A Route 66 itinerary. One state short.
DISS TRACK
KATHLEEN MCNERNEY of Albuquerque felt bypassed by an article titled “A Musical Route 66 Road Trip” in The Week last December. The piece mapped out an itinerary and soundtrack for Mother Road drivers, starting in Chicago with “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” by Nat King Cole, then rolling through St. Louis, Tulsa, and Amarillo with accompanying bops by Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and the Boss. Then the article took a turn—to Standin’ On the Corner Park in Winslow, Arizona, inspired by the Eagles lyric. “No mention of New Mexico—even though ‘Get Your Kicks’ mentions Gallup,” McNerney notes. Yep. No Tucumcari, set to Little Feat’s “Willin’ ”? No cruise through the Duke City to Neil Young’s “Albuquerque”? Since it has the largest stretch of Route 66 in the nation, New Mexico’s omission here hit a sour note.
WRONG COORDINATES
While reading about the green chile cheeseburger on The Takeout website, STEVE TAYLOR noticed some questionable geography. The piece credits the Owl Bar & Cafe “outside Los Alamos” for inventing the dish to serve Manhattan Project scientists. As the State College, Pennsylvania, resident points out, the Owl is outside of Los Alamos—by about 180 miles, in San Antonio. It does sit “en route to White Sands Missile Range,” he adds, but it’s hardly a quick detour.
LOGIC LOOPHOLE
On her last day of work in Surprise, Arizona, ANITA RIVA told coworkers she and her husband planned to relocate to New Mexico. One colleague asked, “Do residents have to pay taxes in Mexico? I want to live where there are no taxes!” Riva clarified that New Mexico is a neighboring state—just east, with taxes. “I’m not sure if she understood,” she says.