Route 66 in New Mexico - Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Rattlesnakes

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]Well, good morning my friends and welcome to beautiful downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico where we are continuing a west to east Route 66 journey for the 100th anniversary. And as you can see by all the signage down here, old Route 66 cuts right through downtown Albuquerque, which as you can see has changed a lot and had a lot of new buildings added in the last hundred years and yet still has more than its fair share of historic theaters and old buildings. There's even a little of my personal ancient history right here in downtown Albuquerque because of course I used to tour the country in punk rock bands. And this is one of the places I played right here at the Launchpad right in downtown Albuquerque right on old Route 66. There is well over a hundred years of just layers of different styles of building. Look at this beautiful art deco building right next door to the Launchpad. Amazing. Or take a look at this. One of the most famous historic buildings in downtown Albuquerque along Old Route 66, the Kimmo Theater, which opened in 1927, just a year after Route 66 got here to Albuquerque. It was a sumptuous movie palace that mixed the Pueblo architecture style with the modern art deco. It's considered a very rare, one-of-a-kind historic gem. People come from all around the world traveling Route 66 to stop and get a photo of the Kimmo. And that's a couple of French tourists right over there taking photos.

[00:01:21]But kitty corner from it is another historic building, the Bliss Building.

[00:01:26]And look at this. Things are not so blissful at the Bliss Building. As of this moment, as of May 2026, about a month ago, they had to redtag the building and then it suffered a building collapse. This was home to the famous Route 66 institution, Lindy's Diner over there. Looks like Lindy's Diner is going to be closed for the time being. And with the side of the building off like this, it just reminds me of the end of Mars Attacks. You know, I hope they get that touched up soon. Best I can tell, the Bliss building was actually built in 1905. So, it even predates Route 66 out here in old downtown Albuquerque. But anyways, as historic and interesting as all these buildings are in downtown Albuquerque, that's not why we actually came down here today. We came for a very special, almost one-of-a-kind Route 66 location. A lot of people have stood on the corner in Winslow, Arizona. But have you ever stood on the corner of Route 66 and Route 66? Oh, that's right. This intersection in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Fourth and Central, has got two historic alignments of Route 66 running right through it. Fourth Street right here was the original Route 66, dating all the way back to 1926, 100 years ago. This gets a little technical, a little nerdy, but it's important that I explain it at the beginning of this particular video.

[00:02:45]Well, Route 66 used to go north and south through downtown Albuquerque cuz if you're going eastbound like us, it used to swing wildly to the south, then cut up north through Albuquerque along Fourth Street all the way up to Santa Fe, New Mexico, the capital of New Mexico. That old original alignment of Route 66 going up to Santa Fe was later by pass underneath in 1937 by a new section of Route 66 that just simply went east to west. It's known as the Santa Fe cutoff, which came right through downtown Albuquerque on Central Avenue, meaning the new 1937 and onwards Route 66, crossed right over the 1926 to 1937 Route 66, 4th Street. Yes, that gets a little technical and a little complicated, but if you come out here to this intersection, you'll see a Route 66 sign going one way and then on the opposite corner, a historic Route 66 sign going the other way. It's double Route 66. Double Route 66 signs on every corner. GET YOUR KICKS ON DOUBLE 66.

[00:03:48]RIGHT. I love the metal signage they've put up along Central Avenue for Route 66. That is very cool. The Central Avenue portion just in Albuquerque is 18 miles long. 18 miles worth of old historic buildings, old Route 66 motel and businesses and gas stations. We got a long adventure ahead of us today, so we don't have time for all 18 miles worth. But I do want to check out one other thing on Central Avenue and then one very epic thing right off Central Avenue. First off, just a couple blocks west of here is something absolutely legendary on Route 66. And honestly, probably even better known than Double 66 back there. It's the Dog House. If memory serves, it originally opened in 1948 a couple blocks away by a guy named Frank me. It moved to this location in the 1960s, but moved its iconic 1950s neon wiener dog sign with it to the new location. Nowadays, it's probably more famous for being featured in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul than for being a Route 66 institution for old Mother Road travelers. That's exactly why it's famous, as well as for its famous tasty hot dogs and Fredo pies. of London is going to try something from the dog house right now because I have celiac disease and I can't eat hardly anything out here but he can. We're just out to peruse the menu. Look over the menu for a second cuz you don't actually order at the window now. They have a car hop that comes to you. So London's pulling around bringing the car out to the front and he's going to make an order. If I know my son at all though and I think I do.

[00:05:14]There's no way he's going for freeto pie. He's like what the heck is that?

[00:05:17]>> All right, the car hop has been lured over to the car. What'd you order, London?

[00:05:20]>> A halflong chili with cheese. Halflong chili. So half a foot long, I guess, >> cuz the top of the menu says foot long chili with cheese. So >> the perfect road trip food. Chili. Let's put some chili dog in our belly. 6 in of gurgles.

