SHAMROCK, Texas (WLS) -- Texas's stretch of Route 66 is 178 miles so Ryan Chiaverini and his crew went border to border to check out the best of the Mother Road in the Lonestar State. Starting in the lucky town of Shamrock, the team stopped to admire the art deco architecture at the U-Drop Inn, a cafe and gas station where Elvis Presley stopped to eat in 1963. The structure also served as the inspiration for "Ramone's House of Body Art" in Disney/Pixar's Cars.
Next, they parked their Hyundai Palisade at the Devil's Rope Museum, a former brassiere factory which now houses hundreds of patterns of barbed wire and tools made for fence building and maintenance. Volunteer Mike Oldham gave the crew a tour of the unique facility, which also features an exhibit detailing the history of Route 66 in Texas.
"They nicknamed it devil's rope in the early years; people didn't like it," said Oldham. "Some of these early wires were really vicious and they would hurt animals and men, especially a lot of animals that weren't used to it."
Chiaverini's first car was an old, beat-up 1962 Cadillac, so he took special pleasure in the next spot. Cadillac Ranch is an art installation in Amarillo that features 10 vintage Cadillacs in a row that stick out of a field along Route 66. Tourists are encouraged to leave their mark on the vehicles with spray paint, so Chiaverini made sure to tag one with "ABC 7" before he left.
Their final stop in Texas was at the oldest, continuously run restaurant on Route 66 in the Lonestar State, the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian. Its name comes from the fact that it serves as the midway point between Chicago and Los Angeles, with 1,139 miles to each city going either way. They made sure to take a picture and gas up for the next 3 states: New Mexico, Arizona, and California.
"Pier To Pier: Celebrating 100 Years of Route 66" is sponsored by Hyundai