Victorville, California site of 2012 International Route 66 Festival

Route 66, Victorville, California, 1935 

You don't usually connect the word "extravaganza" or "50,000 to 100,000 enthusiasts" with Route 66, but that is what promoters of next summer's 2012 International Route 66 Festival are predicting.

The festival is held each year in one of the eight states the route passes through and 2012 is California's year. Victorville outbid several other  communities along the route to become the official site.

The festival runs from Aug. 9 through Aug. 12 and will feature a classic car show, food and merchandise vendors, singers, entertainers, and Michaeel Wallis, a Route 66 historian and author who provided the voice of Sheriff in Disney’s “Cars” series.

The festival is partnering with the Route 66 Museum in Old Town Victorville and will feature a tour down Seventh Street, the route of the original Route 66.

Kansas Route 66 declared Kansas Historic Byway

The Kansas Department of Transportation has designated the original Route 66 in Cherokee County an official Kansas Historic Byway, the state's eleventh byway receiving official designation.

The route begins at the Kansas-Missouri state line and follows the old route for 13.2 miles through Galena, Riverton, and Baxter Springs to the Kansas-Oklahoma state line.

According to wibw.com, "There are museums, collections, murals and ghost writing that tell the local history of life along the route. A traveler can drive over many of the original structures of “The Mother Road,” including the only remaining Marsh Arch Bridge on Route 66, or explore the mining and railroad history of the area.

"Visitors can have a picture taken with the tow truck that was the inspiration for the character “Mater” from the 'Cars' movie or discover Schermerhorn Park and the Southeast Kansas Nature Center south of Galena. They can learn of the importance of hydroelectricity in Riverton or enjoy a stop at the Eisler’s Brother Store, the location of a 1920’s Route 66 gas station.

"The stories of Baxter Springs include Native American history, early battles of the Civil War, a frontier cattle town and baseball. There are tours offered throughout the year and many dining and lodging facilities available for travelers as well as locations that offer Route 66 memorabilia for sale."

Chandler, Oklahoma national guard armory becomes Route 66 Interpretive Center

Route 66, the Mother Road described by John Steinbeck, was the gateway from the northeastern states to the west. It ran through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona finally arriving in California.

Now a former National Guard armory in Chandler, Oklahoma, built by the WPA in 1937 during the Great Depression and abandoned when the Guard built a new one in the 1970s, has been rescued from destruction to tell the story of route 66.

The Chandler Route 66 Interpretive Center, at 400 East Route 66, presents exhibits featuring virtual hotel rooms, vintage billboards, a gift shop, and period video viewed from the seats of a 1965 Ford Mustang.

It currently welcomes 700 to 800 visitors a month, with approximately 20% international travelers. The building’s transition from National Guard armory to decaying building on the verge of dismantling to Route 66 tourist destination is the town's preservation success story.

Located in the middle of Oklahoma, Chandler (pop. about 3,000) contains a number of attractions for fans of The Mother Road. You’ll find the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Museum, a county museum of pioneer history, a cottage-style Phillips 66 gas station, the colorful PJ's Bar-B-Que, and one of the remaining painted barns advertising Meramac Caverns.

Let them eat pie

Today is Route 66's birthday, and at 85 years old she is showing her age, but still kicking.

As quaint as it now sounds, back then you could drive on one road all the way from Illinois to California, a remarkable achievement, and along the way you would find motels to stay in and restaurants to eat in gas stations to fill your tank.

Guidebook publisher, Lonely Planet, has written a special piece on its blog in celebration of the Mother Road's birthday. It is called A Pie-Five for Route 66's Birthday and features--as the name implies--pie, a listing of five places you can buy American pie along your route. 

It begins with Lou Mitchell's in downtown Chicago, where even though a breakfast place, you can find a fruity pie-a-la-mode on weekdays to wash down your pancakes. Then on to Motor on to Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket in Willowbrook for a warm, buttery, blueberry pie (but hurry, the selection rotates).  

Next stop is the Old Log Cabin in Pontiac for coffee, conversation, and Crisco-based pie crusts filled with banana cream, cheery, rhubarb, and more. In Atlanta pull in to the Palms Grill Cafe for thick slabs of gooseberry, peach, sour cream raisin, and other retro pies. And don't forget to say hello to Tall Paul, a giant statue of Paul Bunyan about to munch a giant hot dog, as he watches you from across the street.

Last is the Ariston Cafe in Litchfield, one of Route 66's oldest restaurants. After a diner dinner of meat loaf and mac and cheese, the waitress hauls out a big ol' dessert tray stacked with apple and other pies. And as Lonely Planet says, "Consider it fuel for the long drive onward, because friend, you're still in Illinois. You've got 7 states and 2000 miles to go to reach the end of the road."