Route 66 Day Five: Sandhills Curiosity Shop

Heading out of Shamrock Texas on Old 66, we anticipated our next stop, Sandhills Curiosity Shop in Erick, Oklahoma (201 S Sheb Wooley Ave, just off Highway 40). The AAA guide named Sandhills the most interesting stop on The Mother Road. As we rode down deserted Sheb Wooley, Erick’s main street, it was difficult to imagine that such a reportedly lively and fascinating stop was nearby. Then we saw the man in overalls with the big beard sitting on the porch of one of the businesses. As we exited the car with camera in hand, his voice bellowed,“Y’all that group from Weatherford? We thought you weren't coming today, after all.” As he started opening the shop, I notice that dusk was approaching, and this odd introduction made the whole thing a little scary, a bit of an adventure.

Soon we were sitting amongst the most extensive collection of 66 memorabilia I had ever seen, none of which was for sale. There were coins sprinkled on every surface and littered all over the floor. Harley and Annabelle begin to tell us their life story, sprinkling references to sex and drugs that captured my 10-year old's attention, but never crossed the line.  Harley explained how he and his wife accidentally became a singing and dancing roadside attraction one afternoon when they were goofing off with the instruments in their failed music store. After a group of French touring bikers accidentally mistook the amateurs for actual entertainers and left hundreds of dollars in tips, a show was born. They soon gave up their jobs at the Motel 8 to run the Sandhills Curiosity shop full time. Now they average 300 shows a year for groups that stop there as part of their tour of Route 66 attractions.

Harley and Annabelle and the Sandhills Curiosity shop have been immortalized in the Disney movie, Cars, and they’re are featured on a Route 66 ride at Disney's California Adventure Park in Anaheim, CA. They are also featured at the end of a video that we created about family adventures on Route 66:


Enjoy and let me know what you think.