Roads

I have always been fascinated with roads. Not sure why. But roads, where they go, their numbers, the way they curve . . . all of it has always fascinated me.

I have particularly been interested in the beginning and ending of roads, to know that a road begins somewhere and ends somewhere, and doesn't just go on forever, to locate where it starts and where it ends. That stuff really gets me going.

Route 66 is probably the most famous road in America. I feel honored to have seen where it begins, in Chicago, and where it ends, on the Santa Monica Boardwalk in Los Angeles.

The two places, its beginning and ending, are very different. As you can see, its beginning is barely marked. It is in downtown Chicago and if it were not for this sign, no one would have a clue (although, if you go one block over, there is also a sign on a one-way street going the other way, marking its ending). I had to dig fairly hard to even find this sign. A travel guide book told me of its whereabouts. I had been by it a few times on The El, the Chicago downtown inner-loop subway system, seen in the background. But I had to walk the streets for probably thirty minutes or so before I found the signs. In fact, I almost gave up, thinking I was in the wrong place.

The road's terminus, on the other hand, is done in typical American kitschy style. There are all sorts of markers along the boardwalk, complete with many touristy shops where you can purchase all sorts of paraphernalia. And, if my memory serves me correctly, there is one shop that is completely devoted to Route 66 with lots of interesting information.

Two completely different places. I guess that probably says a lot about Route 66 . . . and America . . . and the world we live in. Neither of them are necessarily right, neither necessarily wrong. It's interesting to be able to go to both places and not discount or put down either of them.