Route 66 (Chicago to Santa Monica)

The Mother Road. 2,448 miles from the Chicago Loop to the Santa Monica Pier, passing through eight states and about fifty years of Americana. Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985, but the surviving stretches are a time capsule of neon signs, roadside diners, and motels that charge by the night and the decade. Drive through the Painted Desert, stop at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, eat a patty melt at a counter where the waitress calls you "hon." This is the road trip that invented road trips.