National Parks – Jen's Highways and Horizons Travelogue

Cruising Through Oklahoma – Exploring Route 66 – Part 2 (Arcadia to Texola)

Jen — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 03:22:14 +0000

ARCADIA

The second half of our Oklahoma excursion starts in Arcadia. Here we checked off 2 more “must see” items on our Route 66 list – the Arcadia Round Barn and Pops Soda Ranch. The Round Barn was built by a local farmer in 1898 using native bur oak boards soaked while green and forced into the curves needed for the walls and roof rafters. This was a working barn used to store hay and as a work place for nearly a hundred years. In 1977 it was placed on the National Register of Historic places. Sadly, it was near collapse and a preservation group was eventually created to preserve the barn. Before work could begin, the roof collapsed in June of 1988. Restoration work was performed primarily by volunteers, many who were retirees, who called themselves the Over-the-Hill Gang. Today it sits along the roadside as one of the icons of Route 66. Just up the road is another Route 66 icon, the Pops Soda Ranch. Its hard to miss the large soda bottle out front (which lights up at night) and the retro canopy covering the gas pumps. The soda ranch and diner is a futuristic looking glass structure and the walls are lined with over 700 types of sodas and other beverages in glass bottles. Inside is a classic malt shop and diner with a counter and a handful of booths along with a futuristic convenience store. This is definitely a great place to explore and grab a bite to eat. Bring your appetite – we split a burger and onion rings and they were large portions and delicious! Highly recommend.

: Edward Richardson Building in front of the Round Barn

: Arcadia Round Barn

: Arcadia Route 66 Informational Sign

: Edward Richardson Building in front of the Round Barn

: Large cantilever awning over gas pumps

: The convenience store is futuristic looking

: The glass walls are lined with over 700 types of sodas

: Front wall of sodas by the convenience section

: Front wall of sodas by the diner

: Yacht Club Since 1915 Sakonnet River Grape Soda

: Dr. Tima Honey Kola - All Natural from an old European recipe

: Jack Black's Blood Red Cola scurvy dog - From Black's last raid

: Cool Mountain Gourmet Soda - Orange

: Texas Orang Dream Soda - Where Legends Live on - Dublin Bottling Works since 1891

: Sof Drink - Jamaican Flavour Kola Champaign

OKLAHOMA CITY

Driving West to East thru Oklahoma City on Route 66 takes you through the Capitol building campus which gives spectacular views of the Capitol that was opened in 1917. The Capitol sits on the Oklahoma City Oil Field and has several active oil rigs on the property. The Tower Theater was built in 1937 and still retains its restored marquee and signage. Today it features a stage for live music as well as a screen for movies. The Gold Dome was built in 1958 and was the 5th building in the world to use the geodesic dome design. It was the first building to use anodized gold aluminum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Gold Dome is currently not in use but its still a Route 66 icon. On the original alignment of Route 66 through OKC sits the Braum’s Milk Bottle Grocery. Its a tiny, triangular building built in 1938 located on a small island among several streets. In 1948 the large, metal milk bottle was added to the top of the building making the “Triangle Grocery” a popular photo op. Smurf-vette also found herself in front of a large octopus mural. A few years ago I visited an iconic octopus mural in Bentonville, Arkansas and ever since then we’ve stumbled across several more worthy of photo ops.

: Tower Theater

: The Gold Dome

: Braum's Triangle Milk Bottle Grocery

: A random Octopus mural

YUKON

Yukon is home to Yukon’s Best Flour company. The grain elevator had a neon sign placed atop the roof (in the pic below its above the U in Yukon) in the mid 1940’s. In 2013 this 55 foot tall sign was refurbished and now uses LED lights instead of neon. The building also has a mural that reflects much of the history of Yukon, OK. We also found a mural of the Chisholm Trail depicting a longhorn cattle drive and one of my “must see” murals of a sunset along route 66 with birds, butterflies and flowers. While we saw many spectacular murals, this was Smurf-vettes favorite mural photo op of the entire trip.

: Yukon's Best Flour Elevator

: Yukon Mural

: Chisholm Trail mural

: Route 66 sunset, bird, butterflies and flowers mural

EL RENO

El Reno was another town of many great murals. One was the Crossroads of America mural which showed a classic red and white Corvette driving on Route 66. The Welcome to Historic Downtown El Reno had historic buildings, trolleys and train cars on it. A beautiful and touching tribute to our fallen soldiers depicts a burial at a National Cemetery including the playing of taps and the soldiers horse. The sign reads “dying for freedom isn’t the worst that can happen…being forgotten is. When the silence comes and the smoke clears, we will not forget.” Outside of town was a Giants Display – this muffler man art was conceived by a California-based artist who created cut-out paintings of several Route 66 Muffler Men (and woman) and erected along Route 66. They aren’t quite as powerful as seeing a “real” muffler man, but, they are fun nonetheless.

: Crossroads of America

: The Center Theater

: Welcome to Historic Reno

: Very old El Reno mural

: Fallen Soldier memorial mural

: Burial in a National Cemetery

: The playing of Taps and soldiers horse

: Historic El Reno mural with trolleys

: Oklahoma sign with locks of love on it

: American Giants Sculpture Island

: Lumberjack Muffler Man

: Uniroyal Gal

: Gas Attendant with a busted kneecap

ELK CITY

The next few small towns after El Reno were scattered with random buildings in various states of abandonment and disrepair. Elk City has the Parker Drilling Rig #114 which stands at 181 feet (17 stories) making it one of the worlds tallest oil rigs. The rig was originally built in the 1960’s to drill shafts for underground nuclear testing and later was used for discovering oil. The King’s Inn appears to be a traditional motor inn that has been restored and is open for business. The Flamingo Inn is another classic roadside motel that is restored and open. The National Route 66 Museum has the worlds largest Route 66 sign out front and does not disappoint with a whopping 4 museums in 1 location: National Route 66 & Transportation, Farm & Ranch, Old Town, and Route 66 Blacksmith. A 14 foot tall Kachina Doll greets visitors at the museum entrance. Nearby is another museum, the Great Western Cattle Trail is a Farm and Ranch museum featuring a vast collection of tools, tractors, and farm equipment used in early farm and ranch life. A Blacksmith shop and windmill exhibit are among the many exhibits. There is also a Centennial Indoor Carousel at nearby Ackley Park.

: Parker Drilling Rig #114

: Binding Contract sculpture

: A unique mural

: The King's Motel

: The Flamingo Inn

: National Route 66 Museum - worlds largest Route 66 sign

: National Route 66 Museum - 4 museums in 1

: A Kachina Doll welcome

: National Route 66 Museum - Faux Storefronts

: National Route 66 Museum - Eddie's Diner storefront

: Great Western Cattle Trail Museum & Sculptures

: Great Western Cattle Trail Blacksmith Shop

: Great Western Cattle Trail Windmills

: Centennial Indoor Carousel

TEXOLA

The last town in Oklahoma on Route 66 is barely more than a ghost town but it does offer up a couple unique photo ops. There is a One Room Jail built in 1910 with an iron barred door and windows. Outside is a randomly placed tombstone-style memorial paying homage to the graduating high school class of 1938. Inside are displays about notorious outlaws. All-in-all, its a creepy stop! There is Will Rogers Highway marker outside of town (in the middle of nowhere at the edge of a field) that says at that location on June 26, 1952 Route 66 was rededicated as the Will Rogers Highway. This was one of many ceremonies that also took place on the other state lines of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

: 1910 One Room Jail

: "Tombstone" Honoring class of 1938

: Interior of One Room Jail

: Notorious Outlaws

: Notorious Outlaws

: Notorious Outlaws

: Will Rogers Highway Marker

ONWARD TO TEXAS

Oklahoma had many unique sights to see along Route 66. To me, it is certainly much more interesting to see Oklahoma on Route 66 than via the Interstate where it feels like endless fields (I could say the same about Illinois too!). Next stop on our adventure is Texas where we take this trip to the Midway Point of Route 66 in Adrian, Texas. Stay tuned for the last posts in this series!

