(gentle music) - Hi, I'm Mayor Johansen in the city of Lexington.

We're proud to be a part of Route 66 and its history.

Well, I grew up in Lexington and lived here all my life.

When my mom and dad first came t we owned a restaurant up on Main and it was called the CNL Cafe, and we lived in an apartment up I remember as a kid looking out the window, and Main Street was packed then.

That's before the malls.

There was more mom-and-pop shops There used to be some older guys My dad was one of them.

On Friday and Saturday nights, they would just sit in their car and watch the traffic go by.

And that intersection down there was the hub of town.

I've been full circle with it because I remember when it was in its heyday and I remember when it closed and the impact it had, not only that intersection, but the downtown area, and it was a sad time.

But about that timeframe, that's when the malls started po So these mom-and-pop stores, there wasn't a good survival rate for them, so they were closing up and everybody was going to the m Now we've come full circle and more and more traffic's coming down 66.

The malls are gone or almost gon and then you see the mom-and-pop popping back up on main streets.

So it's been good.

It's been int (exciting music) One of the things we'd lik them to see is our memory lane.

I think that's one of the bigges It's one of the oldest stretches of Route 66, the original Route 66, which was Route 4 before it became Route 66.

It's the original concrete, which I'm told is, you know, 24 inches thick in places.

And we have no intentions to rep I'm going to leave it as original as I can.

That was the road that came mainly through Lexington until they put the first bypass which took us to the edge of tow But on that memory lane as you drive through there, there was houses that had gas pump out in the front yard, and they had a restaurant.

You could stop and get a sandwich there and stuff.

So that's the oldest part of the road for us in this area.

They drive down memory lane.

We've recreated some old billboa so it looks like they're actuall driving down back in time.

One of the originals was out the and somebody stole it, so I recreated it kind of by mem and we put it back out there.

Living here all my life and seeing it all my life, there for several years it was n And I think the interest in bringing that back and letting the people enjoy it and see it, that is a part of Lexington.

That's the part people come to s That's what I tell people.

We celebrate it all the time.

I mean, somebody comes in with a bus, we'll meet them, I'll greet them and talk t them and do whatever, you know?

It's been good.

It's been intere And to live long enough to see that, I'm glad I have.

I mean, it's been fun.

It's fun when I'm out there work I'll see a carpool taking picture of one particular sign, and I've often wanted to go ask say, "Why that sign?"

What memory did that trigge that you want a picture of it?"

So I think just that it walks you back in time.

(upbeat country music)