatre at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts. The bottom line is that there are tons of things to see and do along Bloomington’s Route 66 and for those looking for some extra comfort, Eastland Suites is perfect for that little bit of luxury.

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Moonrise Hotel, Saint Louis, MO Experience everything that the galaxy and our earth has to offer at the Moonrise Hotel in St. Louis. The super modern boutique hotel was opened in ���� by Joe Edwards in the Delmar Loop neighborhood, and is modeled to be remarkably trendy and environmentally efficient. Alive with colorful walls and lighting and a slew of unique space-themed art and displays, simply standing in the lobby of the Moonrise Hotel is an experience of its own.

The sun, the moon and the stars not only play a key role in the decor but also in the way the Moonrise Hotel is powered and run. Designed to be one of the most eco-friendly hotels in the region, Moonrise proves its commitment to sustainability and protecting the planet through using solar energy, property-wide recycling programs and by donating to eco-friendly organizations.

The contemporary Rooftop Terrace Bar and the rooftop Twilight Room at the top of the hotel are completely powered by a solar canopy made up of ��� glass solar panels (the first restaurant and hotel roof in the United States made entirely of solar panels). The environmentally-conscious hotel also offers a free charging station for electric vehicles parked there overnight, making Moonrise the destination for any traveler looking to reduce their carbon footprint in style.

Its central location in The Loop — one of the most popular entertainment districts in St. Louis — makes the Moonrise Hotel perfect for those looking to get a feel for the vibrant city and trace its Route 66 history. The hotel is also home to the award-winning Eclipse Restaurant which, true to Moonrise’s commitment to sustainability, offers modern American cuisine made from locally-sourced, seasonal and organic ingredients.

The Moonrise Hotel makes sustainability attractive in the lively city of St. Louis, so make sure to book a room there next time you’re stopping though on a journey down The Mother Road.

Hotel Vandivort, Springfield, MO The self-proclaimed “first urban boutique hotel of Springfield,” Hotel Vandivort, makes it on the list for its cosmopolitan and upscale setting which has been drawing travelers off The Mother Road since it opened in July ���5. Originally built in ���6 and operating as a masonic temple for more than �5 years, the hotel wore many hats - as a masonic temple, and then renovated into office spaces in the ‘8�s, before being purchased by brothers John and Billy McQueary in the late ����s. Within two years, the hotel was remodeled and restored it to its current, contemporary vintage beauty.

Looking to stay for a night (or two, or three), you’ll be hard pressed to find a more beautiful hotel. Luxurious linen, comfortable beds, robes and slippers, clever mood lighting options, remote-controlled window shades and all of the regular amenities; nothing has been spared to ensure a one-of-a-kind stay. And did we mention the high ceilings? Most rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows, and if you’re looking for the height of luxury, upgrade to a suite, which includes a balcony, atrium, freestanding bath, kitchenette, living room, and fireplace. Of note is the stunning �,8�� square-foot historic Vandivort Ballroom located on the building’s top floor, which has been hosting events for more than ��� years. You will also want to know that on the lower level of the Hotel are public restrooms for guests that have become a social media sensation in their own right, sparking a trending hashtag #HotelVandivortBathroomSelfies. The story goes that the designers installed just the right kind of lighting to make everyone look like a covergirl, airbrushed and all. So go on, take a selfie.

Centrally located and close to almost everything, Hotel Vandivort is just around the corner from the Square, the History Museum on the Square and all the happenings of downtown Springfield. With an abundance of history, character and pizazz, Hotel Vandivort should be on everyone’s must-stay list when visiting the birthplace of Route 66.

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21c Museum Hotel, Oklahoma City, OK Serving as both a contemporary art museum and a boutique hotel, ��c Museum Hotel in Oklahoma City is a brilliant all-in-one destination for art lovers and travelers looking for a more modern take on a Route 66 destination. The luxurious hotel offers guests high-end rooms, several events and exhibits, incredible dining and a relaxing spa.

Built in a former Ford Motor Company assembly plant, there’s still no way to escape the feel of The Mother Road in this unconventional hotel, even when you’re surrounded by contemporary art exhibits.

The museum, which is open for free and to the public every day of the year, has a sitespecific installation inspired by conveyor belts and assembly-line production that reflect the building’s history. Other mixed-media exhibitions that include photography, lighting, painting and sculpture cycle in and out of the museum giving it a dynamic presence. Even the mirrors in the bathrooms on the main level offer a special surprise for guests.

Although this particular branch of ��c Museum Hotel is located in Oklahoma City, the set-up of your room will make you feel like you’re in a Soho loft in the Big Apple. Created by the New York City-based architecture firm Deborah Berke Partners, each room is deliberately designed and decorated to combine the building’s industrial heritage with a modern flare. You’ll be waking up in your own personal gallery every morning surrounded by high ceilings, giant open windows and sleek art lining the walls. Each of the rooms even come equipped with a �3" flat screen HDTV and a Nespresso coffee machine to give you a morning jolt before you go out to explore the city.