[00:05:34]>> Oh, here it comes.

[00:05:35]>> Oh, nice.

[00:05:36]>> Yeah. Ooh. And there it is. There's the halflong. What is it called? The half long chili. The half long chili with cheese. So you see the cheese. I see the chili though.

[00:05:48]Now we see if it's good. Take it as a bite. Oh, that's a big bite, too. Is it good?

[00:05:54]>> Yeah.

[00:05:55]>> Worth it?

[00:05:56]>> Yeah. I didn't think it was worth it.

[00:05:57]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:05:58]>> He was just complaining. He was like, "It's so hot." I'm like, "It's called a hot dog, not a cold dog." Anyway, sometime we'll have to come by here and see this dog all lit up with his neon wagging its neon tail.

[00:06:08]>> Right now, we're moving on because we want to see a different animal. Just a couple blocks up from the dog house.

[00:06:13]Literally pretty much walking distance, actually. Is this Albuquerquey's old town? And it may be an old town, but this is a brand new epic neon sign beckoning in Route 66 visitors. When they realigned Route 66 and created that east west version on Central Avenue, they ran it right past the oldest part of the city. And for the 100th anniversary, for the centennial celebration, they've put in this new neon sign. I like that. on Route 66 in 1706. Albuquerque indeed is a very old town established by the Spaniards between Mexico City and their capital up in Santa Fe. It became a part of Mexico in 1821, part of the United States in 1846. It was actually controlled by the Confederates during the Civil War for a time. There was even some Civil War skirmishing here in Albuquerque. And so now if you come down to the plaza in old town, you've got layers of history dating back from literal concistadors to Mexican independence history to MexicanAmerican war history to civil war history where some of the hosiendas in the plaza served as basically fortresses to classic heyday of the American road trip route 66 history to breaking bad tourism and beyond. Look at this building on the plaza Casa de Armyho right here. here. It houses several businesses now and lots of Native American vendors out front. This was built in 1706 originally occupied by the Army Miho family because of its thick adobe walls was literally used as a fort during the uh various conflicts that played out in Albuquerque and was restored in 1930 after the big boom in tourism because of Route 66. See, I love walking around places this historic. 300 years of history down here. But for me, for the modern Route 66 traveler who loves roadside attractions, it's got one very special location indeed, the Rattlesnake Museum and Gift Shop, which is technically closed today. Luckily, we've been pretty chummy with the owner for the last couple of years. And so, we're about to go inside on cage cleaning day.

[00:08:19]Get out of here, pigeons, before they feed you to the rattlesnakes. Run for your lives.

[00:08:22]>> All right. This is Bob Meyers, the owner and operator of the what is it? American International Rattlesnake Museum. You got it right. Is that the full title?

[00:08:30]Who >> ever gets it right?

[00:08:31]>> How long have you been here?

[00:08:33]>> 36 years.

[00:08:34]>> 36 years.

[00:08:35]>> I just uh just hit 36 years on the 5th of May.

[00:08:38]>> That's like more than a third of Route 66's history. It is that you've been part of it. How many animals are in here? 80 something. You said >> 81.

[00:08:47]>> Do you know how many poison or venomous?

[00:08:49]Sorry, I almost said poisonous.

[00:08:50]>> Oh, you're good. How many venomous snakes?

[00:08:52]>> We've got uh Oh gosh, at least half of those are are venomous.

[00:08:57]>> And today is And today is cage cleaning day. So, you have to handle all of those venomous snakes.

[00:09:03]>> That's why I've got you in London here.

[00:09:04]>> Oh no. You're a brave man, Bob. I was going to say >> the load here.

[00:09:08]>> Yeah, London, get ready, dude. Look at that. There are so many snakes. There's just something sexy about snakes. That's a joke I always make and yet I don't I don't always relish touching them. But how'd you get started with snakes when you were a kid? Did you have been into reptiles since I was a little kid and I tell people my dad thought I had the reptile gene in the family cuz nobody else was interested but yeah I've been into reptiles since I was about three and um always kept them always had them at home. Were you keeping them? So you were keeping them before Oh look at that one's camouflaged so well back there.

[00:09:39]You were keeping them before you had a museum.

[00:09:41]>> Yeah. Oh yeah. I was a high school biology teacher before this. I told you that before.

[00:09:46]>> No.

[00:09:47]>> Yeah. And now you're >> six years. That was way too scary. So I went back to rattlesnakes.

[00:09:52]>> What?

[00:09:53]>> And look at that. Look at that freaking snake right there. Okay, so Bob was telling us about the secret process of getting all the venomous snakes out and feeding them, which we can't show you.

[00:10:04]>> It's top secret because >> you don't want people trying to reach their hands in and grab the rattlesnakes. That would be bad, right?

[00:10:11]>> Oh, I like that you have this. Oh, you have it for glare reduction. Look at this.

[00:10:15]>> Bob's professional. It does help.

