If you’re traveling Route 66 west through Texas, Amarillo offers roadtrippers five must-see stops promising a fun experience. Amarillo, located on Highway 40 alongside the historic Mother Road, is a gem in the Texas Panhandle.
Amarillo, Texas: Roadside Stops Worth Checking Out on Route 66
The Big Texan Steak Ranch & Brewery
One of the most well-known destinations in Amarillo is The Big Texan Steak Ranch & Brewery (7701 I-40 Highway) for its larger-then-life steak dinner challenge and wide variety of craft beer on tap.
The restaurant is famous for their steaks including the 72-ounce steak dinner challenge dating back to 1960. If you eat the entire meal (pictured above), it’s free and you’ll become one of small percentage of participants that are successful.
We chose instead to enjoy two cold beers at the Big Texan Brewery, a saloon-themed bar with first come first serve seating. They have nearly a dozen of their own handcrafted beers on tap or you can order from the cocktail menu.
Before you leave, I recommend walking the restaurants open areas to take see photo-worthy areas, including giant chairs, taxidermy, and retail merchandise. Remember, everything is bigger in Texas, so expect to have a larger-than-life good time.
Downtown Mural Tour
Amarillo’s vibrant murals are installed throughout the downtown area like little colorful jewels. The city puts a priority on promoting public art. Use the Mural Scavenger Hunt Map to find them all.
The mural pictured above, Daydreaming, was designed and painted by artist It’s A Living aka Ricardo Gonzalez. Emphasizing typography, It spans 78 feet by 24 feet.
Pescaraz Italian Restaurant
How did we select a restaurant for dinner when Amarillo’s dining scene has so many options? Eating Italian food may not seem like an obvious choice in Texas cattle country, but Pescaraz Italian Restaurant’s (3415 S. Bell Street) stellar online reviews convinced us.
The dining room was filled with locals even during the early dinner hour, but we were sat quickly without a reservation. Specializing in hearty pasta dishes and salads, we choose the Eggplant Parmigiana prepared with white sauce and a helping of seafood pasta. Each entree was covered with copious amounts of cheese. Bring your appetite.
Cadillac Ranch
You can’t drive to Amarillo without stopping to view Cadillac Ranch (I-40 Frontage Road), a public art installation located along Route 66 west of the city. It’s a bit of a tourist trap since 1974, it’s well worth stopping for 15-30 minutes to view it.
Visitors bring spray paint to deface the half-buried cars making the roadside attraction a fun, immersive experience. If you forget to bring paint, you can purchase a can from the retail store trailer nearby.
A nice lady was finished with her spray paint and offered it to us. A few half-emptied cans rested on the ground around the cars.
Other visitors choose to bring engraved padlocks to attach to the fenced entrance to confirm their visit.
PRO TIP: It was quite windy and cold the afternoon of our May visit, making spray painting the cars a bit challenging but possible. Dress appropriately for the weather.
Second Amendment Cowboy
The appeal of traveling Route 66 is spotting larger-than-life Muffler Men. The giant statues were a way of attracting road-trippers to frequent businesses. Second Amendment Cowboy (2601 Hope Road) sits in front of a RV Park entrance.
It’s located a short distance from Cadillac Ranch, making pulling over for photo opps at each one a no-brainer. The statue, promoting the right to bear arms, includes two pistol-shaped barbecue smokers at its base.
Road trips are more fun when you build in time to pull over for new-to-you discoveries, whether its quirky public art or to eat where the locals dine. The nostalgia of cruising Route 66 remains. Add these five stops in Amarillo to your cross-country itinerary.
The town’s first responders led a long trail of trucks and cars pulling floats. Kids sat in truckbeds poised with Supersoaker water blasters ready to spray parade bystanders. But the onlookers also had their own water canons! The energy was palpable as groups took their place on both sides of the railroad’s tracks that separated onlookers.
The restaurant is popular with locals who bring their families to dine on everything from buffalo wings and nachos to ribeyes and street tacos. Whatever you’re craving, you’ll find it on the 
Tables and shelves are stacked with jellies and jams, jarred pickles, candles, kitchen towels, artwork, and more. Walk past the register and you find yourself inside Miss Pretty Pickles, a boutique store that stocks plush toys and children’s clothes.
The staff is friendly and knowledgeable about the award-winning wines. They carry two dozen varieties of wine that are grown a short drive west of town. I was pleased to discover that they carried dry wines that were not overly sweet. However, if you’re someone who appreciates fruit-forward sweeter wines, you’re in luck. The store is an excellent place to bring a friend or purchase a gift for one.
You won’t leave empty-handed at Rosewood Winery Cellars. The inventory includes jars of gourmet relishes, salsas, honey, crackers, and more. If you’re on the lookout for a housewarming gift for someone, bath products, kitchenware, or aprons make shopping a breeze. Seasonal displays beckon home decor shoppers in search of accessories.
