48 Hours in Texas - Is Route 66 Still All That? [S7-E73]

Ask any American what is the most epic road trip here in North America, they'll probably tell you it's Route 66. The question is, is Route 66 as cool as they say it is? Welcome to Route 66, this is the ultimate American road trip. Route 66 was opened in 1926 and ran all the way from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica in California. This is so iconic, yeah isn't it, it's just so iconic. It was known as the mother of all roads, and even has had songs made about it. In today's video we're going to be driving Route 66 from Amarillo across Texas to New Mexico. So what a better way is there to start our tour of Route 66 here in Texas, by visiting the visitors centre, specifically for Route 66 here in Amarillo. Look at the desk here, Route 66, that is amazing. There's really great things to see in every state, we love it just because it's our little bit, it's our backyard. Texas is the biggest state, but the second smallest in terms of mileage on Route 66. Oh yeah, we've got some really neat things around, ah cool. Here is Route 66 through Texas, now you'll notice that it follows I-40 in this area very closely, because this is I-40 that comes through. This is the original Route 66, and that is interstate I-40. So this used to be a fried chicken restaurant, and that's why there's a chicken as you come in. The original owners, Emile and Lila Meyers, they had a son that had a poultry farm down by Canyon, Texas. So he had a contract with the government to supply 250,000 chickens a month, you know late 30s, you know into the 40s and things. So after 1945, when the war is dying down, people are starting to come home, well he loses his contracts, there's no need to feed all the troops and stuff, they're overseas. So what do you do with 250,000 chickens? You open up Meyers fried chicken. It's your old cheques and stuff, these are the only ones I found were dated from 1949. Oh wow, Meyers fried chicken. That is some serious metal work, look at that. I'm thinking, you know the box of bits that Meyer kept for us? The Trudy bits. We could have made that into something this beautiful. So if you're looking for some merch for Route 66, they got everything from books, to cups, to pictures, to stickers, llamas, look they've even got a Route 66 Monopoly, it's just one of those absolute iconic places, that you cannot come to the US and not visit. Absolutely. There guys, go explore the world. Thank you very much. Cheers guys. Thank you Brandon, you've been a star. Thank you. As part of the Route 66 tour, we've come down to the big Texan restaurant, in fact check out this car here, it's got the horns on the front, I'm loving that, it's a free limo service for the restaurant, amazing. Now this restaurant actually isn't on Route 66 now, but it used to be on the original Route 66, and when they built the highway, they decided to move the restaurant because all the traffic was coming this way, so this is the new version. So it originated on Route 66, which is why we've included it. Isn't that just amazing, look at the front of that restaurant, it's a very beautiful and very Texan thing, but did you, you've heard of Tex-Mex, but have you heard of Tex-Rex? There you go, Tex-Rex is that one right there, they've got a proper old-school police car there, perfect to go and have that photo done. Wow how cool is this? They've got a gift shop, oh it's like a whole complex, not just a restaurant, absolutely packed. It's a very cool restaurant, they've got these big communal tables, and apparently the thing that you're supposed to do here, they have a challenge, where if you can eat a 72 ounce steak and the sides, I think it's within an hour, you get it free, that is the size of the steak, to put it into perspective, and all those sides, we're not even going to try that, because we couldn't eat a 72 ounce steak if we shared it, and we would feel very ill for several days afterwards. Thank you very much, you're very welcome, I'll be right back to check on you, thank you, and you know that's the funny thing, because the 72 ounce steak challenge, you have to also eat three side dishes, and that is just one of them. I have got beef tips in a lovely rich gravy, with a mashed potato underneath, macaroni cheese and broccoli, going in, it is falling apart! There's like a really rich meaty stew, in a very very rich gravy, so I've got a ribeye steak, with a side of creamy corn and chilli with cornbread, it's looking pretty good, perfect medium steak. You can really taste the flame grill, from where they've grilled it, it's got that lovely smoky taste, so so tender, Texas is famous for its steaks, and there is a reason! Thank you very much, thank you, oh there you go, look there's a blast from the past, does that not remind you of Tom Hanks's movie Big? I wish I were big! Then they got the shooting range! Oh you got a good score! 1,255, I don't know whether that's good, it looks good to me! Kit fording, hello, we got a puppy! I rescued her from a truck stop about four months ago. She's beautiful, hey Annabella, she's doing very well for having only been rescued for four months. Yeah, I love your accent, are we from England? Okay I'm from Georgia. Well after that fabulous dinner last night, we spent the night here at a truck stop, a TA travel centre, absolutely fantastic, quiet night's sleep, it's free, and they've got showers, yes for $15 we spent an hour stood in the shower, and boy was I happy! We've come down to the historic 6th street here in Amarillo, which has been restored and maintained, and this is on the actual route 66. How excited am I? Boy it's a bit windy today! So it's actually Sunday today, so some of the shops are closed, but they've got lots of very cool looking antique shops, and