Few venues located in Route 66 towns offer affordable luxury to this degree.

Colcord Hotel, Oklahoma City, OK The bold lobby of the Colcord Hotel in Oklahoma City is made of strong marble that has seen over a century of visitors. The original nickel and bronze that make up the letterbox and elevator have seen just as much. Hundreds of thousands of people have walked through its iconic halls, so visiting the Colcord Hotel would be adding yourself to its proud history. The hotel has since been remodeled to continue providing luxury while maintaining the original feel and ambiance of the fine venue.

Originally built in ����, the hotel was the first skyscraper in Oklahoma City, towering over the other buildings at �� stories high. The hotel’s award-winning service and the fact that it’s still comprised of many of its original structures and materials landed the destination on the National Register of Historic Places in ���6.

The spacious rooms showcasing original art and a flat screen TV and the high-end amenities, including freshly brewed coffee or tea delivered to your room every morning, make the Colcord Hotel an ideal destination for travelers looking to explore the city in style and class. But don’t be put off by luxury, room prices at the Colcord vary and there is a rate for most budgets.

A comfortable, complimentary shuttle that runs daily services to downtown Oklahoma City, offers guests easy access to new ways to discover what the city has to offer. Visit one of its many museums, gaze at its beautiful capitol building or take a ride out to Frontier City Theme Park for some roller coaster thrills. If you’re looking to stay close to home-base, the Colcord Hotel is also just steps away from the Myriad Botanical Gardens where you can roam around lush plant displays and a few hundred feet away from the city’s most solemn attraction, the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.

Whether you’re just passing through for a night on a Route 66 trip or taking a weekend to soak in more of Oklahoma City, the Colcord Hotel is a must for those looking for an experience that seamlessly combines history, comfort and luxury. If you book for a night, expect to stay three.

And the turndown service which includes cookies will steal your heart.

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Andaluz Hotel, Albuquerque, NM Perhaps the first thing you’ll notice when you enter Hotel Andaluz is its classic Spanish design and decor. The historic architecture, plenty of comfortable sitting areas, beautiful artwork, a central fountain, together with the dark wooden railings and accents and cream-colored stone that make up the grand courtyard lobby, evoke the feel of a European affluence. This hotel has an authentic Spanish flare inspired by the Andalusian region of southern Spain, and the style brings in travelers from all around the world.

What is now Hotel Andaluz, was once the fourth hotel New Mexico native, Conrad Hilton, ever built. The establishment officially opened as a Hilton hotel in ��3�, and was the first building in New Mexico with air- conditioning. It was also the tallest building in New Mexico at the time. The extravagant hotel remained a popular destination through decades of name changes and renovations. The hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in ��8� and continues to provide visitors with a combination of rich history and unique style. It wasn’t until ���8 that the property was officially named Hotel Andaluz.

A stone’s throw from all the action on Central Avenue, Route 66 in Albuquerque, Hotel Andaluz is in the heart of downtown sights. The hotel is also well-known for Ibiza, it’s rooftop bar, where taking in views of sky and mountains is a must, as well as the hotel’s full service restaurant, MÁS where you get to enjoy Spanish inspired cooking. And yes, they do have valet service.

Grand Canyon Railway, Williams, AZ The Grand Canyon Railway Hotel has a long and extensive history in the area of Williams, and all only one block from the Historic Route 66. When the Santa Fe Railway system needed quality, reliable lodging in the late ��th and early ��th centuries, Fred Harvey opened up a chain of hotels and restaurants, known as Harvey Houses, all widely renowned for their quality food and services. One of the earliest Harvey Houses, the Fray Marcos Hotel, located inside the Williams Depot, opened in ���8 with �� guest rooms. While the hotel and depot are steeped in history and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, they are no longer used for lodging. But travelers are in luck; in ���5, the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel opened, modeled to look like the old Fred Marcos Hotel and has been welcoming visitors from the world over ever since.

Each room comes with queen-sized bed, flat screen satellite TV, free wi-fi, and a Keurig coffee maker, making every stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. With its beautiful interior and interesting history, the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel serves as both a place to rest, and a place to enjoy learning about another era. Looking for a way to upgrade your stay? Plan a train ride around the south rim of the Grand Canyon, or stay the night in the luxury dome train that allows you to move along with the stars.

There is an old west shoot out show on the premises as well as a stocked gift shop with history on the train, the area and Route 66. Complimentary dinner and breakfast are included in the package deal and sometimes there is music at dinner.

The Grand Canyon Railway Hotel really is a comfortable, enjoyable stay.

Remember, Williams was the last town to be bypassed by the I-�� so walk around and view the sights, Williams still maintains plenty of its yesteryear charm.

