Route 66 Road Trip Guide: The Perfect Itinerary (Chicago to Santa Monica) — Transcript

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1. 0:00Before the break, I offered 33
2. 0:02highlights for your all the way nearly
3. 0:042,500 mi Route 66 road trip from Chicago
4. 0:07to LA.
5. 0:09Now, I've got some ideas for you on
6. 0:10specific itineraries, depending on how
7. 0:13much free time you have at your
8. 0:14disposal. Ready? Let's begin with this
9. 0:16scenario. You have all the time in the
10. 0:18world. In that case, look at a 5-6 week
11. 0:21Route 66 cross country journey. I did it
12. 0:24in 3 weeks [music] and it felt like we
13. 0:26were rushing through too many places.
14. 0:28Want to slow down and really enjoy it?
15. 0:30This is the way. Don't book any hotel
16. 0:32rooms because don't worry, [music] you
17. 0:34won't have a problem finding one. Just
18. 0:35go with the flow and slowly explore the
19. 0:37Mother Road from one small find to the
20. 0:40other. When we did it, we were dashing
21. 0:42through [music] small towns like
22. 0:43Atlanta, Illinois and Miami, Oklahoma
23. 0:46that we would have loved to have spent
24. 0:48more time in, but I know that most
25. 0:50people watching this don't have
26. 0:52unlimited time. So, let's start with our
27. 0:543-week trip, which I'm going to grind
28. 0:56down to 2 [music] weeks because I know
29. 0:58most people don't get more than 2 weeks
30. 1:00vacation. Know that you will spend every
31. 1:02night in a different place,
32. 1:05but it is going to work. It's going to
33. 1:07work. So, [music] let's dive in for the
34. 1:092-week greatest hits trip. Do know that
35. 1:11you might be driving as much as 3 hours
36. 1:14daily, but not much more than that. And
37. 1:17it is a road trip, so you'll enjoy it.
38. 1:18Now, we're going to begin in Chicago.
39. 1:21You're going to fly in, rent a car like
40. 1:22we did and I'll give you 2 days to walk
41. 1:24around, [music] take the architecture
42. 1:25tour, love the deep dish pizza, and have
43. 1:28one of those great breakfasts at Lou
44. 1:30Mitchell's. Get your selfie in front of
45. 1:32the Route 66 sign and then take off. On
46. 1:34our next day, we're going to drive an
47. 1:36hour and a half. We're going to stop to
48. 1:38see the Pontiac, Illinois murals and
49. 1:40museum, stop at the Log Cabin Diner,
50. 1:43continue on another 90 minutes to
51. 1:44Springfield, stop into the Abe Lincoln
52. 1:48Museum, get a corn dog at the Cozy Dog
53. 1:50Diner, and then drive [music] another 90
54. 1:52minutes to spend the evening in St.
55. 1:54Louis. The next morning, you're going to
56. 1:56head over to Gateway Arch and go to the
57. 1:57top for the great view. Then drive to
58. 2:00the nearby Chain of Rocks Bridge and
59. 2:02walk across it from Missouri to
60. 2:03Illinois.
61. 2:05Then you've got a 3-hour drive to
62. 2:06Springfield, Missouri, where you're
63. 2:08going to want to check out that Elvis
64. 2:09suite at the Best Western if it's
65. 2:11available. You'll also want to spend
66. 2:13time at the really fantastic Route 66
67. 2:16Museum in the heart of town. There are
68. 2:18several Route 66 Museums, but this one
69. 2:21in Missouri, I thought was the best of
70. 2:23the best.
71. 2:24On day five, we're going to start the
72. 2:26day with a short 90-minute drive to
73. 2:28Galena, Kansas, in that cool [music]
74. 2:30re-converted gas station that looks like
75. 2:31it stepped right out of the Cars movie.
76. 2:34From there, another 90-minute drive to
77. 2:36Tulsa, where you're going to check out
78. 2:37[music] the Dillon and Guthrie Museums,
79. 2:39the Art Deco downtown, and the neon on
80. 2:4211th Street at night time.
81. 2:45>> [music]
82. 2:48>> On our sixth day, a 90-minute drive will
83. 2:50take you to Oklahoma City, but you've
84. 2:52got a great halfway point first, the
85. 2:54Rock Cafe, another Cars [music]
86. 2:57inspiration in the town of Stroud.
87. 3:00Then it's on to Oklahoma City and the
88. 3:01Milk Bottle Grocery, and cool things
89. 3:04just out of town [music] like the
90. 3:05historic Round Barn and Pops Soda Shop.
91. 3:08You'll spend the evening in Amarillo,
92. 3:10which is 3 and 1/2 hours away. This is
93. 3:12your [music] biggest driving stretch. So
94. 3:14for that reason, I'm going to scratch
95. 3:16that. I'm going to have you spend the
96. 3:17night in Shamrock, which [music] is 2
97. 3:19and 1/2 hours away, so you can plan on
98. 3:21dinner at the U-Drop-In Cafe, another
99. 3:24familiar Cars sighting, and it looks so
100. 3:27cool at night. Spoiler alert, if you
101. 3:29stay at the Best Western right around
102. 3:31the corner, you'll get your first of the
103. 3:33great Texas waffles.