then you can see the old school style buildings here, as you look down the road, that's a lovely looking building. Wow that's cool, look at that, the road runner, that's an old gas pump. So this store was fantastic, loads of really cool stuff, and Marianne couldn't resist buying a couple of things, everyone was thinking it, Martha just said it out loud! Yes Marianne, that is so you, it should have said Marianne! But I love this, I've gone to find myself, if I get back before I return, keep me here! That's a brilliant sign! As a kid I used to go bottle hunting with my brother, we used to go looking for all these old bottles, and here there's a store with loads of old bottles in the window. Milk of magnesium, oh yeah that's an old one. This historical district goes on for about a mile, but I think there are eateries as well, antiques and collectibles are fun and great, but I can't buy anything, I need a coffee that's for sure! Okay the 806 coffee lounge, we're gonna we're gonna go in for a coffee. You've got to pull the door Marianne! A much-needed coffee, a much-needed good coffee, oh it's lovely! We've got nice bits of graffiti on the wall there, these are very cool looking old school buildings there. It's hard to believe that we're on the road, the mother of all road trips in the UN. This looks cool, bar and grill, it says open! This is the handlebar and grill, an old gas station, let's see if they're open for food. What a cool place! Sounds wonderful, you're eating you're eating tater tots, sounds like a prehistoric, like horror tots, oh it's tater, like alligator, like potato, but we call them taters, taters it's the accent, yeah when you get further South, it's taters, taters, it's like you say potato and I say potato, yes that thing is tomato, okay we're with you, all right y'all, my name is Red, so if you guys need anything, thank you, so is this an old gas station? It is, yes it is, it's very cool, original photo up on the wall next to the liquor door, when was it built? Do you know? 1942 or was it earlier? 1942, it's been here a few years then, original sign, ah it's great, it's got a really cool feel, I love it, that is a seriously big burger, these are like little hash browns, yeah I'm excited, I don't even know how this happens, so we've come over here to the handlebar, and just have some food, and just to do the like the Route 66 experience, we met Red, and we got chatting to everyone, and it was just so lovely, and we were sharing our story, they were telling us their stories, it was really lovely, we've come to pay, and Dora and Andy from across the road, had already paid our bill, that's crazy, but this place is definitely cool, it's an old garage, they've even got the old doors here, don't walk, I remember those old ones from when I was a kid. We're leaving a Tread the Globe mark in the handlebar, it's going on the window, so if any of you spot this when you come here, yeah send us a picture, take a photo with it, and send it to us, because that would be very cool, there you go, Tread the Globe is on the main door. Thanks Red, where is she? She's over there, she's moved! So right opposite the handlebar and grill, we spotted this place, the Route 66 original visitor centre, apparently they did recently have a bit of fire damage, so they're doing some maintenance work, but they are still open. Oh we got the sticker there! So yeah, the place was actually trashed by a really bad fire, but they're redoing it, rebuilding and this is Dora, who is so lovely, she and her husband brought us lunch! You are just amazingly kind, honestly, we appreciate your travel. Oh you're welcome, but you said you should be reopen in the new year? That is our goal, yes, to be refurbished, so definitely come and check these guys out, they're absolutely lovely, and get yourself a passport, I didn't even know this happened! There you go, you got a Route 66 passport, it's an official one, and you can even get it stamped here, as you drive through Amarillo, that is so cool! This is our temporary stamp, that our other one burned in the fire, and while this one burned, it's a little bulldozer, so we thought it was appropriate for the rebuild. I cannot believe that they actually bought us lunch, how nice was that? Guys if you watch this video, thank you so much, completely unexpected and absolutely amazing. We're just leaving Amarillo, and if you're wondering what Amarillo means, it means yellow in Spanish, and the reason according to the internet why it's called yellow, is because the colour of the ground around Amarillo. They've got this giant cowboy with some very cool cars, it says RV Cadillac, and they do actually sell spray paint here, which you definitely want to get before the next stop. Okay we've headed out of Amarillo now, to probably one of the most iconic sites on Route 66, and the weirdest, this truck might give you a little bit of a clue. So here you go, welcome to the Cadillac Ranch. It was actually created way back in 1974, there's 10 Cadillacs buried nose deep in the ground, like I say it's one of the most iconic sites here on Route 66. Back in 1997, it was moved from its original location, because of the growing city limits, to its current spot here today. The thing to do when you come to the Cadillac Ranch, is to grab yourself a can of spray paint, here's what we made earlier, and you're encouraged to spray the Cadillacs, put your mark on it, but don't be disappointed is as soon as you sprayed it, somebody else comes and sprays over your artwork! That's what happens! Cadillac Ranch, you may have heard it was a hit song from Bruce Springsteen, there was actually a movie called Cadillac Ranch, and was also implied on the Cars movie. Here's the lesson for today, make sure you stand upwind when you spray, or your