CURSE THE DARKNESS OR LIGHT A CANDLE
Route 66 is truncated, broken, resurfaced, and resigned. The motels with garish neon that once cast a colorful glow across the black pavement are now empty shells where only the wild things find shelter from the wind and the night. Trees and weeds fill the parking lots where tri-tone Desoto sedans, Ford convertibles, and Hudson Hornets with licence plates from Nebraska and Arizona, Wyoming and New York once simmered in the summer sun while their road weary owners flirted with waitress and revived themselves with steaming cups of coffee and fresh pie in cafes that are now picturesque ruins.
But in Pontiac and Cuba, Kingman and Rialto, in little towns all along the old highway once signed with a shield and two sixes, in places that the world has passed by, the hand of time has been stopped and then turned back by people like Connie Echols and Sam Frisher, Kumar Patel and Laurel Kane, and their families. Through them the spirit of Route 66 lives on and through those who seek its wonders, its lost treasures, and its special places that spirit is nurtured.
The venerable old El Trovatore Motel that dates to 1939 has seen better times. Just as with a weary old veteran, the scars offer mute testimony to a long waged battle with changing times that has been lost.
This, however, is an illusion. This old motel is on Route 66, a land of magic where the past, present, and future blend together seamlessly. This is the storied land where dreams come true, the fountain of youth pours forth waters that restore, and the past intrudes into the present with wild abandon.
At the El Trovatore Motel it began with the restoration of a block of rooms that included preservation of orignal tiles and fixtures. Then came the restoration of the vintage sign that had once cast its glow across Route 66 under a starry desert sky.
Then, on March 30, 2012, in a blaze of neon glory, the world of the 1940s burst into the 21st century as the El Trovatore tower cast its glow across its rocky perch and the motel below for the first time in almost a half century. The El Trovatore Motel is rising as a Phoenix from the ashes, it is again welcoming the weary traveler motoring west and east on legendary Route 66 and it will soon be the destination resort that it once was.
For more information, to book a room and contribute to breathing new life into another landmark, or to be swept into the vision and dream of Sam or Monica call them at 928-753-6520. As a bonus, the room rate includes breakfast for two at the nearby Hot Rod Cafe.
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| Just as they did in 1955, both signs for the El Trovatore Motel again greet west bound travelers on Route 66. |
The El Trovatore Motel is but one manifestation of Route 66 as an elixir, a tonic that restores youth and inspires dreams. In Needles, California, Ed Klien of the Route 66 World group has been assisting the owners of the historic 66 Motel, now an apartment complex, in the refurbishment of their classic sign and is seeking assistance. Here is another opportunity to join the Route 66 community and lend a hand in the turning back of time.
All along America’s most famous highway, the curtain that separates the past from the present has worn quite thin allowing what once was to appear as new. In Rialto it is the Wigwam Motel and in Tucumcari, the Blue Swallow Motel and Motel Safari. In Cuba it is the Wagon Wheel Motel and in Carthage, the Boots Motel. In Litchfield it is the Ariston Cafe and in Atlanta, the Palms Grill.
Now, in Kingman, it is the El Trovatore Motel.
