Last Segment: Chicago, Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri
This Segment: St. Louis, Missouri to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Next Segment: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Albuquerque, New Mexico

On the segment of our epic Route 66 trip, we started by crossing the (old) Chain of Rocks Bridge and exploring St. Louis. There are two alignments throughout the city, we chose the 1936 “City” alignment because it took us to the famous Gateway Arch and thought it would be the highest chance to see old neon signs as the sun was going down.  @Explore St. Louis  has a wonderful map of all the alignments in the city, to see details on other alignments. As with our experience through suburban Chicago, we may consider skipping parts of the 1936 City Route because only parts have historic, preserved buildings, and it is quite slow to traverse the entire area.

Due to our late arrival, we got to see an incredible “golden hour” at the Arch but sadly the tram to the top and museum were already closed. I had been visited both before – the tram is quite small and can cause anxiety to folks, and the view from the top has a slight downward angle, but I recommend making the journey at least once. The museum below the Arch is very well done. There is so much in the city to see and sadly we were on a time crunch so we did our best. We ended up staying the night in St. Charles, Missouri, because I had been there previously and wanted to show my parents. I highly recommend visiting the historic old streets, shops, and wonderful restaurants.

We got up the next day and visited the wonderful Forest Park, right in the middle of the city. The World’s Fair was hosted here in 1904 and around the zoo and pavilion, you can see relics of this event. We then visited the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site – a house the previous president lived in leading up to the Civil War. Both locations we highly recommend.

Heading to the west, we spent much of our time on the Interstate enjoying the scenery, hopping off when we saw something we wanted to explore. Our goal was to make it to the Meramec Caverns before for our scheduled tour, and it was wonderful. We thought this tour was on a tram but it ended up being a walking tour, so make sure to wear comfortable shoes (and consider a jacket) if you go. Beyond this, we hopped off to see the old Stony Dell Resort and further west, drove the 1943 Alignment of Route 66 near Devil’s Elbow. This section trip might’ve been my favorite, I felt like we traveled back in time. This was one of the first 4-lane highways in the country at the time ad was used until 1977. This is a must see!

We hopped off at the hilarious Uranus Fudge Factory And General Store and Munger Moss Motel, before stopping in Springfield for Stake n Shake for dinner. Even though the sun had long gone down, we explored off the Interstate to see the lovingly restored Phillips 66 Filling Station in Spencer on the 1920s alignment of Route 66. We continued west towards Joplin off the Interstate which was very peaceful but very dark. This lead us to the incredible downtown Carthage and the famous Boots Court Motel, which was in a partial restoration process at the time. We pushed on through to see the Praying Hands and beautiful downtown Webb City core before finally making it to Joplin for the night.

The next morning, we headed to the short 13.2 mile section of Route 66 that passes through Kansas. There is a split just before the Kansas border – make sure and head on “W. Old 66 Blvd” that takes you into the North end of the wonderful Galena mainstreet. At the top, there is a beautiful filling station that includes vehicles representing the characters from Cars. We also enjoyed Gearhead Curios and the Rainbow Bridge in Kansas.

As we passed into Oklahoma, we took a detour off the Route to a town called Picher. This is a ghost town that was once home to massive lead and zinc mining but has since been abandon due to environmental closers. Back on the Route, we saw Mickey Mantle’s childhood home that was in surprisingly rough shape, then continued south through Miami. There is a split just south of town – heading westerly, you miss driving the 9 miles of the famous “Ribbon Road” that pre-dated Route 66. However, the alignments merge at a moment where you can see the road and avoid driving over the narrow, bumpy remains. This road is ust 9 feet wide and was finished in 1922. In this part of the state, these “auto trails” were connected together as the original alignment, until the new alignment was installed in 1935-1937.

Our next stop, and a nice stretch break is the free Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park. This was built by a local teacher who wanted to create a tribute to Native Americans. He used National Geographics to create his art, so none of the art on the poles depict the Nations indigenous to Oklahoma. After he died in 1962, the park fell into ruin but thanks to the help of local historical societies, the par has been completely restored as of 2020. This is just a couple miles off the road near the town of Foyil.

We set our sights on getting dinner in Tulsa and stopped at that famous Blue Whale of Catoosa on the way. The whale started in 1972 as a place for a family to gather, but quickly was opened to the public thereafter. It was closed in 1988 due to the aging family unable to care for the sit. Thanks to help from the local Chamber of Commerce, and the Hampton Inn, the whale has been restored, and it’s a great place to walk around, however, swimming is no longer allowed.

Tulsa has a lot of wonderful places to see and as with other cities on our trip, we did not have nearly enough time to explore. We ate at the wonderful Mother Road Market, explored the Blue Dome District, Black Wall Street, and the Route 66 Historical Village on the way out of town. There is so much more to this city and we wish we had more time to explore. Besides a late night stop at Pops 66 Soda Ranch, we mostly focused on driving to Oklahoma City before it got too late that night. 

Must-see places on this segment:

• Gateway Arch National Park.
• Forest Park Pavilion and Zoo
• Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
• Meramec Caverns
• Stony Dell Resort relics
• Devil’s Elbow 1943 Alignment + Devil’s Elbow Bridge
• Uranus Fudge Factory And General Store
• Munger Moss Motel
• Phillips 66 Filling Station in Spencer
• Boots Court Motel, Drive-In Theater and downtown Carthage
• The Praying Hands and downtown Webb City
• Main Street Galena, Kansas, and Gearhead Curios 
• Rainbow Bridge
• The Ribbon Road
• Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park
• Blue Whale of Catoosa
• Black Wall Street
• Route 66 Historical Village
• Pops 66 Soda Ranch

Tips on this segment:

• As of the summer of 2022, the Missouri side of the old Chain or Rocks Bridge is closed.
• Give yourself extra days to explore St. Louis and St. Charles.
• If you like derelict or abandon exploration, the relics of Cementland (North St. Louis area) and Times Beach (Southwest St. Louis Area) can be easily visited right off the Route.
• St. Louis has a Six Flags park if you want some extra adventure!
• Meramec Caverns – bring walking shoes and consider wearing a light jacket.
• There are several places to hop off the Interstate to explore small sections of Route 66. Unlike seconds farther east, the parallel Route 66 alignments are not visible generally from the interstate because of the foliage. However, they are easily accessible if you have extra time. We highly recommend the 1943 Alignment near Devil’s Elbow because it feels like it’s stuck in time. It is really bumpy, however.
• Route 66 past Springfield heads due west – it can be very dark at night.
• Spend dedicated time to see downtown Carthage and Webb City both day and night.
• Don’t miss the “W Old 66 Blvd” that crosses into Kansas.
• Drive around the Ribbon Road to see the Southern end (to save your spine).
• Give yourself time in Tulsa to explore, especially around the history of Black Wall Street.