Posted by ayersian
, July 29, 2010 09:54
Having spent the night at the Lake El Reno campground, we found ourselves a mere 5 minutes away from downtown as the sun was rising. Not wanting to miss out on the onion burgers of this region, we stopped in at Robert’s Grill for breakfast. Although all of the locals at the counter were chowing down on eggs, hash browns, and assorted breakfast meats, we of course opted for a pair of their famous burgers, which we have to admit are our favorites yet. Clinton, Oklahoma has the best Route 66 Museum yet, replete with informative exhibits and just about every piece of commemorative memorabilia available for purchase.
Roadfood favorite Jigg’s Smokehouse was unfortunately closed, but we found the Country Dove Tea Room in Elk City open for lunch. The creamy vegetable soup and chicken salad were fabulous, but the French Silk pie with its pecan-cookie crust was divine! The owner assured us that we could duplicate her pie at home, but we told her that we’d rather return to Elk City to enjoy it again. Cruising though Sayre, we caught sight of a pedestrian tunnel underneath the now-less-than-busy Route 66 that Amy walked through as Chris took pictures. There are a few tunnels under the road in Oklahoma, and we were happy to find this one unlocked and open for use!
The Texas state line came up fast, and our first stop was the Devil’s Rope Museum in McLean. This is the world’s largest tribute to barbed wire, and we were astonished at the thousands of different kinds on display, as well as all the implements used to create, install, and maintain these fences across the fields of the world. Driving toward Amarillo, we passed by the giant cross in Groom and the Bug Ranch in Conway, where several VW Beetle chassis are partially buried and spray-painted by visitors. Of course, we had to eat dinner at the Big Texan to see if anyone would take the 72 oz. Steak challenge (free if eaten in one hour); no one did while we were there, but a table with countdown timers was set up on a stage for everyone to watch. The huge slab of prime rib and skillet of Frito pie were quite satisfying, and they even had those creepy dual-image portraits like the ones in the bathrooms at Hell’s Kitchen in Minneapolis.
About 30 minutes south of the city, Palo Duro Canyon is one of our favorite camping spots, and the temperature dipped into the 60s while we slept in our tent! After a 6-mile hike to the Lighthouse rock formation and back, we drove back to Amarillo to find Arnold Burger and lunched on Texas-shaped cheeseburgers. The burgers were charred to perfection, and the jalapeño dressing and toasted buns can’t be beat. The staff told us that they get at least one order per day for the family-sized, 24-inch burger and custom bun! After leaving our special mark on Cadillac Ranch (see below), we finally reached the halfway mark on Route 66 in Adrian and celebrated with a slice of Ugly Crust pecan pie at the Midpoint Cafe. New Mexico loomed in the distance, and we ate an early dinner of delicious chicken crispitos (like flautas) at Del’s Restaurant in Tucumcari. More New Mexican treasures to be revealed soon…
