As shown on the previous map, the 'Mother Road' ran from Lake Shore drive in Chicago, Illinois, to PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) in Santa Monica, California. Contrary to popular belief, and what's promoted by the Santa Monica city officials, Route 66 does NOT continue out to the end of the Santa Monica Pier, even though there's a sign there which makes that claim. The actual termination of Route 66 is about a quarter-mile north of the pier, and there is an actual historical marker there designating it as such.

Anyway, here are some more images from the old road, starting with my absolute favorite stop along the way, 'Ted Drewes', in St. Louis, famous for their frozen custard. Now my first encounter with 'Ted Drewes' had nothing to do with Route 66. Rather, when I was working for McDonnell Douglas I would often have to travel to St Louis, as it was corporate headquarters. One hot evening after one of our meetings, one of the locals asked a couple us who were there from California if we had ever been to 'Ted Drewes'. Of course, none of us had ever heard of it, so they took us down there and after standing in a long line, we finally got what they call a 'concrete', which is so much better than simple ice cream. I mean, frozen custard is totally decadent. And ever since then, almost every time we've driven through St. Louis, if it's in the afternoon or early evening, we'd stop for a 'fix'.