Cruising Through Oklahoma – Exploring Route 66 – Part 1 (Commerce to Chandler)

Jen — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 03:06:38 +0000

COMMERCE

Since the sun was setting in Missouri, and it was darker in Kansas, then it stands to reason that it was full on night when we crossed into Oklahoma. The bad news is you can’t see much in the dark and there certainly isn’t much open. The good news is you get to see some of the historic buildings that have neon lights. Commerce had a few cute places that had neon glowing and putting on a show for us. One was the Dairy King…that’s right King, not Queen. This used to be a 1930 cottage style gas station but is now known for its soft serve ice cream, burgers and cookies shaped like the Route 66 shield (I’m bummed I missed out on those!). The other location we saw was Allen’s Conoco Fillin’ Station. This started as a Conoco in 1929-30 and later switched to a Phillips 66 in 1938. It’s also known as the “Hole in the Wall Conoco Station” which seems apt as that is exactly what it looks like.

: Dairy King

: Allen's Conoco Fillin' Station

CATOOSA

By the light of a new day we made our way thru Catoosa looking for the infamous Blue Whale. It’s not every day you see a whale in Oklahoma, so it was definitely on my bucket list. It was pretty hard to miss and it didn’t disappoint. The Blue Whale was built in the early 70’s as an anniversary gift to Hugh Davis’s wife. It started as a swimming park but was closed to swimming in the late 80’s. Its been restored and you can walk out on it for a great photo op. On the same property is the ruins of the Ark of Catoosa. The property was originally called Nature’s Acres and the ark was built and named “A.R.K.” which stood for Animal Reptile Kingdom (eeek! – no reptiles present that I could tell). Across the street from the whale and the ark is the former Arrowood Trading Post which dates to 1952 when the owner moved his business from Tulsa to Catoosa, across the street from his sisters blue whale and alligator farm (note, no whales were farmed, only alligators). It was previously the Catoosa Trading Post and the Chief Wolf Robe Hunt Trading Post.

: Blue Whale of Catoosa

: Staring down the mouth of the Blue Whale of Catoosa

: Standing in the Tail of the Blue Whale

: Smurf-vette posing with the Blue Whale

: Welcome to the Blue Whale

: History of the Blue Whale

: Directional whales

: Directions from a whale

: ARK of Catoosa

: ARK of Catoosa

: Arrowood Trading Post

: Random Roof Art - looks tornadoish

TULSA

While some large cities had very little sights to see for Route 66 (I’m calling you out Chicago and St. Louis), Tulsa felt like hitting a jackpot. They had some really neat things to see! The Golden Driller Statue (its technically but 1 mile off Route 66 but worth the detour) is 75 feet tall and weighs 43,500 pounds (relatable). This oil worker statue is a steel frame covered in concrete and plaster and is the 6th tallest statue in the US. Its been located in front of the Tulsa Expo Center since 1966 (I hope I look that good in another 10ish years). There were several cool sculptures and some neon signs that were ridiculously placed at Cyrus Avery Plaza with absolutely no way to pull off and take pics (however, if you do enough U-turns and wait for traffic to clear, you’ll eventually get them). This park is a tribute to the Father of Route 66 and the park has an East Meets West sculpture of a Model T encountering a horse drawn wagon. There are also replica signs of famous hotels from Tulsa. Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios was a fun looking location with the Buck Atom “Space Cowboy” Muffler Man out front. I read that the Stella Atom giant was installed about 2 weeks after I was there so y’all will see a new giant if you visit. There is an open air historic village on the far side of town modeled after a 1930’s gas station, has a steam locomotive and an oil derrick that stands 194 feet high on the historic site of the first oil strike on June 25, 1901 that made Tulsa the “Oil Capital of the World.”

: Tulsa Fire Station with historic Pirsch 750 Pumper

: D.W. Cordell Museum Mural

: Route 66 Arch

: Golden Driller Statue

: Wings Expo Center

: Route 66 Arch

: Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza

: Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza

: Will Rogers Motor Court sign

: Tulsa Auto Court sign

: Oil Capital Motel sign

: Tulsa mural

: Meadow Gold sign

: Route 66 Historical Village sign

: Historical Village - outdoor museum

: Buck Atom's Curios

: Buck Atom's Space Cowboy

: Murals

: Tulsa sign leaving town

SAPULPA

Sapulpa had several great sights to see. The TeePee Drive In was built in 1950 and had a capacity of 400 cars. Its last season was 1999 but it has recently been restored and had its grand re-opening in 2023. The Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum has the world’s tallest gas pump (plus a new electric charging station…probably not original to the Route though). The Main Street America Mural is on the side of Torchy’s club. Torchy is the only one in the US to own 3 different clubs along Route 66. We also saw an interesting building that screams OKLAHOMA – the Mid America Above Ground Tornado Shelter.

: TeePee Drive In

: Worlds Tallest Gas Pump

: Sapulpa Mural

: Old Gulf Gas Station

: Main Street Mural on Torchy's Club

: Crossroads of America Sign

: Old style mural

: Happy Burger

: Tornado Shelter

STROUD

Stroud was another town with some special highlights. The Skyliner Motel is an operating, classic 1950-60’s motor lodge with no frills rooms and a huge sign that reflects the periods architecture. A black and white mural represents Stroud circa 1898. The Rock Cafe is a historic restaurant on Route 66. Its name comes from the buildings construction of, you guessed it, stone. Most of the stone was leftover sandstone from the construction of Route 66. It was originally built in 1936, opened in 1939, restored from a fire in 2008-09 and is still open today. Stroud was also the site of a daring bank robbery on March 26, 1915 at the First National Bank by the Starr gang.

: Skyliner Motel

: Route 66 mural

: Route 66 mural

: Rock Cafe

: Coca Cola mural

: Stroud circa 1898

: Shadow Figures Bank Robbery

: Shadow Figures get-away horses

: Robbery details

CHANDLER

Chandler is the last town for this half of Oklahoma, and like the towns before it, we saw plenty of interesting Route 66 goodies. The 66 Bowl is a Route 66 themed bowling alley, fun center and restaurant and their parking lot had lots of vintage signs. The Lincoln Motel was built in 1939 and the historic signage was added in the late 1950’s. The Route 66 Interpretive Center was built in the mid 30’s as the Chandler Armory that included offices, a service garage and an ammunition vault. It was headquarters for the Battery F, Second Battalion of the 160th Field Artillery of the Oklahoma National Guard 45th Infantry Division that served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy during WWII. The Phillips 66 station was built in 1930 and operated as a gas station until 1992. In the 50’s the added the garage to the left and in 1967 it became Skelly station then it was a Getty station in 1983 and a Texaco after that. Its been restored back to its original Phillips roots. On the way out of town is the Nostalgic Chandler OK Visitor Center and Gift Shop which has a cute travel trailer and flamingos.

