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Where lake winds proudly blow The band strike up in racing town And red white blue hearts glow
David Shire wrote that for The Big Bus, 1976.
The Music of the Stars.
What if I told you there's a highway so famous?
It has its own songs, movies, and fan clubs, and it hasn't even officially existed since 1985.
From Chicago's bustle to the laid back vibes of Santa Monica, this legendary ribbon of highway carried dust-covered migrants, Elvis-loving tourists,
and Corvette driving Dreamers alike.
So, how did a decommissioned highway become more famous than the one still on the map?
And what really made it the main street of America?
Was it the quirky roadside motels, the ghost towns?
Buckle up, this journey's just beginning.
Welcome to U.S.
Route 66, the most legendary stretch of asphalt in America.
It
was
officially established in 1926, becoming one of the original highways in the U.S.
numbered highway system.
Its design was clever.
It zigzagged through small towns, instead of skirting around them, pumping money and opportunity directly into rural America.
In the early 1900s, the U.S.
had roads but no real system.
In 1925, the U.S.
government finally rolled out a plan for a nationwide highway infrastructure.
The mastermind behind this genius, Cyrus Avery, dubbed the father of Route 66.
He pushed for a route that favored connection over convenience.
Avery originally proposed calling this Grand Highway US Route 60, believing a round number gave it weight and importance.
But Kentucky delegates had their own plans.
Eventually, a compromise was struck, and the number 66 was chosen as it was catchy, easy to say, and memorable.
If
you ever plan to go to West Travel my way, take the highway, that's the best I'll get your kicks on Route 66
It winds from Chicago to L.A.
More than 2,000 miles all the way.
I get you kicks on Route 66.
Now you go through St.
Louis, Joplin, Missouri, and Oklahoma City Lux.
You might a pretty lady you'll see.
From the
jazz clubs of St.
Louis to the adobe pueblos of New Mexico
and finally the palm-lined boulevards of Southern California.
The highway quickly became a popular route because of the active promotion of the US-66 Highway Association, which advertised it as the shortest, best, and most scenic route from Chicago through St.
Louis to Los Angeles.
Over the years, US-66 received numerous nicknames.
Right after US-66 was commissioned, it was known as the Great Diagonal Way.
because the Chicago to Oklahoma City stretch ran northeast to southwest.
Later, US-66 was advertised by the US Highway 66 Association as the Main Street of America.
In the John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath, the highway is called the Mother Road.
Lastly, US-66 was unofficially named the Will Rogers Highway in honor of the beloved humorist and actor.
I want you to get hip to this timely tip.
When you make that Califon trip, I'll get your kicks enroute.
I'll get your kicks enroute.
I'll get your arms.
I'll get your arms.
I'll get you on.
I'll get you on.
I'll get you on.
I'll get you on.
I'll get you on.
I'll get you kicks on Route 6.
Six.
That call at the blue note in Chicago.
While Route 66 captured the heart of a generation, the heartbeats began to slow in the mid-20th century.
The beginning of the decline for US-66 came in 1956, with the signing of the Interstate Highway Act by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was influenced by his experiences in 1919 as a young Army officer crossing the country in a truck convoy, following the route of the Lincoln Highway, and his appreciation of the Autobahn network as a necessary component of a national defense system.
The new interstate system was straighter, faster,
and deadly efficient.
I-40, I-44, I-55 and I-15 started replacing Route 66 section by section.
As newer interstates replaced it, Route 66 began to fade in the 1980s.
For many small towns, this was a death sentence.
Traffic vanished, businesses shuttered.
By June 27th, 1985, the route was officially decommissioned.
Still,
The spirit of Route 66 refused to fade.
Across the country, people began to remember and reclaim what made it magical.
Passionate preservationists, travelers, and nostalgia lovers brought it back.
Can you still drive the entire Route 66 today?
Approximately 85% of the original route remains drivable, weaving through historic towns, vintage diners, and scenic landscapes.
Though some segments have been overtaken by modern interstates, detours often lead to hidden gems and nostalgic experiences.
You can still find rusted cars baking under the desert sun, broken neon signs buzzing in the wind, and empty diners where the jukebox has long stopped playing.
It's a time capsule of forgotten dreams and fading Americana.
Every year, thousands of tourists, many from abroad,
Drive it for the legend, the charm, the ghosts, and the hope of finding America as it once was.
Several states, including Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona, preserved their segments under the new name, Historic Route 66.
In the 2010s, yet another reinvention came rolling down the road.
U.S.
Bicycle Route 66, part of the growing U.S.
Bicycle Route system.
Cyclists now retrace the historic highway's path at a slower, more scenic pace, proving the road still welcomes wanderers.
No gas required.
Route 66, once abandoned, is now lovingly patched with nostalgia and pride.
From giant roadside dinosaurs to graffiti-covered Cadillacs, from ghost towns to gleaming convertibles, it proves that history doesn't have to be in a museum.
It can roll on four wheels.
Want more legends, offbeat adventures, and stories they don't teach in school?
Yeah, well, we've got our own Cross Country
Highway.
