Still getting kicks on Route 66

Although New York has no shortage of roadside diners, motorcycles, or garish neon signs, one of the greatest concentrations of these three classic elements of Americana can be found all along old Route 66 in New Mexico. While Albuquerque's downtown strip of Route 66 features dozens of motels, diners, and Harley riders with outrageous handlebars, it is in Gallup at the western edge of New Mexico where you'll find the greatest collection of honky-tonks, plus a chance to hobnob with Navajo cowboys.

Lots of towns and cities along Route 66 have lost their charm and luster over the years, first victims of the Interstate highway system, then rapid suburban development, and then strip malls. Gallup and Albuquerque are no exceptions; the entire eastern end of Gallup now features the same fast-food restaurants and chain stores found everywhere in America, and rapid growth in Albuquerque has stretched the western edge of the city all the way to Petroglyph National Monument, now abutted with ugly housing complexes.

Situated at exactly two-thirds of the 2,250 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles—the end of Route 66 at the Pacific Ocean features a Will Rogers plaque at Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica—Gallup spreads out around mile marker 1,500. In its heyday, the El Rancho Hotel & Motel was host to innumerable movie stars, many of whose autographed portraits still line the handsome wood-paneled upper and lower lobby. While the hotel still bills itself as "home of the movie stars," with the "charm of yesterday and convenience of tomorrow," it has clearly seen better days. Its restaurant contains an ample supply of faux Mexicana, with carved-wood chairs, tacky framed artwork, dried chilies hanging from the ceiling, plus more tomorrowland additions such as strings of chile-pepper lights. Obviously a plate of enchiladas was in order after a long drive back from the Navajo Nation; they were, like much of the New Mexican food in these old haciendas, barely serviceable. Adding to the colorful aura, a woman in a halter top barked on her cellphone while pacing the floor adjacent to my table, and a group of children in the adjoining Cuarto Corona noisily shrieked while slurping their sodas. Yet the charm and convenience of El Rancho remains: The balcony of the hotel overlooking the train tracks and mountains was a great place to watch the sunset, the Harley riders screeching past, and to see the kids in their baggy jeans and oversized sweatshirts hanging out across the street.

But it was a pity the nearby Eagle Café was closed on Sunday. I had eaten some horrible tacos there on my last visit, but the charm of its cavernous dining room was bumping elbows with Navajo traders. Of course, the three Navajo ladies selling blankets at the famous Hubbell Trading Post some 70 miles west of Gallup knew it was closed, and they rolled their eyes when I mentioned it—like, duh, how could I not know the Eagle would be closed on Sunday? Gallup is a huge center for Indian jewelry, blankets, and art, but not much trading was going on during this day of rest, otherwise known as Palm Sunday. While Gallup remains the largest urban area in western New Mexico, just seven miles north of Gallup on Route 491 sits Yah-Ta-Hey, the settlement named after the traditional Navajo greeting. Back off the Mother Road, I obeyed the 75 mph speed limit on I-40, zooming past tractor-trailers and the occasional frightened out-of-stater too meek to drive 75. A huge full moon rose, guiding me all the way back to Albuquerque, stopping only for gas adjacent to the Acoma Pueblo's enormous casino, whose Sky City at elevation 7,000 feet remains the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America. (Casino gambling revenue enabled this proud tribe to spend $15 million on its impressive Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum, which opened in May of last year.)

Back in Albuquerque—with its impressive 19 exits off the Interstate—I passed many fine Route 66 establishments along Central Avenue: the Westward Ho Motel, with its neon cactus; the defunct Hubbell Motel, with its faded and worn sign displaying gang graffiti at its base; the Western View Steak House ("breakfast any time!"); Mac's La Sierra Coffee Shop, with replica heifer atop the neon sign; the Americana Motel ("Special! Singles Only!! $30.00), with a curbside hooker trawling for business; the Route 66 Malt Shop & Grill, with its green chile cheeseburgers; the El Paso-Los Angeles Limousine Express station, serving Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez in addition to Denver; and Buster's 66 Coffee Shop ("BREAKFAS T ALL DOG GONEDAY FRE EW I FI"). Obviously the electronic road well-traveled sates the blogging travelers' appetite for Internet as well as for cheap huevos rancheros.

Tags:   albuquerque, gallup, navajo nation, route 66

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Posted on 4/4/2007 ( Permanent Link )
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