[00:10:17]>> Look at this. This is Gracie. She's normally outside, right, in that thing.

[00:10:21]>> Yeah, she's outside when it's warm enough and she stays inside when it's not.

[00:10:24]>> But look at that. She got to run of the place whenever the place is closed.

[00:10:28]Okay. Now, I just asked you a second ago and I'm sorry to make you repeat it if you ever have to catch snakes and you say you have to do rescue operations, right?

[00:10:36]>> We do rescues. People can call us with snakes, nuisance snakes in their yard and we go pick them up.

[00:10:42]>> So, you'll go save people from rattlesnakes. We save the rattlesnakes from the people.

[00:10:47]>> Yeah, you know how that goes. Uh yeah, we do that um almost every day. That's crazy.

[00:10:54]>> Couple hundred a year. And uh yeah, some of them if they're injured, we bring them back here. If it's the end of the season, you know, it's starting to get cold out, we'll bring them back and hold them here until the spring and then release that.

[00:11:06]>> Oo, look at that.

[00:11:08]>> He's saying hi.

[00:11:09]>> Okay, so that's a Mexican West Coast rattlesnake.

[00:11:13]You were saying he's very young and energetic and he is. He's got his eyes on us right there.

[00:11:17]>> He is. One of these days he will probably be the biggest snake here.

[00:11:21]>> So, how long does it take you to clean out every cage then? Cuz you have to take each guy out. Be careful.

[00:11:27]>> Yeah. Well, we do a big cleaning on on Mondays. So, three of us will work for 4 hours probably.

[00:11:34]>> Wow.

[00:11:35]>> Then we do spot cleaning.

[00:11:38]>> Look at that.

[00:11:39]>> During the week, >> they're so active today. They haven't been looked at all day. Well, like normal, >> they they're doing it for you. Yeah. I wanted to tell you about some of the more potently venomous snakes. This uh South American rattlesnake probably has the most potent venom among the rattlesnakes.

[00:11:55]>> Okay.

[00:11:55]>> But in North America, in the United States, the tiger rattlesnake here to the left probably has the most potent venom. The Mojave rattlesnake gets so much attention.

[00:12:06]>> Yeah, I was going to say the Mojave green or whatever.

[00:12:08]>> Yeah, just Mojave. But this one probably has a more potent venom. It's a small snake. Thank goodness.

[00:12:16]Not nearly the size of a western diamond back.

[00:12:19]>> Western diamond back is dangerous because of its size.

[00:12:23]>> So if it's bigger, it can squirt more venom into you.

[00:12:26]>> It's got more venom in in bigger venom sacks >> and like a bigger reach, too, obviously.

[00:12:31]Yeah.

[00:12:31]>> So it can it can get you. I love how active these guys are all so curious today.

[00:12:36]>> That's the faded rattlesnake. Ah, mostly western Colorado and eastern Utah.

[00:12:43]>> So, there's so many different ones. I just always think about um just the plain old rattlesnake. I guess growing up in Southern California, I don't know which one that would be.

[00:12:51]>> Well, in your area, two rattlesnakes.

[00:12:53]The >> the red diamond rattlesnake and the southern Pacific rattlesnake.

[00:12:58]>> Okay, that's the one I'm think I'm most familiar. But how >> how many venomous snakes do we have in the United States? Like up in North America? Oh gosh. Probably in the neighborhood of 30 32.

[00:13:09]>> That's a lot. That's more than I was expecting. Well, I hope I don't step on them. I like how I'm always like, you don't like to use the words like aggressive. You'll say defensive. You You're a defender of the snakes. Yes.

[00:13:20]>> You're their voice. Yeah.

[00:13:22]>> Well, they need a voice. They really are not aggressive animals. They're not the kind of animal that'll chase you down. I have a lot of talks with school groups and we talk about animals out there that think of people as food. Now, maybe we could call them aggressive and that'd be things like polar bears, >> saltwater crocodiles, but not snakes.

[00:13:44]Snakes keep to themselves. Hikers and campers tell me all the time they haven't seen a rattlesnake in the wild.

[00:13:50]And I tell them that they snakes have probably seen them.

[00:13:53]>> Yeah, they've probably seen you.

[00:13:54]>> And they'll sit still. They'll stay out of the way. They'll be quiet. Their first line of defense is to be quiet, not to sound off. They don't want to, you know, that confrontation. It never goes well for this snake.

[00:14:09]>> Well, I was going to say too that like uh rattlesnake museums or displays or the old snake pits or herptoriums, they're like a Route 66 tradition, but the old school ones were all like really exploitative. Look at the deadly snake.

[00:14:21]Check out this pit of deadly snakes. You what you've done here is something totally different. And it's like educational and you've been teaching people like to understand the snakes.

[00:14:30]>> Exactly.

[00:14:30]>> For more than 30 years on Route 66.

[00:14:33]You've changed the game, Bob.

[00:14:35]>> Okay. Well, thanks. Yeah, we're we've been here a long time now.