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Brands We Love

When you’re traveling and on the road, being able to sink into a clean, freshly made bed is one of the best feelings ever.

These hotels have some important things in common: safe comfortable rooms, terrific amenities and easy access to the town or city where they are located. They offer the perfect place to take a break from The Mother Road and experience one of Route 66’s amazing towns.

Doubletree by Hilton, Bloomington, IL You know your stay is going to be good when you are offered delicious fresh warm cookies at check in! The friendly staff, great amenities, spacious and comfortable rooms, the hot breakfast buffet and the convenient location, are just some of the things that make the Doubletree Bloomington the perfect base to stop at and take a break while on your Route 66 adventure.

Explore Bloomington - Normal as well as the surrounding quaint towns of Atlanta and McLean or immerse yourself in history at the McLean County Museum of History where you learn about Bloomington’s interesting background and its undeniable ties to Route 66. While at the museum, make sure to check out the hands-on Pioneer Discovery Room where visitors can enter a recreated log cabin and get a glimpse into what life was like in the times when people had to push steel plows, beat area rugs, and milk cows. And if by chance you brought your golf clubs with you, this Doubletree is just minutes away from some of the best courses in Illinois: Weibring Golf Club, Lakeside Country Club, Bloomington Country Club and the Highland Park Golf Course. Other nearby historic attractions include the Constitution Trail, the Children’s Discovery Museum and the Prairie Aviation Museum.

Once you are done for the day, head back to the hotel where you can relax in the heated pool, take a turn at the gym, enjoy some of the hotel’s signature cocktails at the bar (ask about their free drink vouchers) or if a quieter night is what you are looking for, the interior courtyard has a fire pit and is the perfect spot to wind down. Just one night here and you will discover why a stay at the Doubletree Bloomington is always a pleasure.

Holiday Inn Express, Edwardsville, IL In �8�5, Thomas Kirkpatrick became the first settler in the third oldest city in the state of Illinois. Named after Ninian Edwards, a close friend of Kirkpatrick’s, the town of Edwardsville grew and flourished for more than a century, with tourism and the town’s economy thriving due to The Mother Road being placed right through the center.

With its rich Route 66 history and charming downtown, it only makes sense that the Holiday Inn Express, located right off Highway �5�, found its home within these city coordinates. The newer hotel highlights the juxtaposition between old and new on the historic route. With its sleek, clean interior, sizable swimming pool, friendly staff, complimentary hot breakfast - with make your own pancake options - and close proximity to the wonders of downtown Edwardsville, Holiday Inn Express is a top choice for travelers, and it’s easy to see why.

And if you choose to venture outside its walls, there is plenty to keep you entertained; Edwardsville Children’s Museum, The Lewis and Clark State Historic Site, and the Edwardsville Arts Center are all nearby. Planning a summer trip? The Annual Route 66 Festival happens right in Edwardsville, filled with local food, classic cars, trolley rides and more.

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Holiday Inn Express, Elk City, OK When Route 66 was aligned through Elk City in ���6, it took over former Oklahoma State Highway No. 3, bringing an influx of local business, as motels, diners, and service stations sprang up to cater to weary travelers. While the Holiday Inn Express chain did not form until ����, it brought a comfortable, affordable place to stay for those traveling along the fabled road.

For your stop here, expect cleanliness, hospitality and comfort from the Inn. The generously sized rooms offer all the modern conveniences that promise a memorable stay: comfortable beds, wi-fi, fridge, and in-room Keurig coffee pot. An added feature that will thrill both young and old is the large pool area that is fitted with a splash pad, waterfalls, and water cannons, guaranteed to keep youngsters, and a few adults, enthralled for hours. For those traveling with their furry friends, the hotel is pet friendly and has a great fenced in dog area.

While you are in Elk City, be sure to stop by the Old Town Museum to get a taste of times past in the recreated Wild West Town, showcasing a doctor’s office, old schoolhouse, pioneer chapel and cowtown watering hole. To be experienced as well is the National Route 66 Museum, one of the best museums on the route, easily recognizable with its large neon lit Route 66 shield out front. You’ll see why this town has Mother Road travelers raving.

Best Western Wayfarer’s Inn and Suites, Kingman, AZ The Best Western brand has a long history along The Mother Road, garnering a good reputation among travelers for consistency and dependability throughout the chain; something that cannot be overlooked when traveling. Located right on Route 66 and a short distance from downtown Kingman, Best Western Wayfarer’s Inn and Suites shows pride of ownership with its facilities, sizable rooms and pleasant and welcoming staff. The traditional rooms have basic amenities such as wi-fi, cable and coffeemakers, while upgraded rooms come with a couch plus coffee table sitting area and balcony.