: 66 Bowl - Bowling Alley

: Signs at 66 Bowl

: Signs at 66 Bowl

: Lincoln Motel

: Interpretive Center

: Phillips 66 Station

: An interesting Main Street USA building

: Visitor Center with flamingos

NEXT STOP...

Arcadia! That will be where we pick up our Oklahoma adventure in the next post. I can’t wait to share that with you as we had a really neat experience there to recommend to y’all. I hope you enjoyed this half of Oklahoma! Leave me a comment down below and let me know what you think.

Cheers!

Visions of CARS, CARS, CARS on Route 66 – Kansas

Jen — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 01:09:11 +0000

CARS IN KANSAS

Route 66 is a whopping 13 miles long (not a typo) in Kansas! But don’t let the short length of the Mother Road lull you into complacency on this stretch. If you love the movie CARS (and really, who doesn’t?) then you will be in for a delight around every corner. It was the end of a long day when we drove through so it was dark and I didn’t get as many pictures as I’d have liked. But, I hope you enjoy the ones I did take!

GALENA, KS

The first town in Kansas you come to after leaving Joplin, Missouri is Galena. What most know Galena for is the home of the inspiration for the adorable “Tow Mater” character in the CARS movie. What many do not know is the sinister side of the town that is about as opposite of our goofy Tow Mater friend as you could get. If you are in town during business hours (which I really wish we were) stop at the Murder Bordello which is now a museum of where legend and history collide. During the mining days of the 1800’s, it was said that the “Bloody Madam” and her sons were behind 30 murders, bludgeoning patrons to death for their money and dumping them in mine shafts. Now, many think its haunted. You should find out and let me know! There are also some murals as well as a jail cell cage in the city park (too dark for me to explore). I enjoyed the numerous CARS displays and references and with some creative headlight aiming was able to get a few pics.

: Galena, KS Route 66 mural

: Luigi's Pit Stop was a fun CARS tribute

: Luigi's Pit Stop with tractor tipping mural and Lightning McQueen

: Luigi welcoming Piston Cup Race Fans

: Lightning McQueen and tipped tractors

: Tractor Tippin' photo op

: Tractor Tippin' in the field

: Fillmore mural at Luigi's Pit Stop

: Murals under the awning of Luigi's

: CARS Sheriff on a pole

: Gearhead Curios is a 1939 Texaco filling station

: Doc Hudson at Gearhead Curios

: "Tag Flag" at Gearhead curios

: Refurbished Kanex station with the rusty tow truck inspiring "Tow Mater"

BAXTER SPRINGS, KS

Baxter Springs had rolled up the red carpet and put it away long before we moseyed through town. It’s a cute town and has a few places worth checking out during daylight hours. The Fort Blair Historic Site was constructed as a garrison for Civil War soldiers who were guarding a military access road. On October 6, 1863, Fort Blair was attacked by rebel forces. The battle was named the Battle of Baxter Springs and the fort was successfully defended. Admission is free and you can see some history for yourself. We did catch the Route 66 Sunflower Garden sign that was created by Galena High School’s welding class in 2022 for the Baxter Springs Sunflower Garden. Around August the big field of sunflowers are at their peak and putting on a fantastic show.

: Baxter Springs Sunflower Garden Sign

: Kansas Route 66 shield

NEXT STOP...OKLAHOMA

The small but mighty stretch of Kansas Route 66 sure brought a smile to our faces with all the memories from a classic animated movie. It really is a joy to see Route 66 locations embracing the movie that showcased the forgotten Route 66 and teaches about important life lessons like friendship, loyalty, and evaluating your life priorities. While I wish we could have seen more, my heart was truly happy with what we did experience. We’ll be leaving the shortest state on the route and heading into the 2nd longest state, Oklahoma, next. Stay tuned, there is plenty more to see!

Seeing the Sights on Route 66 – Missouri – Part 2 (Uranus to Joplin)

Jen — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 02:55:48 +0000

GETTING YOUR ROUTE 66 KICKS IN URANUS

Okay, technically its in St. Robert, MO, but does anyone really come to St. Robert to see something other than Uranus? This place has it all: HoMade & Hand Dipped ice cream, a sideshow museum, they’ll pack your fresh made fudge (really? fudge from Uranus?), the Uranus zoological park, a tattoo parlor, jail, escape room, dinosaur, double decker pink bus, a giant rocket, and a water tower that boasts “Home of the Pirates.” I don’t know about you, but I have concerns with pirates in Uranus. Was it the pirates that stole the mayors head? (actually, no, it was the extreme wind or possibly a tornado that knocked his noggin off in April of 2024 – it is beyond repair and a new head is being created) I hope you enjoy this fantastic photo op as much as I did!

: The famous Uranus sign with a giant rocket out front

: The other side of the Uranus sign has a vintage truck and a sign for HoMade Ice Cream

: Being greeted by a T-Rex

: The Zoological Park - where everyone here is an a..ahem..Uranus

: Uranus storefront

: Can't miss the big pink double decker bus

: Uranus water tower - "Home of the Pirates"

: The Mayor of Uranus "Muffler Man" located near the Uranus Putt Pirates mini golf course

: Uranus Route 66 Mural

WAYNESVILLE, MO

Waynesville was a nice looking town that provided us with a few great murals. One was a nice photo op for Smurf-vette while another was a glimpse of her 65 year old ancestor, a striking red and white Corvette with another car behind it. This mural is so realistic, it looks like someone opened their garage door and there they sit! The Pulaski County museum is in the old 1903 courthouse complex and has a very cool clock out front and a Route 66 shield.

: Americana mural in Waynesville

: A Corvette and its friend mural

: Pulaski County Museum and clock

: Waynesville Route 66 mural

LEBANON, MO

The Munger Moss Motel oddly enough started out as a sandwich shop on the original Route 66 near Devil’s Elbow Bridge. Relocation of the sandwich shop to Lebanon happened after WWII when the new Interstate moved traffic off the original route. The business grew and cabins were added. The original 14-room cabin court is now 44 rooms. The famous neon sign was restored in 2010 with assistance from a National Park Service matching grant. The outside looks well maintained. Just down the road is the BowlMor Lanes, a classic bowling alley built in 1950 and is now wrapped in murals inside and out.

