August 12: Amarillo to Fort Worth

[Todd writing] Megan lives within blocks of the historic route of Historic Route 66, and Amarillo is, after all, one of the cities in which Nat King Cole urged us to get our kicks. With a short 350 mile day ahead of us, we felt we could afford a few kicks before we hit the road. We started with a real southern breakfast of biscuits and gravy at "J and M's Cafe." (J's Cafe & Catering - "All Sandwiches & Burgers Come With A Choice Of Fries, Chips, Potato Salad Or Tater Tots! 3700 W Sixth Avenue; Amarillo, Texas." Italics added by author.) Had we known about the Tater Tots!, we might have stuck around for lunch. What sold us on J& M's though was that, following a divorce, it was rechristened simply as "J's", and there is still a big white space on the sign where the "& M" was painted over.

We left J's with our stomaches full, but with our souls still hungry for culture. Amarillo is an artsy sort of town, regularly hosting exhibitions such as this one:


We were looking for something more offbeat, more avant guard, less accessible, yet not off the beaten track, as we had a drive ahead of us. Few tracks are more beaten than I-40, and right by I-40 is arguably the most often viewed modern art installation in the country, Cadillac Ranch. In my memory of a National Geographic feature on "historic" Route 66, this was a row of pristine, vintage Cadillacs, planted face down in a cornfield, perhaps in a Narnian expectation that they would grow. Today, it has become an interactive installation, where visitors themselves participate in the art, by means of spray paint. It is thus a constantly evolving, and degrading, installation. What could be more American?