Cuba, Missouri, is a small town of about three and a half thousand people in the Ozark foothills, and it has turned itself into the Mural City of Route 66. More than a dozen big paintings cover the walls of old buildings, showing the history of the town, the railroad, the highway and the people, and the effect is cheerful and slightly surreal, like a gallery laid out along a main street. The town is said to take its name from the island of Cuba.
The old road runs right through, and the best of the Route 66 relics are close by. The Wagon Wheel Motel, built in 1936 with its neon sign and stone cabins, claims to be the oldest operating motel on the road in Missouri, and it is a pleasure to see it still taking guests. A few miles east, at Fanning, a rocking chair more than forty feet high, the biggest in the world, stands outside an old gas station and souvenir stop, and it is almost impossible to resist stopping for a photograph. Nearby, the town of St. James produces wine in the Ozark vineyards.
For a rider, the old road here is a pleasure. It rolls through wooded hills and over small ridges, with gentle bends, fields of corn and hay, and small towns with old red-brick fronts. The surface varies from smooth modern tarmac to old concrete, and traffic is light on the stretches that run beside Interstate 44. Speed limits are low, and local police enforce them, so there is no need to hurry. The Meramec River, a few miles south near Steelville, is a popular place for float trips, and a swim on a hot day is a good break.
Fuel is available in Cuba itself, and there are cafes and diners serving fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, and slices of pie. Summer is hot and humid, with thunderstorms, so ride early, and autumn, when the oaks and hickories turn red and gold, is the best season. After a day on the road, a night in a vintage motel, with the neon buzzing outside and a cicada chorus in the trees, is the right way to finish.