The complimentary breakfast, with lots of hot and cold options, is a guest favorite and guaranteed to hit the spot before hitting the road in the morning.

While you’re enjoying your stay at the Wayfarer’s Inn, be sure to explore the historic charm of Kingman, the Heart of America’s Route 66: The Arizona Route 66 Museum (Powerhouse), the Mohave Museum of History and Arts, Kingman Railroad Museum, and the Route 66 Electric Vehicle Museum. Each attraction offers hours of learning that are both informative and entertaining.

Back at the Wayfarer, wind down with a swim in their outdoor pool or in a gentle work out at their exercise facility before you turn in for the night. But be warned, you may be so comfortable that you need to extend your stay for another night.

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1301 N Airport Road · Weatherford, Oklahoma · 73096 Lucillesroadhouse.com ROUTE Magazine 59

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TULSA INSPIRES CRUISIN’ THE MOTHER ROAD

If you’re looking for a road trip adventure, visit the capital of Route 66 in Tulsa and stay awhile. With more than 24 miles of the historic route, Tulsa is proud to be the center of the action. @Tulsa66Commission ROUTE Magazine 61

When Fred Met The Mother Road

By Nick Gerlich

T

he annals of business history are filled with many names still known today, the visionaries who shaped the world of commerce in which we find ourselves. Names like Penney, Sears, Roebuck, and Walton are frequently found beside American streets and thoroughfares, while Marriott and Hilton are commonplace both downtown and in the suburbs.

But there was one man more than ��� years ago who quietly set the stage in both hospitality and retailing, and wound up with a ringside seat along Route 66 when its time came.

His name, though, is long forgotten by many, prompting his one-day biographer, Stephen Fried, to candidly ask, “Who the hell is Fred Harvey?”

Off The Tracks

Fred Harvey.

Fred Harvey was born in England in �835, and immigrated to the US in �853, finding employment as a pot walloper in New York City. It was there that he learned the restaurant business one pay grade at a time, unknowingly planting the seeds for a career in the hospitality industry paralleling the railroad. By the ��th Century, his name had become synonymous with quality throughout the US, and particularly in the southwest.

In spite of his work ethic and pluck, Harvey suffered through two major personal tragedies. In �86�, his first business partner, William Doyle, absconded with every penny their restaurant had. The divide was over the issue of slavery, which Fred renounced. It was the only political matter Fred ever voiced his opinion on, preferring instead to keep politics out of business. Doyle, though, vehemently disagreed, and joined the Confederacy.

In October �86�, Harvey’s wife, Ann, died following complications in the birth of their second child. Fred Harvey was left a penniless widower, and the father of �-year-old Eddie and ��-month-old, Charles. He remarried quickly—four months later, to be exact—exchanging vows 62 ROUTE Magazine

with Barbara Sally Mattas, whom he had met in St. Louis. Harvey even went so far as to create a bit of a charade to make it look like Sally was the mother of his children.

Appearances were important in that era, and Fred sought to look squeaky clean, even if it meant perpetrating a small fraud. They went on to have four children (Ford, Minnie, Byron and Sybil), two of whom — Ford and Byron — later went on to lead the company.

Sadly, Fred’s two sons with Ann died of scarlet fever in �865.

In the aftermath of these tragedies, Harvey took a job as a sales agent with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, which proved fortuitous. His prior knowledge working for and later owning a restaurant provided him with the necessary skills to provide a quality dining experience, something that was still rather rare in those days. Working for the railroad gave him an understanding of how freight— and people—moved across the country. It was a synergy waiting to happen.

In working his way up through both business fields, Harvey learned that there was room for improvement in depot cuisine, where nefarious operators charged timebound travelers high prices for lousy food, and then, as the legend goes, re-plated uneaten food for the next train to come along. Harvey set his mind to reimagining how a restaurant could feed the primarily wealthy travelers in less than 3� minutes, while locomotives were being fed a diet of coal and water.

In �8�6, with transcontinental railroads well-established hauling freight and people long distances, Harvey partnered with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) to open eating houses in Wallace, Kansas, and Hugo, Colorado. It was the beginning of a lucrative, eponymously-named service company that had no need to own property, as it wound up renting (sometimes for free) space in railroad depots, not just for food, but also for lodging and newsstands.

He ultimately set in motion the deployment of thousands of women known simply as Harvey Girls, who helped “civilize the west one meal at a time,” ensuring speedy service of the company’s signature quality food. In some cases, the Fred Harvey, the company (the person and company were named the same), also operated dining cars on those trains, keeping the company name—and menu— constantly in front of travelers.

In doing so, Harvey is now credited with being the first chain hotel, restaurant and newsstand in the country. Those chains carried over well into the Route 66 era. The only problem is that Harvey died in ����, at age 66, of intestinal cancer, missing the birth of Route 66 by �5 years.