[00:14:39]>> And you were talking we've been here um >> more than a third of the time that Route 66 has been around, >> but uh also we've been here about um well, more than a quarter of the time that New Mexico's been a state.

[00:14:53]>> I never thought about that. And about a seventh of the time that this country's been a country.

[00:14:58]>> That's amazing.

[00:14:59]>> It's Yeah, we've been been here a while.

[00:15:00]>> You got some You don't look that old.

[00:15:02]>> Well, I'm only 14.

[00:15:05]>> Oh, he doesn't like me.

[00:15:06]>> He's coming up to see you now. He likes you. He's like a puppy dog. He's wagging his tail.

[00:15:10]>> So, that's a friendly It's a friendly rattle.

[00:15:12]>> He's been here since she was born. She's used to seeing people. She just likes to hear herself.

[00:15:19]>> Okay. Yeah. This This is an emperor scorpion. big species of scorpion that just came in the other day. It's actually handleable. It's big and scary, >> okay?

[00:15:28]>> But it's handable. And I just wanted to show you what it looked like under blacklight.

[00:15:34]He's way down in that cave. You just can barely see.

[00:15:37]>> Oh my gosh.

[00:15:38]>> Now watch what happens though.

[00:15:42]>> Oh my gosh.

[00:15:43]>> Isn't that wild?

[00:15:45]>> Oh, it doesn't like to focus on him.

[00:15:47]That is a big scorpion. Okay, Bob. I've been out here many times. By the way, this is Bob's friend Daryl. Hey, Daryl.

[00:15:52]How's it going?

[00:15:53]>> Pretty good.

[00:15:54]>> And hat on, doesn't he?

[00:15:55]>> Yes, he does. I have learned a lot from you about the snakes. I've learned to appreciate them and respect them. Where we diverge >> is the spiders.

[00:16:04]>> I don't think I could ever get used to the spiders.

[00:16:07]>> You know, a lot of people have problems with the spiders. Some of these snakes are so big and have such potent venom that they could do some damage, some serious damage, even kill you. And uh you'd have a problem if you got too close to one of them, but a little spider like that that you can stomp the life out of.

[00:16:25]>> A little spider >> just scares the heck out of people.

[00:16:28]>> I know. It's something about the legs.

[00:16:29]>> It It's got to be too many legs.

[00:16:31]>> They have too many legs. And for some people, snakes have too few, >> right?

[00:16:35]>> You know, that's the issue. It's the number of legs I think causes the phobias.

[00:16:38]>> Okay. There's a lot more to this museum than just the snakes. But just on the topic of snakes, my favorite part is you have like the uh rattlesnake linament.

[00:16:46]You have the literal snake oil in the display cases.

[00:16:50]>> But then you were showing me your favorite thing.

[00:16:53]>> Yeah.

[00:16:53]>> Is this your dad got that at an antique shop? It's an opium casket. So that's like an opium storage device.

[00:17:02]>> Yeah. It's a humidor for opium.

[00:17:04]>> A humidor for opium.

[00:17:05]>> Yeah. He got that in the 1930s when he was 5 years old >> and um had that all his life. was in his office and I grew up with that. So when he gave that to us for the the Rattlesnake Museum, it meant a lot. Now I actually collect those and I've got about a dozen of them in our collection.

[00:17:26]>> Did you ever find any opium in any of them?

[00:17:27]>> No, never did.

[00:17:28]>> Okay.

[00:17:31]>> You have a lot of other stuff in here that makes it like a crazy roadside attraction. You've got your >> This is a new thing. The Funko Pops.

[00:17:36]>> The Funko Pops.

[00:17:37]>> All these are reptile related related.

[00:17:40]>> I love that. Oh yeah, you got Ka up here. Look, Mr. Toad. Now, Mr. Toad's not a reptile, Bob. I just caught you out.

[00:17:48]>> Amphibian, but he's what we would call a herp. A reptile or amphibian. And so, he he's a herp.

[00:17:55]>> He's a herp. These are herps.

[00:17:58]>> We got herps everywhere.

[00:17:59]>> Salamanders are herpes, but frogs and toads.

[00:18:02]>> The bad thing about herps is I heard you can't get rid of them.

[00:18:05]>> Native American pieces of art, jewelry, pottery, baskets. Uh these these are fun on the top shelf. These are called fetishes. They're carved out of stone.

[00:18:18]Uh different animals, but they become little pieces of art. And I don't know how close you can get to those, but some are just incredibly well done.

[00:18:26]>> That is so cool. See, I'm very tempted to make a connection between fetishes and herps, but I'm I am way too mature to do that. Luckily, I'm very mature.

[00:18:35]Then this is amazing.

[00:18:37]>> Steve Irwin Memorial. This collection, half of it has been sent to us by our visitors. They see what we've got and they think of something they they've been keeping at home in the closet for years. And so they send it on and we put it put it out here for display.

