Over the weekend, my feller celebrated his birthday and when asked what he wanted to do, he of course said, “Cruise Route 66!!” So we left Bondorella to hang with Smiley, our neighbors VW Bus, and hopped on the Harleys.
There are sections of Route 66 filled with so much American eye candy, your head’s on a swivel: old gas stations, diners, classic cars, goofy Burma-Shave signs… Other sections, not so much. But it’s all Route 66, right? And every mile needs to be explored.
We live about 30 miles from the Mother Road in Southern California so it wasn’t a major trek, but we’d never taken the time to really explore the San Bernadino section. I’m not gonna lie. You have to look pretty hard to find the nuggets, but they exist, mixed in with the strip malls and chain restaurants. Nuggets like…
The Wigwam Motel.
During our last Route 66 run through Arizona, we stopped to take pictures of the Wigwam in Holbrook and swore we’d stay there some day. Little did I know there were Wigwams just miles from where we live. Brian, of course, was well aware of them, and chose this as his birthday night stop.
The San Berdoo Wigwam was the last of Frank Redford’s seven Wigwam motels built across the United States (this one in 1949), and it’s one of only three standing today. The current proprietor, Kumar, is clearly passionate about keeping the history of the place alive, and was a heck of a welcoming host.
When he rescued it ten years ago, it had become a pay-by-the-hour kinda place, complete with a “Do it in a Tee-Pee” sign. Ew. Thank you, thank you, thank you Kumar for bringing this Route 66 treasure back!!!
I’m thinkin’ this will be a great place for a Gasoline Girl event. Roast some s’mores. Take a swim. Pile into the Wigwam’s and have pillow fights… okay. Maybe no pillow fights. But the image got ya smilin, right?
If you’re lookin’ for something fun and quirky to do in SoCal, check out the Wigwam and help keep the Route 66 businesses alive and well! And if you’d like to see more pictures of weekend adventure, check out the Motor Palace blog! Until next time…
Later Gators!