High Plains Drifting
These leisurely drives explore a part of Texas where the vistas are spectacular, the history is rich, and the natives will want you to sit and talk a spell. Best of all, there’s elbow room to spare.
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The main attraction, though, is the Devil’s Rope Museum (100 Kingsley, 806-779-2225), which is dedicated to barbed wire, the fencing that did more to tame this particular part of the country than anything else. As intriguing as the drift fence, post maul, and earth auger fencing tools may be, my attention was diverted by replicas of the red Burma Shave signs, a faded highway memory of my youth, posted at the entrance of the Route 66 Museum, which is housed in the same building and is the official home of the Old Route 66 Association of Texas.
From McLean you can pick up some of the longest portions of the original 66, functioning as the frontage road on the south side of the interstate. Turn south at the Texas Highway 70 interchange and go about half a mile and you’ll find traces of old Jericho, a ghost town identified by an abandoned tourist court. This was the beginning of the Jericho Gap mud segment of the road, the last unpaved stretch in Texas, which was finally paved in the thirties.
Get back on the interstate and, a few miles west of McLean, turn onto FM 2477 (exit 128) and go north for three miles to Lake McClellan (806-779-2590), a dammed-up portion of McClellan Creek that was a historic camping ground for Route 66 travelers and today offers hiking trails, campsites, and RV hookups.
Groom, at exit 112, thirty miles west of McLean and forty miles east of Amarillo, is home to Ruby Denton's Golden Spread Restaurant (407 Front Street, 806-248-7021), a longtime fixture of the old 66, and two great roadside monuments. First up is the leaning water tower on the north side of the interstate, marking the remains of the Britten USA truck stop. It may not be Pisa, but it stands out. A mile farther west is the 190-foot-tall cross made of steel tubing, the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere, operated by Cross Ministries. Steve Thomas, a structural engineer from Pampa, dreamed up the cross in response to the X-rated businesses that were popping up on the thoroughfare. The structure was completed in 1995 and has since been embellished with life-size bronze sculptures around the base depicting the stations of the cross, by Panhandle artist Mickey Wells. Though some 20,000 visitors a month pull over, Thomas acknowledges that not everyone likes it: “You should hear what some truckers say on CB radio.” But the appeal is undeniable, especially at night when the cross is illuminated.
Follow the brown 66 signs for fourteen miles from Groom into Conway, riding some of the original shoulderless two-lane road on the south side of the interstate. Another eighteen miles brings you to Amarillo, where, a couple of miles north of I-40, you’ll find the Old Town San Jacinto Historic District, a mile-long section of old Route 66 along Sixth Street, just west of downtown. This portion of Route 66, the only urban stretch of the highway in Texas, was rendered obsolete in 1953 when the Amarillo Boulevard bypass was built on the north side of town, effectively freezing the San Jacinto trolley-car suburb in time. About five years ago, Old San Jacinto started coming back to life, and these days thrives as a primary focal point for Route 66 aficionados. A slew of antiques shops and malls featuring nineteenth-century collectibles and fifties kitsch have popped up, notably the Nat Antique Mall and Cafe (2705 W. Sixth Street, 806-371-8685), which is in a historic building that once housed a swimming pool (“Nat” is short for natatorium) and later was the swankiest dance hall this side of Dallas, where the likes of Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, and Little Richard performed.
There’s also an abundance of galleries, shops, restaurants, and bars, and even a biker-fashion shop, Leathers, on Sixth. The one must-see place is the Golden Light Cafe (2908 W. Sixth, 806-374-9237), perhaps the only burgers-and-beer greasy spoon to rate a listing in the National Register of Historic Places. In continuous operation since 1946, it is Amarillo’s oldest eating establishment and serves up the quintessential road food experience along with some sublime burgers, chili fries, and other traditional fare. Old San Jacinto is hopping on most weekends, when Europeans outnumber the natives. (For Old San Jacinto information, call 806-372-US66.) Most major motel chains are represented along the part of I-40 that passes through Amarillo. The two Travelodges (800-578-7878; rooms from $40) and the Best Western Santa Fe (800-528-1234; rooms from $66) have an outdoor pool. Three B&B’s—Parkview House (1311 S. Jefferson, 806-373-9464; rooms $65—$135), the Galbraith House (1710 S. Polk, 806-374-0237; rooms $85—$100), and Auntie’s Place (1712 S. Polk, 806-371-8054, 888-661-8054; rooms $85—$225)—are near I-40 in the Pleamonds Eakle historic district.
