My Route 66 Road Trip
info@my66roadtrip.com
Clearwater, Florida
Our plans on Saturday kept shifting as I was coordinating with my brother who was driving up from San Diego.
My son and I decided to visit the Petersen Automotive Museum, hook up with my brother and then head to the beach and the End of the Trail.
Wow.
Best auto museum I’ve been to. There are many classic cars with an untold number that I’ve never heard of and I’m a car fanatic. There’s everything! Old to new, slow to incredibly fast, displays I never expected. Check out the website to get an idea for yourself. I snapped 136 pictures.
Noteworthy exhibits:
It’s easy to spend many hours slowly perusing the cars. Personally, I like The Vault the best – cars lined up in the basement. No fancy exhibits, just way cool cars, a few with signs. Here’s a few to whet your appetite.
Having driven most of Santa Monica Blvd in the past, I was not inclined to drive through a million traffic lights to get from the Petersen to the beach and Santa Monica Pier.
While the end of the route is reported as Lincoln & Olympic, somehow making it to the ocean is more romantic.
I filled a bottle with water from the Gulf of Mexico in Clearwater, then filled another bottle with water from Lake Michigan in Chicago. My goal was to pour the water into the Pacific as my way to connect an unusual coast-coast-coast journey. And what trip to LA can be complete without seeing the ocean?
But first lunch for my son, brother and I at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company on the pier. We pigged out on appetizers and some dessert. I bought a box of chocolates: “You never know what you’re gonna get.” What I got was 11 measly pieces of chocolates for $12.99. They weren’t that good. I kept the metal tin. That’s probably half the price right there. At California prices!
Then it was over to the beach, pour the water into the Pacific and get doused by the waves. They’re a whole lot bigger than in the Gulf of Mexico! And then to the pier for the obligatory End of the Trail photos and a stroll along the pier.
And with that, the westbound journey on Route 66 came to a close.
First, pouring water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Pacific, then pouring Lake Michigan water into the surf.
My son went out at night with some friends and captured some terrific pictures of LA from the mountains. He doesn’t know where he went exactly, but the pics are pretty darn cool.
And so the sun has set on our westbound journey as we hit the End of the Trail on Route 66.
My Route 66 Road Trip
info@my66roadtrip.com
Clearwater, Florida