Route 66

It's more than just a road. It's a ribbon that winds around the soul of a country. America's "Mother Road" was the primary east-west travel route for decades. Step back to a time when hamburgers were a nickel, optimism was everywhere and a real adventure meant a driving trip. But not just anywhere. It meant a trip down the Mother Road, the Main Street of America, a place to get your kicks. It meant Route 66.

Your journey begins in St. Louis at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard — home of an ice cream confection called a "concrete" that has been dazzling travelers' tastebuds since 1929. Just to the west, stop at the Museum of Transportation to see its collection of classic cars and more than 100 locomotives. The museum is also custodian of a distinctive tile-front unit from the Coral Court Motel, a noted Route 66 Art Deco-lovers' hideaway.

Next, head to Route 66 State Park, the eventual home of a museum devoted to roadside Americana. In the town of Gray Summit, you can stretch your legs among the Missouri wildflowers at the Shaw Arboretum of the Missouri Botanical Garden. A little further on in Stanton, Meramec Caverns has been enticing visitors since 1933. It's time to turn the wheel and pull over for the night — the vintage 1930s Wagon Wheel Motel still stands in Cuba.

The drive along the bluffs over the Big Piney River at Devil's Elbow is perhaps the prettiest spot along Missouri's Route 66. In Lebanon, stop by the 1940s Munger-Moss Motel, a real Route 66 landmark. Springfield's Shrine Mosque's eye-popping Arabian Nights architecture may seem out of place in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks, but entertainers have played here since the '50s. Today, performers still ring the rafters with concerts for every style and taste.

You might think you've gone back in time as you drive through the Town Square in Carthage, with its splendid Victorian houses. Make a stop at the meticulously restored 1940s Route 66 Drive-In Theatre. Detour to Spencer, a ghost town created when the highway was rerouted. Here, a rare stretch of the original Route 66 concrete road still exists. Finally, you arrive in Joplin, the western end of Route 66 in Missouri. Though the road continues west for another 1,000 miles or so, you can relax here, knowing you've seen the finest of Route 66.

Additional Information can be found at the following links.

• Route 66 Association

• Route 66 Guide