Route 66 Part 1️⃣ | Okla City ➡️ Clinton

🏨 I booked a hotel in Edmond, a small town north of Oklahoma City. Right in front of the hotel is Route 66 (also known as S. Broadway St.). 📷 Notable attractions in Oklahoma City: 📍 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum 📍 45th Division Museum 📍 1st Americans Museum 📍 The Light House 📍 Milk Bottle Grocery 📍 Bricktown The museums and Bricktown are all east of Highway 77. I used Highway 77 as a dividing line and only explored the area west of it this time, so I only visited The Light House and Milk Bottle Grocery. In the morning, there were quite a few people jogging and cycling in Lighthouse Park. The weather was hot, but the atmosphere was very chill. Milk Bottle Grocery is a cute little red-brick house located in the middle of the road; it has now been turned into a nail salon, and the surrounding area isn’t very prosperous. Leaving Oklahoma City, you’ll pass through Yukon and El Reno—these are typical small American towns with about a dozen to twenty streets running horizontally and vertically. There are red-brick factories, and life here is slow-paced and not very bustling. Along the way, you’ll see some Route 66-themed elements. If you have more time, you can wander around the main streets of these towns to experience the cultural charm of the 20th century. Here are the spots I stopped at along the way ⬇️ 📍 Indian Trading Post & Art 🛖: It’s a souvenir shop with a wide variety of items. You can find handcrafted artworks made by local Native Americans, as well as coyote pelts, fox pelts, and bear pelts. I bought a dreamcatcher that caught my eye, which had the artist’s signature and date on it. 📍 Oklahoma Route 66 Museum: The admission ticket 🎟️ costs $7. The museum mainly tells the story of Route 66 from the 1910s to the 1980s—from its planning and construction to its obsolescence, and the changes in eras during this process, from the Gold Rush ➡️ road trips ➡️ hippie nostalgia. With the development of automobiles and highways, gas stations ⛽️, repair shops 🔧, Greyhound buses 🚌, freight trucks 🚚, and parking fees 🅿️ emerged. As living standards improved, cameras 📷 were invented, automobile technology advanced, a used car market appeared, and unified road signs were introduced. People began to take road trips and oppose the war, and more drive-through restaurants 🍔, taverns and inns 🍹🏨, and drive-in movie theaters 🎬 popped up along the route. As the demand for road trips grew, Route 66 completed its historical mission and was gradually replaced by interstate highways. Today, most sections of Route 66 are still preserved as auxiliary roads—single-lane roads with a speed limit of 55 mph. Running parallel to it is I-45, which has more lanes and a speed limit of 75 mph. Most of the traffic on I-45 consists of freight trucks 🚚 transporting various goods eastward and westward. The museum isn’t very big; it takes about an hour to explore it in detail. The souvenir shop has a complete range of products, and you can also get a free Oklahoma Route 66 passport! Notes on Key Terms: Route 66: Known as the "Main Street of America" or "Mother Road," it’s one of the most iconic highways in the U.S., spanning 8 states and playing a crucial role in American westward expansion and road culture. Drive-through (restaurant): A service model where customers can order, pay, and receive food without leaving their cars—an iconic part of American fast-food and road trip culture. Inter-State highways (Interstates): The U.S. federal highway system, designed for high-speed, long-distance travel, which eventually replaced many historic U.S. Routes like Route 66 due to its efficiency. Native Americans/Indian: "Native Americans" is the more contemporary and respectful term for the indigenous peoples of the Americas; "Indian" is a historical term still sometimes used in place names (e.g., "Indian Trading Post") but generally avoided in formal contexts. #RoadTrip #SelfDrivingTour #TheMostBeautifulsceneryIsAlongtheWay #USA