: Munger Moss Motel famous sign restored

: Munger Moss Motel distance marker

: BowlMor Lanes bowling alley

: BowlMor Lanes murals

SPRINGFIELD, MO

While we enjoyed the drive through several more towns I didn’t get very many photos. We picked the camera back up in Springfield which is considered the birthplace of Route 66. The idea of the Mother Road was born in the Colonial Hotel in 1926 as a highway connecting Chicago to Los Angeles. The Rail Haven Motel was opened in 1938 and was expanded several times over the years. We also encountered another Muffler Man, this time a chef (who still had his head, and his chef’s hat thankfully) at the Route 66 Food Truck Park. The historic Steak ‘N’ Shake sits on the original alignment of Route 66, was opened in 1962, is now on the National Register of Historic Places and is still in operation. Bud’s Tire and Wheel was established in 1958 and has several car themed murals on it. A roadside park has the Giant Hamburg sign and tells the story of how the business name was supposed to be “Red’s Giant Hamburger” but they mis-measured the special ordered T shaped sign and cutting the “er” off to create their business legend. They made their giant hamburgs and homemade root beer from 1947 to 1984 and the restaurant was torn down in 1997. There were a few old filling stations, the 1927 established Shamrock Court where the cabins are currently apartments and not open to the public, and a 1935 Graystone Heights Modern Cabins & Conoco Filling Station (now private property).

: Springfield, the birthplace of Route 66

: Rail Haven Motel

: Muffler Man Chef at the Food Truck Park

: Steak 'N' Shake on National Register of Historic Places

: Springfield Visitors Center & mural

: Bud's Service Center and murals

: Bud's Service Center murals

: Bud's Service Center murals

: Buds - Established in 1958

: Route 66 Hubcap sculpture

: Giant Hamburg Roadside Park

: Giant Hamburg legendary sign

: Story of the Giant Hamburg

: Can't pass up a Cheech and Chong mural

: Rosie the Riveter mural

: Bigfoot, walking behind real tree

: Old Texaco and a Barber Shop

: Old Shell Gasoline and Rockwood Motor Court

: Shamrock Court office and sign

: Shamrock Court cabins (now apartments)

: Graystone Heights Modern Cabins & Conoco

PARIS SPRINGS, MO

The Gay Parita Sinclair Station is a recreation of a historic service station, created by Gay Parita. It includes many artifacts of Route 66, the Sinclair dinosaur and an antique car and pumps. A nice site as part of the Route 66 revitalization projects!

: Gay Parita Sinclair Station

: Gay Parita Sinclair Station

SPENCER, MO

Spencer is practically a ghost town. The town was founded in the late 1870’s but was abandoned in 1912. Route 66 rekindled this small strip of businesses until it was bypassed by the Interstate and abandoned again. In 2022, a well-known Route 66 preservationist bought the Spencer Garage and has begun restoring it with vintage signs and pumps. This is all that remains of this small spot on the map.

: Spencer Station

CARTHAGE, MO

Carthage showed more life than Spencer did and had a few more interesting things to see. We saw the unique FoxFire Farm display at the Tire shop. The Boots Court Motel was built in 1939 by Arthur Boots. Its a famous Art Deco-Streamline Modern building that was saved from demolition and restored to its 1949 glory. The neon sign was restored in 2016 – we were there just as the sun started setting and we could see the neon around the top of the building starting to show. On the other side of the Boots Court is a Welcome to Carthage mural with a sneaky (but antique) policy car sitting behind it. There was also an old dealership building with a De Soto Plymouth sign on it – you don’t see that very often! On the way out of town was the 66 Drive-In Theatre which opened on September 22, 1949. It showed Two Guys From Texas as its first film.

: FoxFire Farm Display

: The restored Boots Court Motel with the neon starting to show

: Side view of the Boots Court Motel

: Po-po sitting behind the Welcome to Carthage sign

: Old De Soto Plymouth dealer

: 66 Drive-In Theatre - still in use

CARTERVILLE, MO

As the sun was passing lower in the sky, it shined its rays on the Bulger Motor Company with a few fun cars out front reminiscent of the famous Cars movie.

: Bulger Motor Company

JOPLIN, MO

Joplin had one of my “must see” items – the mural with the 1963 split window Corvette! It was dusk when we arrived (I refuse to admit that it was fully dark) but the murals were well lit so that helped. Found a few more murals around town, but to be honest, I wish we had a little more time and a little more daylight to appreciate this town more. There were some more murals around town we didn’t get to see, a few museums and even a Bonnie and Clyde hideout. We were there on a Wednesday night and felt like we were the only car on the road. While we were pulled in at the last mural in the gravel parking area with the high beams on taking a picture, a young boy (probably around 10 years old) rode up on his bicycle and told me he thought my car was cool. Thanks young man – you grow up and do good things and you can have a cool car too! What a way to end our Route 66 drive through Missouri.

: A colorful Joplin mural

: A mural made of tiles - the top half of the display I was after

: The mural is made of tiles and half of a 63 Corvette split window

: Another bucket list item checked off!

: Another bucket list item checked off!

NEXT UP...KANSAS

Stay tuned as we see what the whopping 16 miles of Kansas that Route 66 travels through has to offer us. One might think its not much, but we were pleasantly surprised!

Seeing the Sights on Route 66 – Missouri – Part 1 (St. Louis to Devil’s Elbow)

Jen — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 00:38:24 +0000

ENTERING MISSOURI & ST. LOUIS

The last stop in Illinois was the Chain of Rocks Bridge which is where Route 66 used to cross the Mississippi. The bridge still crosses the river, but only for foot and bike traffic. Instead, you wind your way back through several spaghetti bowl Interstate mazes and cross the river on I-55 where you get off and maneuver through city streets. On our route we encountered construction and detours plus plenty more areas of the roadway that were in dire need of construction. You are very close to Gateway Arch National Park, Laclede Landing District and the St. Louis Riverfront. The Old Courthouse at the National Park was still closed to the public for renovations and we had previously been to the top of the Arch so we skipped them for this trip but we highly recommend taking the time to visit if you’ve never been before. Route 66 picks up by Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. We’ve been to several baseball stadiums around the country and the Cardinals were in town while we were there so we met up with a friend and enjoyed a game before continuing our journey. We also spied the St. Louis landmark, the Donut Drive-In, that was opened in 1952 and retains is period signage.

: Route 66 takes you very close to the Gateway Arch.

: Busch Stadium is an open air park with a great view.

: Donut Drive-In with its original 50's era signage.

PACIFIC, MO

Leaving St. Louis, there was not much to see on the newer stretch of Route 66 that we were following until we reached Eureka, MO where you could see the ruins of an original Route 66 bridge structure and a Route 66 state park (we didn’t get any pictures). If you choose the older section of Route 66 there are a few places to see in Webster Groves, Brentwood, Kirkwood and Wildwood. In Pacific we saw the Beacon Car and Pet Wash. It sits at the bottom of a really unique cliff that looks like it would be fun to explore.

: The Beacon Car and Pet Wash with its old school signage

: The bottom of the cliffs are peeking out behind Beacon

VILLA RIDGE, MO

Missouri is where we started seeing more of the classic Route 66 motels you think of, however, many of them were in ruins, abandoned, or converted to private residences or storage facilities (I use these terms very loosely…lets just say we didn’t stick around to take pictures). It was pretty hard to miss the Gardenway Motel sign, but the hotel has been closed since 2014. We also saw the Sunset Motel which looked respectable but it is now a private property and not open to the public.

: Gardenway Motel Sign circa 1945

: Sunset Motel Entrance and Exit signs

: Sunset Motel - Private Property

UNION, MO

The Indian Harvest Trading Post looked like a unique roadside tourist gift shop. We didn’t stop but I thought the buildings were unique!

