Route 66 Still Kicks

Route 66 Still Kicks: Driving America’s Main Street
Rick Antonson
Skyhorse Publishing; August 15, 2012, 385 pages
KIndle edition $9.99, Amazon paperback $11.91
Purchased during an Early Bird Books sale for $1.99

I have a long history with Route 66. My family lived in Barstow during the years I was in first through fourth grade. Route 66 ran through Main Street in the town before the Interstate was built. When I attended Pitzer College the northern border of the campus was Foothill Boulevard, which was the old Route 66 in the area. During my years in Oklahoma my first wife Ruth and I, on one trip from Tulsa back to Oklahoma City, abandoned the turnpike, an Interstate highway, and traveled Route 66 through the old towns that the turnpike bypassed.

When I saw that the Kindle edition of this book was on sale for $1.99 I of course immediately bought it. And what a delight it was.

Rick Antonson got a bee under his bonnet and decided that he wanted to drive as much of the old Route 66 as possible. He recruited a friend, Peter, and they rented a Mustang in Chicago for their trip. They discovered that much of the old highway was hard to find, but it was findable nonetheless. They took risks, sometimes venturing down unpaved parts of the road. They seemed to have an aversion to shaving and to Laundromats. They met interesting people and they ate good food. Mixed in with all this was some fascinating history of people, places, and of the highway itself. Not to mention a detailed discussion of that iconic Nat King Cole song.

If Route 66 and its history resonate with you, you will find this book a kick.