EZ UPDATES

For readers of the EZ 66 Guide for Travelers, I have provided free online updates to help keep your Route 66 experience as current as possible. As you might imagine, Route 66 is constantly undergoing changes, some good, others not so. Businesses open and close, roads are re-routed and street names change.

Please check back here just before your trip for the latest info. Entries are dated as to when they were added.

If you wish to purchase your own copy of the EZ Guide, please go here.

EZ 66 readers have been helpful in keeping me keep the guidebook updated in between my own road trips, so if you discover something that needs to be addressed while on your journey, please let me know!

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IL page-10 on Feb 05, 2011 at 8:36:09 pm [Print]
Just found out that Smatterjak's in Dwight has been closed for a few years...must have done so about the same time as the 2nd edition came out...and no one has told me!

The good news is that there is a great restaurant in Dwight: OLD ROUTE 66 FAMILY RESTAURANT: located at 105 S. OLD 66, DWIGHT, IL 60420, PHONE 1-815-584-2920.

No less an authority as Illinois' John Weiss told me: "This is one of the finest, cleanest restaurants on 66. And the food is superb. It has a great 66 theme inside and out. The staff are the type you hope to find in a Route 66 restaurant. "


Shoe trees on Nov 04, 2010 at 6:31:25 pm [Print]
In case I did not mention it below, I just want to remind you that the original Shoe Tree east of Stroud, OK has yielded to gravity, and is no longer standing! But a new one has been started.

On my April trip to CA I noticed that the TWO shoe trees east of Amboy have both lost their upper branches (now they look more like shoe bushes) but there are still plenty of footwear and other stuff hanging on.

One wonders if the weight and wind resistance of the shoes have an unfortunate effect upontrees?


MO page-26 on Sep 09, 2010 at 5:19:02 pm [Print]
Poochies Rib Pit on the Joplin Option is now a barber shop. Dales' Old 66 Barbershop is now a massage parlor.

IL page-22 on Jul 03, 2010 at 8:44:36 pm [Print]
The Giant surfer dude and pink elephant that once where here are now at Livingston at the "Gymnasim" antique mall. This is off EXIT 37 on the 1950s era 66 (not part of the tour but worth a detour). They also have a flying saucer-like structure, etc.

MO page-7 on Oct 29, 2009 at 3:07:07 pm [Print]
ROUTE 66 State Park: The old Route 66 bridge across the Meramec River that connected the east and west half of this park is now closed for "safety reasons."

For Route 66 travelers, access to the visitor's center and its exhibits will be most important. As before, exit I-44 at Exit 266 (Lewis Road).

But you won't be able to cross the bridge into the main park.

According to MODOT, here are directions to access the park on the west side of the river:

To access the park from westbound I-44, exit at Route 109 and turn around and take eastbound I-44. Exit at Williams Road, and take the first left onto the south outer road. Follow the outer road into the Route 66 State Park.

To access the park from eastbound I-44, exit at Williams Road, and take the
first left onto the south outer road. Follow the outer road into the Route 66 State Park.



OK page 7 on Sep 22, 2009 at 12:43:35 am [Print]
Good Mom and Pop motels are hard to come by, so i wanted to point out one that was given a great review by a nice young couple from Belgium who visited my gallery today.

The Chelsea Motor Inn (NOT the old, closed Chelsea Motel) seems to be a great little place run by Trudy and Frank, who also have a pet buffalo!

NM page-5 on Aug 31, 2009 at 5:40:33 pm [Print]
IF its been raining, heed the ALERT! about the tunnel under I-40 between EXIT 321 and 311. A motorcycling reader once phoned (thanx Gordo) to report that this tunnel (AND a low water crossing some miles west) were filled with water and mud.

I'd recommend skipping this section of the tour any time there's been rain.(I removed it from the main tour route...it is now an OPTION). Stay on I-40 at EXIT 321. You can get back off at EXIT 311 if you wish (but still be alert for dips in the road). Or continue to Santa Rosa.

CA page 26 on Aug 09, 2009 at 9:26:49 pm [Print]
Check out Dan Rice's Route 66 shop on the Santa Monica Pier. It's a great little booth right out on the pier, with their fine line of Route 66 shirts, and they also carry the EZ Guide (in case you are starting in the west and haven't bought one yet!

I wear one of their brown and white "historic 66" shirts, and really enjoy it.

Dan Rice
Owner, "66-to-Cali, Inc."
"End of the Road...Beginning of the Dream!"
DanRice27@yahoo.com
818-599-0972

MO page-19 on Jul 01, 2009 at 11:21:48 pm [Print]
EZ Guide users Rick and Genean Martin recently stopped at the new Missouri visitor centers just West of Conway. They report that "They are redone in Rt 66 themes and are very nice. Signs in front are styled after the Munger Moss neon sign. Unfortunately you can not get to them from Rt 66 but only from the Interstate."

I'd stop by if you happen to be on I-44 here, but I'd rather drive old 66 thru this beautiful area.


OK page-10 on Apr 14, 2009 at 3:44:39 pm [Print]
The historic Meadow Gold neon sign has been erected in its new home at 11th and Quaker! This magnificent advertising sign was preserved when the building it used to adorn, at 11th and Lewis, was demolished some years ago.