: Indian Harvest Trading Post

ST. CLAIR, MO

St. Clair had a huge barn that sat between the Interstate and Route 66 with the Meramec Caverns sign on it. I don’t know when this barn sign was painted, but I have seen many pictures of it over the years. It looks like its got a fresh coat of paint on it. There is also the billboard for the Jesse James Hideout and Meramec Caverns.

: Jesse James Hideout & Meramec Caverns billboard

: Meramec Caverns barn sign

STANTON, MO

The outlaw, Jesse James, was a big deal in the area. In 1948 the General Manager of Meramec Caverns befriended a fellow named J. Frank Dalton who was 100 years old at the time and claimed to be Jesse James. (Nevermind that the original 1882 grave of Jesse was exhumed and DNA says its a 99.7% match). The Jesse James Wax Museum seeks to prove with the only live film footage of Jesse James, the largest collection of personal artifacts, a historic firearms collection as well as wax figures, that Jesse and J. Frank Dalton were one and the same. Unfortunately the museum is “temporarily closed – check back soon” according to their website. I hope they do re-open and this unique piece of history doesn’t fall victim to another Route 66 business not making it.

: Jesse James Wax Museum

SULLIVAN, MO

Sullivan is home to the Meramec Caverns. A word about the caverns – these are supposed to be spectacular caverns and one of Jesse James’ hideouts. Its the largest commercial cave in Missouri and has more to see and do than just the cave. As much as we love caves, our days of navigating the stairs, ramps and slippery passageways to view them are behind us. We hope you have the opportunity to see them! Instead of the caverns, we enjoyed this beautiful mural on the outside of a historic downtown building that depicts all facets of Route 66.

: Sullivan, MO Route 66 mural

CUBA, MO

The scenery in Missouri has been beautiful with rolling hills and lots of greenery (trees, not the corn and beans of Illinois). The Route 66 sights have been sporadic and sometimes a bid sad to see the state of ruin they are in. Cuba was a breath of fresh air and was just what we needed to reinvigorate our interest in this iconic byway. Cuba is known as a town of murals and it didn’t disappoint. Everywhere we looked we found more to see. Since I can’t draw a stick figure to save my life I am fascinated by the large scale art that people can create on the side of buildings. In addition to the murals, we saw the Wagon Wheel Motel which is the oldest continuously operated motel on Route 66 at over 80 years old! It is super cute and restored to its original charm. It looks more like cabins than the traditional motels. This is one place I’d definitely recommend staying at if your trip permits (they get great reviews online). There is Shelly’s Route 66 Cafe and Weir on 66 restaurant. Weir’s was originally a modern, full-service Philips 66 filling and service station in the 1930’s. It has been a variety of things but it is currently a restaurant but it has been restored and the murals depict its original 1930’s glory.

: The Wagon Wheel Motel

: Wagon Wheel Motel - looks like cute cottages

: Wagon Wheel Motel - Neon sign and an antique car by the office

: Shelly's on Route 66 Cafe

: Greetings from Cuba, MO

: Al West Tractor Sales mural

: "News and Review" newspaper mural headline "Bette Davis Visits Cuba"

: 1930's Philip's filling station is now Weir on Route 66 restaurant

: Cuba 1 Cell Jail - 1908

: Inside the Cuba Jail

: Info about the Cuba Jail

: Riviera Maya mural

: Civil War murals - In 1864, an estimated 12,000 troops under Major General Price invaded SE Missouri. On Sept 27 they surrounded Fort Davidson, a small earthwork at Pilot Knob. The Union garrison numbered 1262 troops and about 150 civilians, under the command of Brigadier General Ewing.

: The Battle of Pilot Knob - Sept 27, 1864. Price's soldiers attached in 3 waves, the final desperate assault reaching the dry moat surrounding the fort. They were repelled by a combination of fierce fire and hand-thrown Ketcham grenades, leaving behind over 1000 dead and wounded. Union casualties numbered 12 dead, 65 wounded, and 129 missing.

: Destroying the Fort - Sep 28, 1864. Shortly after midnight, after muffling the horse's hooves and cannon wheels with cloth, the entire Union command marched out of the fort and directly through the Confederate lines. To their amazement, they were not challenged and not a shot was fired, the southerners apparently mistaking them for their own troops. A few hours later a Union demolition team blew up the powder magazine inside the fort. The massive blast rained debris all around the galloping team, but left them untouched. Price's troops attached at daylight, only to find the fort abandoned.

: Battle of the Huzzah - Sept 29, 1864. For the next 2 days, General Ewing led his small command on a grueling retreat north across the Ozarks, covering 66 miles in 39 hours. Rebel cavalry attacked hotly from the rear, but could not flank them due to the rugged terrain.

: Confederates in Cuba - Sept 29, 1864. Ewing's intent was to reach the railroad at Leasburg and take his group by train to safety in St. Louis. But the confederates rapidly sent detachments east and west of Leasburg to destroy track. In Cuba they burned the depot and boxcars, as well as Sweetin's and Upshaw's stores. Price's troops, chronically short of supplies, raided nearby farms looking for food, weapons and clothing.

: Rescue at Leasburg Oct 1, 1864 - The exhausted Federals arrived at Leasburg near dusk on the 29th and took shelter in a railroad cut, stacking cordwood and ties for protection. A continual fire was exchanged through the night and following day. On the morning of Oct 1, a lookout spotted a column of cavalry. As they drew near, the stars and stripes appeared-reinforcements from the Union garrison at Rolla. The Rebels gave up and moved on. General Ewing's command celebrated the end of their ordeal.

: People's Bank mural

: Amelia Earhart mural - Sept 4, 1928 - Amelia Earhart coming to City! First woman to fly across Atlantic due here today but reported down. Miss Earhart was forced down near Cuba, MO about 75 miles SW of St. Louis, according to advices received at Hatbox field this afternoon. The extent of damage to her plane, if any, was not given. If it was not damaged greatly, it is expected she will continue her journey and land at Hatbox field tomorrow.

: Frisco Bluebonnet - WWII mural

: Indigenous people with European explorers

: Apples and Berries mural

: Apples and Berries mural

: Hayes Shoe Store mural

: Prosperity Corner mural

: McGinnis Wood Products Est. 1968 mural

: Sheetmetal & Millwork Dept - depicts the 1948 Roberts-Judson Lumber Company millworks building, the site of custom woodworking and sheet metal production. It remains one of the oldest continuing businesses in Cuba.

: Homecoming Fair 1940 mural

FANNING, MO

Depending on what map you look at, this is either Cuba or Fanning Missouri. But since Cuba already wowed us with all of their murals and the name of this place has Fanning in the title, I’m going with Fanning. Fanning Outpost General Store is a great pit stop to get out, stretch your legs, check out their mural and the worlds 2nd largest rocking chair and enjoy all of the neat treasures in their store, many of which are Route 66 souvenirs you cannot find anywhere else on the road. Yup, a few came home with me but I left plenty for y’all too. This was originally the worlds largest rocking chair in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2008 and stands 42 feet 1 inch tall and weights 27,500 pounds. In 2015, the town of Casey, Illinois made a rocking chair 56 feet 1 inch tall taking over the world record title and bumping the Fanning, MO chair into second.