A short drive across downtown led me back to Main Street to view “Starting Line,” a 3,000-square-foot mural serving as the perfect backdrop for race fans. If you’re headed to the dragstrip west of town, make a detour to this mural for a selfie or group photo.
Directly across the same parking lot is another beautiful mural on the side of the building housing 
The sculptures outside of Barton County Courthouse in the center of downtown dot the landscape.
Situated in front of the 
If you’d prefer not to walk or drive to each public art installation, consider renting a free electric scooter. You’ll spot groupings of scooters sitting around the downtown corridor. Simply download 
I observed grizzly bears in a tall grass habitat lounging on rocks and inside a man-made pond. The siblings played with one another and splashed around under the waterfall providing an opportunity to observe the bears’ natural behavior. Later, I was given the chance to use a slingshot to toss apple slices to them, which they happily enjoyed. Would you feed a bear if given a chance? Watch a video of the experience 
Another amazing animal encounter was when I had the privilege of meeting a Great Horned Owl named Thurston. Raised in captivity since it was a baby on a Kansas farm, it wasn’t skittish around humans. In fact, I stood six feet from it as it mimicked the sounds a zookeeper called to it. It mimicked clucking sounds like a chicken! Today, Thurston comes along for zoo presentations to school children and small groups.
The sister lions in the photo below took an interest in me. Perhaps it was because I was tagging along with a zookeeper. Whatever the reason, it was fascinating watching them sun themselves and flick their tails.
The male African lion was inside a building out of sight, but I heard that he is large for his size and most certainly dominates his territory.
After winding your way through the zoo (colorful murals painted by school children), head inside to check out the reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates housed in aquariums. The education center consists of informative displays to aid visitors in understanding the life of raptors. If you’re lucky, you may see a veterinarian at work on the other side of the display window.
You’ll find the zoo’s animals awe-inspiring and the staff to be cordial. They welcome school groups if reservations are booked in advance. Please consider making a donation near the cashier’s counter inside the gift shop. A surprise awaits those who choose to drop in bills or coins inside the box.
During a return visit to Great Bend, I hope to spend time at 
So much had changed since my childhood visit to Great Bend. It’s more than just another Kansas town surrounded by farm fields. Located 95 miles outside of northwest Wichita, it is worth the two-hour drive.
Amanda’s is more than just another small town coffee shop. It’s also a retail store that sells antiques, gifts, greeting cards, and farmhouse decor. It was as if we were sitting inside someone’s beautiful home but everything was for sale. We watched as residents came into Amanda’s for their usual morning coffee.
The Seelye Mansion, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is considered one of the finest homes in Kansas. Built in 1905, it has 11 bedrooms, a bowling alley, a grand piano, and many of its finishes are painted with gold. The cost at the time to build the 11,000 square foot home? $55,000.
Who was the Seeyle family and why did they build a mansion in Abilene? The father, Dr. A. B. Seelye was a wealthy entrepreneur who made his family’s fortune by pedaling patented medicines.
In the dining room, I sat at the head of the table where the Seelye’s once hosted presidents and state governors. We were surrounded by luxury. The Seeyle’s spared no expense to outfit their home with the best money could buy.
The grounds of the mansion are equally stunning. The gardens feature a goldfish pond, a pedestrian bridge, and water fountain. Open year-round to visitors, it’s transformed during the holidays. At Christmas time, the home is decorated with 80 trees and over 700 nutcrackers. That’s a party I want to attend!
Our train ride, although bumpy and a bit noisy, was worthwhile because it gave us a chance to relive what it must have been like to ride the rails. Operated by volunteers, we listened to the sounds of the excursion train as it traveled about 1o-15 mph. The view of Kansas farm fields was breathtaking.
Then, you’re free to explore the museum’s displays covering the highlights of the racing sport from ancient times to the present. Notable greyhounds made history for their agility and fast running times. Inductees of the Hall of Fame date back to 1963.
Don’t be surprised if you’re approached by a retired racer! During our visit, we met three rehabilitated greyhounds who happened to be visiting the museum with their owner. I had never met greyhounds in person and found them to be quite friendly. Once bred to be hunting dogs to chase hare, fox, and deer, they are graceful and make loving companions. One of the dogs (pictured below) nuzzled up to me to let me know that it was fond of me – such a sweetheart!
The grounds are open to the public to explore on any given day. However, I recommend checking their Facebook page to plan your visit around one of the many events they host from simulated gunfighter shootouts to concerts. Chisholm Trail Days includes pioneer impersonators, a draft horse pull, vendors, and artisans.
While downtown, I encourage you to visit 
Are you considering making 
