Driving Route 66, our destination was Shawnee, Kansas, home of Gillis, Gordon and Stewart Lauber.  Sorry G & G, Mom only has pics of the new boy.

Meet Stewart.  He is pretty cute and pretty nosy.

But he loved playing chase with me.  Sister?  Well, you know she has a no tolerance policy.

Stewart lives with his staff, Mary and Larry, outside of Kansas City.

Later in the evening, the hoomans went to enjoy BBQ at Jack Stack’s BBQ on the Plaza.  Mom said they had something called burnt ends that were very yummy and the cheesy corn was also delish.  This is all hearsay since we saw no evidence of take home containers and cannot verify the yumminess.  The plaza was still in its Christmas splendor.

After looking at all the lights, they toured some of KC’s places of notable interest.  Many buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Mom and Dad want to come back and visit the WWI Museum for sure.  The next morning we headed back home.

There’s Will Rogers welcoming us back home.

Until our next road trip…  ~ Indy and Lucy

Saturday morning we loaded up and headed out for Route 66.

Route 66, aka Will Rogers Highway, Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was established in 1926 and was one of the original highways within the US Highway System.  Running from Chicago to California, it allowed communities along its path to experience economic relief during depressive times.  Mom and Pop businesses, service stations, restaurants and motor courts all accessible to passing motorists flourished along the route.  Miami, Oklahoma serves as the Gateway into Oklahoma for those traveling the Mother Road.

The Coleman Theatre Beautiful in Miami opened in 1929 has an exterior of Spanish Colonial Mission-style combined with a Louis XV interior.  Once a vaudeville theater, it still retains the original Wurlitzer pipe organ that played to the likes of Will Rogers, Tom Mix, Sally Rand, and Bing Crosby all who graced its stage.

Route 66 had its foodie stops too such as this one: Waylan’s KuKu Burgers.  Actually Kuku burger joints were numerous across the Midwest in the 60s; this one is the last survivor.

Mom says the hamburgers and fries are just like ‘the good old days’ whenever that was. 🙂

Up the road from Miami is Commerce, Oklahoma whose claim to fame is Mickey Mantle, known as the ‘Commerce Comet’, an American professional baseball player regarded by many as the greatest switch hitter in baseball history.

We found a nice park in Baxter Springs, Kansas so we could stretch our doggie legs.

After our stop, it was straight on to Kansas City.  See you there tomorrow.  Glad to have you along. ~ Indy and Lucy