: Fanning Outpost General Store - definitely has a little bit of everything in it!

: Smurf-vette with the Fanning Outpost mural

: Smurf-vette spies a vintage Corvette in this mural!

: The worlds 2nd largest rocking chair

ROLLA, MO

The Totem Pole Trading Post dates to 1933 and they claim to be the longest-running business on Route 66 in Missouri. It was first opened in Arlington, relocated to Rolla in the late 60’s then moved again in 77 to its current location.

: Totem Pole Trading Post

: Totem Pole Trading Post

DEVILS ELBOW, MO

Devil’s Elbow sits in a sharp 180 degree bend of the Big Piney River. Just before you cross the river is the Elbow Inn Bar & BBQ Pit which looks like it could have been a fun local dive bar but is currently closed. Just beyond the bar is the Devil’s Elbow Bridge which is a two-span truss bridge built in 1923 and still in operation today. Its 589 feet, has a 19.4 foot deck width, and vertical clearance of 14 feet. Once you enter town you are welcomed by an antique firetruck.

: Elbow Inn Bar & BBQ Pit

: Devil's Elbow Bridge over the Big Piney River

: Welcome to Devil's Elbow - antique firetruck

TO BE CONTINUED...

It seems pretty hard to follow a town named Devil’s Elbow so we are going to wrap up this post here. Join me in the next post as we travel the second half of Missouri and see more great sights along the way, starting with Uranus! That’s right…I said Uranus!!

What to See on Route 66 – Illinois – Part 3 (Springfield to Granite City)

Jen — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 01:50:01 +0000

THE FINAL LEG OF ILLINOIS

Thanks for joining us on this final installment of the Illinois Route 66 series! Illinois had the most things to see of the 5 states we were in so I separated them into 3 posts. I hope you check out the 2 prior to this (part 1 is Chicago to Pontiac and part 2 is Lexington to Williamsville). Let’s get going, we still have a lot to see!

SPRINGFIELD, IL

I visited Springfield a few years ago went to the Lincoln Home National Historic Site and highly recommend it. Its a step back in time as you walk around Abraham Lincoln’s historic neighborhood and home. The 4 block neighborhood has been restored to its 1860 appearance and contains 12 historic structures that date back to Lincoln’s time. There is also the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site located in Oak Ridge Cemetery and is the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln, his wife Mary and 3 of their sons. On this trip we skipped the neighborhood and only did a drive by of the Tomb (since we are genealogists, we couldn’t pass up a cemetery visit, even if it was quick!)

There are other great gems to see in Springfield.

The Illinois State Fairgrounds has the Route 66 Experience that is open year round (not just when the fair is running) and is free. This experience has recreated some of the famous icons on Illinois Route 66 in a small, paved walk through exhibit. It’s definitely a must see!
Abe Lincoln Rail Splitter giant is just inside the entrance to the fairgrounds. This statue of a young Abraham Lincoln is 30 feet tall and is holding an axe.
A restored Phillips Service Station and Fulgenzi’s Pizza & Pasta restaurant are just across the street from the fairgrounds. The restaurant opened in 1979 and is known for their pizza and signature thin crust and their family recipe Italian sauce.
Cody Dog Drive-In. The Cozy Dog is a one family owned restaurant dating to 1946 and still serves its famous “corn dog on a stick.”
Route 66 Hotel & Conference Center. This is a uniquely designed complex located on the original Route 66 and was the first Holiday Inn located on Route 66. The hotel features over 100 rooms, a 50s style diner restaurant, a bar, and a comedy club. It also features lots of Route 66 artifacts and memorabilia throughout the hallways and lobby. To be honest, this is where I wanted to stay as it was the first historic hotel with merit I could find on the trip. It does seem as though they are renovating it but it also seems that its hit or miss if you end up in a new room or an old room. Recent reviews left a lot to be desired so I chose not to stay there. I sincerely hope they get this restored nicely and it rises back to its full potential! Reviews of the restaurant are good though, so you should still consider stopping for a bite to eat and checking out the old decor.
Route 66 Motorheads sign is supposed to be the world’s largest Route 66 sign at 32 feet by 32 feet. Its pretty hard to miss!

: Route 66 Experience at Illinois State Fairgrounds

: The beginning of the walking trail

: First stop - Welcome to Illinois

: Inside the Welcome silo - Where the Mother Road Begins

: The path takes you to buildings that have info about each city represented at it

: Overall view of the experience

: In the center are displays and murals

: Another stop on the path

: A shield with all the different 66 shields

: Billboards in the center

: Billboards and vintage sign replicas

: A view of all the replica signs

: Replica sign

: A giant sculpture holding a flag

: Harley Man and Left Field Louie

: The Bunyan Giant and Gemini Giant

: Southeast Spartan and The Guardian

: Lauterbach Man and Frankenmuffler Man

: Uniroyal Gal and Carl's Soda Jerk

: The Brave of Pulaski Rd

: a view of the inside

: Chain of Rocks Info

: End of the trail crosses the bridge

: A last view from the outside

: Giant Route 66 slide in the fairgrounds

: Abe Lincoln Rail Splitter giant

: Phillips Service Station and Felgenzi's Pizza & Pasta

: Lincolns Tomb

: Lincolns Tomb

: Lincolns original internment site

: Lincolns original internment site

: Cozy Dog Drive In

: Route 66 Hotel & Conference Center

: Route 66 Hotel & Conference Center

: Route 66 Motorheads

: Motorheads - largest 66 sign in the world

LITCHFIELD, IL

Maybe my expectations were too high after Springfield, but we went thru several little towns and I didn’t find too much that was photo worthy. I still enjoyed the drive and took in the towns, but I didn’t document anything via a camera. Litchfield was the next town where we found photo worthy opportunities.

Skyview Drive-In. This theater opened in the spring of 1950 and is the only original drive in theater operating along Route 66 in Illinois.
Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center – this is supposed to be a great museum, but it was closed when we went through. The outside does look like it has the typical neon lights that will shine at night. It also had a neat distance sign to various landmarks or destinations on Route 66.
Found a fun billboard mural that your family could put their faces in and have a great photo op.

: Skyview Drive-In Theater

: Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center

: Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center

: Fun photo op mural for the family

MT. OLIVE, IL

The Soulsby Service Station opened in 1926 and operated until 1993 when they could no longer keep up with the interstate a mile away. Its been preserved to its post-WWII era and is on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the oldest filling stations still standing on Route 66.

: Soulsby Service Station

: Soulsby Service Station

STAUNTON, IL

Henry’s Rabbit Ranch is all about rabbits…apparently both live ones and ones manufactured by Volkswagen. They also have on display some trucks from Campbell’s Route 66 Express, a once famous trucking company.

: Henry's Rabbit Ranch

: At Henry's Rabbit Ranch - Humpin to Please

HAMEL, IL

Weezy’s was originally a home in the late 1930’s but was later converted to a restaurant. Its had many owners and names over the years, but the current owners recognized a large interest in travelers rediscovering Route 66 so they updated it with diner themed decor, vintage signs, and Route 66 memorabilia.

