route 66 – RouteTrip USA

Jim Hinckley’s Destination Spotlight: Kingman Arizona & Telling People Where To Go

Booking a holiday with RouteTrip USA is your passport to exciting, memory making, worry free adventures in the U.S. or Canada. Our bespoke holidays can also be a unique and immersive experience.

Our holiday packages in the American west, or on Route 66, include some of the Grand Circle. They also include a visit to Kingman, Arizona, a charming community in western Arizona forever immortalized in a song about getting your kicks on Route 66.

The Grand Circle includes some of the most stunning and cinematic landscapes in the United States. It includes Monument Valley, and Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon as well as historic Native American sites such as Wupatki with towering pre-Columbian ruins framed by the snowcapped San Francisco peaks.

Kingman is located on Route 66 along the southern edge of the Grand Circle. If you are a fan of craft beer (there are three microbreweries downtown), the American cinema, western frontier history, Technicolor sunsets, sunrise walkabouts in deeply shadowed canyons, or Route 66 history, this dusty desert crossroads needs to be a destination.

Kingman has a connection with cinematic history including Easy Rider, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Universal Soldier. The town is also linked to automotive industry legends such as Louis Chevrolet and Edsel Ford, and aviation pioneers including Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart.

The extensive urban trail systems that range from nearly wheelchair accessible to challenging are a portal to awe inspiring scenic wonders as well as to historic sites and desert oasis complete with small waterfalls. Some of the trails follow 19^th century wagon roads with ruts worn deep in the store in the shadow of towering cliffs.

Kingman is a town full of surprises. Phase one of the world’s only electric vehicle museum is in the Powerhouse Visitor Center that is also home to an acclaimed Route 66 museum. An internationally acclaimed distillery that specializes in agave rum is a few miles east on Route 66 at was once the WWII era Kingman Army Airfield. And a short drive of just twelve miles takes you from the desert to Hualapai Mountain Park with a picturesque lodge and miles of shade dappled trails through a forest of towering pines.

RouteTrip USA can ensure that you get the most from your visit to Kingman. After all, as with all our holiday packages, before we make recommendations for you, we test the pillows, taste the enchiladas, and make the partnerships that will enhance your trip.

Discovering the rich history of Kingman, and its surprising Hollywood connection, begins with the self-guided tour that starts at the historic 1907 railroad depot. Using QR codes audio narration by author Jim Hinckley brings the story of filming locations, historic sites, Route 66, and fascinating people to life.

Often billed as America’s storyteller, Hinckley is the author of books about Route 66, the American southwest and the American auto industry, and the developer of Jim Hinckley’s America. He is also one of our travel destination consultants, another reason that we are a leading bespoke holiday company. This is why we can also ensure that each trip is tailored to your specific interests.

Speaking of tailor-made trips, through special arrangement we can further enhance your stop in Kingman. We can arrange for Jim Hinckley to be your personal guide to historic or scenic locations in the immediate area.

Are you ready to book a holiday that makes memories that last a lifetime?

Jim Hinckley’s Destination SpotlightThis month our Destination Expert talks food along America’s Mother Route; Route 66.

Food is a big part of the memory making process. And so, inclusion of unique restaurants, trying unfamiliar foods, and savoring a bit of the local atmosphere while enjoying a meal can dramatically enhance a road trip adventure.
In Vinita, Oklahoma, casting its shadow over Route 66, is Clanton’s Café. This venerable old restaurant has its origins with Grant Clanton, a farmer known locally as “Sweet Tator”, that had a dream of opening a restaurant. So, in 1927 he opened the Busy Bee Café.
His promotional style was fitting for a man raised on the farm. At lunch time, according to local legend, he would step out onto the sidewalk and begin banging a pot with a spoon.
Shortly after selling that restaurant, he opened a new and larger café on Route 66. That was in 1930. The current restaurant with its signature sign that simply reads EAT dates to 1947, and it is still managed by the same family. And they still offer the hearty traditional American dishes that have been popular in Oklahoma farm country for a century.
In Miami, Oklahoma (pronounced My-am-uh) there is a roadside gem from another era. Waylans Kuku with its unique and colorful signage on Route 66 dates to 1965. It is the last surviving restaurant in what was once a regional chain. Aside from the expected offerings such as hamburgers and French fries, there are also a few items not often associated with a fast-food restaurant. Have you ever tried a buffalo burger?