On the western edge of Amarillo you’ll find the famous Cadillac Ranch. Take exit 57 (Hope Road) from I-40 and cross over the bridge, continuing west on the two-way south frontage road. (Note the hand-scrawled sign at the northwest corner of the Hope Road interchange: “Bates Motel: Each Room with a Shower, Taxidermy Ahead.” It appears to be mischief courtesy of the Caddy Ranch’s creator, Stanley Marsh 3, whose works appear throughout Amarillo and in Adrian.) The field sculpture was recently moved farther out of town to allow for better viewing. The ten Cadillacs buried in the ground are getting pretty ragged, but the work endures. Just be sure to lock your car if you walk into the field for a closer look.
From Amarillo it’s 33 miles to Vega. Don't forget to roll your windows up twenty miles beyond the city limits lest you be overwhelmed by the fragrance of the biggest cattle feedlot on the whole interstate. Leave I-40 at the Vega exit, riding a short stretch of old Route 66 to Vega and turning right on U.S. 385. Drive a block to the bank, then turn left on Main to ride this one-block piece of the original highway, which ends abruptly next to Dot’s Mini Museum (105 N. Twelfth Street, 806-267-2367), a most delightful collection of memorabilia and folk art dedicated to Route 66. The curator, Dot Leavett, and her late husband once ran a grocery store and meat locker on 66, and she has devoted her life to honoring the road’s glorious past. More than once visitors have serenaded her by performing Bobby Troup’s famous song “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66” in her yard.
Get back on I-40 and head to Adrian, the last place on the interstate that looks like the Midwest. Follow the brown Route 66 sign into town and to the MidPoint Cafe (the west end of town, 806-538-6379), the literal midpoint of the Mother Road, where the sign says 1,136 miles from Chicago and 1,136 miles from Los Angeles. The cafe is one of the highlights of the Texas stretch, especially if owner Fran Houser is working the kitchen. She’s a font of knowledge about the historic route, and she makes pies to die for (her burgers are also recommended). The diamond-shaped sign next to the cafe that reads “If a man could have half his wishes, he would double his troubles” is courtesy of—who else?—Stanley Marsh 3.
About ten minutes out of town on the interstate, just past the Stuckey’s at mile marker eighteen, the road falls off the Cap onto the scrubland that defines the West. The Texas part of Route 66 ends at the New Mexico line in Glenrio, a ghost town that’s home to a collection of abandoned tourist courts and service stations and, as Fran Houser likes to put it, “three people, thirty-five cats, and fifteen dogs.”
While in Amarillo… Yeah, it’s the height of High Plains kitsch, but the Big Texan Steak Ranch (I-40 exits 74 and 75, 800-657-7177, 806-372-6000), the place with the 72-ounce-free-steak challenge, deserves mention for branching out this summer with the Big Texan Opry dinner show every Tuesday and the Route 66 Musical Review dinner show every Thursday through August. There will also be frequent Chuckwagon Concerts starring cowboy singer Michael Martin Murphey and reservations-only campfire breakfasts in the courtyard with Indian storyteller Hody “Long Bow” Porterfield. Cowboy Poets breakfasts are held the second Saturday of every month at eight-thirty in the morning.
The American Quarter Horse Heritage Center and Museum (2601 I-40 East at Quarter Horse Drive, 806-376-5181, 888-209-8322) pays tribute to the working horse of the Plains with hands-on exhibits, videos, paintings, the Quarter Horse Hall of Fame, and live demonstrations in the corral out back.
If it’s Tuesday, eavesdrop at the Amarillo Livestock Auction (100 South Manhattan, 806-373-7464), where the transformation from cow to beef begins and auctioneers demonstrate their verbal skills, starting at ten in the morning.
Thompson Park, north of downtown, west of U.S. 287, is the home of Wonderland Amusement Park (806-383-3344, 800-383-4712), with a municipal swimming pool, a small zoo, a golf course, and plenty of green space. The park hosts the biggest Fourth of July celebration in the Panhandle.
The Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, sixteen miles south of Amarillo via I-27, is the single best repository of Western heritage on the Texas High Plains (2401 Fourth Avenue, 806-651-2244).
Texas, the outdoor musical staged every summer in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, east of Canyon off Texas Highway 217, plays through August 21 nightly except Sundays. Most performances are sold out well in advance; for ticket information: 806-655-2181, www.texasmusicaldrama.com.
Elkins Ranch (806-488-2100), near the entrance to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, offers visitors a glimpse of ranch life with horseback rides, Jeep tours, cattle drives, and Saturday-night cowboy suppers.
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