One of the most iconic stops along the Oklahoma stretch of Route 66 is the Rock Cafe in Stroud. They serve up the top notch diner road food along with a side of Route 66 nostalgia. In fact, as you can see from their marker, that walls themselves are courtesy of the Mother Road:
On your way in, you'll notice some of the characters from the Disney/Pixar movie "Cars" welcoming you to the cafe. And once inside, you'll see that the Pixar motif continues:
The Pixar crew knew they wanted to heavily feature Route 66 in the film so as part of their pre-production they took a long trip up and down the legendary road. And one of their favorite stops was Rock City.
Not only were they charmed by the by the legendary locale but they were inspired by its owner. Dawn Welch has owned the cafe since 1993 and has seen it through fires, tornadoes and countless road weary travelers. In 2009 she was awarded "Oklahoma's Woman of the Year."
With her impressive business acumen and homespun hospitality, Welch inspired the film's writers and producers to create the character Sally and base her on the Oklahoman entrepreneur. In the film she's a blue Porsche:
So the next time you're away from the Sooner State and start to feel a little home sick, you can always pop in "Cars" and enjoy a little Oklahoma inspiration in your entertainment.
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