[00:18:52]>> So cool.

[00:18:54]>> Up here is his wife's wife Terry's shirt from their early days together.

[00:18:59]>> And now both of his kids are like carrying it on. And Robert and Bindy and they got their I follow them on Instagram. I'm always watching them do their thing. For whatever it's worth, Robert and and I share the same first name.

[00:19:11]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:19:12]>> The same interest in reptiles and the same birth date.

[00:19:15]>> So, hopefully he'll come here one day.

[00:19:16]>> He and I need to have a birthday party together. Molly the Hila monster.

[00:19:21]>> Molly the Hila monster.

[00:19:22]>> She will be 38 years old this year. The oldest living hila monster ever, as far as we know, >> really.

[00:19:29]>> So, she's doing amazingly well.

[00:19:31]Typically, 10 or 20 years is is just about it for a Hila monster. See, she's really doing well.

[00:19:38]>> 38 years old.

[00:19:39]>> 38.

[00:19:40]>> Dang. So, she's older than the museum.

[00:19:42]>> Older than me.

[00:19:43]>> And almost Yeah. And almost as old as me.

[00:19:45]>> Uhhuh.

[00:19:46]>> Molly the Hila. Now, Hila Monsters are also venomous, right?

[00:19:49]>> They are.

[00:19:49]>> Okay. So, that can that thing could hurt you >> if it wanted to if it needed.

[00:19:53]>> Not kill you, but make again make you feel like you're dying.

[00:19:56]>> Yeah.

[00:19:57]>> Or would want to die.

[00:19:58]>> I've known quite a few researchers and zoo workers that have been bitten by Gila monsters. They don't have anything good to say about that. Right. But if you respect the animals, they'll respect you back.

[00:20:09]>> Yeah. If you see one in the wild, leave it alone. Stand back. Take some pictures. Fun to show off the pictures, but leave them alone. They don't want to be touched.

[00:20:19]>> Yeah. # don't mess with Molly.

[00:20:21]>> As as slow as she lers around, uh, if you try to grab her by the tail, she'll let you know how fast she can turn. And, uh, you'll be sorry you you got that close. There's so much stuff hiding in this museum. Look at that. True life adventure. And this is an original one, right?

[00:20:39]>> That's an original.

[00:20:40]>> An original Walt Disney's True Life Adventure. Prowers of the Everglades. I like this too over here. Voodoo Rituals on an island of evil. Boris Caroff in Snake People.

[00:20:54]I told you there's just something sexy about snakes.

[00:20:57]>> A lot of those have been sent to us by zoo curators and keepers. I've never even noticed all of these. I mean, I've seen yours because you've got Python out there. The whole world's seen yours if they've come to the museum. Oh, I like that one. H.

[00:21:10]You never know when I need you.

[00:21:12]>> They all have stories. That license plate you pointed to.

[00:21:16]>> Yeah.

[00:21:16]>> Was on a Shelby Cobra in a car show here in Albuquerque. And I say, "If you ever get rid of that plate, I want to talk to you."

[00:21:22]>> Oh, yeah. We can't skip the bottle collection right behind the sp the spiders were distracting me earlier. But >> yeah, they do.

[00:21:28]>> I mean, that's amazing. this series of beers called Tuittara. It's the name of a micro brewery in New Zealand.

[00:21:36]>> That's amazing. Okay.

[00:21:38]>> I told Bob I'm going to come back sometime and we'll go room by room cuz he started doing guided tours now, which is handy cuz normally you're trapped back there and we don't get this kind of insider information. But look at this.

[00:21:50]>> Private tours.

[00:21:50]>> I had to show this.

[00:21:51]>> Yeah. Look at this.

[00:21:52]>> I made it next to the awards onto the door.

[00:21:58]I feel so honored.

[00:21:59]>> Well, you're special.

[00:22:01]>> And now we're going to trade hats.

[00:22:04]>> Awesome. All right, we spent quite a bit of time with our friends at the Rattlesnake Museum, and now we're off.

[00:22:10]Got to hit the road. We're going to leave Albuquerque now and head down Old Route 66. The question is, like I said, there's two different paths to take, right? The original alignment up to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Do we take that or do we just head straight east across New Mexico on the Santa Fe cutoff? Well, we actually wrestled with that question all night last night until I decided that I can't decide.

[00:22:32]>> And so, we're going to do both. We're going to do this the cheat code way. If we cheat and use the freeway, Santa Fe is only about an hour away. And if you can double up on your ancient Spanish towns on Route 66 and do two in one day, why wouldn't you? All right. Right.

[00:22:48]Well, we finally left the freeway and met back up with old pre1937 Route 66 heading into the town of Santa Fe. Not that you'd know to look at it because nowadays this street is uh pretty wide and pretty modern and you're a lot more likely to see a Walmart or a Pueblo architecture style Panda Express than you are to see an old Route 66 motel. They have widened this road considerably. As the road narrows up ahead, there is one prominent exception to the rule. Welcome to the El Ray Court, an original old Route 66 motel built in 1936. Unfortunately, just one year before the road out front would no longer be Route 66, right? It would be rerouted through Albuquerque. But originally, it was built as an old school Route 66 adobe style auto court.

