Where should 6 guys on a road trip from Chicago to Las Vegas (via Route 66) stay enroute?
Cheap Hotels
wetdufflecoats asked:
Any tips on where the best party towns are and where to stay in those towns thats relatively cheap??
Stacey
Any tips on where the best party towns are and where to stay in those towns thats relatively cheap??
Stacey
March 10th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Jeffrey
Church: to pray for your mortal souls. Just kidding. Have a great trip. Bon voyage!
March 12th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Jessica
I live on Route 66, and drive it all the time. It is so hard to just pick one place or one thing! I have several places that I like to go visit and several parts that I love to drive. Here are some of my favorite things on Route 66; I will break them down by state:
In Illinois there are several places that I like to go. First of all for the best food in IL on Route 66 I like Dell Ray’s Chicken Basket. Still family owned the owner is a lot of fun and is always there. He is very knowledgeable about the Route and people that live on it. Second I love to stop at the Rivera Restaurant. Okay I would not eat here but to visit is just crazy! The restaurant is in the basement of kitchen, they have turned it into a cave. Al Capone and his gang used to stop here. In back they have a restored old diner car from the 40’s what a gem and a great site to see on Route 66! Next there is Funk’s Grove outside of Shirley IL. They sell maple Sirup (yep that is how you spell it) here. This family owned business has been around before Route 66, they make the best maple candy and sirup around! In Atlanta IL they have Route 66 Park which has an old Muffler Man these are really hard to find. They once were all down Route 66 and now only a few are left. They have done a great job restoring him and he is a site to be seen! Henry’s Rabbit Ranch is also very cool. Henry is trying really hard to preserve memories on Route 66 and has made “mini” landmarks of other Route 66 attractions. He even has a sign for Here it Is, in AZ. A must stop in IL!
MO- Okay I live in Missouri and we have some great sites on 66. First of all a must stop is Ted Drew’s been here forever and the BEST frozen custard around. This little custard stand is very proud of their Route 66 heritage and has been named a Route 66 roadside attraction. Fantastic Caverns in Springfield MO is great, ride through family owned been here a number of times and it just keeps getting better. There is also Merimec Caverns? All up and down Route 66 you can find barns that have their info painted on them, this place has been a family stop on the route for years, it is a wonderful place, and one of the best caves around. The whole drive in Southern Missouri on Route 66 is great. The small towns have worked really hard to keep the route in good condition and preserve places in the small towns. The drive in outside of Carthage is just amazing! You can go over old bridges in the rolling hills of MO. Wonderful drive here!
OK- You can still find some old parts of the route to drive and when I say old I mean one lane, brick roads! OK has done a wonderful job of preserving Route 66! The blue whale is a must! I will detour off my route just to see the blue whale! Also the world largest totem pole is in Foyil and that is a site to be seen! El Reno is a wonderful Route 66 town to visit; they have a wonderful museum that I just love! There is also the Rock Café which was featured in cars, best pie around! The Round Barn in Arcadia has been delighting tourist for years, love the place!
TX- CADILLAC RANCH!!!! Way cool roadside attraction, nothing like you have ever seen! Take some spray paint and tag your name. You won’t spend long here but, I just love going knowing that hundreds of people before me were here! The Big Texan is also in there, and that has been in several movies. Home to the 72 ounce steak, cool place to eat and see! Adrian Café is also here this is the halfway point of the route! They have the best road food and the people here are just wonderful! They will tell you stories answer you questions and just show you great hospitality. Again this is a place that I will drive out of my way to stop at! Glenrio, small ghost town that takes your breath away! The old buildings are amazing to see and the road turns to dirt here. If you close your eyes you can hear the old noises of Route 66. I love stopping here it is a great chance to experience the old route alone.
NM is cool because if you do your research you can drive parts of Route 66 that are still unpaved. It did not start out being a paved highway that was added latter and here you can find old pieces of the road. The other cool thing that I remember as we were driving these parts in some places you could still see marks from the wagon trains and big ruts on the side of the road that were made by them. You will find yourself alone for hours just like it used to be. Okay there are a couple cool places to stay in NM. My favorite has to be the Blue Swallow. This place is still awesome! The blue neon will knock your socks off. It has been restored and you still even have your own little garage now that is cool! I will never forget this place. There is also the El Rancho Hotel very famous the old movie stars used to stay here and all the rooms are now named after a star. Located in the heart of downtown they also have a really good restaurant in the place. Tee Pee Curios is also in NM an old store still fun to go into! Gallup has the best shopping around and is home to the Native American Nations. They are always having a Pow Wow or something here. They also have the best shopping for Native American jewelry around! I also like Gallup because the El Rancho Kitchen wonderful eats! You also get to see the Continental Divide which runs on the boarder of NM and AR, something you will never forget.
The drive to Oatman is just amazing! For the record AAA does not recommend it. You twist and turn up the mountains with no guard rail. The views are amazing! This is one of the most photographed parts of Route 66 and this drive has been used in movies, TV shows, and commercials. I love driving this part and again I will go off my route just to drive it! The speed limit is 35 but you will do less than that, you take a very narrow road up in the mountains and it hugs the side of them, then you slowing appear in town. This used to be a ghost town but AZ is working really hard to make it a Route 66 stop. Old gold and silver mines fill the area and the descents of the original burros used to work in the mines still roam the area. Do not feed them but, do not be surprised when they are walking around town! They have an old saloon that is now back in business and the Oatman hotel is open; it is like stepping back in time here. The drive really makes you think about what life was like and the this small town on the Route just seals the deal!
Coming out of Oatman you hit the Joshua Trees and the beauty of CA! Barstow is in oasis in the CA desert and the town has some great hotels/ shops that have been on Route 66 forever! They have a great museum there. Side note they have an IN-N-OUT Burger. Okay so they were not on the original route but I lived in SD and this is a CA must! Of course you go through LA and Hollywood which just seem to have lost their Route 66 charm but a stop at the Pier is a must! This is the ending point and a lovely site to see!
I have learned so much from the people on Route 66, their stories and their history is something that can never be learned in a text book. They are trying to preserve our past, they are trying to preserve our memories and they make the Route and all of its memories worth traveling.
I hope this helps you if you are interested in Route 66 here are some websites that I recommend and use:
This website has the BEST directions! You can print them for free gives you turn by turn also gives you all the alignment choices. I have used these directions to get me east to west and west to east been using them for years! Also helpful because they list ALL the towns on the route so it makes researching them easier it also has the Route from 66 to Vegas the old way. Very nice drive!!!!! Loved it be sure to check this site out before you go!!!
As for Party towns:
OK City and Brick town is always fun.
Sante Fe has a lot of places to go if you like country music.
Tulsa OK of course they have good places it is a college town! Also cheap places to stay near the school.
Miami OK again another college town has some cool bars.
Seligman AR okay this is a small town, but the Roadkill Cafe was an awesome place to hang out with the locals!!!!! Also Route 66 motel there real cheap!
A party place is what you make of it, we really had more fun in the small towns at the local bar, then we did in the larger cities on Route 66. Holbrook AR was a blast only 2 bars to choose from but, the locals bought drinks all night and we had a great time. Doesn’t get any cheaper than that!
Cheap stays look for the Mom and Pop old motels, we stayed in a lot of them for like $30 a night. They were clean and historic it really was a lot of fun. Sleeping in the Wigwams in AR was the best!
Good Luck hope this helps have a great trip!!!!