We’ve found Route 66 to be a surprisingly intense road trip—you’re always on the lookout for the next turn and the next sight—so we think it’s a good idea to plan a periodic “R&R” (rest and relaxation) day to catch your breath. We chose Tucumcari as an R&R stop—a place to spend two nights rather than one—and we were really glad we did! There’s a lot to see here, but we also had time to simply relax. Everyone we met was super nice, and we were glad to support this town by staying a bit longer here.
Route 66 runs through Tucumcari on Tucumcari Boulevard (Business I-40), which has an amazing collection of vintage gas stations, motels, and restaurants. Here are the ones we enjoyed seeing, from east to west.
A rehabilitated Polly gas station is at 1823 E Tucumcari Boulevard.
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| Rehabilitated Polly gas station in Tucumcari |
At 1416 East Tucumcari Boulevard is the former Mesa Court, most recently Kiva RV Park but now closed.
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| Former Mesa Court (east building) in Tucumcari |
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| Former Mesa Court (west building) in Tucumcari |
These buildings have beautiful Art Deco features, and I hope someone can restore them and the sign someday!
The Palomino Motel at 1215 East Tucumcari Boulevard has a beautiful neon sign.
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| Palomino Motel in Tucumcari |
At 1201 East Tucumcari Boulevard is a former Texaco station. It’s now the Trade Station, a gift shop with a great Texaco mural.
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| The Trade Station, a former Texaco station in Tucumcari |
At the Trade Station, we saw a sign for Watson’s BBQ.
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| Sign for Watson's BBQ in Tucumcari |
We walked about 2½ blocks north on Lake Street to Watson’s BBQ, inside Tucumcari Ranch Supply at 502 South Lake Street.
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| Tucumcari Ranch Supply |
We had a good lunch here.
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| Watson's BBQ in Tucumcari |
Back on Tucumcari Boulevard, Del’s Restaurant, a Tucumcari institution, is at 1202 East Tucumcari Boulevard. We had a great dinner here.
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| Del's Restaurant in Tucumcari |
The closed Apache Motel at 1106 East Tucumcari Boulevard has a sign that would look great when restored.
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| Apache Motel sign in Tucumcari |
Kix on 66 is at 1102 East Tucumcari Boulevard. It’s in a former Denny’s.
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| Kix on 66 in Tucumcari |
Breakfast at Kix was so good that we ate here twice! The service was super-friendly.
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| Interior of Kix on 66 |
Roadrunner Lodge Motel is at 1023 East Tucumcari Boulevard. One section was built in 1947 and another in 1964.
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| Roadrunner Lodge in Tucumcari |
TeePee Curios at 924 East Tucumcari Boulevard is a Route 66 icon. It was originally a Gulf station built in 1944.
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| Tee Pee Curios in Tucumcari |
Check who greeted me behind the counter! I had a great time browsing for souvenirs here.
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| Interior of Tee Pee Curios |
The Route 66 Welcome Center and Gift Shop is at 901 East Tucumcari Boulevard.
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| Route 66 Welcome Center in Tucumcari |
Flora May, owner of the Welcome Center, is a delight and great about answering my questions. (Note that there is another Visitor Center, operated by the local chamber of commerce, at 404 West Tucumcari Boulevard. It’s closed on weekends, which is when we visited.)
At 815 Tucumcari Boulevard is one of the most famous sights along Route 66: the iconic Blue Swallow Motel.
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| The Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari |
The Blue Swallow's iconic neon sign was added in the 1950s when air conditioning was installed. The original neon sign has been beautifully preserved.
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| The Blue Swallow's original neon sign |
We so much wanted to stay here that the Blue Swallow was the first thing we booked when we planned our trip. Then we booked the rest of our trip around our stay here. We were not disappointed! This is a beautifully preserved motel, built in 1939 or 1942 (sources give varying dates). Dawn and Rob, the owners, couldn’t be nicer. Rob gave us a quick tour when we checked in. We loved our chenille bedspreads!
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| Our room at the Blue Swallow |
Our room’s garage had a great Route 66 mural.
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| Mural in one of the Blue Swallow's garages |
The 1959 Motel Safari is at 772 East Tucumcari Boulevard. It gets terrific reviews and was our second choice in case we couldn’t get into the Blue Swallow.
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| Motel Safari in Tucumcari (from TripAdvisor.com) |
The building with a Vista sign at 424 East Tucumcari Boulevard is the former Swift’s Shell station.
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| Former Swift's Shell station in Tucumcari |
The Americana Motel at 406 East Tucumcari Boulevard has a great neon sign.
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| Americana Motel in Tucumcari |
Boulevard Cleaners at 405 East Tucumcari Boulevard has a cool “wash lady” neon sign that was installed in 1990.
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| Boulevard Cleaners in Tucumcari |
A very cool Streamline Moderne building is at 213 East Tucumcari Boulevard.
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| 213 Tucumcari Boulevard |
At the intersection of Tucumcari Boulevard and 1st Street is La Cita at 820 South 1st Street.
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| La Cita Restaurant in Tucumcari |
We had a great lunch here with friendly service. My taco salad was the best I had on the whole trip!
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| Taco salad at La Cita |
At 202 West Tucumcari Boulevard, the Route 66 Smoke Shop was once the Waterfield Chevron.
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| Former Waterfield Chevron in Tucumcari |
The former Adcock’s Phillips 66, with a mid-century gull-wing canopy, is at 302 West Tucumcari Boulevard. It’s now a tire store.
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| Former Adcock's Phillips 66 in Tucumcari |
On the west side of Tucumcari, several old gas stations have been spruced up but not yet truly restored. They’re still fun to see. The former Massey’s Malco station at 392 West Tucumcari Boulevard is now a tribute to Whiting Brothers’ stations.
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| Former Massey's Malco station in Tucumcari |
The Pow Wow Restaurant and Lizard Lounge is at 801 West Tucumcari Boulevard. We ate dinner here one night, and the inside is like a time capsule.
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| Pow Wow Restaurant in Tucumcari |
The former Jim’s Texaco station is at 924 West Tucumcari Boulevard.
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| Former Jim's Texaco in Tucumcari |
The former Gene’s Shell station at 1016 West Tucumcari Boulevard is now a tribute to Magnolia gas stations.
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| Former Gene's Shell station in Tucumcari |
Just before Gene's is a very old unrestored building. I couldn’t find out anything about its history.
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| Mystery building on West Tucumcari Boulevard |
Just past the former Gene's gas station is the former Rigdon’s Enco station. It's now a tribute to Esso gas stations.
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| Former Rigdon's Enco station in Tucumcari |
Then there’s the New Mexico Route 66 Museum, with a great Route 66 sculpture out front.
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| Sculpture outside the New Mexico Route 66 Museum |
There is so much to see in Tucumcari that we didn’t see it all in a two-day visit! There are dozens of murals--we didn't see them all. We didn't visit the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum, one of the best museums along Route 66, the New Mexico Route 66 Museum, or the Tucumcari Railroad Museum in the former 1926 Spanish Mission-style train depot. And we didn’t explore downtown Tucumcari along North 1st Street, other than to see the 1939 Art Deco Odeon Theater at 123 South 2nd Street.
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| Odeon Theater in Tucumcari |
So, even after two nights in Tucumcari, we left with some regret to start toward the Santa Fe loop of Route 66.
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