[00:23:41]would have had garages between the rooms and the whole thing. Fortunately for the L, it was one of those rare instances where it survived Route 66 moving away and expanded and expanded on into the 50s, keeping that beautiful southwestern PBLO style of architecture intact. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous property. I mean, the lobby alone today in 2026 is absolutely completely stunning. It's one of those places with a bar and a restaurant in it. Now, a spa, a very beautiful pool, tons and tons of cute little courtyards and rooms surrounded by lush greenery. It even has probably the fanciest vending machine room I've ever seen. It was enlarged even more in the 1970s and then again in the 1990s when they purchased the neighboring property, a second hotel called the Alamo Lodge, and incorporated it into the Elray Court. And then in 2015, 16,1 17, somewhere right in there, right about the last time I was in Santa Fe, I got a new set of owners that have fully restored the property and made this place like a southwestern gem, a destination in its own right. I'm not going to lie to you. I wanted to scope it out today because I'd like to stay here in the future. We're not staying here tonight. Like I said, we're trying to have our cake and eat it, too. So, we're rolling up day tripping into Santa Fe and then we're going to cut back down to the later alignment of Route 66 and make our way eastward. But speaking of having your cake and eating it, too.

[00:25:02]Look at right across the street behind the first uh Goldwinged old filling station I've seen. There's actually a gluten-free bakery back there. So, yeah.

[00:25:10]Last time I was here, it wasn't an option. They were remodeling it. Next time I come here, LA Re is going to be my destination. All right. And now to roll in to the old town of Santa Fe and see what we can see before sunset. Look at this. closer that we get to uh old town Santa Fe, the more old school places and old school signs you see feels a little bit more Route 66-ike.

[00:25:32]Then again, it's hard to tell what's old and what's recent because a lot of the architecture here, old and new, is built in the same PBLO style. So, the sort of Santa Fe portions of Route 66 are kind of their own complete side quest. I almost feel like I'm I'm just on a scouting mission this time. Maybe I shouldn't give anything away. All right, on to Oldtown, Santa Fe.

[00:25:52]>> Oh, yeah. Here we go. It's been a while, but I did not misremember this place at all. Santa Fe, New Mexico is one of the oldest cities on the continent. At least in terms of cities founded by Europeans, and it's also, for my money, one of the weirdest, most bizarre, beautiful, but like otherworldly looking places just ever, ever. There's nothing else quite like it. Part of it is that some of these adobe buildings are literally centuries old and they're built at kind of weird wacky angles. Another part of it might be that almost all the buildings are the same color. Almost everything is sort of tucked into that PBLO architecture style. Even if it wasn't originally, it's been absorbed into it with a few notable standout exceptions like this. The original trading post, one heck of an old building. Maybe they got grandfathered into their own paint scheme. It was just very, very distinctive looking. And then when you add to that the fact that Santa Fe is an incredibly wealthy city and everything for blocks and blocks surrounding the old original plaza is very very upscale and bougie. There are a lot of boutique stores out here, a lot of jewelry stores, a lot of high-end art galleries and uh how do I put this?

[00:27:01]Stores that sell crystals, if you know what I mean. Like every other shop feels like it's actually illegal for me to enter because of my bank balance, you know? But luckily for me, it's not all just high-end shops. There's a ton of history out here as well. Like this over here, the palace of the governors, which just like the plaza sitting in front of it dates back to 1610. This was the literal Spanish fortress that was the seat of the Spanish government up here and then of course later the Mexican government and then later the US government at first. This carved wooden sign says out front from 1610 to 1910 the residence of over a 100 governors and captain's general the oldest public building in the United States and now of course a museum which is closed at the moment. Like I say I got to make another Santa Fe trip soon. There is 416 years of history in this palace of the governors and a lot of other surrounding surviving landmarks as well that really puts the hundred years of Route 66 history to shame. And much like Albuquerque down south, Santa Fe was overrun by the Confederate army at one point. And our brave boys in blue had to rrestle it back from him in the New Mexico campaign. So, Battle of Gloretta Pass, all that kind of stuff. Right here in the middle of the ancient Spanish plaza, there's actually a Union memorial for the Union soldiers of the federal army who fell at the Battle of Valver Verde, fought with the rebels February 21st, 1862. There's a lot of other history up here like the PBLO revolt when the Native Americans rose up against the Spanish and conquered them and then the Spanish came and reconquered them. Then of course there are the railroad days and the early days of Route 66 and tourism, American tourism coming to Santa Fe, which is where we get the weirdest freaking looking building in the world right here. I don't know what to call that architecture except for Pueblo Plus, right? This is Lefonda on the Plaza. One of the craziest looking hotels I have ever seen. Constructed in the early 1920s by a group of Santa Fe businessmen to capitalize on Santa Fe reinventing itself as a tourist town as the railroad was coming in just before the highway period just before Route 66. Cuz after all, if you wanted to attract masses of early railroad travelers, you had to give them somewhere nice to stay, right?