Route 66 wouldn’t be a highway shield viewed through anyone’s windshield for decades, but Harvey unwittingly set the pace for early roadside cuisine and lodging along The Mother Road.

It was about as symbiotic a relationship as any two businesses could ever fantasize, and whenever the Harvey name was uttered, you could always count on a railroad track being a few feet away.

So successful and blurred were Fred Harvey, both the man and the company, that no one seemed to notice he was even dead for a decade. During that time, foundations were being laid by his sons to ensure the longevity of the family business long into the future.

That future included the automobile, which, after a decade of fits and starts, wound up becoming increasingly mainstreamed shortly after Henry Ford perfected the assembly line. With those cars came the need for a network of roads on which people could drive great distances.

Thus were ultimately born more than �5� named auto routes connecting the coasts and borders, slowly but surely changing the way people traveled, as well as the way freight was hauled.

It was primarily in the southwest where Fred Harvey had its biggest presence, and that was because of its affiliation with the ATSF. The bulk of Harvey operations were trackside, giving it a captive audience - those traveling by rail. Early roads generally hugged the railroad tracks, taking advantage of corridors carved decades earlier by the railroads that followed every rise and fall of the land. In a time before sufficient federal funding, heavy equipment, and modern civil engineering, it was simply prudent to work with the mighty railroads and follow their lead.

One of the early transcontinental motor routes through those parts was the National Old Trails Road (NOTR), which spanned from Baltimore to Los Angeles. The NOTR entered New Mexico from the north, winding its way through a gap in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Las Vegas and Santa Fe, and then down to Albuquerque, where it made a beeline for Los Angeles. Fred Harvey had long cemented its presence along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe rail line in the region with fine hotels and restaurants.

It was here, when Route 66 was christened in ���6, that the Fred Harvey company met The Mother Road, with every inch of the old NOTR between Romeroville, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California, becoming part of Route 66.

Suddenly, tourists were coming by rail and car, both in proximity to the depots. In some cases, Harvey hotels and

@Grand Canyon National Parks.

Driving Wheel

Vintage Fred Harvey Postcard.

restaurants found themselves sandwiched between the two, an accident of seemingly divine proportions.

The ����s and ��3�s found Fred Harvey in three southwest Route 66 states and associated cities, including New Mexico (La Castañeda in Las Vegas, La Fonda in Santa Fe, El Ortiz in Lamy, and Alvarado in Albuquerque, and El Navajo in Gallup), Arizona (Escalante in Ash Fork, Fray Marcos in Williams, Havasu House in Seligman, and La Posada in Winslow), and California (El Garces in Needles, Casa del Desierto in Barstow, and Union Station in Los Angeles). There were also operations along Route 66 in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois, but not at the same level of grandeur as found farther west.

Those Harvey House hotels and restaurants in the southwest became convenient stopovers for early motorists along The Mother Road. Their locations and spacing were driven earlier by the railroad, when locomotives could not go fast nor for long distances without stopovers. Between Las Vegas, New Mexico and Los Angeles, there were ROUTE Magazine 63

Main Lobby of La Posada, Winslow, AZ.

no fewer than a dozen of these, spaced on average, ��� miles apart. They were vital parts of each city’s economy, providing jobs to chefs, busboys, Harvey Girls, and others.

Early automobiles could not go as fast or as far then as they can today, so the spacing was about right for a small but growing number of motorists. With their prime locations in proximity to both rail and road, Fred Harvey the company couldn’t help but be successful in the early Route 66 era. Having two pipelines of potential customers, along with hungry local residents, put Fred Harvey in an enviable market position.

Sensing that the company had to evolve to meet changes in transportation, sons Ford and Byron, and later grandson Freddy, drove the company in new directions.

While many family-owned businesses suffer problems of succession, Fred Harvey carried on with new versions of the original vision, which was to serve well-heeled travelers. The company began advertising on highway billboards, supplementing its earlier print ads and postcards.

These changes were serious affronts to the railroad business and anyone associated with it. The car, and later the airplane, presented formidable competition. While Fred Harvey was blessed to find itself beside Route 66 early on, planes were a different story.

But those weren’t the only structural changes afoot, as the steam locomotive was replaced by diesel (and thereby did not need to stop every ��� miles to re-supply), and cars were steadily improved to the point that drivers could cover more than ��� miles in a day. That’s another way of saying that there were storm clouds on the horizon for the Fred Harvey company.

The Great Depression presented challenges, but Byron and Ford seized the opportunity to appeal to the fascination many Americans in the east had about Native Americans.

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So What Went Wrong?

The company was defiantly opposed to debt, which hindered its ability to grow in pace with the rest of the hospitality industry. Further complicating matters was an

@Grand Canyon National Parks.

The company championed the idea of Indian Detours, utilizing “Harveycars” to take people on one-and multi-day tours of the southwest, visiting Indian ruins, and soaking up culture and history that they had never experienced.

