Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week’s issue includes five songs that mention towns along Route 66, a classic road trip book, five memorable meals on the way home, the creator of Whiteyball, and binary boards. I hope you like the picks and pics.
On the day after the solar eclipse, Barb and I started our drive home from Phoenix. We headed north to Flagstaff and picked up I-40, which parallels historic Route 66. We spent that night in Amarillo, Texas. The next day we continued on I-40 to I-44, stopping for the night in St. Louis. We used to live in that area near Watson Road, part of the realigned Route 66 through St. Louis.
We met our St. Louis friends Tim and Kathy Poor, Steve and Kathy Israel, and Jerry Piontek for dinner last Wednesday, most of whom had recently returned from viewing the eclipse in various locations. Here is a photo Steve and Kathy took in Carbondale, Illinois:
On Thursday we stayed with Route 66 via I-55 through Troy, Illinois, where we left it to take I-70 eastward to Indianapolis and then home.
Route 66 inspired both a TV show and a song. This week’s list features additional songs aligned with the route. And four of the featured restaurants are on that path.
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Road Raconteur (Blue Highways), Motoring Meals (Frontier, Public House, Billy Sims BBQ, Rich & Charlie’s, Shapiro’s), Musical Marylander (Maggie Rogers), Masterful Manager (Whitey Herzog), and Bored Boards
Fave Five Lists: Five Route 66 Towns Mentioned in Songs
In addition to (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 recorded by Nat King Cole, here are five other songs that mention cities and towns along that famous highway.
Winslow, Arizona - Take It Easy - The Eagles
Albuquerque, New Mexico - The King of Rock ‘N’ Roll by Prefab Sprout
Tucumcari, New Mexicao - Willin’ - Linda Ronstadt
Amarillo, Texas - Sweet Amarillo - Old Crow Medicine Show
Tulsa, Oklahoma - Tulsa County - The Byrds
Book Best Bet
Blue Highways: A Journey into America by William Least Heat Moon
I read this book many years ago. I love books like this one with personal stories about traveling the backroads of America. It came to mind as we were driving across the country last week and looking for good places to stop for a meal along the way.
From Amazon: Hailed as a masterpiece of American travel writing, Blue Highways is an unforgettable journey along our nation's backroads.
William Least Heat-Moon set out with little more than the need to put home behind him and a sense of curiosity about "those little towns that get on the map — if they get on at all — only because some cartographer has a blank space to fill: Remote, Oregon; Simplicity, Virginia; New Freedom, Pennsylvania; New Hope, Tennessee; Why, Arizona; Whynot, Mississippi."
His adventures, his discoveries, and his recollections of the extraordinary people he encountered along the way amount to a revelation of the true American experience.
From Wikipedia: William Least Heat-Moon (born William Lewis Trogdon, August 27, 1939 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American travel writer and historian of English, Irish, and alleged Osage ancestry. He is the author of several books which chronicle unusual journeys through the United States, including cross-country trips by boat (River-Horse, 1999) and, in his best-known work (1982's Blue Highways), about his journey in a 1975 Ford Econoline van.
Restaurant Recommendations
Motoring Meals
We stopped for two lunches and two dinners along old Route 66 and one lunch along old Route 40 while driving home from Phoenix. We were very pleased with all five meals.
Frontier Restaurant 2400 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106
Green Chile Stew with Christmas (red and green chile) over top
Carne Adovada Burrito
Soft Taco Platter: flour tortilla, chicken, cheese, lettuce & tomato, beans, rice
Frontier Sweet Roll
The prices here were astounding:
Public House 3333 Coulter St S, Amarillo, TX 79106
We arrived after 9 p.m. and were told that the kitchen had just closed, but they graciously agreed to reopen it for us. The service and food were superb, greatly appreciated after a long day on the road.
Wedge Salad: iceberg wedge, tomato, red onion, bacon, ranch dressing (my special request in lieu of bleu cheese)
BLT Sandwich: a woven blanket of bacon with lettuce, tomato, and chipotle mayo on multi grain bread with a balsamic reduction drizzle and add-on: fried egg
Billy Sims BBQ 3807 S Peoria Ave, Tulsa, OK 74105
Not as good as the one we visited in 2022, but still a satisfying lunch stop. I see that there is a Troy, Michigan location (Billy Sims played for the Detroit Lions), so I will check that out when I am in that part of town.
The Heisman: bologna, hot links & chopped brisket (the same choice I made last time — why mess with perfection?)
Rich & Charlie’s 9942 Watson Road, Crestwood, MO 63126
We used to love dining at the original location on Delmar in University City. We met our friends for dinner here, and had so much fun catching up, we closed down the place. After the staff had finished sweeping the carpets around us and there was but one waitress left, we decided to call it a night and let her go home on a rainy night.
