Pops Route 66 Arcadia Oklahoma

Since we were staying at the Old 66 RV Park in El Reno we researched points of interest along Route 66 near us. Pops Route 66 in Arcadia, Oklahoma was the first place to pop up.

We stayed in Oklahoma City a few years back on our first visit to Oklahoma. Now it was time to explore more of the area. So off we went to get some kicks on Route 66!

Pops is a very special place. It’s a one-of-a-kind soda ranch on Historic Route 66. What’s a soda ranch, you ask? It a place that pairs an ultramodern diner and filling station with a selection of more than 700 soda flavors. As you approach you can’t help but notice the  soaring 100-foot steel canopy stretches overhead.

But the real attention getter is the iconic 66-foot soda pop bottle that lights up the highway every nigh with a rainbow of colors! There are over 4,000 individual LED lights that change color every few seconds creating a spectacular display as the lights cycle through the rainbow coil by coil. It’s a soda that you can see for miles. From base to straw, the finished structure weighs four tons, giving its playful design some serious scale.   

Speaking of soda and rainbows…the angled glass walls of Pops 66 are lined with thousands of bottles of pop. The soda bottles are arranged by color allowing the entire building to glow like stained glass from the road. Those pop bottles represent the 700 plus varieties of soda favors that you can find inside the diner, slash gift shop.

Inside you can find food worth pulling over for. It’s typical diner food at its best.

So Steve and I slid into a booth, looked over the menu and ordered the breakfast of champions: Crispy Fried Onion Rings and thick, hand dipped Black and White Milkshakes. I had mine with the whipped cream crowning the glorious shake that was so thick I needed a spoon to enjoy it. For some reason that I will never understand, Steve ordered his with the whipped cream on the side. And then he proceeded to eat all of the whipped cream. Fifty seven years of marriage and he still surprises me!

After we finished our very delicious shakes and onion rings we wandered the gift shop for some cool souvenirs of this unique stop along Historic Route 66.