Amarillo, TX
Amarillo supplies 99% of the world's helium.
When you come into Amarillo, you will loop around the perimeter of the airport before getting into civilization.
Starting when you get on Amarillo Blvd on the East side of town, you will come across many motels with colorful neon signs. You can check them out, but none of them look very nice or safe.
As you get into the Downtown area, you will be on 6th Ave, which has a well preserved section of Route 66. There are lots of bars and restaurants, including several that cater to bikers.
The best of the biker bars is Smokey Joe's. It gets the biggest crowds. It has cold beer and good food of the biker bar variety, but no whiskey. A lot of the Texas biker bars are like that (what's that about?).
There also is Skooters down the street and the Broken Spoke (no affiliation with the Broken Spokes in Sturgis, Daytona and Laconia).
Everybody always talks about the Big Texan Steak House as a Route 66 attraction, even though it's on I-40, not on Route 66. It first opened in 1960 on the 4500 block of Amarillo Boulevard. They moved to their current location on I-40 in 1970 after Route 66 was bypassed. If you can eat a 72 Oz steak, a salad, a baked potato and a shrimp cocktail in an hour, you get it for free.
Until recently, Joey Chestnut, the professional eater and world record hotdog eating champion, held the Big Texan record at 8:52. Unbelievably, a chick named Molly Schuyler recently ate three of these meals in under 20 minutes. She ate the first one in 4:13, the second one in 7:29 and the last one in 8:13. So, she ate her third 72 Oz-er in less time than Joey Chestnut ate one!
If you meet the challenge, your name goes in a book with your name, age, date, weight and the time it took you to finish, plus you get to add some commentary about your experience. It's fun to go through the book and read the comments and see the weights of the winners. A lot of them are little guys. This is a family run place that is very friendly. They have regular sized meals for the mortals and will give you a cold draft beer in a glass shaped like a cowboy boot. It's a corny tourist trap, but overall, it's fun, inexpensive and worth the stop.
For hotels, your best bet is to stay somewhere along I-40 or Downtown. I've stayed at a Marriot Courtyard Downtown a few times, and it is modern and a bit avante guard. The rates can vary, and sometimes it's a little expensive, but there are a lot of good bars, nightclubs and restaurants within walking distance, and there is safe parking; however, it's deadsville on Sunday nights because everything downtown is closed.
On the way out of town you will pass the Cadillac Ranch. More about that later on the Bushland Page.
From 6th Ave in Amarillo, keep going until it turns into Bushland Ave then 9th Ave - Go left onto Bus 40/Amarillo Blvd - Go past Loop 335 and Helium Rd - Go right on Indian Hill Rd - Go several miles to a Stop sign at S Hill Rd - Go left on S Hill Rd, then take an immediate right onto N Frontage Rd to Bushland
From 6th St in Amarillo, go left on Fillmore St to Amarllo Blvd - Go right on Bus 40/Amarillo Blvd through the Junction of US 287 - Follow Bus 40 several miles all the way out of town - Take the Amarillo College East Campus Exit, which will put you onto Ave B - When Ave B dead ends, go left on 8th St - Follow 8th St past two Stop signs (the second one also has a flashing red light) - At the second light, go straight across Hwy 192, and 8th St becomes Hwy 2575 - Stay on Hwy 2575 to a Stop sign at the entrance to I-40, and cross over Bus 40 onto N Frontage Rd - Go straight at the Stop sign at the Junction with Hwy 2373 - At the Junction with Hwy 2161 go straight and follow Hwy 2161 South to Conway
View Route66mc.com - Amarillo to Conway in a larger map