“It wasn’t an accident that The Mother Road came into Santa Fe the same year the railroad came into Santa Fe. It strikes me as not coincidental that they decided to make Santa Fe the center of their tourism activities in ���5-���6, and the new Mother Road linked to Santa Fe in ���6.

That’s not an accident,” biographer Stephen Fried commented.

While liberties were sometimes taken to add theatre to the experience (Fred Harvey frequently employed Natives to showcase their wares and put on demonstrations), tourists clamored for the opportunity. These were staged in large part out of Santa Fe and Winslow, with the former utilizing the legendarily treacherous La Bajada descent on Route 66 southwest of Santa Fe. “When people first started going to the southwest as tourists and taking tours to learn about Native American life and learn about the archaeology, architecture, and geology, it was the Harvey Company that turned that business into something educational,” said Fried.

By the ��3�s, grandson Freddy Harvey tried to reconcile growing air travel, with an early intermodal transcontinental service that included flying by day and trains by night, shuttling passengers coast to coast in what was then a record two days. As planes improved, though, reliance on trains to supplement travel faded.

Starting before World War II, and continuing into the ��5�s, more changes were seen that slowly began to affect Fred Harvey. The elegant hotels along the railroad began to close, one by one. The post-war years accelerated the trend that automotive travel had started a few decades earlier, with the democratization of travel meaning that the masses could now afford to take to America’s highways on what we now know today as the road trip. Passage of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s National Interstate and Defense Highways Act in ��56 implied replacement of the old twolane roads with high-speed superslabs that nearly always bypassed cities around their periphery, ushering in a new era of travel. As such, Route 66 itself was now in danger.

almost undying commitment to serve wealthier clientele, at a time when the middle class was exploding in size and force. Thus, it was quietly and unceremoniously blindsided in the ��5�s when fast food and casual diners took hold, including brands like KFC (��5�), Denny’s (��53), Burger Chef (��5�), Dunkin’ Donuts (��5�), McDonald’s (��53), and Burger King (��53).

Adding further fuel to the new fire was the emergence of the chain motel, as opposed to Fred Harvey’s highly regarded, often opulent hotels, allowing motorists to drive right up to their door and bed down with their family at much lower rates. Holiday Inn (��5�), Howard Johnson (��5�), Ramada Inn (��5�), Hiway House (��56), and Imperial ��� (��5�) were the first of many chains that built along the nation’s new interstate freeways, putting them immediately in the path of millions of potential customers.

Meanwhile, Harvey Houses were still down by the tracks, often in city centers and miles from the freeway exit.

Inexpensive and fast food, affordable convenient lodging, and high-speed travel teamed up to present choppy waters for Fred Harvey. Although its expansion into national parks, including Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest on or near Route 66, provided stability, they were more destination properties than those one encountered along the way. Fred Harvey’s management of the Grand Canyon Caverns along 66 in northwest Arizona gave them one more opportunity to intercept travelers in a way more consistent with the emergent casual ethos, but it was not enough.

Efforts including several free-standing restaurants around the country, as well as hotels and restaurants at major railroad terminals, helped keep the company afloat. Perhaps the best thing the company did in the modern era was to assume operations of the travel oases along the Illinois Tollroad around Chicago and across northern Illinois.

“There are two different ventures in which the Harvey Company entered the interstate highway system. One was very successful, the other was not. The successful one was to pick up the concession of the Illinois Tollroad. That was the second biggest profit center of Fred Harvey,” former vice president and great-grandson Daggett Harvey, Jr., recalled. Once again, the company had a captive audience,

Daggett Harvey, Jr. and Stephen Fried.

drawing highly upon tourists, but also attracting locals who bore the expense of a toll to eat in a classy restaurant.

“The other venture, which came later and was undercapitalized, was the establishment of some much smaller freestanding highway restaurants.” These were in California, Kansas, and Wisconsin and were not so lucky. “They didn’t last very long,” Daggett said matter of factly. Fred Harvey did have some luck, though, running airport restaurants, such as the one in Albuquerque.

Still reluctant to take on debt, the company finally went public in ��66, making available one-third of the family’s shares. As great-grandson and one-time company vice president Daggett recalled, it was more for the family to begin “to get its personal estates in order” than to raise capital. The company’s reluctance to embrace new faster-paced lifestyles also left it with quality sit-down establishments at a time when travelers wanted to be on their way. It was “speed and cheapness, in retrospect,” that hurt Fred Harvey. “The other thing that we never did was franchise. I think that control was the issue,” Daggett continued.

“The people who were still alive [in the Harvey family] were trying to deal with the decisions made by their parents and grandparents. It was those people who made those decisions not to innovate beyond what the railroads were doing, and thus tied their fortune to the railroads,” Fried added.

