Travel

Defacing Books For Fun and Profit

With two simple tweets author and librarian Chelsea Banning summed up the life of anyone crazy enough to try and make a living as a writer. “I have my first author signing at a local bookstore today!” Then later that evening she lamented to fans. "Only 2 people came...

Telling People Where to Go And Sharing America’s Story

An article published by the Las Vegas Review Journal in 2010 detailed a discovery that confirmed a local Kingman, Arizona urban legend was in fact true. Quote, “That bodies are buried under a high school football field and adjacent parking lot is more than folklore....

Gunfighters, Folk Artists, and Trains

Pontaic, Illinois harnessed Waldmire’s popularity in the Route 66 and folk art community as an integral component in the development of tourism that literally transformed the town into a destination. Kingman, Arizona has an an orignal Bob Waldmire mural, and a display of his orignal work, at TNT Engineering, orignally a Ford dealership built along Route 66 in the 1960s.  
Waldmire’s work isn’t recognized or promoted in the Kingman’s official tourism marketing. An innovative narrated self guided historic district walking tour developed by Kingman Main Street finally put the mural and other public art displays in the spotlight. But a year after its introudction the walking tour still hasn’t been included in the city’s tourism marketing initiatives. 

Route 66 Centennial, Tourism and Hard Knocks

Route 66 Centennial, Tourism and Hard Knocks

In 1926 it was simply one of the roads in the newly minted U.S. highway system. But by 1950 it was without a doubt the most famous highway in America. And today that fame has spread throughout the world even though officially Route 66 no longer exists. For me personally, Route 66 was one of the highways that we followed on our journey west from Virginia in the summer of ’59. And in June of 1966, it was the primary highway that we traveled in our epic move from Michigan to Kingman, Arizona. Then, for the next few years, it was a part of annual pilgrimage to visit with family in Michigan, in Tennessee and in Alabama. 

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Murder and Mayhem on Route 66

Murder and Mayhem on Route 66

George Lorius, an executive with a coal and ice company in East St. Louis, Illinois, was relatively wealthy, at least from the perspective of the Great Depression. On May 20, 1935, George, his wife Laura, and their good friends Albert and Tillie Heberer checked into...

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A Few Route 66 Surprises

What do you call a town that is linked to Route 66 because it was named in a song that reminded us to not forget Winona, because it has an original Bob Waldmire mural, and because it was the primary location for the 1984 movie Roadhouse 66  starring Willem Dafoe and...

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Route 66 Detours

Sharing America’s story, and telling people where to go is what we do at Jim Hinckley’s America. On yesterday’s episode of Coffee With Jim, our audio podcast, we talked a bit about the historic Bradshaw Trail in the Mojave Desert.
In this blog I want to tell you about another historic 19th century road, and a very special place that is linked to centuries of Arizona history. And I will also introudce you to a delightful hiking/mountain bike trail system that is located just a few miles off Route 66.

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Route 66 Detours

Sharing America’s story, and telling people where to go is what we do at Jim Hinckley’s America. On yesterday’s episode of Coffee With Jim, our audio podcast, we talked a bit about the historic Bradshaw Trail in the Mojave Desert.
In this blog I want to tell you about another historic 19th century road, and a very special place that is linked to centuries of Arizona history. And I will also introudce you to a delightful hiking/mountain bike trail system that is located just a few miles off Route 66.

read more
Legends of The Mojave Desert

Legends of The Mojave Desert

Little is known about William David Bradshaw. A fellow named Horace Bell spent some time with Bradshaw in the gold camps of California. In his journal he called him a “most polished gentleman” and a “natural lunatic.” He may have been a bit of both. Even though the...

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Santa Rosa’s Literary Hero

Rudolfo Anaya is a renowned writer with a long list of published novels, short stories, essays and even poems. His best known work was also his first novel, Bless Me, Ultima. Published in 1972, the novel tells the fascinating story of Antonio, a young boy growing up...

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