Road Trip Day 7 - Everything's bigger in Texas

Today we left Oklahoma City and drove west following parts of Historic Route 66...which I learned is also referred to as "The Mother Road". 

Our first stop on Route 66 was POPs just outside of Oklahoma City. It's a futuristic fuel station with a
sculptural take on a soda bottle and straw outside that is, of course 66 feet high. 

Inside there is a diner and a convenience store that sells over 500 kinds of soda including hard to find flavors and varieys.  The windows are artfully lined with POPS’ rainbow of sodas. Glass shelves showcase thousands of bottles, floor-to-ceiling and I picked up a few for the ride which came in a cute little six-pack carrying case.  

From Oklahoma City we drove to Elk City, OK to visit the Route 66 museum. It was about 90 degrees outside today so we couldn't really have Elvis outside the air conditioned car for too long. The museum was set up to replicate the towns and highlights of Route 66. Otherwise Elk City didn't have top much going for it so we got back in the car and continued on to Amarillo, TX.

In Amarillo we checked in to our hotel for the night and went out to dinner at the Big Texan Steak Ranch, a famous Texas steakhouse and motel. The Big Texan was, in keeping with our theme, featured on Man vs. Food as the Big Texan is best known for its 72 ounce steak, nicknamed "The Texas King." Thats 4 and 1/2 pounds of meat for those of you who need help with math like me. The steak is free to anyone who, in one hour or less, can eat the entire meal, consisting of the steak, a roll with butter, baked potato, ranch beans, shrimp cocktail, and salad, but if you don't finish it all in an hour, you have to pay for the meal which costs $72. Also, you have to sit in the middle of the dining room on a raised platform while you eat and not with your family or friends so everyone can watch you stuff your face.

We didn't do the steak challenge as it was way too much meat but our steaks were pretty delicious. The restaurant also offers a free limo ride back and forth from the local hotels to the Big Texan in their super classy fleet of white limos made in the 80's with cattle horns on the front hoods. Of course we took the free ride so we were able to enjoy some Texas-sized adult beverages at dinner.

If you are ever near Amarillo, I'd definitely recommend a visit to the Big Texan - it's very entertaining but be prepared for the jumbo sized portions and come hungry.