Route 66 · Oklahoma, Texas & New Mexico, USA · March 2023
A museum, a one-room jail, a leaning water tower, a 72 oz steak and ten Cadillacs nose-down in a field.
USAIn March 2023, my wife Jaimie and I pointed the car west and drove Route 66, the "Mother Road," from Oklahoma across the Texas Panhandle into New Mexico. It's a stretch full of big skies, wind farms and wonderfully weird roadside stops, and we tried to see as many of them as we could.
Our route, stop by stop
- Clinton, OK The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum
- Texola, OK The one-room jail
- Groom, TX The leaning tower of Britten
- Amarillo, TX The Big Texan Steak Ranch
- Amarillo, TX Cadillac Ranch
- Tucumcari, NM Tepee Curios and the Route 66 monument
The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum
Our first big stop was Clinton, Oklahoma, home of the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum. It's run by the Oklahoma Historical Society and opened in 1995. You can't miss it: a glass-block building with a red neon "Route 66 Museum" sign and a red classic Mustang parked in the round front window. There's a giant Oklahoma US 66 shield painted on the ground out front, made for photos.
Inside, the museum takes you through the road's history decade by decade. It starts under a glowing "The Mother Road" neon sign, with a traffic light and historic Route 66 signs from every state. A whole wall of vintage "Greetings from…" postcards from Chicago to Amarillo says "Get your kicks on Rt 66." My favorite was an old Cross Country car with its trunk packed for a family road trip: a Coca-Cola cooler, a picnic basket, a transistor radio and a copy of Heidi.
A one-room jail and a leaning tower
Right before the Texas line sits Texola, the last town in Oklahoma on Route 66 and today almost a ghost town. Its one-room jail from 1910 is still standing: a tiny stone block house with a barred iron door. Next to it leans a stone marker carved by the "Seniors 38," the class of 1938.
A little further west, in Groom, Texas, a water tower stands in a field at a crazy angle. The leaning tower of Britten was tilted on purpose: Ralph Britten lifted two of its legs off the ground to make drivers stop at his truck stop. It still works. We stopped.
The Big Texan Steak Ranch
In Amarillo there's one place everybody stops: the Big Texan Steak Ranch. It's impossible to miss: a bright yellow building with a row of Texas flags, a giant fiberglass bull out front and an old Route 66 police car in the parking lot. It has been serving travelers since 1960, when it opened on the original Route 66.
The famous part is the 72 oz steak challenge. Eat a 72-ounce steak plus a shrimp cocktail, a baked potato, a salad and a roll within 60 minutes, and the whole meal is free. If you don't finish, you pay. Challengers sit at a table on a raised stage under six red countdown clocks, and every attempt is streamed live. The dining hall is huge, with antlers, cowhides, chandeliers and cow-print tablecloths everywhere.
While we were there, someone took on the challenge. The clock ran out before the plate was empty, so no free steak that day. It's a lot harder than it looks! We stuck to regular steaks and didn't leave hungry. The steak came off the grill with perfect grill marks, with a baked potato in foil, a jalapeño with a little Texas flag, and a salad on the side. The dessert case was just as Texas-sized: huge slices of carrot cake, red velvet and chocolate cake, and decorated cookies shaped like Texas.
5 / 5
★★★★★- Where
- The Big Texan Steak Ranch, Amarillo, Texas, right off I-40
- We had
- Grilled steaks with baked potato, jalapeño and salad
- Price
- $$$ Pricey, but it's an experience
- 72 oz challenge
- Finish it all in 60 minutes and it's free. We watched someone try. They didn't make it.
- Website
- bigtexan.com
Our verdict: 5 out of 5. Great steaks, a fun crazy atmosphere and a real piece of Route 66 history. It's not cheap, but you can't drive through Amarillo without stopping here.
Cadillac Ranch
Just west of Amarillo, ten old Cadillacs stick nose-first out of a wheat field, all leaning at the same angle. Cadillac Ranch was created in 1974 by an art group called Ant Farm, with Amarillo millionaire Stanley Marsh 3. Today visitors are welcome to add their own graffiti, so the cars are covered in layer after layer of spray paint. Empty cans lie everywhere, and the colors change every day.
Tucumcari
Across the state line, Tucumcari, New Mexico is a real Route 66 town, full of old motels and neon signs. We stopped at the carved wooden Tucumcari sign, the big silver Route 66 monument with its fins and swirling sixes, and Tepee Curios, a white tepee-shaped shop from the 1940s. It's painted with zigzags and the New Mexico sun symbol, with a Route 66 mural and an old orange Ford truck out front.
Tip: plan more time than you think. The big sights are spread far apart, and the best moments are often the little roadside stops in between.
Good to know
- Our route
- Clinton, OK → Texola, OK → Groom, TX → Amarillo, TX → Tucumcari, NM, mostly along I-40 and the old Route 66 next to it
- Route 66 Museum
- Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, Clinton, run by the Oklahoma Historical Society
- Big Texan
- Amarillo. The 72 oz challenge: steak plus sides in 60 minutes and it's free; if you don't finish, you pay.
- Cadillac Ranch
- Free, in a field west of Amarillo. Bring spray paint and shoes you don't mind getting dusty.
- Best time
- Spring was great: sunny and not too hot, but windy on the plains
- Budget
- $ Most stops are free or cheap. Gas and steak are the big costs.
Have you driven Route 66?
Tell me your favorite stop in the comments, or send me a question if you're planning your own Mother Road trip.