If anything, the company found itself involved in many ventures, but no longer specializing in any, the result being a company that lost focus. “They were doing airport concessions, in-flight feeding, catering for General Motors in California, Admiral Corporation in Chicago and others.

The company spread out in a bunch of different directions, but they couldn’t develop an expertise in any of them,” Daggett said. Diversification became the bane of their existence, much of which came through acquisition.

“What we weren’t good at was taking over other people’s problems,” he lamented.

Fried argues that Fred Harvey thought much the same as the railroad, and that they were all but complicit. “The railroads shot themselves in the engine by refusing to play with anyone else. Instead of saying they were in the transportation business, they insisted they were in the train business. They wound up not taking advantage of cars and trains. Just as Fred Harvey gave up on highways and let Howard Johnson take that business, the railroads let the highway do that.”

“The railroads were so full of themselves that they refused to get involved in any of the other forms of transportation. Before Henry Ford, the railroads were the biggest companies in the world. They were bigger than the federal government. We can’t conceive of a company that big anymore,” Fried added. “If the railroads had been more interested in the Good Roads Movement, and not seen them as competition, things could have gone differently.”

The fourth-generation family members found themselves with a company that was still profitable, but also quickly losing its relevance among the general public. In ��68, the company was acquired by Amfac, which ultimately morphed into the Xanterra we know today that manages numerous national park concessions.

The infusion of new blood and corporate money helped propel the company in new directions, but it began to look ROUTE Magazine 65

A Vintage Fred Harvey Postcard.

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Photo courtesy of Makuakane.

Fred Harvey’s House.

a way it wasn’t before. A path can go from being the most important place in the world, to not mattering anymore, or having to reinvent itself.” Unfortunately, neither the railroad nor Fred Harvey did.

Both Fred Harvey and Route 66 live on today, though, by virtue of nostalgic yearnings and a desire to be in a different moment. La Fonda (Santa Fe, NM) and the restored La Posada (Winslow, AZ) appeal to a new generation of tourists, those yearning to experience an authentic Fred Harvey escape in the southwest. El Tovar and Bright Angel Lodge showcase what Fred Harvey did in our national parks. The recently renovated La Castañeda (Las Vegas, NM) will offer Harvey enthusiasts and history buffs the opportunity to take a holiday by train, bookended by stays at Harvey Houses in Las Vegas and Winslow. And, of course, for those who know where to look, Route 66 is still there to connect these dots by auto.

While Fred Harvey the man likely could not have fathomed the automobile era, nor the changes it wrought, in many regards, the Renaissance man that he was would have done equally well had he landed in the hospitality business a halfcentury later. That Fred Harvey the company prospered for many years as both hospitality and roads evolved is testament to the way the man himself sought to civilize the west and the entire nation.

One meal at a time.

Photo courtesy of the Old Trails Museum/Winslow Historical Society.

less and less like the old family business. Today, respectful homages at Grand Canyon National Park’s El Tovar and Bright Angel Lodge, along with a lonely signature on the gift shop wall at Petrified Forest National Park, remain as reminders to the Fred Harvey legacy.

It’s not so much that Fred Harvey did wrong; it’s that it missed a lot of opportunities that would have required evolving in ways it was not accustomed to doing. The company certainly found itself in the right place at the right time when Route 66 debuted, but as the highway and its travelers evolved, the company was more rigid than it was flexible.

Had Fred Harvey survived, Daggett speculates that the company would have done things very differently: assuming debt and “taking a chapter out of the franchise book that Holiday Inn used.”

As rail travel slowly faded and was replaced primarily by vehicles driven by middle class people in a hurry, the dynamics of tourism were forever altered. While this paradigm shift was significant, it could be argued that culture changed even more. Travelers were just no longer concerned about prim and proper service provided by Harvey Girls, as well as the five-course meals. They wanted Grand Slam breakfasts and burgers to go, and demanded a couple of double beds mere feet from where they parked their mid-century chariots. Furthermore, they certainly did not want to show up in suits and dresses.

If anything, Route 66 technically suffered a worse fate than Fred Harvey with its decommissioning in ��85. In one fell swoop, the highway that helped shape history and pop culture was relegated to our collective memories. Fred Harvey’s legacy, though, remained intact in many places under its new owner, at least for a while. The brand still had a lot of equity to be exploited.

While the early highways stole from the railroad, the Interstates stole from Route 66 and other slower, older roads. Fried argues, “It’s the history of America. You have the original wagon trails, the canal systems, the eastern trains, the midwestern trains, then the beginnings of dirt and paved roads. Each time the country is connected in

Welcome to architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter’s Southwest Masterpiece, La Posada (the resting place), Fred Harvey’s last great railroad hotel.

