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Completed in 1926 and running from Chicago to L.A., Route 66 connected \u2014 and often ran right through \u2014 mid- and southwestern downtowns. It was quite literally \u201cAmerica\u2019s Main Street.\u201d By the 1950s, the road had become an attraction in and of itself, serving as a setting in John Steinbeck\u2019s The Grapes of Wrath, inspiration for numerous hit songs, and a livelihood for countless small business owners. But when the interstate system bypassed much of the old route, the heyday faded, business dried up, and the old establishments were abandoned. Eventually, the all-American road was almost entirely chopped up and decommissioned.<\/p>\n
The good news is that, today, up to 85 per cent of the route remains and preservation programs have been actively at work. Because it has been disconnected and signs removed, however, historic Route 66 can be hard to follow: You don\u2019t just get on it and drive.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO ROUTE 66<\/strong><\/p>\n For help, I found The Ultimate Route 66 Guide, a free app that listed major (and minor) points of interest along its 3,940 kilometres. Promising turn-by-turn directions, it seemed perfect. In practice, however, it presented a learning curve and at first, we were blowing past various sites while a woman\u2019s voice announced in my helmet, \u201cPoint of Interest,\u201d \u201cTurn Here,\u201d \u201cCongratulations, your passport has been stamped.\u201d<\/p>\n Amid the confusion, we rolled right by the Blues Brothers dancing atop a neighbourhood bar, a big red guitar attached to the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum, and never did find the Old Joliet Prison.<\/p>\n The logjam of trucks pounding across I-94 had already convinced us to avoid downtown Chicago \u2014 and forego the small street sign announcing the \u201cBeginning of Route 66.\u201d My…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Exploring Route 66 across the American heartland. The heat was killer. Even as the sun sank behind a treed horizon, the thick air clung like a wet quilt. Wilting and spent, the three riders circled up around their intended wild campsite, looked at their feet, and someone \u2014 the sane one \u2014 spoke up: screw […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2566,228],"tags":[340,2171,2596],"yoast_head":"\n