104. 3:36Now on day seven, it's an hour drive to
105. 3:38Amarillo, where you're going to want to
106. 3:39see Cadillac Ranch, the art installation
107. 3:42at the side of the road. You want to
108. 3:43check out the antique shops [music] on
109. 3:46Route 66 downtown, and have dinner at
110. 3:48the Big Texan, where the 72-oz steak is
111. 3:51free
112. 3:52if you can eat it. Most people cannot.
113. 3:55Would you believe on the eighth day we
114. 3:56will be halfway?
115. 3:58Uh we're going to drive 45 minutes to
116. 4:00Adrian, Texas in the Midpoint Cafe, your
117. 4:03traditional halfway point. If nothing
118. 4:06else, get out of the car and pose with
119. 4:08the halfway sign. Then you've got about
120. 4:1090 minutes to drive to Tucumcari, home
121. 4:13to all that great New Mexico neon.
122. 4:16You'll have plenty of places to stay in
123. 4:18Tucumcari. Day nine, we're headed to New
124. 4:20Mexico's biggest city, Albuquerque, but
125. 4:22our first stop is the Auto Museum in
126. 4:24Santa Rosa, which is about an hour away,
127. 4:26and then it's another 2 [music] hours to
128. 4:28Albuquerque, which has a small Route 66
129. 4:30district, a great old diner in the heart
130. 4:32of it, and some really great Mexican
131. 4:35food pretty much everywhere you look.
132. 4:37On our next day, we're driving to
133. 4:39Gallup. Look out the window. See how the
134. 4:41landscape is starting to change? Pretty
135. 4:43cool. We're headed to Grants, which is
136. 4:46an hour away. We're going to park in
137. 4:47[music] front of the 66 Car Park, and
138. 4:49then it's time to Gallup, which is home
139. 4:51to all that Native American [music]
140. 4:53jewelry. Now, that's another hour drive.
141. 4:55We're going to spend the evening in
142. 4:57Gallup. Day 11, and we're headed to
143. 4:58Arizona. We got 90 minutes to get there.
144. 5:01It's home We're going to stop in
145. 5:02Holbrook, Arizona, which is the home of
146. 5:04the Wigwam Motel and the Petrified
147. 5:06Forest. Winslow, just up the road, is 30
148. 5:09minutes away. Here you're going to stand
149. 5:10on the corner like Glenn Frey once did,
150. 5:13from the Eagles, and we've got a lot of
151. 5:15cover now. So, we're going to pass
152. 5:16through Winona, site of the Don't Forget
153. 5:18Winona from the song, but there's
154. 5:20nothing there. The medium-size city of
155. 5:22Flagstaff is about an hour away, home to
156. 5:24a great Route 66 Information Center and
157. 5:27another cool diner. Next up, about a
158. 5:29half hour, is Williams, [music] which
159. 5:31has more kitschy Route 66 stores than
160. 5:34anywhere else we've been to. Lots of
161. 5:36places to stay and eat, and if you don't
162. 5:37have the time, which you probably don't,
163. 5:39you can hop a short train to the nearby
164. 5:41Grand [music] Canyon, which brings us to
165. 5:44day 12. Start the day 40 minutes away in
166. 5:47Seligman, the town that the barber Angel
167. 5:50brought back to [music] life.
168. 5:52And then continue one of the great
169. 5:54desert road trips. As I mentioned, this
170. 5:56is my favorite. Up the road about an
171. 5:58hour away is the Hackberry General
172. 5:59Store. We're going to find one of those
173. 6:01great roadside Route 66 shields on the
174. 6:03ground suitable for framing. An hour up
175. 6:06the [music] road is Kingman, home to
176. 6:07another museum and most importantly,
177. 6:09lots of places to stay. You'll check in
178. 6:12here and then [music] take the 50-minute
179. 6:14drive to Oatman, the great old western
180. 6:16town with the burros that roam the
181. 6:18streets. The road here is simply
182. 6:20amazing.
183. 6:22Now we're headed to California. We have
184. 6:23a 2-hour drive. It's going to take you
185. 6:25to one of the most iconic [music] Route
186. 6:2766 signings, Roy's in Amboy, which is
187. 6:29basically one incredible sign, a gas
188. 6:32station and a gift shop. You have
189. 6:34another 1 hour and 45-minute drive to
190. 6:36Victorville, which is home to the Bottle
191. 6:38Tree Ranch and plenty of places [music]
192. 6:40to stay for your last night on Route 66.
