The Historic Route 66 has been the source of inspiration for many over the years. Some of that inspiration resulted in soulful lyrics, while others captured the memory in stirring photographs. Through September 8, nostalgic Route 66 travelers should check out the Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens new display and celebrate the joys of a Route 66 summer filled with colorful flowers, a classic Corvette and a 42-foot Ferris wheel.

The historical 2,400 mile highway connected Chicago to Los Angeles, passing through three time zones and eight states. Bellagio commemorates your Vegas-based Route 66 road trip in its Conservatory by filling the path with vibrant plants, flowers and trees (a total of 10,000 flowers and 4,000 plants), a country fair and an automobile museum piece.

Your first stop at the Conservatory is a welcoming roadside market replete with fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Coastal Redwoods and Weeping Willows merge with overgrown red roses and blue agapanthus flowers along the roadside where two market carts overflow with red and green apples, cantaloupes, watermelons, tomatoes, broccoli and peppers.

Bellagio's Route 66 continues to a quiet town park. Beautiful hedges, filled with 4,000 red, orange, pink, yellow and peach Russian-cut roses, mark the path to a three-tiered fountain, 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Take a moment to enjoy the gently flowing water amid the white statice flowers, red yarrow plants and moss. Vintage park benches with softly glowing street lamps offer a seat to enjoy the colorful view.

For those travelers that remember the excitement of a country fair, the most stirring centerpiece of this exhibit will be the 42-foot Ferris wheel. Surrounded by sunflowers and tent-tops, your senses will be revived by the Ferris wheel's seats filled with flowing ivy and sunflowers. High above the fair, three "cold air" balloons float up and down while you survey the magnificent gardens and roadways below.

Escape the heat of the Vegas sun and enjoy the colorful summer display along the Historic Route 66 at Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens. But hurry as this exhibit is only available through September 8, 2007.