From Miami Palms to where Wisconsin breezes run Have your fun on Route 41 Have your fun on Route 41 From Miami Beach to Naples where the sun sets glow For admirers humming where the trade winds softly blow Tampa Bay is swinging
In St.
Pete's Park goes in the sun.
Have your fun on Route 41.
Have your fun.
It's built to Lake City, across the Georgia line.
Val Duster hums a ditty, then Cordello feels just fine.
Mekon plays him mellow as the Red Clay rivers run.
Atlanta keeps it jumping, Chattanooga rolls along.
Through Tennessee, the highway hums a lonesome song.
Kentucky bluegrass picking when the days are nearly done.
Have your fun on Route 41 Have your fun on Route 41 Now Chicago's lights are gleaming by the lakeside shore But don't you stop, there's plenty more ahead in store While Kagan's calling Kenosha greets you
shit boy
As you may or may not know, John Lassner and his Pixar cronies went on a Route 66 road trip to find inspiration for their film, Cars.
Well, we just went on a Route 66 trip ourselves, so here are all the people in places that directly inspired the Pixar guys and the Cars movie.
Number one, the Little Juarez restaurant.
One of the closed businesses in Radiator Springs in the background is nearly identical to the now closed little Juarez restaurant in Glen Rio, Texas.
In the movie, it even has the name Glen Rio Motel, which is a pretty cool nod to this historic town and restaurant.
2.
The Jackrabbit Trading Post Here It Is Billboard One of the most easy to spot inspirations comes from the Here It Is sign near Lizzie's Curio Shop in Radiator Springs.
It's pretty much directly inspired by the historic.
Here it is billboard at the Jackrabbit Trading Post in Jackrabbit, Arizona.
Number three, Dean Crazy Legs Walker.
Mater and his backwards driving takes direct inspiration from Dean Walker, who can turn his feet completely backwards.
But Kansas has a special distinction of being the place where the Pixar guys actually found the truck that inspired Mater from the Cars movie.
And they have the actual truck that they saw.
But wait!
It's not a tow truck.
It's a boom truck.
See that thing on the back?
It's way taller than the regular guy.
It's for mining.
It's called a boom truck.
They thought it was a tow truck.
Directly inspired by the you drop in you can totally see the architecture and design look exactly the
same
Let me just
look up the stars.
We'll perceive what it's allowed.
Someone's eye will see the people.
Someone else will see.
Each of them
is really me.
music of Joe Hart.
militia, the Rangers, or the Highway Patrol.
These are the stories of the men whose training, skill, and courage have enforced and preserved our state law.
Vaughn Monroe and his swell orchestra end.
Love on a grey handbag.
New Columbus, Ohio, and India, andapolis, Indiana.
Then we had a slight delay when the driver used to kill Illinois for our away.
The Texas storm made
us hesitate,
a
French war.
Cause we both fell in love
From Karahi, how come there's no sign out there saying that?
President Reagan on this day in 1983.
This
giant flag is a testament to the unity and patriotism of our people and to the deep love and commitment we have for our country, our freedom, and our way of life.
Our forefathers were motivated by something bigger than themselves.
From the harsh winter of valley fords to the blazing...
Night above Fort McHenry, those Patriot soldiers were sustained by the ideal of human freedom.
Through the hardships and the setbacks, they kept their eyes on that ideal and that purpose, just as through the smoke of battle, they kept a lookout for the flag.
Through the birth of our nation, the cause of human freedom had become forever tied to that flag and its survival.
As the American Republic grew and prospered and new stars were added to the flag, the ideal of freedom grew and prospered.
As our country spread across the continent, millions of the dispossessed, the persecuted, the tired, the hungry and poor flocked to our shores.
And the human energies unleashed in this land of liberty were like those never before seen in this world.
From the mountains of Kentucky to the shores of California to the
Sea of Tranquility on the Moon.
Our pioneers carried our flag before them, a symbol of the indomitable spirit of a free people.
And let us never forget that in honoring our flag, we honor the American men and women who have courageously fought and died for it over the last 200 years.
Patriots who set an ideal above any consideration of self, who suffered for it the greatest hardships.
Our flag flies free today because of their sacrifice.
If you look out at that grand flag stretched behind us, you can see what we think of ourselves, our country, and our future.
That flag was made by and for men and women who still know how to dream great dreams and who still believe they can make their dreams come true.
That giant banner was not created by a timid nation, but by a bold one.
Not a stitch was sewn in confusion or doubt.
We understand that those stars and stripes stand for freedom and the forces of good.
We apologize to none for our ideals or our principles nor the prosperity that we've made for ourselves and shared with the world.
Let this grand flag forever be a symbol of the potential before us that free men and women can
soar as high as their dreams and energy and ambitions will take them.
from seven o'clock till high noon central, the music of the stars on the Civic Media Radio Network.
With a special greeting on this flag day to all our network affiliates, I'm Lou Vergati and until we meet again, keep your dreams alive and reach for the stars.
our first day of summer.
The music of the stars let's celebrate together.
Stand
by for news.
Until next week.
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