(Pssst, click the photos to see 'em bigger if you want))
And so it begins. Ellie and I took off from St. Louis on Sunday morning. It was rainy and grey and continued to be for most of the drive.
I was surprised to see the state of the former Chrysler plant on I-44. It looked half demolished, although there were giant for-sale banners out in front. After passing that place my whole life, it was eerie to see it with no cars anywhere around it.
With the rain and gloom there weren’t many opportunities to take photos. However, there are a number of locations just outside of the Lou that I want to revisit and shoot the heck out of. Anyone want to go to Six Flags this summer? ;)
Last summer I started researching Route 66 sites around St. Louis. I really got into it for a while, but the more I researched the more I noticed that most of the “famous” Route 66 sites are closed, falling into decay, or are gone completely. It started to get depressing, then I realized…I don’t remember Route 66. As far back as my memories go, I-44 has been there. So why am I nostalgic for Route 66? Really…I’m not. But traveling down I-44 you can’t help but realize that Missouri tourism certainly is. Sign after sign touts historic Route 66 sites and souvenirs, and yet the sites that do remain seem to be unimportant to the towns that tout them as tourist locations. The sign for the Diamond’s restaurant is a prime example. It still stands next to the highway, but the hotel and restaurant are long gone and the sign itself is falling apart. No one seems to care. How will you promote tourism once the historic sites are all gone? Does all the Route 66 branding do anything to attract tourists younger than 60? I may have to come back and do a photo essay on this phenomenon.
Despite the gloom of “remembering” Route 66, there is one nostalgic landmark from my childhood that is still standing and seems like it might still be in operation, although I can’t be sure of that. The drive-in theater in Cuba was a fun spot my Dad used to take me to when I was a kid. We used to watch movies sitting on inflatable rafts in the back of his El Camino. The El Camino had a rockin’ 8-track player from which I heard my first Beatles songs. Ellie and I stopped for lunch at the old Drive in…lunch and a few photos.
Once I got to the Fort Leonard Wood area, I started seeing ex-Armadillos on the side of the road. That’s a first for me, Armadillos in Missouri. I’ve seen them as far north as Arkansas before, but never in Missouri. Weird.
Anyway, another thing you see a whole lot of in south western Missouri is Jesus billboards. Some of them literally say nothing but the word “Jesus.” I wonder how many people have religious epiphanies while driving along the interstate just from seeing Jesus’ name. Does the single most famous person ever in the last 2000 years, really need all of this publicity? Every time I see one of these things, I wonder how much charity and good Christian works could have been done with the money they spent on the billboard. I’m just not sure Jesus would approve.
One final observation from the road…while the ethics of Jesus billboards still remains undecided in my head, I am absolutely certain of one thing…if you drive a big rig and you tailgate a regular car, you are going straight to hell. I think it’s likely that the mode of transportation is more rocket launcher than hand basket too. All tailgaters should be punished with slow excruciating torture, but tailgating semi’s deserve red-hot pokers in highly sensitive areas.
Anyway, I finally made it to my Dad and step-Mom’s place in Ozark, MO (near Springfield). We hung out and talked, met my little brother’s lovely girlfriend, Chelsea, for the first time. And then Dad and I stayed up gabbing until 2:00 a.m.
And so that was Day One of my Foogasm tour, such as it was.
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