Richelle Hofer

My husband and I took off on a roadtrip for our 19th anniversary and we had a BLAST! We put in about 2,000 miles total and just under 500 of that was on historic Route 66.

If you’re looking for an awesome 3-5 day road trip, I cannot recommend the stretch from Oklahoma City to Carthage, MO highly enough. Carthage to Springfield was just “ok” – not as much to stop and see.

We picked up Route 66, initially in Oklahoma City after touring the Oklahoma City Bombing Museum (which was unbelievable… breathtaking, jaw dropping, heart wrenching and pretty much every other adjective you could think of. I’ll blog on that later, but until then, trust me… go there.)

The road between Oklahoma City, OK and Springfield, MO has been mostly redone into a nice wide highway with shoulders that make for a smooth ride. But there are still many awesome little opportunities to turn off that nicely paved road onto the “historic Route 66″… where the road isn’t as well maintained and you feel like you’re a part of history.

BUY A MAP – Route 66 takes many jogs and isn’t often marked well. I can’t tell you how many times we said “crap! I think we needed to turn there” and had to turn around. If you decide to take a Route 66 trip – even for a few hundred miles – I think it would be worth it to buy a Route 66 map. None of my apps nor my car navigation system had an option to let me choose to stay on a specific road… they all wanted to put me on the fastest or most direct route – oh the irony.

Coming out of Oklahoma City our first stop was the round barn. It was closed by the time we got there but we poked around a bit anyway. There was also a really cool little gift shop called “The Feathery Crow” that was right on the corner as you exit Route 66 and make the turn toward the round barn. Super cool!

CHANDLER, OK – Our next stop was in Chandler, OK. I had heard that there was a lot of cool neon in Chandler so I wanted to be there in the dark. Unfortunately a lot of the neon signs weren’t fully operational so I was a bit disappointed by that.

I thought it would be cool to stay in one of the historic Route 66 roadside motels so I booked a room at the Lincoln Motel in Chandler, OK. Let this serve as your first “DON’T” tip… Oh my gosh! It was a $90 adventure, but we couldn’t make ourselves stay there… we left about an hour after we checked in and drove to Tulsa in the dark… missing all of the cool stops along that route.

I wish that we would have gotten up and backtracked a bit to see the things we missed but we ended up staying on the far edge of Tulsa and so we just picked up the Route from there in the morning. I have heard that Tulsa has done a great job restoring lots of the historic route but because of our misstep at the Lincoln we missed all of that. If you want a historic motel experience stay at the Boots Court in Carthage, MO (more on that in a minute) and then stick to modern hotels from there.

Catoosa, OK – The next morning we continued on and stopped in Catoosa, OK. The blue whale, I’m told, is one of the iconic stops on Route 66… it’s kind of like an abandon amusement park. It was built in the 70’s so it’s not really THAT historic, but super cool nonetheless. There is a gift shop there and useable bathrooms.

Claremore, OK – A few miles later we stopped at Front Porch Bakery… what a cool stop. Nothing historic about it, but it’s a great stop to stock up on travel goodies!

Ed Galloway’s Total Pole Park – I had heard about Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park but I felt really indifferent about stopping there. A large totem pole didn’t really interest me that much and it is about 4 miles off of Route 66. We ALMOST didn’t go. In fact, we accidentally missed the corner and drove a couple miles before we decided to turn around. As it turns out, this was one of my favorite stops on the whole trip. There is a fiddle museum on the property… once again I didn’t really think I was interested and once again I was SO wrong. The gal that worked in the fiddle museum was so knowledgable and so interesting. She told us lots about the history. I bought a little souvenir and made a donation to the park. If we’re ever in the area we’re going back. I LOVED this place.

Miami, OK – Next stop, Miami, OK. Miami has a really cool downtown area with a theater called the Coleman Theater. We didn’t go inside but I wish now that we would have. You can check out the history at www.thecolemantheatre.org. If you have time, there are a lot of cool shops downtown.

Commerce, OK – Commerce, OK was our final stop before crossing the state line into Kansas. I REALLY wanted to eat at the Dairy King while we were there. I have heard that the owner is super knowledgable and the building itself started out as a 1927 Marathon gas station… original and iconic Route 66. Unfortunately the business was closed.

You have to be careful going through Commerce. This is one of those places where Historic Route 66 jogs so you have to get off of the main road to find the historic gems (like Mickey Mantle’s boyhood home). This little town is definitely worth exploring. It was just outside of this town where Bonnie and Clyde killed a police officer.

Baxter Springs, KS – The 12 miles of Route 66 in Kansas was probably my favorite. There’s more to explore here than what we had time for. Plan to spend a couple of hours on this 12 mile stretch. In Baxter Springs you will find a restored Phillips 66 Station that serves as a visitors center. Check out their website here for more information on the historic town and byway. You MUST take the byway to see the last Rainbow Bridge.

Galena, KS – Geared Curios in Galena, KS is a MUST stop. The owner is so friendly and he knows a LOT about the Mother Road. He gave us tons of information and recommendations. While we were in Galena we ate at a little Bistro that was located in a historic bank building. I recommend the french dip :).

After Galena we made a stop in Joplin, MO. The road jogs quite a bit here too and you have to make some turns to stay on the route.

After Joplin there wasn’t as much to stop and see. Lots of fun sites along the way (like the huge praying hands in Webb City), but our next STOP was hands down my FAVORITE stop on the entire trip… Carthage, MO. I would recommend spending at LEAST a day or two in Carthage, MO.

We checked in to the Boots Court Motel and I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE HIGHLY ENOUGH. It is currently being restored and they are doing an AWESOME job. The beds were really comfortable, the unit was very clean, the towels were fluffy and there was a working radio playing oldies for us to set the mood. The gal who checked us in was so friendly. She gave us quite a few recommendations.

There are SO many things to do in Carthage. Go to their website (click here) before you arrive so that you can plan your activities. I recommend the historic homes driving tour. It was SO worth it! You can visit the historic site of “The Battle of Carthage” as well as their Civil War Museum (admission is FREE – can’t beat that!). A few miles down the road is the Precious Moments Chapel and something called Red Oak II. Red Oak II is a relocated and mostly restored ghost town. There’s even a little restaurant where you can stop and eat. Get more information on that HERE.

For supper we ate at Lucky J Steakhouse & Arena. The steak was one of the best I’ve had in my life and while you’re eating you can watch riders working their horses in the indoor arena. HIGHLY recommend this place.

In the morning we had coffee and cinnamon rolls at Maple Leaf Coffeehouse. Delicious and a fun atmosphere.

From Carthage to Springfield was very deserted. If I had it to do over again I might just skip this stretch and spend more time in Carthage. There were some very cool byways, but at certain points I was really uncomfortable with the integrity of the road… and it was SO narrow in spots that it was nerve racking to meet cars.

All in all I really recommend this little road trip. I’d say this stretch of less than 500 miles should take you about 4-5 days if you’re going to do all the touristy things.

My two biggest regrets were not buying a Route 66 map and not spending more time in Carthage.

My two biggest “Must Do’s” is #1 The Boots Court at Carthage, MO (and really everything in Carthage) and #2 The Totem Pole Park in OK (and it was actually the visitors center and Fiddle Museum there that I liked the most).

Pack a cooler, drive it slow, stop and have picnics, crank up the oldies and ENJOY!