By Linda Kor There are thousands of miles of highway crossing the U.S. to take millions of people to their destinations, but no road has the instant recognition of Route 66, also known as The Mother Road, Will Rogers Highway and the Main Street of America. It was the first numbered highway in the country and has inspired travelers for 90 years as they explored the country and took in all that America has to offer. The road has been the inspiration for songs, movies and books. It represented a brighter future during the Dust Bowl as people moved west or made vacation getaways heading east. In its cracked asphalt and faded signage it holds the hopes and dreams of all who traveled it. Jim Hinckley, a noted authority on all things Route 66, has travelled all along The Mother Road. This summer he will travel to Germany for the first ever Route 66 festival in Europe. He’s an author, speaker and consultant for both national and international Route 66 organizations. Hinckley believes there are two things that continue to call travelers to The Mother Road, “one is the people and the other is the search for an authentic, or at least romanticized, American experience,” he stated. Although officially removed from the U.S. Highway System in 1985, portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway under the name “Historic Route 66,” and it is returning to some maps. The Route 66 fever is especially prevalent in other countries, with associations cropping up around the globe, most recently in Brazil and Japan. Hinckley believes that such attention shouldn’t go unnoticed by communities such as Holbrook that have such great potential for revitalization. “Route 66 is merely a gateway that brings them here, but once they’re here there’s so much that can be done to keep them two, even three days. If you draw a 60-mile circle around Holbrook, you’ll find a multitude of attractions, especially being along the I-40 corridor,” he said. In his travels to Holbrook, Hinckley has seen indications that business owners are learning to cater to their out of town guests. He mentioned the Globetrotter Lodge, owned by Peter and Mona Hoeller, as one example. “They serve a fresh breakfast for their guests every morning. They have cloth tablecloths and real silverware, and on each of the tables they have a silver container where they put the flag of the state or country of that guest,” he said. “It creates an opportunity to talk, and people begin to ask questions about where that person has been and speak about their own travels. It creates relationships. “These people leave and they see those same people again at another Route 66 destination. Now they’re friends, maybe they begin to write each other, it’s a real connection. “You can have 500 friends on Facebook, but you can’t have a cup of coffee with them. When you sit together in places like Joe & Aggie’s Café, you get to visit and it becomes like a family reunion. It becomes a personal, breathing relationship,” explained Hinckley. He will be a special guest in Holbrook as part of this year’s Route 66 Festival in June, when he and many others will take to the highway that continues to inspire so many people seeking a true American experience.