: Hamel mural

: Weezy's Restaurant

MITCHELL, IL

The Luna Cafe was built in 1924 with a cafe on the main floor, gambling operation in the basement, and a house of ill repute upstairs. Well established rumors suggest gangsters frequented this establishment, including the infamous Al Capone. Back in the day, the neon sign’s ruby red cherry was lit to indicate when the “working girls” were available.

: Luna Cafe

GRANITE CITY, IL

Granite City is the last main city on Route 66 in Illinois. The road used to go across the Chain of Rocks bridge but since it is no longer open to automobile traffic you have to backtrack around to the interstate to cross the Mississippi and pick up Route 66 in Missouri.

*Mr Twist Ice Cream parlor has been twisting their house made ice cream for 47 years.

*The Chain of Rocks Bridge was built in 1929 as a St. Louis bypass toll bridge. This cantilever through truss bridge crosses the Mississippi River and is 5,353 feet long, 93 feet high and has a 22 degree bend in the middle. In 1936 Route 66 was rerouted to use the bridge and continued to do so for almost 20 years, until 1955. In 1967, the I-270 bridge was completed a half mile upriver and the Chain of Rocks bridge was closed. The bridge has been renovated for use by bicyclists and pedestrians linking over 300 miles of trails and bike paths on each end of the bridge. The bridges name comes from the rock ledges just under the rivers surface that made this part of the river extremely dangerous to navigate. This “chain of rocks” spans to the north of St. Louis for about 17 miles and narrows the river. The bridge appears in the 1981 movie ‘Escape From New York’ starring Kurt Russell.

: Smurf-vette at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

: Crossing the Mississippi Info

: Old Chain of Rocks Bridge Info

: Walking on the bridge

: Lots of fish and turtles (see the red mark?)

: 3 big fish

: Clearing the island and seeing the Mississippi

: The I-270 bridge to the North

: Can see the 22 degree bend in the bridge

: Structures on the downstream side - current is moving fast

: A view of people fishing down below - look at the log on the pier

: Looking downstream

: St. Louis and the Gateway Arch in the distance

: A view from the fishing area

: The log on the fishing platform dwarfs the people

: A pretty scene in the park by the bridge

ON TO MISSOURI

This ends the Illinois portion of Route 66. From here you work your way back to the highway and cross over into St. Louis and pick up Route 66 again over there. I hope y’all enjoyed all we got to capture pictures of! There were many more things we didn’t (or couldn’t) get a photo of so this certainly isn’t an all inclusive list of sights.

We’ll see you on the next post when we explore Missouri!

What to See on Route 66 – Illinois – Part 2 (Lexington to Williamsville)

Jen — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 22:48:52 +0000

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

Welcome to part 2 of the Illinois Route 66 adventure! The first part covered from Chicago to Pontiac and this part picks up in the next town of Lexington and takes you through Williamsville. So, let’s hope right in and get to it…there is a lot to see!

LEXINGTON, IL

Getting on the road after enjoying the beauty and artistry of the murals in Pontiac, and celebrating the long awaited Pontiac mural photo op with Smurf-vette, we are back on the road again. Lexington was our next stop. Lexington has a “Memory Lane” which is a preserved stretch of the original Route 66 dating back to 1926. This stretch is not open to drive on but is a short walk to reminisce with 1940’s era vintage billboards and Burma Shave signs. We saw Uncle Vait’s Pizza, which was formerly Kelly’s on 66 until 2021, and it had some neat decor on the outside, including a stunt motorcyclist above the patio area. Across the street was a giant metal elephant sculpture made of bumpers, hubcaps, and a bunch of other items. I love all things elephants, so of course I made time to snap a pic here too.

: Lexington sign

: Uncle Vait's Pizza

: Metal elephant sculpture

TOWANDA, IL

Towanda had some fascinating historical information for Route 66 through here. Some sites we saw:

Approaching Towanda is the Towanda Speedway display of race cars and other memorabilia. The front side of the property has Joe’s Garage on Route 66 which is said to have a unique personal collection of memorabilia (closed when we went thru).
For those with FOMO, Towanda also has an original section of 1926 Route 66. The sign indicates the width of the original hard road was only 16 feet wide and constructed from Portland cement. The road immediately in front of you (which you drove in on) is the upgraded Route 66 known as the 1954 alignment. 3.5 miles of the original southbound lanes of this alignment have been preserved and converted into the Linear Parkway.
Dead Man’s Curve is a sharp, 90 degree curve on historic Route 4 that became Route 66 in the 1940’s during a realignment. This was the location of many accidents from 1926 to 1959 due to drivers misjudging the curve. At only 18 feet wide, the roadway had to handle two-way traffic. There were so many accidents at this curve that the Illinois State Police dubbed it “Dead Man’s Curve.” This curve was bypassed after WWII and currently (and ironically?) the Towanda Fire Department is located on this curve.

: Towanda Speedway display of race cars

: Towanda Speedway race cars

: Towanda Speedway race cars

: Welcome to Towanda sign

: Historic Route 66 sign as seen on the original roads

: Direction to the original stretch of road

: Original road from 1926-1947 preserved next to the newer roadway so it can still be seen

: Smurf-vette on the original section of road

: Informational sign about the original Route 66

: Dead Man's Curve

: Smurf-vette at the beginning of Dead Man's Curve

: Dead Man's Curve Info sign

BLOOMINGTON-NORMAL, IL

Sprague’s Super Service Station is a 2 story, Tudor Revival style building that housed a cafe, gas station and garage for the traveling public while the upper floor served as housing for the owner and station attendant. The building has been updated inside and restored outside and now contains a gift shop (closed when we were there).

: Bloomington Route 66 sign

: Sprague's Super Service Station

: Sprague's Super Service Station

McLEAN, IL

Illinois’ oldest truck stop, the Dixie Trucker’s Home, opened in 1928 and is still serving Route 66 and Interstate 55 travelers. This Dixie started as a mechanic’s garage and the cafe was later added as a single counter with 6 stools. Today it is a modern Road Ranger truck stop but it still reflects its roots as a Route 66 icon. The McLean Depot served as the halfway point between St. Louis and Chicago on a bustling railroad route. The depot was built in 1853 and is the oldest building in town and is also a rare wooden depot. Another rarity for the depot, it is one of only 2 stations still standing in Illinois that witnessed the 1965 funeral train carrying President Abraham Lincoln’s coffin to Springfield. On site are some interesting and unique tiny rail cars plus a photo op for Smurf-vette.

: Smurf-vette at the McLean sign

: Shadow sculpture of gas attendant and pump

: Dixie's Truck Stop

: Information about Dixie's

ATLANTA, IL

Atlanta was a super cute little town with a walk-able downtown area that beckons travelers to check out the little shops if you have time. It proved to be a great place to work on my FOMO for driving the “old road” plus it was a Muffler Man “giants” mecca.