[00:29:17]Well, they succeeded. Not just in somewhere nice to say, but some place very unusual, very oneofa kind. Lefonda has a long and complicated history. It sits smack in the middle of the most historic buildings in Santa Fe. But the gist of it is after it was built, it was actually purchased by the railroad. And then operations were turned over to the Fred Harvey Company. Those are the same people who built all those sumptuous railroad palaces throughout the Southwest and had the famous Harvey girls as the waitresses and hostesses.

[00:29:46]And then of course in 1926, the brand new US highway Route 66 not only came right by the plaza here, but actually took a hard right turn right in front of Lefonda. I know it's meant to evoke like a PBLO style of architecture, but man, especially that first view of it you get from the plaza, it is the craziest, most Star Wars looking building I've ever seen in the United States. And like I said, it is literally sitting smack dab in the midst of the most historic and important buildings in Santa Fe. Like this right here, the impressive 1860s Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Aisi. You can really see why uh Santa Fe was such a popular tourist destination.

[00:30:28]And I mean, there's an impressive building around every corner, whether it's because of its sheer visual impact or, of course, the long and basically ancient history, not just of Santa Fe in terms of European settlement, but also of the region in terms of Native American occupation, which goes back oh 10,000 years. There's also 80 billion museums up here. And speaking of museums and history, that includes historic churches, including the oldest church in America, as they call it, and the oldest house in America, as well as countless interesting little shops and courtyards and restaurants and alleys and old buildings, like I keep saying, like all these buildings here, all these properties can trace their lineage back before the 1680s. It is all mind-blowing and impressive. When I was here back in 2017 with you guys for random land, we went to the oldest house in America, the oldest church in America, the palace of the governors, the New Mexico history museum behind it. I cannot wait to do all that stuff again someday. But for the moment, for right now, I am so freaking hungry, I can't think about anything else. And you know how I was saying Santa Fe is super bougie? Well, it's also super super hipstery. This is like the mecca for broadbrimmed hat kind of drapey hippie southwesterny looking hipsters. As most of you know, I do have celiac disease, which means I have to eat all gluten-free. Let's just hope that all these hipsters mean that the rumors I heard are true and that there's a gluten-free restaurant up here.

[00:31:53]Supposedly down the main drag here down San Francisco Street, I will find sustenance. And I better find it soon because my brain is starting to shut down. London is smiling in the background because I keep mispronouncing words. I can't remember my name. Brain no dude thing with brain good low brain.

[00:32:08]Oh, here it is. Apothecary curated dining handcrafted elixirs tea house oxygen breathing bar. And uh clearly they have a lot of um interesting beliefs here. But let's hope that the belief in being gluten-free is the strongest one. These are the kind of places that usually bring out my inner hang like what's going on here? But uh anything I'm starving. I've got to open my mind. open my mind to the healing inside. Anything but the aliens. I'm never opening my mind to those. Okay, that was one bizarre and esoteric uh restaurant with all kinds of weird health products and spa treatments and weird things going on in addition to the food. But the food was amazing. Oh my gosh, the bison burger so big and juicy and tender and good. I was that guy and I was taking pictures of my food. No shame in the game either. Anyway, I don't know if you could tell, but before that, as we got to Santa Fe, like, isn't this great? Santa Fe. I had no energy at all. Now I have so much freaking energy.

[00:33:05]>> I've got the power of the bison and the power of the Burau because I'm standing here in Buro Alley and this is where Santa Fe's wood deliveries would come on the backs of donkeys. Way back in the day, we're talking 16 1700s. They used to all have to park right here in this alley. It's still known as Burough Alley. To this day, there are no more well there's no more livestock here other than humans, but they do have this bronze donkey right here. And I'm assuming that this is where there was some kind of historical information about that, but it is it is blank.

[00:33:36]There's a literal blank slate. We can rewrite history. Oh my gosh, what the heck is that thing? The spirits are escaping the apothecary cafe. Anyway, I do like the Southwest vibe, right? Like I am into it. I am absolutely fascinated by all forms of American history and it doesn't get more American history than the history of the Native Americans, right? And then of course you have the Spanish and Mexican colonial history.

[00:34:00]And then the English and United States colonial history. And the Southwest is where they all kind of collide together, right? It's not just cowboy stuff, although there is plenty of cowboy stuff out here as well. It's this amazing mix of the history of empires, the history of indigenous people, and the history of technology. Of course, a 100red years ago, the new high-tech thing was the American paved road and the numbered interlin US highway system, Route 66, which cut right through the heart of the historical landscape. And now, instead of being a new fangled technological highway coming through town, has reached the age of a 100red years old, that's existed for a quarter of Santa Fe's history. And so now even in Santa Fe, they've got to say, "Yeah, yeah, it's been here for a while." All right, we're tired. We have a long way to go yet. I do want to come back to uh Santa Fe sometime and get deeper into the history, but mainly today, I just wanted to make sure that London got to see it.

