Inspiring road trips. Telling people where to go. Inspirational people sharing their stories on Coffee With Jim, our weekly podcast on Podbean. Sharing America’s inspirational story. Inspiring people to dream big when it comes to adventures. This, my friends, is our passion at Jim Hinckley’s America.

Obviously we are not alone in our passion for inspiring people to uncover the American story with road trips. When it comes to writing new chapters in that story, the international Route 66 community is a wellspring of inspiration.

Inspiration At Every Turn

Drive the Route 66 corridor through Tulsa and you see a community being transformed by young entrepreneur’s, visionary leadership, and passionate people. It is manifest in colorful murals, neon sign and facade renovation initiatives, and derelict buildings buildings being transformed into gems.

There is a blurring of past, present and future. You see it in the Campbell Hotel. And you see it in Sweetie Pies Amish Bakery and Cafe that opened this past spring.

The 1939 Scrivner-Stevens Co. Grocery distribution building a block off Route 66 is now the home of Mother Road Market. This is an example of how to repurpose an old building. And it is an example of how outside the box thinking can create an innovative community building business model.

Mother Road Market uses a non-profit business model designed to foster entrepreneurship. Key is the lowering of barriers by offering start up food and retail business owners space for testing and growing without the financial risk associated with launching a full-scale operation. 

For three years Mother Road Market was recipient of the USA Today Best Reader’s Choice Food Hall Award. American diversity is on full display. Vendors offer Mexican street food, authentic Japanese cuisine, Cajun specialties, classic hamburgers with a twist, barbecue, and Afrikan foods that blend tradition with contemporary flavors.

This year while in town for the AAA Route 66 Road Fest we tried Mother Road Market for the first time. I was impressed!

An International Community

Mother Road Market was an incredible opportunity to sample a diverse array of international cuisine. And it was inspiring to talk with entrepreneurs of all ages and so many nationalities. I thought of the immigrants and their children that saw opportunity in Route 66 so many years ago.

The Greek brothers that established the Falcon restaurant in Winslow back in the 1950s. The Delgadillo’s in Seligman. The Osterman brother’s from Sweeden that established the Kingman Cafe (now named Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner), a gas station and garage in Peach Springs, a motel in Newberry Springs, and a Dodge/Chrysler dealership in Kingman.

Inspiring

It is the people that infuse Route 66 with an infectious magic. And it is the stories of inspirational people that continue to make the American experience a magnet for people that dare to dream. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that Inspiring stories come to mind often as we turn our focus toward the Route 66 centennial, and 250th anniversary of the United States.

Recently my imagination was piqued when I heard about Whittier, Alaska that is billed as a one building town. A search for more information led me to Peter Santenello’s YouTube channel. As it turned out this was rather fortuitous. This channel dovetailed perfectly with my growing obsession for inspirational stories as we close in on the American semiquincentennial.

This is how Santenello describes his channel. “I make videos showing you a world that the media fails to capture. No BS polarization or political angle—just pure authentic interactions with the locals. I present the story. You present your own opinion. We’ll learn about the people of Appalachia, the Chicanos, and the Native Americans. I dive into the full range of America, from the Amish to the Bloods and Crips. The goal is to get into someone else’s world to understand them and ourselves better. The ingredients are: a GoPro, simple editing, curiosity, a search for truth, and most importantly, authentic human interactions. I’ve lived abroad in four countries and traveled to 85 countries. I’ve taken this perspective back to the USA to show Americans and the world what this great nation is like away from the mainstream media.”

If you are a fan of inspiring stories, or need a bit of inspiration, I highly recommend this channel.

Inspiration At Every Turn

For us here at Jim Hinckley’s America the road trip is a magic elixir, especially if we need a healthy dose of inspiration. We find it at every turn.

It is there in the smiling waitress that greets her regular customers by name at Clanton’s Cafe in Vinita, Oklahoma. And it is there in the gas station repurposed as a meadery, the volunteers cleaning a vacant lot, and in the work of people like Rhys and Sam Martin, Connie Echols, Swa Frantzen, Marian Pavel, Rich Dinkela, Vickie Ashcraft, Connie Loveland, and Brady Wilson.

If you need a bit of inspiration, turn off that television. Take to the open road. Take time to talk with folks met along the way. Blend the road trip with time spent as a volunteer.

Discover the magic of Route 66, and inspiration that is the American story.