193. 6:44Because on [music] day 14, we're going
194. 6:46to drive 1 hour from Victorville to
195. 6:48South Pasadena. We're going to stop into
196. 6:50the Fair Oaks Pharmacy right there and
197. 6:53um
198. 6:54say hi to the soda jerk. Then we're
199. 6:55going to drive another hour to the Santa
200. 6:57Monica Pier, where you can stand in
201. 6:58front of the Route 66 ends here sign.
202. 7:01What do you do if you don't have 2
203. 7:02weeks, but just a week or a few days?
204. 7:04Well, I got some ideas on that and I'll
205. 7:06offer them after the break. So, stay
206. 7:08tuned.
207. 7:10I showed you 33 of my best Route 66
208. 7:12highlights and offered a workable 2-week
209. 7:14itinerary that does not involve all-day
210. 7:17driving in the previous segments. But
211. 7:19what if you don't have 2 weeks to devote
212. 7:21to the Mother Road? Okay.
213. 7:23How about picking and choosing? Take a
214. 7:25specific portion, say Chicago to Tulsa
215. 7:28or Tulsa to Tucumcari. I don't know
216. 7:30where you live. Perhaps you're in the
217. 7:32Midwest and you can begin in St. Louis
218. 7:34or you're in Colorado and that would let
219. 7:36you slip right into Oklahoma. Since I
220. 7:38don't know where you're coming from, I'm
221. 7:40going to offer you a short ride that
222. 7:41will show you a lot of Route 66
223. 7:43>> [music]
224. 7:43>> in a few days. Now, I know major
225. 7:45airports are consideration because not
226. 7:48many of the great Route 66 small towns
227. 7:50are near major airports. So, how about
228. 7:53flying into Albuquerque and catching a
229. 7:55portion of New Mexico, all of Arizona,
230. 7:58and then flying home from Las Vegas?
231. 8:00Because Arizona, as I've noted, is my
232. 8:02favorite stretch of Route 66 because
233. 8:04it's the most dramatic, it's [music] so
234. 8:06classic Southwest, and you have so many
235. 8:08great stops in one place. From the
236. 8:10wigwams to that great backroad from
237. 8:11Kingman to Oatman, and all those burros
238. 8:14roaming the streets, it is by far the
239. 8:16most cinematic. [music] Then, when you
240. 8:18leave Oatman, you'll detour another 2
241. 8:20hours through the desert to get to
242. 8:22Vegas, home to one of the biggest
243. 8:23airports in the world. In total, on
244. 8:26paper, this is an 8-hour drive similar
245. 8:29to driving from Los Angeles to San
246. 8:30Francisco, and you could do it in a day
247. 8:32or two, but let's have fun and let's say
248. 8:35it's a 4-day trip. Albuquerque to
249. 8:38Gallup, [music]
250. 8:382 1/2 hours. Gallup to Flagstaff, 2 1/2
251. 8:41hours. Flagstaff to Oatman, 3 hours. And
252. 8:44then Oatman to Las Vegas, 2 [music]
253. 8:46hours.
254. 8:47What if you could only do the trip over
255. 8:48a 3-day weekend? Here's a few good ones.
256. 8:51Tulsa to Shamrock, 4-hour [music] drive.
257. 8:53Albuquerque to Tucumcari, 2 1/2 hours.
258. 8:56St. Louis to Springfield,
259. 8:583-hour drive, and so on. Now, [music]
260. 9:01did these ideas help? Cuz I hope so, and
261. 9:04I also hope that you get out and
262. 9:05experience Route 66 sooner rather than
263. 9:08later. I'll never forget what the woman
264. 9:10at the Shamrock [music] Diner told me
265. 9:12about how Europeans revere our mother
266. 9:15road. Egypt [music] has the pyramids,
267. 9:17and he said, "America, to us in Europe,
268. 9:20has [music] Route 66. Like, that's
269. 9:23y'all's thing. We come to see that." And
270. 9:26I was like, "Okay, I can [music] wrap my
271. 9:29mind around that. It's our thing." For
272. 9:31Europeans, for people around the world,
273. 9:33the mother road, Route 66, [music] is
274. 9:35like our
275. 9:37the Great Pyramid. This is our history.
276. 9:40The moms and pops out there trying to
277. 9:42stay alive and keep the tradition going
278. 9:44need our support. Plus, there are so
279. 9:46many great photo ops and trust me,
280. 9:48>> [music]
281. 9:48>> when you're in a plane looking down at
282. 9:50the country, this is the stuff that you
283. 9:52will never see.
284. 9:54Questions? More on Route 66 travel,
285. 9:57mobile photography? I want to hear from
286. 9:59you. The best way to contact me is by
287. 10:01subscribing to the PhotoWalks newsletter
288. 10:03at photowalkstv.com,
289. 10:05where we have weekly photo and travel
290. 10:07tips. You'll love it. Just click the
291. 10:09contact area to reach me. I'm Jefferson
292. 10:12Graham and I look forward to seeing you
293. 10:13on the next PhotoWalk.