camera, your clothes and everything in this wind, is going to be covered! Does that make you feel naughty? Graffiti? Can I just say, I'm not going to get any prizes for my graffiti, I can't even write T! Okay so Chris is, it's like a lion comes fox a bear, is it an Alaskan bear? It's a smiley face, but it's not really a smiley face, it's just a weird face. Driving along, you can see remnants of old motels that were on the original route 66, an era that's gone now, but route 66 was the route until they built this, which is the I-40, the main interstate that runs through here now. It's hard to know exactly which one is the original route 66, because there's a little road there, and a little road there, but I think it's this side is the route 66 side. You can tell it's windy because this massive lump of round tumbleweed just flew across the highway. This side of Texas has a serious amount of wind turbines, literally as far as the eye can see in every direction, and it's the perfect day for it! It's true, with today's wind I'll be powering half of the US! So the town of Vega here in Texas, route 66, the original route 66 used to go straight through the middle of this town, and we are on it! This is the Magnolia station, which was established in 1924. Look at that, it's actually closed, but you can see the old sign there, the old gas pump there, and then looking back there's a little mini museum in here. Very cool! It's a real tribute to days gone by, and some people have really embraced it, and like really kept those memories alive. So here you go, we've come down to the Milburn Price Cultural Museum, this was one of the places that it was recommended online to come and see, unfortunately it's Sunday and it's closed! So peeking through the window, it does look like a very cool little museum, embracing the route 66 heritage. What a shame it's closed, but hey ho! Can't control all of it! So on the side of the museum, they've got this very cool mural, but apart from that, over here they have the world's largest branding iron! It is the same height pretty well as Marianne! I pity any cow that gets branded by that! It's bigger than the cow! I would like to point out, if there is a cow that that fits on, I would not want to brand it! Well they say everything's bigger in Texas! Well you don't get many better photo opportunities than here in Vega, right next to the Texas route 66 sign. It says that it's been painted by somebody called Alfonso, spectacular work my friend! Okay we're carrying on West along route 66, what a fantastic day! So we've arrived at the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian Texas, it's closed until Wednesday, which is three days away! So no we can't wait! But the Midpoint Cafe is famous for two things, first of all, it has apparently seriously good pie! I was looking forward to trying it, so much so that they've actually got a, I got pie faced at the Midpoint Cafe! It is the midpoint of route 66, so we're going to we're going to cross the street here, yeah it's all clear, this is the midpoint, this line depicts the middle of route 66. Los Angeles 1130 miles that way, Chicago 1130 miles that way. I suddenly thought Marianne had grown and realised there's steps at the back, look they've got steps so you could take a cool photo! I can't believe we have driven here via South Carolina, Alaska, Istanbul! The cafe's got this very cool car here, get your kicks on route 66! Okay quarter past four and we're carrying on West. So we've arrived in the town of Glen Rio, so back in 1930, route 66 here was transformed into a two lane road, and the route became really really really busy, and in the 30s 40s and even 50s, Glen Rio was a absolutely hustly bustly little town, it's actually half on the Mexican border and half in Texas, and it had loads of passing through trade, but when they built the highway interstate I-40, it killed this town and now it is actually known as a ghost town. You can see one of the old motels and cafe buildings behind me, they fenced it off, looks like they're doing some demolition work, hopefully they try and preserve some of these old buildings, because it is a very cool history, but there's not much left here anymore. There you go, there is not much left here, just a few buildings. Marianne's in the van, she's like I'm not going around there, that's proper spooky! It's an era gone by isn't it? Broken glass, lots of graffiti, wow! Yeah there's not much in here now. We've still got the old chairs, this was obviously a diner, that part looks like old accommodation, maybe a bit of a motel, it's got a bit of a spooky feel, there you go, there's a couple more abandoned gas stations here, from the days gone by. Welcome to New Mexico! We're back, it seems a long time since we came to New Mexico, we also just passed a sign saying you're entering mountain time, here you go, this is the visitor centre for New Mexico, so we're going to park up here for the night and just rest, because it's been a long day. Okay we're all parked up at the rest stop, yeah we're going to spend the night here. So to answer your question, how was our drive down route 66 from Amarillo to New Mexico? It was pretty cool, I think it's really hard not to feel the romantic iconic side of it, and the people that you meet that have embraced it, and have given it a chance, and are trying to make a living on that road, you feel their passion and you feel their love for that iconic place. Absolutely and it's history, and what a cool place we stopped for lunch, we've seen some very cool sights on the way, we've eaten some cool food, and we met lovely people, exactly, so for me it was very cool, and if you come to the station you want to do a road trip, you should do route 66, you decide! Anyway we will see you on the next episode.