Episode 11: Route 66 and the Checker

Nat King Cole was 27 when he recorded “Route 66” in 1946, and it went to #3 on the Billboard’s Race Records chart. Listen to the original and that bounce will make you believe those 2,000 miles would go by in the blink of an eye. But it’s really the third verse, the one with the break, that seals the deal: 

Now you go through Saint Louis
Joplin, Missouri,
And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty.
You see Amarillo,
Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona.
Don't forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino.
Won't you get hip to this timely tip
When you make that California trip
Get your kicks on Route 66. 

The way Cole unspools all of those cities so effortlessly captures the imagination—and has for generations. It might be the heartland cities that don’t normally get name-checked in songs, or it could be the desire we all have on the road to mark progress. How do you know you got someplace if you can’t name the cities you passed through? 

The fact it celebrated a road that was the lifeline for successive waves of migrant workers or that it terminated in California on Santa Monica pier just added to the lore. If you lived anywhere near Route 66, why wouldn’t you pick up one day and hit the road until you reached the sea? 

We don’t take these kinds of trips on the spur of the moment. Driving 2,000 miles on a two-lane road requires planning. Now as much as ever, Route 66 rewards those willing to commit. 

For Ernie, that planning included procuring a 1979 Checker Marathon solely for this occasion. An iconic ride for a historic route—the world is in perfect balance. His story captures what awaits on that road.

If you’d like to know more about the movie he mentions in this episode and part of his story before this trip, you can find it here.