Our panhandle Journey Starts at an Old Route 66 Town called Shamrock. I grew up as a military brat and I have vivid memories of trips we made on old US Highways. Route 66 is particularly neat, because of the restoration and upkeep that has taken place over the years. I personally never traveled on Route 66, but, many of the old structures I remember from my childhood on the road.
Feel free too zoom in on the map to Shamrock, Texas at the intersection of US83 and I40 to follow along.
From Shamrock we went into Oklahoma using I40, then we took the Business 40 exit just across the Oklahoma Border into Texola, on to Erick, on to Sayre, then we drove to Amarillo (the epicenter of the panhandle) using I40 to spend the night. Between Erick and Sayre, there are still patches of the old highway in a few places ….. The pictures for this leg of the journey are below along with some explation.
The Art Deco Conoco – This larger than life remnant of the earlier half of the 20th Century is a must see for anyone traveling on I40 through Texas. Get out your camera and explore!!
This Fully Restored Magnolia Station sits in Downtown Shamrock …. Really a nice place to see!!
Wasn’t much at all in Texola …. Just this old Gas Station and a few old signs.
Erick was a little better than Texola …. kind of like going back in time. The hotel signs and buildings are clearly dilapidated, but, definitely worth a look.
Sayre OK …. I wish I had taken a few more photos, but, we were not really impressed with Oklahoma’s upkeep of Route 66. I only took a series of photos of the old Stovall Theater on Main Street. They seem to be trying to revive Main Street … let’s hope that happens!!
Without any Doubt the highlight of the trip into Oklahoma was finding an original ribbon of the old Route 66 between Sayre and Erick. There is absolutely no way 2 modern cars could drive on this ….
This wraps Up Day 1 of our northern Panhandle trip. From here, we went to Amarillo to check in and get some rest ….
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