Mother Road Icons

What better way to break up long drives than to slow down and visit some of the iconic sights along the way! We are traveling from Texas to Michigan and the most direct route takes us up to Tulsa and then NE towards Joliet, Il, which is right along the old Route 66.

It has long been a passion of mine to see some quirky Americana as I traveled. I relish stopping to see the biggest ball of twine and other roadside attractions and what better place to see those kind of things than along Route 66?

Our trip began paralleling Route 66 in Tulsa and we basically followed it until just south of Joliet when we headed east to our camping site so my round up of the iconic scenes along Route 66 begins there. Some of the most famous and pictured Route 66 attractions are located along this large stretch and I'll show you what we found along the way! This is in no way all inclusive! I know we missed a lot.

The first attraction we hit was the Golden Driller in Tulsa, OK. It's a giant statue of a driller standing next to a oil derrick. While it isn't really that old, it is still pretty iconic and worth a stop for pictures, traffic and parking permitting!

Our second stop was the Blue Whale of Catoosa which has to be one of the most recognizable attractions along Route 66. While it is very old and not in the best of shape, it still performs its intended advertising function of getting people to stop!

Stop number 3 was at Kong's Korner near Claremore, OK. It's a gas station and store with a King Kong statue near the road. It could use some paint but is still cool as a Route 66 stop!

Continuing northeast we stopped in Galena, KS, to see Cars on the Route which is a very well maintained old service station that has vehicles around it made up as characters from the movie Cars. It's very cute and a nice stop. The town itself has other murals and things to see and around the corner from this station is more Cars stuff like the Sheriff car up on a lift. As a fan of the movie I liked seeing this spot a lot!

Our next stop wasn't technically on Route 66 but it was on I-44 and is certainly iconic. It is a 66 foot tall road marker conveniently located at a very nice modern gas station! It is a scaled up replica of old road markers from the days when roads were privately developed and travelers needed directions!

Next up was the Conway Official Missouri/Route 66 Welcome Center located at a rest stop just off I-44. It has a cute neon Route 66 sign in front of the building and all the picnic areas have been decorated like Route 66 businesses.

The Wagon Wheel Motel was our next stop. Located in Cuba, MO, this is a beautiful hotel that has been lovingly kept up and is a pleasure to behold! This is a complete "don't miss"!

The Soulsby's Service Station in Mount Olive, IL, is a wonderfully restored service station that you can enter and see a lot of antiques on display. It is one of the finest restorations we have seen along the Mother Road!

The next town we visited was Atlanta, Il, where we saw the restored American Giants service station featuring several very large statues.

Our next stop is also in the running for best restored station, the Standard Oil Gas Station in Odell, Il. It features a beautifully restored exterior, some antique mechanics equipment and a small store where you can purchase Route 66 memorabilia. This is also a definite "must see"!

The Gemini Giant statue in Wilmington was our last Route 66 stop for this trip. There were some reports that it had been moved or taken down but he was in place and was in very good shape!

We've traveled around the country a lot and always enjoy seeing the amazing variety of Americana along the highways that continue to draw tourists to this day. A lot of these quirky roadside artworks are helping keep these small towns going. I encourage everyone to get out and enjoy the beautiful sights around our country!