The Pig Hip Restaurant was operated for more than 54 years by Ernest L. Edwards, Jr. and family and was the home of the celebrated Pig Hip Sandwich, made with baked fresh pork, tomato, and lettuce on a toasted bun with secret sauce. The Pig Hip Restaurant Museum, housing Ernie's personal collection of Route 66 memorabilia and artifacts, was destroyed by fire on 5 March 2007 just before Ernie's 90th birthday. U.S. Route 66, known as the Mother Road, endures as a concrete symbol of America's freedom and opportunity, always in the hearts and minds of her sons and daughters.