Rock Cafe, The #route66 Restaurant That Survived a Tornado

Have lunch at the Oklahoma restaurant that endured disastrous weather and provided inspiration for a movie.

by Rich Watson 

Oklahoma, according to Wikipedia, lies between a semi-arid zone, a humid continental one and a humid subtropical one. This means weather can get weird in a hurry. The biggest weather problem people have there is with tornadoes.

The staff of the Rock Cafe, on Route 66 in Stroud, OK, know about tornadoes. They survived one that nearly wiped the town out.

#route66: When In Illinois, Look Out For the Gemini Giant

One of the first major landmarks on the Mother Road is this space-age statue, a relic from a time when such monuments were popular.

by Rich Watson 

He stands thirty feet tall. He wears a bullet-shaped helmet and a blue-green jumpsuit. And he holds a miniature rocket in his hands. 

A movie superhero? Nope, he’s the Gemini Giant—one of many so-called “muffler men” across the country over the years and one of a number that remain along Route 66.

Ethel Waters, “Stormy Weather,” and the Cotton Club

This superstar of the mid-twentieth century gained her fame by singing a song which became an American classic, at a ritzy Harlem club.

by Rich Watson 

Ethel Waters had a spectacular career as a singer and an actress. As the latter, she was the first black star on TV and the second to get an Oscar nomination. 

As the former, she was known for singing one of the greatest songs in American history. She did it at a place famous for its array of black entertainers during the Harlem Renaissance era—the Cotton Club.