*The neon signage outside of Waylans Kuku restaurant in Miami OK*

*Clanton’s Cafe, on Route 66 in Vinita OK*

In Amarillo, the Big Texan Steak Ranch & Brewery with its heavily promoted 72-ounce (2041 gram) steak challenge is well known among Route 66 enthusiasts. But on 6^th Avenue, the original alignment of Route 66 through the historic San Jacinto district, there is an often-overlooked treasure.
The Golden Light Café & Cantina opened its doors in 1946. As you might expect from an authentic Texas roadhouse, the menu offerings center on beef. But there is a twist such as Tamara’s Green Chili Cheeseburger, a traditional Angus beef cheeseburger with grilled green chilies or Charles’ Buffalo Burger using meat from the largest buffalo herd in Amarillo and two pieces of cheese with hot grilled jalapeno peppers in between.

A bit further to the west in Gallup, New Mexico is the uniquely styled El Rancho Hotel. Built in the late 1930s and promoted as the “World’s Largest Ranch House” it was a resort that became famous for celebrity sightings. John Wayne kept a suite off the saloon.
The restaurant offers an array of regional and traditional New Mexico favorites such as huevos rancheros; two eggs, corn tortillas, pinto beans, cheddar and asadero cheese, fresh avocado, green chilies, homemade salsa, hash brown potatoes and a warm, fresh flour tortilla.
So, how do you discover the hidden gems in the US or Canada where you can savor regional favorites and immerse yourself in local culture? Why, by booking your bespoke road trip holiday with the experts at RouteTrip USA, of course! We test the pillows, sample the local brews, and taste the enchiladas. We work to ensure a memorable, trouble-free odyssey that is full of delicious surprises.

Jim Hinckley’s Destination Spotlight: This month our Destination Expert talks about Native American history, Route 66 and festivals.

America is a nation of immigrants. There is even a growing body of evidence that Native Americans immigrated to the continent thousands of years ago. As a result, the country is uniquely diverse.
Travelers on Route 66 in October might be surprised to find one of the world’s largest Czech cultural festivals in the world. Held on the first weekend in October, the Oklahoma Czech Festival, in Yukon celebrates the town’s rich Czech heritage.
The day-long festival officially kicks off with Oklahoma’s largest parade along Garth Brooks Boulevard. Afterwards festivities shift to the Oklahoma Czech building at 5th and Cedar Street with polka bands, traditional Czech and Slovak folk-dance performances, and Czech foods such as kolache and klobasy sausages.
For more than a century on the first week of August, Gallup, New Mexico is transformed with the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial Festival. One of the country’s oldest celebrations of Native American culture highlights arts, dance, and music.
Thousands of Native American and Indigenous participants representing tribes from the United States and Canada share songs, traditional dances, and food. The blurring of cultures is another tradition, a rodeo featuring some of the best Native American cowboys from the United States and Canada.
Visitors will be enthralled with the Indoor/Outdoor Marketplace and the Ceremonial Showroom. On display is one of the largest collections of authentic Indian fine arts, Navajo rugs, katsinas, jewelry, pottery, and basketry in North America.

*The first weekend in May, the Route 66 Fun Run transforms Kingman into a living time capsule.*

Quirky events and festivals are another highlight of travel in the United States. Held in Twinsburg, Ohio, the annual Twins Days Festival is, according to Guinness World Records, the largest annual gathering of twins in the world.
The event dates to 1976 when a group of organizers were looking for a unique way to celebrate the bicentennial. They hit upon the idea of setting aside a day to celebrate twins. The first event started with a flag raising, the national anthem, and dedication of the Wilcox Monument on the square.
The following year festival organizers decided to make this the largest event of its kind in the world. Food trucks and vendors, bands, talent shows, a Square Dance Exhibition, a bicycle and wagon parade for children under twelve years of age made it delightful small-town event for the whole family. Thirty-eight sets of twins attended that event.
Since then, more than 77,000 sets of twins have attended. And one year the event garnered national and international media coverage when a visiting delegation of nine sets of twins from the former Soviet Union attended.
And for the induvial that wants to get a tan and enjoy a vintage car show, there is the Valley View Recreation Club annual car show. Located in Cambridge, Wisconsin, the event has been held in August for more than thirty years. What makes this event unique is the fact that Valley View Recreation Club is a nudist resort. This is a nude car show!
You may not want that much sun on your holiday. But adding an event such as the Route 66 Fun Run in Kingman, Arizona or a festival like Cuba Fest in Cuba, Missouri to your adventure in the United States will ensure memories that last a lifetime.

Find out about our route 66 trips

Book a holiday with us and we’ll give you $250 spending money!

Book any full road trip package (flight, car rental and hotels) with RouteTrip USA Ltd by 8pm on 15th March 2019 and we will send you a prepaid credit card with your road trip pack to use on your holiday.

