Route 66

"If you ever plan to motor west, take the highway that is my way and is best. Get your kicks on Route 66."

"It winds from Chicago to L.A., more than 2,000 miles all the way...."

In the late 1940s, Bobby Troup wrote that song and its great lyrics and Nat King Cole made it famous. I remember it well. I was seven or eight years old when "Route 66" became popular. It is still one of my favorite songs.

A dozen years ago, I had the good fortune to meet Bobby Troup here in L.A. He was a kind, decent man. I am glad I met him. I told him my parents and I sung his song when we drove from Chicago to L.A. on Route 66 in the early 1950s. It took four days. We stayed at the motels and cabins that are now all gone for the most part. In its day, though, Route 66 was the only way to go.

The Interstate Highway System, introduced in 1956 during the Eisenhower Administration, dealt the death knell to Route 66. At first, it was a four-lane highway running parallel to Route 66. Later, it was widened. Its exits, while frequent, were spaced too far apart to help many of the restaurant and motels along the old Route 66.

During the past 10 years, I've seen several programs on cable television and PBS tracing the history of Route 66 and lamenting its demise. It was great in its day, but its day, in retrospect, was short-lived.

In the late 1940s, my parents and I drove from Chicago to New York on Route 30, known as "The Lincoln Highway." The Pennsylvania Turnpike, another new four-lane highway, already was open, but we crossed Pennsylvania mainly on Route 30. We wanted to see Horseshoe Curve, Roadside America, and Gettysburg and enjoy the Pennsylvania countryside. When we returned, however, we drove along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It was swift, allowing us to get back to Chicago in less than two days.

Those were truly great days....