“Get Your Kicks, On Route 66” was a popular song written in 1946 by Bobby Troup. Nat King Cole’s rendition of this Troup’s tune rang out across the many small towns of northern Arizona for the next 30 years. America’s “Mother Road”, Route 66 entered Arizona from New Mexico in the high desert area of the Navajo Reservation and quickly brought travelers to the historic railroad town of Holbrook, Arizona.
Holbrook, Arizona is a town alive with history and adventure. It was once the headquarters of the famous Aztec Land and Cattle Company whose cowboys were known as the Hashknife Gang. It was the site from which many events of the 1887 Pleasant Valley War played out. And any town with a local hangout named the Bucket of Blood Saloon must surely have played an important role in the naming of the Wild West.
Today’s Holbrook, now located on Interstate 40 some 3 hours from the Valley, is far more peaceful than its historic roots. But fun and adventure can still be found everywhere.
Historic Route 66, now called Hopi Drive, is still main street of today’s Holbrook. It is on this old road that the “must-stay” motel of Holbrook is located, the Wigwam Village Motel #6. “Have You Slept in a Wigwam Lately?” is the ad that entices modern visitors to stay in this 1950 motel. Fifteen, concrete wigwam rooms make this overnight experience one of the most unique and nostalgic sleep-overs in all of Arizona and America.
Now the teepees are a little snug by today’s standards but they are very clean and well maintained. Each is furnished with the original hickory log furniture. No telephones nor 3-pronged plugs to be found, but modern cable TV and air conditioning have been added.
Holbrook, Arizona is the Gateway to the Petrified Forest National Park. Rock hounds will find Holbrook to be their rock and mineral Disneyland. There are so many outstanding rock shops found in the Holbrook area but Jim Gray’s Petrified Wood Company may just be the finest.
Here visitors can find the largest selection of Arizona Rainbow Petrified Wood in the world. The beautiful shop contains a huge selection of fossils, minerals, gemstone jewelry and gifts from around the world. The store’s museum features “Wild Bill”, a 2.9 million year old alligator fossil. A working lapidary shop allows visitors to watch raw gems be transformed into beautiful jewelry.
The heydays of Route 66 may be gone but the small Arizona towns that line the ol’ historic highway are still there and very much alive. You can still “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” and Holbrook, Arizona is the perfect place to start.
The GPS Coordinates of the Wigwam Village Motel #6 is N34 54.150 W11010.108. For information about staying at the Wigwam Village Motel visit www.galerie-kokopelli.com/wigwam/. For more information about historic Route 66 and in visiting Holbrook, Arizona visit www.theroadwanderer.net/RT66holbrook.htm. For information about Jim Gray’s Petrified Wood Company visit www.petrifiedwoodco.com/.
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