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The route 66 neon sign tour I thought was cheesy actually got me hooked on Albuquerque history
Back in 2019 my sister dragged me to one of those guided neon sign walks down Central and I went mostly to make fun of it. I figured it was just a way for tourists to take photos of old motels before grabbing a beer on Nob Hill. But the guy leading it pulled out a binder with photos from the 1950s and showed us how the El Vado sign got rebuilt after the motel sat empty for almost 20 years. He pointed at the Dog House sign and said the owner repainted it by hand in 2016 when the city offered to help pay for it. Hearing the little stories about who ran those places, and how Central used to look when Route 66 traffic was still rolling through, kind of got me. Now I catch myself slowing down whenever I drive past the Lobo Theater sign at night. I even bought a cheap book about Duke City roadside history at the title shop on Fourth. Has anyone else walked one of those tours, or am I the only one who got sucked in like this?
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tara7457d ago
Oh nice, but that El Vado sign is actually a replica! The original one had a different look and the motel closed way back in 2001, not 20 years before the rebuild, so the timeline on that tour was a little off. Still, those walks do get you hooked on the old stories, and the Lobo sign is a good one to slow down for.
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