Home of the famous Buffalo Burger, the Bagdad Café is a ramshackle building filled with unexpected delights. Located in Newberry Springs on Route 66, between Ludlow and Barstow where you can hear the train horns from the railroad and the truck horns from the I40 yet still feel as if you are in the middle of nowhere, it is utterly charming in that quirky, vintage, a-bit-broken-down-and-deserted Route 66 way.

Of course we had to stop.

Bagdad Café gained cult status particularly, for some reason in Scandinavia, after the German arthouse comedy movie "Bagdad Café" was released in late 1987. Starring Marianne Sagebrecht as Jasmin Munchgstettner, CCH Pounder as Brenda-at-the-end-of-her-tether and Jack Palance as ex-Hollywood scenic artist Rudi Cox, the movie tells the story of an abandoned German tourist dropped off in a desert motel and café bringing mayhem and joy to the staff, guests and patrons. You can watch the trailer or even rent or buy the movie here. The song "Calling You" by Jevetta Steele from the movie soundtrack was nominated as Best Original Song at the 1989 Oscars. Check it out here.

If you look closely at the photo, you can see the Airstream Trailer from the previous post to the left of the café. Featured in the movie, it was the trailer lived in by the character played by Jack Palance. 

Stepping inside the café is like stepping back in time, into the movie itself. Notes from various different currencies from around the world are stapled to the walls and serve as a well-worn-wallpaper, an old, original juke box stands at the entrance, the counter, with the original bar stools, stretches the length of the café, while small leatherette booths in the back complete the scene. 

Food and drinks were no longer served, but the current owner Andrea Pruett was happy to chat with visitors. She encouraged her guests, mostly enthusiastic Europeans, delighted to play out a scene at "Bagdad Café," to pose behind the counter holding a Route 66 shield. It was pure Route 66 kitsch. Brilliant!

Henry was astonished that I held Andrea's hand, chatted with her as if we were old friends and gave her a big hug as we departed, with Andrea insisting that she 'wave us goodbye.' 

"Do you know her?" Henry asked.

I do now. 

We drove a stretch of Route 66 starting at Roy's, passing through Ludlow, Newberry Springs, Barstow and finally Victorville, chasing trains and trucks on the I40 across the desert as they thundered towards the west coast of America. 

Roy's Gas Station, Motel and Café is an iconic stop on Route 66.

Against the wilderness of the Mojave Desert, in a tiny ghost town called Amboy, in San Bernardino County in California, the gorgeous vintage neon sign advertising Roy's looms to beckon weary travelers to stop and find rest and refreshments on historic Route 66.

I adore Roy's.

We arrived, parked up and even in the hellish heat, we took the time to wander around the gas station forecourt, chatting with bikers and sightseers, mostly about the price of gas, but sharing our love of 'The Mother Road' and how cool it was to be at the legendary Roy's. I wandered around the motel and snapped a boat load of pictures until my trusty iPhone overheated. Then we retreated to the shop and the 50's café for souvenir stickers, postcards to send my Dad, and to buy a Coca Cola in a glass bottle, the best kind, from Mexico with real sugar. Popping the top off and taking a good long chug of the icy cold coke was a transcendent experience that is now forever scorched into my sensory memory. Yum!

The motel and the sign itself are fine examples of Roadside Googie Architecture that was born in the 40's and continued into the 60's. This style of architecture retrospectively reflects futuristic themes based on the atomic and space ages of the period. Boomerangs, arrows, wings, stars, atomic bursts, flying saucers and parabolas, along with minimalistic designs, roofs tilting towards the heavens, walls of glass and bright colors all symbolize the idea of humanity moving ever forward with the aid of science, seeking out the next frontier, or as Star Trek puts it,  "To explore strange new worlds...to boldly go where no man has gone before." As you can see from the pics, the motel's reception building is fashioned in this dashing style, as is the neon sign with its huge red arrow. I cannot say it enough, Roy's is truly iconic.

Roy's was originally built as a gas and service station in 1938 by Roy Crowl and has seen many changes over the years, with various different owners. Before the I40 bypassed this particular section of Route 66 in 1972, Amboy was a popular stop for both road and train travelers. These days Roy's is a lonely landmark. The motel is closed down and no longer accepts guests. Lonely tumbleweeds blow across the road. Similarly, only the most intrepid of travelers blow in to town, going out of their way to visit Roy's. Even though Amboy has become a something of a ghost town, it is still beloved by Route 66 enthusiasts the world over.

Fans of Amboy include the famous actors Harrison Ford and Anthony Hopkins who have flown into Roy's at the adjacent airfield on numerous occasions. The historic site has been used as a popular filming location for TV commercials, music videos and movies. Roy's has established itself as a cult figure in the last couple of decades. Deservedly. Did I mention it is iconic?

Here are some links to Roy's most famous moments on screen.
Click to view.

1. Enrique Iglesias music video for "Hero."
2. Clip from "The Hitcher" starring Rutger Hauer
3. Clip from "Kalifornia" starring Brad Pitt

You can read more about Amboy and the history of Roy's Motel and cafe here.

You can read more about my travels on Route 66 and enjoy photos from the Arizona stretch of the Mother Road here. It's a love story.

Also in Amboy we saw a golden buddha that had been adorned with stickers and bedecked with various pieces of trash. Religious and sacrilegious. Beautiful and ugly. Weird and wonderful. Totally Route 66.

The Amboy Post Office, a lone building across the road from Roy's, is a leftover service from when the small town was booming with traffic from the Route 66 Highway and the nearby railroad depot.

About a kilometer (half a mile or so) away from Roy's sits the Amboy Crater, a dormant, cinder cone volcano surrounded by a lava field made up of lava lakes, collapsed lava tubes, sinks and spatter cones, spreading 70 square kilometers (27 square miles). Way too hot to hike in July, but still worth a stop. Spectacular!

From hot pink to flamingo pink and all the princess pinks in between, the pink decor at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, CA, is spectacular and always in vogue. Having featured in TV shows, music videos and movies, the Madonna Inn is a flamboyant starlet.

Pink, pink and even more pink is the theme of the Inn.

Established in 1956 by Alex and Phyllis Madonna (not the Virgin Madonna or the 'Like A Virgin' Madonna) this charming hotel with its shocking pink hues and grotto-like rooms is an iconic Californian Landmark.

We stopped for lunch on a rainy day and were warmed by the colorful welcome.