E XPLORE

TURQUOISE R OOM , CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THE FINEST RESTAURANT IN THE FOUR C ORNERS REGION , AND EXPLORE HISTORIC WINSLOW, HOME OF ICONIC R OUTE 66’S STANDIN ’ ON THE C ORNER .

OUR EXPANSIVE

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OF LUSH GROUNDS , DINE IN THE

303 East 2nd Street (Route 66), Winslow, Arizona 86047 928 289 4366 ~ info@laposada.org

ROUTE Magazine 67

PARTING SHOT

Dan RICE Favorite place to eat at “the end of the trail?” Hands down, Mariasol’s steak nachos are the best nachos I’ve ever had, along with a tasty blue margarita that isn’t on their menu.

What do you hope to pass along to the people that stop by your shop? Kindness, because it’s rare in the world today. And the knowledge that the “good old days” people long for are still alive and well on Route 66. Describe Route 66 in three words. Family, friends, faith. What are your favorite attractions along The Mother Road? Angel Delgadillo himself, Jim Ross’ “secret motel,” and of course my own store, “66-to-Cali,” small as it is. What’s the best restaurant in Santa Monica? “Blue Corn Enchiladas” and a regular margarita on the rocks at El Cholo is very tough to beat. If you could own any car in the world what would it be? I like a new Corvette quite a lot.

What time period would you love to live in? I try to enjoy “now” as much as I can, so I’m probably in it. What’s a quirk that you have? I have chronic dry eye, so sometimes I let my eyes roll to the back of my head to search for moisture somewhere. What’s your biggest fear? Everything for me in life comes down to fear or faith, and I choose faith.

Which historical figure would you love to meet?

Though it’s true, Jesus is cliché, so I’ll go with Elvis. I met Lisa Marie a few years ago, and if she’s any indication, Elvis was a great person, and a great man. What do you do to relax? A lot of people are TV snobs, but I actually love it. TV helps me relax. What age do you want to live to? When I was ��, I made a promise I’d live to ���, so I’m shooting for that. What movie changed your life? “First Blood” is my favorite of all time. It’s not good to push a man who’s already lost everything.

If you could make one rule that everyone had to follow, what would it be? Tell the truth. What makes a good life? Being loved by the people you love and loving the people who love you. What the best advice you’ve ever gotten? It’s a tie between either, “Time is your greatest ally,” or “What people think of you is none of your business.” Describe the perfect evening. Pretty much 68 ROUTE Magazine

any night I put my sons down for bed and we just talk about superheroes, or say our prayers, or sing a song before falling asleep is about as perfect as it gets. What’s the best beach in Southern California? This is tough. You want one that embodies ��6�s California? Then Huntington Beach.

Redondo, Hermosa, and Newport are all pretty amazing.

What’s your favorite time of day? In California, near sunset, when the sun is still up but the heat has broken, and a nice coolness sort of sneaks up to make it all feel perfect. What’s the hardest lesson you’ve learned? Sometimes people you’ve loved, people you believe will never leave you, will leave you. Among your friends and family, what are you famous for?

Opening the first store at the end of Route 66 or putting up the “End of the Trail” sign on the pier. Where will your next travel destination be? Hard to say. I have a tendency to just pick up and go. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? You’d think I’m an extrovert, but I’m just as introverted. What’s your biggest regret? I don’t really have any. Life is what it is, and I believe God has a plan for all of us. What are you most proud of in the last year? My sons, David and Jonathan.

They are becoming really good boys who will become really good men. If you won a million dollars what would you buy first? I’m not sure I’d buy anything. I love my truck, so I don’t need a new one. I love my house, so I don’t need to do anything there. I’m still wearing the same jeans from ���� right now, so…I guess I’m good in the wardrobe department.

What would be the title of your memoir?

If I tell you, someone will definitely copy me. Truth. Funniest person on Route 66? I’d say Gary Turner was the funniest friend I’ve [met] on 66. What traits drive you crazy in others? Dishonesty, disloyalty, disrespect, and selfishness.

What traits drive you crazy in yourself? I’m too patient sometimes and not patient enough at others. And I’m interested in everything so I often stack my plate too full and then drop all the dishes. What makes Route 66 Santa Monica special?

It’s the Pacific Ocean for crying out loud. It’s gorgeous.

Illustration: Jenny Mallon.

One of the leading voices along the Western end of Route 66, Dan Rice, his “66-to-Cali,” shop and the ‘End of the Trail’ sign are often the final things seen as travelers arrive at the energy-filled pier in Santa Monica. Fun, friendly and full of life and stories, in this issue, Rice takes up the challenge to answer ROUTE’s quick-fire questions.

ROUTE Magazine 69

Some people reminisce

About the past.

Some people get out and

iT! Relive it!

Find out more at

SpringfieldMo.org 70 ROUTE Magazine

(On Old Route 66 in Downtown SpringďŹ eld) Open Mon. - Fri., 8am - 5pm