Route 66 and Santa Monica Pier – A Classic Pairing
By James Harris
Is it the end? Or just the beginning? It’s a matter of perspective, really, but what is truly undeniable is that the Route 66 journey cannot be considered complete without the Santa Monica Pier. Much like Bogey and Bacall, peanut butter and jelly or baseball and hot dogs, the Mother Road and the Last Great Pleasure Pier are two great American icons forever joined.
Oh, sure, the true western end-point of Route 66 has changed many times throughout the years and, frankly, the Santa Monica Pier technically never was one of those end-points. For that matter, neither was the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Ocean Avenue, where the plaque commemorating the “Will Rogers Highway” (Route 66) is still proudly displayed today.
Truth be told, the actual ending of Route 66 in Santa Monica is at the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard, where it meets the Pacific Coast Highway. But think about it – If you’ve driven 2,448 miles from Chicago, are you going to end your journey at a busy downtown intersection one-mile from the beach? Heck no! You’re headed to the Pacific Ocean, right? And what was special about the Santa Monica Pier during the heyday of Route 66 is that you could drive a car out to the end of the pier – above the ocean. Now that’s a true terminus, the “End of the Trail”!
So it’s easy to recognize how such a wonderful tradition – a true, solid partnership – was born. And it still thrives today! The Pier has hosted motorists in classic cars (Corvettes, mostly), contemporary vehicles and motorcycles all throughout the year, every year since… Well, since before many of us can remember! And they’ve made the journey without motors, too! In recent years the Pier has waved “hello” (and sometimes “goodbye”) to bicyclists and pedestrians. The Mother Road clearly welcomes all, just the same as the Pier!
The Santa Monica Pier doesn’t allow vehicles all the way out to the west end anymore. Instead, drivers have to settle for a parking lot which hovers above sand. But that doesn’t make this destination any less of the end-point – or the beginning – for tens of thousands of Route 66’ers every year. The two icons still enjoy a wonderfully symbiotic relationship, with new travelers discovering the Pier and new visitors to the Pier making their own discovery of Route 66 when their eyes catch that unmissable “End of the Trail” sign.
JAMES HARRIS is the Deputy Director of the Santa Monica Pier Corporation and author of Santa Monica Pier: A Century on the Last Great Pleasure Pier (Angel City Press, 2009)
