The legends surrounding that most famous of all U.S. highways, Route 66, seem to pile one atop another, and with reason. Many of the entertainers, movie stars, singers, cowboys, and camp followers who made their names famous in Hollywood got to their personal Mecca by driving out on Route 66. Sometimes they had their own cars, more often they took the bus or shared a vehicle with like-minded strivers. But Los Angeles was the end of the line, often in more ways than just the literal one. (The train cost too much for most of them, in any case.)
You can see where they ended up in a day or so of driving around the old Route 66 at its terminal just north of Downtown Los Angeles. (No, it never ran all the way to the Pacific Ocean itself. The 2,400-mile route that began in Chicago ended at the corner of Broadway and 7th until 1936, when it was extended to the corner of Lincoln and Olympic.) If you can get your hands on it, a book by Scott R. Piotrowski is the Bible of Route 66 fans seeking to know about its terminus in Los Angeles County. Called Finding the End of the Mother Road, it's available from the author at www.66productions.com.
An integral part of Route 66 is the Arroyo Seco Parkway, also known as State Route 110. It's a National Engineer Landmark as well as a National Scenic Byway, and features the only tunnels on any part of Route 66. The area around Highland Park is famous for its many Craftsman houses, the bungalow version of which morphed into the ultimate showcase here, the California Bungalow. (The best translation of Arroyo Seco I've come across is Dry Road or Dry Stream, so it does sound better in Spanish after all.)
Highlights
You may enjoy, as I did, visiting the oldest family-run stained glass business in the U.S., the Judson Studios, currently run by David, the fifth generation Judson. William Lees Judson created these studios in 1897. A noted artist, he was also the founder and dean of the Los Angeles School of Fine Arts, the first art school in the region, now part of the University of Southern California (USC). In addition to viewing the making of marvelous glass windows, as I did, you can mine the small gift store for small bags of glass beads, for example. Judson's glass is installed in the Congressional Prayer Chapel in the nation's Capitol and in the Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs, among other places. For $5, you can tour the studios and see how stained glass is designed and made. It's best to call ahead. 200 S. Avenue 66, Garvanza, tel. 323/255-0131; www.judsonstudios.com.
Another highlight of the area is the Audubon Center at Debs Park, opened recently. Their mission is to inspire the community to experience, understand and care for the local natural world, with outdoor learning and exploration for young people and their families. There are short and long hiking trails, cards indicating types of animals and bird in the area, and a playground. There are more than 180 species of birds in the Arroyo Seco, which is bordered on the north by the Angeles National Forest. The wide variety of programs here includes films, tai chi classes and string band jam sessions, to mention only a few. 4700 North Griffin Ave. (just off the Arroyo Seco Parkway), Los Angeles, tel. 323/221-2255; www.audubondebspark.org.
Galco's Soda Pop Stop is perhaps the only place in the world where you have a soda pop sommelier, owner John Nese, who is proud of this unique retail store. There are over 500 kinds of soda from around the world, and many old-fashioned candies. And yes, they have some 40 plus diet sodas, too. He also says he has 470 different beers on hand. The prices range from 59 cents to $6, but most sodas average $1 to under $2. Nese likes to point out that most of his selections are made with cane sugar, not the ubiquitous and ruinous fructose corn syrup. I tried, among others, rose petal soda and elderflower soda, as well as Red Ribbon Cherry Supreme. He also has the original Dr. Pepper, made with cane sugar, from its natal home in Plano, Texas. Galco's Soda Pop Stop, 5702 York Blvd., Highland Park, tel. 323/255-7115; www.sodapopstop.com.
In Highland Park and nearby, check out one or more of the dozens of funky art galleries. I can't get over the Chicken Boy Roadside Attraction, also known as the Future Studio Gallery, owned by the lively Amy Inouye. Her gallery displayed 666 photos of license plates with the numbers 666 in them, "A Study of Ungodly License Plates," on the night I visited. But I had to ask about the 22-foot tall Chicken Boy that adorns the roof. Very much in keeping with other weird pieces of art that were strung out along Route 66, Chicken Boy (a human form with a chicken's head) looks quite at home with the route's other monstrosities and crazy decor all along the road. You can see some of them still in this area, such as an old Packard hovering over a dental clinic on Figueroa Street (it used to be a restaurant). The roof figure, which Amy says is "the Statue of Liberty of Los Angeles," has its own website, www.chickenboy.com. Amy's gallery is at 5558 North Figueroa Street, tel. 323/254-4565; www.futurestudio.com.
Each month, there's a Second Saturday Gallery Night at nearly 16 places in the Northeast Los Angeles area. Info at www.nelaart.org. Other groups active here include the Arroyo Arts Collective (www.arroyoartscollective.org) and the Genesis Project, which insists that "creativity is the act of investigation rather than what is produced from it." This year, they "support five body-based artists" working at Sea & Space Explorations. More info at www.seaandspace.org.
If you have time, check out also the Lummis Home/El Alisal, the Dodger Stadium and the many examples of Craftsman architecture to be found in the Highland Park Historic District.
Contacts
The Highland Park Heritage Trust has a website at www.hpht.org.