Keeping Route 66 Family Friendly Works Both Ways - Part 2

I don't mean to slam business owners on Route 66, and hopefully those of you who read the first part didn't take it that way either. For every bad encounter I have had, I have had 20 memorable good ones, and people I loved to meet. But, just like any other group it only takes one soar head to ruin it for everyone else. Also people of Holbrook, AZ my first posting is no reflection on you either, and I have had nice experiences in your town too. After our bad experience at the restaurant, some teenagers working at the Safeway nearby really helped cheer us up through some joking around. 

But, this part two is also about me turning the table on myself and families. As the title goes for this posting "Keeping Route 66 Family Friendly 

Works Both Ways". That means we as

families have a part to play too.

If Route 66 businesses are to become more family friendly, then families are going to have to be more Route 66 friendly. Or to put it another way we as families must not only travel the route but understand the culture of mom and pop business patronage and old school manners and politeness that it embodies. 

Obviously my entire blog is about getting families to travel Route 66, and the reason your here reading this is because you want to travel the route. So with that said its obvious I'm encouraging you to travel the route and your willing. 

But it's the latter parts we all need to concentrate on. Now if anyone is guilty of not always patronizing mom and pop establishments along the way it me. Yes I have stayed, eaten, and shopped in a lot of mom and pop places, but at the same time I have always hit a lot of big chains too. Hey, I like my Best Westerns, Comfort Inns, McDonalds, and Wendy's its nice to know what I'm getting into. But, every stay and meal at one of these places is less income to a business struggling to survive and maintain a legacy on Route 66.

It's a pretty simple concept, but we all know acting upon it isn't as simple. I mean you got hungry kids, and everybody is getting a bit crabby, good old McD's will fit the bill and get the edge off. Same way with motels, you need to get rest and don't want to mess around so a Holiday Inn fits the bill there. But, if you can plan a stay or a meal try to see if you can get into a mom and pop. Luckily, there are a lot of great resources to help you find the good places. Try Yelp, and Tripadvisor to help get reviews and make sure they are good places to stay, eat, or visit. To find those Route 66 legends look at some of the apps I listed in my "Appy to see You", article I posted recently. Also even though I guess I kind of knocked it a bit in part 1, try the Route 66 Federation Guidebook. And keep in mind the iconic mom and pops like the Wigwam Motels, and Blue Swallow fill up fast, so make sure you get reservations with enough time. 

We also need to watch our manners and teach our kids to also. When you get into the world of chains, and homogenous services, your manners slide a bit. Your kids say they don't like a burger at McDonalds no one cares. Your kids complain the Comfort Inn doesn't have a pool no one cares. But in a mom and pop restaurant the owners might also be your cook and waitress, and its not exactly polite to let loose on something small here, same way with a motel, or a shop. Your not dealing with a faceless corporation, but with people who pride themselves on thier business and the service they provide. 

Overall, we as families have to give our best too, because most Route 66 business owners already are. 

Keeping Route 66 Family Friendly Works Both Ways - Part 1

The primary reason I started this blog was to create awareness of Route 66 as a family destination, for both families and those who make their lives on the road. I wanted families to see traveling the route as a satisfying family vacation option, and for those with businesses, restaurants, motels and etc to be ready to welcome families. 

For the most part I have found folks along the route to be more then friendly and welcoming. Always ready to share their love and knowledge of Route 66, with adults and kids. My last posting on McClean for instance mentions the museum staff at the Devils Rope Museum, and how welcoming they where. There not the only place where we have gotten an awesome reception, I could mention many others and I have in some of my past postings. 

Like anything else though you do find some soarheads (sorry for the old timey term). There are some out there who seem to believe that only older folks, and adults from oversea's should be traveling the route. These range from business owners to fellow travelers. 

My family and I had and incident in Holbrook, AZ in which a restaurant staff didn't seem to want families in there. The main reason we choose this restaurant was because they we suggested by the Route 66 Federation which had given is some really good suggestions before, and even after.  The staff seemed annoyed to have a child in their restaurant, and just kind of sat us down and forgot about us well they openly welcomed senior's in the restaurant and served them cordially. 

Keep in mind my son is very well behaved but being a little kid trapped in a car all day he was a little squirmy. Even though he wasn't moving that much, one of this lovely restaurants lovely favored customers felt the need to come up to our table and say "Well since he's going to move around so much, we're going to move to a new table. We have been in our car all day and would like a quiet meal thank you!", I hope this lady doesn't have grandkids to scare. Yeah really great place no wonder why it was nearly empty on a Sunday night at dinner time. 

But this is an example of only a few of the incidents we had, only a few. Here is this steak house that has its name in the Route 66 Federation guidebook, that should be welcoming to everyone especially families instead picking and choosing who gets good service who doesn't. To say the least when I got home I e-mailed the Route 66 Federation on this terrible restaurant (the food was awful too). 

My issue is that if those living and working on Route 66 want the route and its history to survive they are going to have to learn that families are the future. Those looking for a bit of that retro and historic travel, by traveling as a family in the steps of many other families in the routes past are a major part of the routes future. Welcoming only seniors and foreign travelers potentially endangers the route since your talking about an older generation, and overseas travelers mainly coming here since the dollar is down compared to their own currency. Families are not only the routes past but its future, kind of a strange circular way that works. 

Continued in part 2.