Chinatown

Here's the thing, Chinatown is interesting, but kind of ugly. What can a road artist do? So far, two road artists simply walk two blocks toward Union Station and have French dip sandwiches and chili at Philippe's.

Elysian Park Tunnels

Worse for the wear these days. Due for a beautification effort.

Cliftons Cafeteria

The Old End Of 66

This used to be the original end of Rt 66 in downtown Los Angeles. 7th and Broadway. It's now a faded memory I'm sure, with it's odd smells, odd people and old past great theaters.

One little gem in the whole shebang at the end of this portion of 66 is Clifton's Cafeteria, open since 1935, which must have served up plenty of Rt 66ers in its time.

End Of The Route

This is the end of Rt 66 in Santa Monica, where Santa Monica Blvd meets Ocean Ave. In the distance is the Pacific Ocean. It's actually not even marked as being the end of the route. I guess Los Angeles doesn't care too much about a historic route like some of the other states. Nice palm trees though. Don't find those in Chicago.


But what you will find noting the end of the route is directly across the street in the park. It's this little sign marker in the grass telling you it's the Will Rogers Highway as Highway 66. Hopefully you won't have a bum or hobo sleeping up against it when you go and take your picture.

We continue our research of interesting places in the Los Angeles leg of Route 66. Stay tuned.

Carving Up The Southland

Colorado Bridge was the Route for awhile, but not now. We'll cover it both ways and Sunday. The thinking is to divide up the Southern California leg of the road into four areas, Santa Monica, Downtown, Highland Park, and Pasadena. It could change, but that's the plan.

Russell's in Pasadena

Forward progress! Russell's in Pasadena makes a great sandwich and tasty onion rings. Since 1930, according to the sign, and is a block from the historic route 66 turn from Fair Oaks Blvd. and Colorado Blvd. We'll have an entire section on Pasadena and this is just the beginning. The one drawback is the view. There isn't much of one.

Route 66 Museum

There's a pretty spiffy museum right on the highway at Victorville. The guy at the counter was very nice, and asked whoever came in where they were from and where they were headed. One guy was coming from Chicago and was headed all the way to the ocean.

The Destination

Chicago - As we travel backwards on Route 66, opposite of what most people seem to do, we will end up in the Windy City where I spent a good eighteen years of my life before moving to Los Angeles. I miss the food and the splendid lake front. It's got to be one of best looking downtowns of any U.S. major city.


This sign marks the start of Route 66 at Michigan Ave. and Adams St. Although not the real start, as it has been subsenquently moved a few times as the local streets changed to one way streets. But our end to our upcoming journey.

Other Routers

While we will be bringing an audio/video recording device or two, the primary focus I think is words, art and pictures. Jay Crim and Shekar Davarya spent the summer of 2002 driving across the country on Route 66, collecting interviews with the people who live, work and travel on the old road.


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