One of the most generic of road signs - just a very tall "MOTEL" - pales in comparison to the classic neon found closer to the lobby of the Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon, Missouri. The Munger Moss with its sign is such a famous 66 attraction that I waited around until dark during one of my visits, just for a photo with the lights of the sign turned on. The roots of this vintage Route 66 property date back to a BBQ joint in Devil's Elbow, Missouri, way back in the 1930's. (Yes, the same building that now houses the Elbow Inn Bar, seen pictured in a previous entry.) When business there dried up in the 1940's, thanks to a new alignment of Route 66 that bypassed their joint, the owners took the name with them and built a restaurant and motel in nearby Lebanon, where the motel is still going strong. Things are going so well they have a website and free Wi-Fi - things quite unimaginable during the heyday of the old road. Of course if you decide to stop there for the night, ask for the Route 66 Room!
The city of Lebanon may just be too busy these days to notice Route 66 at all. It is the "aluminum boat capital of the world", with half a dozen manufacturers with plants in town. The Copeland Corporation, makers of air conditioning and refrigeration compressors, has production facilities there. The Durham Company's corporate headquarters is in Lebanon, where they also have a factory that makes meter sockets, whatever those are. I have to wonder if Lebanon is feeling the current recession much at all.
On the fun side, Lebanon has long been a stopping point for people visiting the Ozarks. Jack Rittenhouse counted 3 hotels and 4 tourists courts in 1946, and today, I count more than a dozen motels, an RV park, and a campground. Fishermen may fish for smallmouth bass in the nearby Niangua and Gasconade Rivers, and hunters may hunt whitetail deer in the many thousands of acres of national forest that surround Lebanon. Log Book: 473 miles motored on old 66.
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