If you pay 50% deposit when you book, we will pre-load the card with $250
If you pay the standard 10% deposit, we will pre-load the card with $100

This offer cannot be combined with any other offers or discount. However it can be used in conjunction with our like-for-like price matching offer.

Roadkill Cafe, Seligman AZ

The Roadkill Cafe, along Route 66 in Seligman, Arizona

You kill it, we grill it!

The Roadkill Cafe along old Route 66 in Seligman has a wonderful souvenir shop inside selling gifts such as t-shirts, sweaters and aprons with slogans such as “you kill it, we grill it!” and featuring menu items such as Flat Cat – served as a single or in a stack, Rigor Mortis Tortoise and Fender Tenders. Of course, in reality it is a normal family owned, reasonably priced restaurant along a decent length of usable Route 66. The first time we drove past the Roadkill Cafe, we were trying to get to the Grand Canyon before sunset so we only stopped for some photos, however it was on a must-visit list for the next occasion, and we’ve eaten there several times since.

Seligman, an old railroad town was founded in 1886 and is known for being the birthplace of Historic Route 66, mainly due to the efforts of the Seligman Chamber of Commerce and local business owners to get the section of road between Seligman and Kingman designated as Historic Route 66 back in 1987, not long after the last section of the Mother Road, in nearby Williams, Arizona was bypassed by interstate 40. This was well before other towns and cities along the entirety of Route 66 started making similar efforts. Perhaps this is one reason that Seligman still looks so authentic and feels like you’ve suddenly been transported back to the heyday of the Main Street of America.

Seligman, Arizona – feels like you’re in the wild west

Seligman is a small, unincorporated town with a wonderful wild west heritage. The Roadkill Cafe itself was once the OK Saloon, and the bar/gift shop area is the original building. The restaurant section is an extension that was once a patio to the bar, but eventually enclosed to make a larger building.

The jailhouse which dates from 1860 claims to have held criminals such as “Seligman Sam” and “three-finger Jack”. Apparently in 1866, four Indians escaped from the jail by tunnelling underground to the OK Saloon next door and made their getaway only to be shot dead four days later in a shoot out with law enforcers.

Radiator Springs, from the Disney Pixar film “Cars” was known to be loosely based on Seligman, and indeed as you take your road trip along Route 66, also known as the Will Rogers Highway you’ll see various locations and people who inspired parts of this fun, animated movie.

Our Route 66 Challenge

We love the USA and the culture and Americana that comes with travelling throughout the different states. One of the best known road trips is arguably Route 66 which stretched almost 2500 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Route 66, also known as the Will Rogers Highway, the Mother Road or simply the Main Street of America still has large sections which still exist in varying conditions whilst others have been paved over and are now part of the US interstate system.

American road trips are in our DNA at RouteTrip USA and has been part of Director Stephen and his wife Chantal’s life for many years. A couple of years ago they decided that they would buy a classic car and drive the entire length of the Mother Road in it before shipping the vehicle back to the UK.

Having made the decision, they waited for the right car to come along. Stephen has owned several American cars for many years and often drives his yellow New York Checker taxicab at the weekends or the original Texan Ford F100 shop truck to the office. He found out through a FaceBook group, the “Internet Checker Taxicab Archive (ICTA)” that several Checkers, both ex-cabs and civilian models were at a Massachusetts junkyard awaiting the crusher.

It turned out that a Checker collector had sent his entire collection of some 40 cars to the this junkyard including some rare ones such as genuine ex-cabs, station wagons, factory limos (known as Aerobuses) and other rare models.

Several people stepped in and saved cars from crushing and those which were sadly beyond saving were stripped of any usable parts. Stephen purchased one of the rare civilian station wagons, a 1968 model seen below in the junkyard. He also obtained a complete disc brake system from one of the unsaveable vehicles to upgrade the brake system from the original drum setup.

Whilst the original plan was to drive the Mother Road in a Cadillac or perhaps a Buick, it turns out that fate had other ideas. Funnily enough Stephen has often spoken about his desire to buy a Checker Wagon. Decision made, the journey would be undertaken in the 50 year old station wagon below.

The plan was to ship this car from Massachusetts to Arizona where friend and ICTA Facebook member will mechanically restore the car back to a standard where it should be able to complete the challenging Route 66 road trip.

We got word last night that our station wagon has been collected from the junk yard and is on it’s way to Arizona, also some 2500 miles. We will steer away from any technical details on the restoration, however we will keep tabs on the progress right here on this blog.