[00:34:57]And then by extension, of course, you guys got to see it with me. Plus, this is sort of our cheat code way of doing both routes of Route 66. Oo, but real quick before we leave the city of Santa Fe entirely, there's just two more spots we got to look at as the sun goes down in the west and then we're going to be going hardcore. Route 66 all the way to Chicago. Teased them earlier and we did film in them about 10 years ago or so.

[00:35:19]It is this the oldest house in the USA.

[00:35:22]Literally right across the street from it. The San Miguel Mission or the oldest church in the USA which was also started I believe back in 1610. So a 400year-old church which I know you Europeans are laughing but for us Americans that's impressive. was obviously built using Native American labor and the Pueblo Revolt actually burned it down, but a new roof was added 1694 and it's been going basically ever since either being repaired or being used as a church, which is kind of amazing. Now, there are still pbllo in, you know, even in New Mexico that are older than this church and older than this house over here. So, are they really the oldest house? Plus, I know in St. Augustine, Florida. There are some other early Spanish buildings that like to argue for the title of what's oldest. And some of their historians like, "Ah, well, they actually really didn't use it in this year." And this, you know, we'll let scholars and actually people from forums argue that out. But, uh, for our purposes now on Route 66, this is the oldest house in America, or at least the oldest house on the route. There's sort of like the more museum and gift shop part. And then this is the actual oldest house right here with these old ancient adobe walls dating back to I think what it the 1640s when it comes to the oldest house just in front of the San Miguel church and by extension just in front of the oldest house. This is actually the oldest alignment the 1926 alignment of Route 66 right here cuz this is also the old Santa Fe trail right here where we're standing. You can see that Route 66 Centennial flag right up there on the pole. And what amazing timing to be out here right when they're ringing the bells? Wait a minute. For whom the bell tolls?

[00:37:06]Is the bell tolling for us? I think the bell is tolling for us because our mission to the mission and up to Santa Fe is over for the day. And now London, who's very impressed, right, London?

[00:37:16]You're very impressed. On a scale of 1 to 10, how impressed are you?

[00:37:19]>> It's old. And now London and I are going to are going to leave Santa Fe and the things that are old and cut down between the original alignment of Route 66 to things that are less old, the post 1937, part of Route 66. So we're going to get on the highway and I'll show you where we're staying tonight at a historic Route 66 motel. I got to tell you, it's kind of cool for nerds like me to be driving around up here cuz the first part of our journey out of here, we're on the old Santa Fe and the old POS trail. And then, of course, we're going to more modern highways, making our way down to Morardi. Well, that wasn't a very far drive. Only about an hour, but it was one of those hours where the last half an hour of it feels like 10 hours, and then it feels like 12 hours in the last minute. Felt pretty long. But we did eventually find old Route 66 again.

[00:38:10]And better yet, a historic Route 66 motel that I've never stayed at before.

[00:38:16]The Sunset Motel, the only motel in New Mexico on Route 66, still owned by the original family that opened it and still maintained ever since the beginning.

[00:38:28]Can't wait to show you the room, but that's going to have to wait until tomorrow because I am bushed, my friends, for today. Anyway, we've done our duty. Remember that all these adventures are funded by viewers like you. There would be no channel without no viewers. Kind of like PBS in that way, right? We don't have any sponsorships or anything. It's all funded through watching these videos, through our generous Patreon members who make this all possible really, and through our merch store. And you can find links to all of those things at randomland.com.

[00:38:56]Hey, you know what? It's fast and free to like, subscribe, share this video with a friend. And if you do that, you also have my thanks. Thanks for watching. And thanks for making it all the way to the very end. You've done your duty. You can go home and sleep well.

[00:39:46]London. Guess what? Right behind you.

[00:39:49]It's the world's oldest house. It's the oldest house in the world. What do you think of that?

[00:39:55]>> It's also pretty old. Yes. It's the oldest house in the world. Did you know that?

[00:40:01]>> Yes.

[00:40:02]>> In the world. It's the world's oldest house in the world. It's the oldest house in the world. The oldest one. That guy is riding a bike and listening to songs in front of the oldest house in the world. It's the oldest house ever.

[00:40:11]Ever. Ever. It's the house of Adam and Eve. It's the oldest house in the world.

[00:40:15]It's super neat.

[00:40:17]The stickers are really hard to peel, huh? Look at it. Look how cute it is.

[00:40:20]Isn't Isn't it adorable? Oh. Oh, you got it. I helped. It's the oldest freaking house in the world. The oldest house in the world. The oldest house ever in the whole wide world.