Unlimited Rich & Charlie’s Famous Salad (recipe)
Onion and Fresh Tomato 12-inch Pizza (St. Louis-style: cracker-thin crust, topped with Provel cheese, and cut into squares)
Shapiro’s Delicatessen 808 S Meridian St Indianapolis, IN 46225
This is another favorite of ours where we have dined during NCAA Regionals and Final Fours. It is conveniently located right off I-70 in downtown Indy, in the shadow of Lucas Oil Stadium.
Pastrami and Turkey Sandwich on rye with mustard: Our pastrami comes from a custom cut of meat of the best cows, it is lightly smoked and sent directly from the pastrami masters in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Shapiro’s kitchen, where we cook it ourselves. Where else can you get that? THAT’S why our pastrami tastes so much better! Ours is delicious and one-of-a-kind. Served on your choice of bread (but you should really try the rye), with your choice of mustard. You can ask for mayo but you may not get it. The Shapiro turkey has its own cult following. Hormone free and antibiotic free, you can taste why it’s a favorite.
Marvelous Musician
Maggie released a fabulous new album on Friday and will turn 30 on April 25. Last week I featured ; I saw Maggie open for them at the Capital One Arena in D.C. on December 14, 2018. She is a favorite of my son Roger and his wife Cristi, who live in Maryland, Maggie's home state. I first saw Maggie on Saturday Night Live on November 3, 2018 and loved her performances of "Light On" and "Fallingwater."
From Wikipedia: Margaret Debay Rogers (born April 25, 1994 Easton, Maryland) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer from Easton, Maryland. After her song "Alaska" was played to artist-in-residence Pharrell Williams during a master class at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts in 2016, she gained widespread recognition. She has released two independent albums, The Echo (2012) and Blood Ballet (2014) and three studio albums, Heard It in a Past Life (2019), Surrender (2022) and Don't Forget Me (2024). She was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2020.
Light On
Fallingwater
Iris (with Phoebe Bridgers)
Don't Forget Me
The Kill
My Playlist
Sports Star
Whitey died on Monday. I was a huge fan of his when he managed the St. Louis Cardinals. I loved watching his team steal bases, use the hit-and-run play, and perfectly execute the squeeze play. I was glad to see the stolen base reappear in baseball last season; I missed watching Cardinal speedsters such as Lou Brock, Bake McBride, and Vince Coleman run wild on the basepaths. Whitey was a great manager, and it was a thrill to see the 1982 team he managed win the World Series. I liked the book White Rat: A Life in Baseball written by Whitey with Kevin Horrigan.
Whitey Herzog, Hall of Fame Cardinals Manager, Dies at 92 by Richard Goldstein of The New York Times
“The fundamental aspects of the game were some of the things he always highlighted,” the Cardinals’ Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith once said. “It simply came down to the way he prepared us to play the game.”
But for all his baseball savvy, Herzog looked beyond Whiteyball in developing a rapport with his players. As Bruce Sutter, the Cardinal reliever and also a Hall of Famer, once told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “How many managers can you blow a game for and go out fishing with him the next morning?
From Wikipedia: Dorrel Norman Elvert "Whitey" Herzog (born November 9, 1931 in New Athens, Illinois; died April 15, 2024 in St. Louis) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager, most notable for his Major League Baseball (MLB) managerial career.
Herzog made his MLB debut as a player in 1956 with the Washington Senators. After his playing career ended in 1963, Herzog went on to perform a variety of roles in Major League Baseball, including scout, manager, coach, general manager, and farm system director.
As a scout and farm system director, Herzog helped the New York Mets win the 1969 World Series. As a big-league manager, he led the Kansas City Royals to three consecutive playoff appearances from 1976 to 1978. Hired by Gussie Busch in 1980 to helm the St. Louis Cardinals, the team made three World Series appearances, winning the 1982 World Series over the Milwaukee Brewers and falling in 1985 and 1987.
Herzog was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 25, 2010, and was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum on August 16, 2014.
Whiteyball
Herzog's style of play, based on the strategy of attrition, was nicknamed "Whiteyball" and concentrated on pitching, speed, and defense to win games rather than on home runs. Herzog's lineups generally consisted of one or more base-stealing threats at the top of the lineup, with a power threat such as George Brett or Jack Clark hitting third or fourth, protected by one or two productive hitters, followed by more base stealers. This tactic kept payrolls low, while allowing Herzog to win consistently in stadiums with deep fences and artificial turf, both of which were characteristics of Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) and Busch Stadium during his managerial career.
A less noticed (at the time) aspect of Herzog's offensive philosophy was his preference for patient hitters with high on-base percentages: such players included Royals George Brett, Hal McRae, and Amos Otis, and Cardinals Jack Clark, Keith Hernandez, José Oquendo, and Ozzie Smith, as well as Darrell Porter, who played for Herzog in both Kansas City and St. Louis. However, in St. Louis, Herzog also employed free-swinging hitters who were less patient, but speedy runners and fielders, such as six-time NL stolen base champion Vince Coleman and 1985 NL MVP Willie McGee.
Picture Pun
“Let’s get out of here - I’m bored!” said the sideboard to the slant board.
