Get your kicks, on Route 66

The famous Route 66 passes through Amarillo. The "Will Rogers Highway" or "The Mother Road" as it is also known - runs almost 2500 miles from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica in California.

About a mile of downtown Amarillo (maybe 5 city blocks) of the old Route 66 has been preserved close to the original. This strip houses a few bars, cafes and lots of touristy antique shops and other oddities. We had to cruise by. Not in a pink Cadillac or on a chopped Harley - just our trusty scooter with us wearing stars and stripes Bandanas (just kidding about the head wear).

About halfway across the Texas panhandle, this city of over quarter of a million souls looks a little past it's prime. Obviously an important rail head and cattle market in it's day, the urban landscape is now dominated by disused rail yards, crumbling warehouses, and enormous empty car parks sporting more weeds than concrete. Amarillo still has some significant food production industries and is also home for the USA's primary nuclear weapon assembly plant. Not sure that will make me sleep too soundly tonight!

So yesterday we scooted into downtown to visit the Polk St Market. Brenda could not resist that salty/spicy palate of hers - and had to buy some spicy pretzels. Of course I had to proffer a second opinion!

Polk St Market

From there we headed off to the Sunset Art Centre - home to over 55 different galleries and a sculpture garden. We cruised around for an hour or so and met and talked to a number of the local artists. Many of them paint (or create) in a large open-plan studio where they can get feedback from fellow artists. Then they display their finished art in one of the galleries.

An open-plan studio with many works in progress

One of the many great bronze statues in the sculpture garden

After a quick light lunch we headed off to find the Jack Sizemore RV Museum. The exhibits inlcude many old RV's that have been lovingly restored and quite a few old Harleys (and some newer models too). So a must-do place for me to visit!

I thought our camper was well travelled - but this old Airstream has certainly been around!

And this is another classic. If you have seen the Robin Williams movie "RV" - then you may recognise this old bus that was used by the "Gornike" family who they kept bumping into on their travels.

Today, being a Sunday, not much was open. However we did manage to get out to "The Big Texan" for lunch. This is the place that sells 72 ounce steaks which if you can eat within an hour - come free.

Brenda posing next to the scooter, outside the restaurant

An inside shot of "The Big Texan"

OK - I know you want to see what a 72 ounce steak looks like. So I had to order one. Nah, just kidding, they cost $72 bucks and I would only order one if I seriously wanted to risk a coronary trying to finish it all in 60 minutes - which I don't. But here is what one looks like....

On a very large platter, on ice, ready to be cooked for the next sucker to try their luck!

Actually I have seen one of these steaks eaten in the one hour time limit. A fantastic (or perhaps utterly stupid) achievement- especially as the steak comes with a baked potato and a side of veggies and a bread roll - and you guessed it - all of that lot has too be consumed in the 60 minutes!

I have followed the bike riding travels of an English motorbike enthusiast called Henry Cole. He produced many travelogues of his adventures biking across the USA, the UK, Europe, Asia and even little old New Zealand. Of course he had to bike all of Route 66 on a custom Harley. So it was, that back in 2004 he and his cameraman stopped at The Big Texan for lunch. Henry (being older and wiser) resisted the temptation. But his younger and more reckless cameraman couldn't resist. I recall that he made it with about 15 seconds to go and was extremely ill for the next two days!