Can Route 66 towns survive on nostalgia?
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Meillä viihdut kuin kotona hotelin palveluilla. Hotel Mats Espoon matin kylässä ajattomasti tyyliäs, aina nykyaikainen. The Documentary, home of the best documentaries from the BBC World Service.
Хлоен, welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. Today, we're cruising down Route 66. I'll be your host and driver, Victoria Craig. The mother road, as the great American novelist John Steinbeck famously called it, turns 100 this year. And in that century, it has served as a gateway to the West for poverty stricken farmers of the 1930s, to 1950s holiday makers chasing a neon getaway, and nostalgia seekers of today. Hunting down memories of yesteryear.
Sales in our gift shop are up over three hundred percent. And that's directly because of increased international traffic due to the Route sixty six Centennial.
The road and the towns that relied on it was left in the dust by the introduction of America's vast interstate network in the 1980s. And though many enthusiasts are trying to save its history and memory, some fear its time may be limited.
People are waking up slowly, perhaps not fast enough, but people are beginning to understand our country a little bit better. And with Ross sixty six, it's a wake up call.
Business owners who are passionate are doing what they can to keep it alive. But how big is the return on that investment? We'll find out on Business Daily, which explores how work and money impact people around the world. Route 66 is a 2500 mile stretch of concrete and pavement that runs from the bustling metropolis of Chicago, Illinois, all the way to the sandy west coast shores of Santa Monica, California. The highway was officially decommissioned in the 1980s and replaced by the vast high-speed interstate network that still exists across America today. But individual states still maintain their original stretches of road. And as we'll see, Route 66 continues to provide a source of freedom, adventure, and economic hope for those who live, work, and travel on it.
Our first stop is in Cuba, Missouri and the Wagon Wheel Hotel.
Hi, welcome to the Wagon Wheel!
It's been operating here for more than 90 years and still lures road weary travelers with its iconic red and green neon sign. It's where we meet Roman Rich Dinkela, a lifelong Route 66 enthusiast. He bought this historic Mother Road property, which is his second, in April this year.
So this is the longest continually running Route 66 motel. This place represents so much. You've got the Ozark stone cottages, you know, that which is really indicative of the craftsmanship that we had around the Midwest at the time. These places are neat looking. It's kinda like, you know, you own a a little time capsule and people can come here. And they can see they can get a glimpse of what it was like in the thirties and forties to stay on the road.
Speaking of the people, tell me who is staying at this hotel.
The wagon wheel I think gets probably the largest variety of people because you you have the the Ozarks around us, so a lot of people come here who are doing float trips. We float down the river. We use a kayak, a canoe, or pure Ozark style is we use an inner tube from a truck tire. That's a thing. So we get a lot of that. Uh we get a lot of Route Sixty Sixers, of course.
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