On the edge of town is the drivable Route 66 exhibit where you can drive a quarter-mile stretch of original roadway replicating a 1920-30s experience which still maintains the 18 foot width and 9 foot lanes. Along the road you’ll see a yellow era-specific stop sign (discontinued due to being hard to see after dark), speed limit and Atlanta population signs and a classic black and white Route 66 shield.
A restored Texaco station houses the American Giants Museum and tells the story of International Fiberglass, the creators of the Muffler Man and other iconic roadside figures. By 2026, this property will have 6 giants and it currently has 2: The “Snerd” Giant was installed in June 2023 and the Texaco Big Friend Giant was just installed in May 2024. This muffler man giant was 1 of 300 created in the 60s exclusively for Texaco. After problems with them falling over, Texaco recalled all of them and they were destroyed. Fortunately, 6 station owners kept their giants and one can be seen here. Although small inside there were quite a few displays on a variety of giant fiberglass figurines.
Paul Bunyan Giant. This 19-foot tall muffler man giant was originally located in Cicero, IL at a hot dog stand named Bunyon’s. This customized giant originally held an axe but now holds its famous hot dog and was moved from the roof of the hot dog stand to the ground so patrons could walk through the legs to enter the business. The hot dog stand closed in 2003 and the giant was restored and moved to Atlanta.
Atlanta Public Library and Clock Tower. The library was built in 1908 and is a historic, octagon-shaped building. The clock tower is 40 feet tall and is of newer construction but the clock movement is a historic 1909 Seth Thomas that is hand cranked by local volunteers who are on a schedule year round. Once cranked, the clock can run for 8 days.
Route 66 Park is a modern park with a mural depicting Atlanta as the midway point on the Illinois Mother Road. There is also a spring fed fountain that still runs (I drank some and lived to tell about it).
J.H. Hawes Elevator. This historic grain elevator was built in 1903 along the railroad and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Smiley Face Water Tower is one of seven smiley face water towers in Illinois but its the only one on Route 66. It’s hard not to smile after spending a little time in this fantastic, quaint town.

: Welcome to Atlanta billboard

: Smurf-vette on the old road

: Information about the old road

: Smurf-vette on the old road

: Restored Texaco and the Big Friend giant

: Texaco, Big Friend and Snerd giants

: The "Snerd" giant

: Inside the Texaco - Giants Museum

: Info about the "Traffic Stopper" giant

: Info about the International Fiberglass Company

: Info about the Big Friend giant

: Fate of the Big Friends

: Miss Uniroyal's Foot/Leg

: Mama Burger and Baby Burger

: Tomahawk

: Esso - Put a Tiger in your Tank

: Carved Eagle to commemorate 9/11

: Paul Bunyan giant

: Paul Bunyan giant information

: Strength meter and murals next to Paul Bunyan

: Historic building

: Judy & Sons Grocery mural

: Chubby's mural

: Information about businesses in Atlanta

: Octagon shaped library and hand cranked clock tower

: Route 66 Park - IL Midway Mural

: Midway IL mural info

: Spring fed fountain

: J.H. Hawes Grain Elevator

: Smiley Face Water Tower

LINCOLN, IL

Lincoln had a lot of road construction and detour routes when we went through it but we still found a few neat things along the way.

The Route 66 Corner Garage was an old Sinclair and still has the famous green dinosaur out front and a pair of pumps. It has been re-invented as an antiques and collectibles store.
The Mill on 66 opened in 1929 on the original alignment of Route 66. It became famous as a sandwich stand and then a bar/restaurant until it closed in 1996 when it sat empty for 10 years. The Mill spent a decade being renovated and is now open as a museum.
The Railsplitter Covered Wagon. This wagon is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “World’s Largest Covered Wagon.” (You may notice Smurf-vette looks a little different in this picture – I actually took this pic several years ago when I was visiting Lincoln)

: The Route 66 Corner Garage

: The Mill on 66

: Info about the Mill

: Railsplitter Covered Wagon

: Railsplitter Covered Wagon

: Railsplitter Covered Wagon Info

ELKHART, IL

The Elkhart mural is 36 feet long and 8 feet tall and was created in 2017. The shadow sculpture of a little girl being served by a waitress tells the story of the time in 1938 when Shirley Temple stopped at The House by the Side of the Road Cafe for lunch after watching her “Little Miss Broadway” premiere in Springfield. The cafe owner put a cardboard likeness of Shirley and an autographed menu on the table and permanently roped it off.

: Elkhart Station Mural

: Elkhart mural

: Shadow figure of Shirley Temple

: Info regarding Shirley Temple's visit

WILLIAMSVILLE, IL

The Old Station looks like a restored Texaco station with old pumps out front where gas used to cost 31 cents per gallon!

: The Old Station

: Regular was 31 cents a gallon!

STAY TUNED

We are 2/3’s of the way done with Illinois. Join me on the next post where we pick back up in Springfield and make it all the way to the Missouri border.

Thanks for following along!

What to See on Route 66 – Illinois – Part 1 (Chicago to Pontiac)

Jen — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 00:22:38 +0000

GETTING STARTED - CHICAGO

As we wound our way downtown Chicago on one way streets, with delivery trucks parked 2 wide in the travel lanes, pedestrians jaywalking everywhere, potholes wanting to consume the front end of your car, plus all the other drivers on the road dodging the same obstacles…we were off on our first mother road adventure: getting the “Begin Route 66” sign! Who knew a sign would be so hard to get? Plus, once you circle the block a few times and get a decent picture you are swept up in the rat race and its hard to get pics of anything else. We’ve visited Chicago before and have done the Willis Tower and the big museums so we didn’t spend any additional time here exploring. We had 1 job – take a picture of the sign.

: Begin Route 66 Sign - Chicago

: Begin sign - there is no parking for cars but this bike snagged a spot (we may see him later)

CICERO, IL

Cicero is the first suburb of Chicago you go through on Route 66 and its under 6 square miles but has a population of almost 90,000 people (and it felt like it, too)! We snagged a drive-by pic Henry’s Hot Dogs Drive-In which retains its original signage from when it opened in the 1950’s. They are said to have the best Chicago-style hot dogs in the area along with other delicious meals.

: Henry's Hot Dogs

BERWYN, IL

Right next to Cicero is Berwyn where I (eventually) found the first of the “giants” on the route. It stands atop Stripes BBQ and its hard to see from the road! The GPS told me we had arrived but I had a heck of a time finding it…until I looked up! Stripes isn’t original to the route but is part of the revival. I love their crazy mural and the first of the Muffler Man giants we saw. This giant was created by Mark Cline in 2022, using a mold made from a 1960s Muffler Man, and then customized with a cigar, chicken wing, and hot sauce. The Frankenstein’s monster stitches in his head may be a tribute to “Svengoolie,” a Chicago-area TV horror movie host who often used Berwyn as a running gag on his show.

: Muffler Man with a cigar, chicken wing and hot sauce

McCOOK, IL

McCook is where we found the famous sign fashioned after the Las Vegas landmark sign. It is in front of the Steak N Egger restaurant which has been open since 1955. Before that, it was the site of Snuffy’s Restaurant that opened in 1926. The exterior of the building was built of Joliet limestone quarried less than a mile away. On a side note, do you recognize the red motorcycle?

: Welcome to McCook Sign

JOLIET, IL

Joliet was a great little town and we wished we could have enjoyed it more. When we went through, the roads were under heavy construction and there were lots of detours. What we could see didn’t disappoint though!

Dick’s Towing Service had a lot of antique cars around the shop.
There was a unique statue on a column that was all mosaic tiles.
The Rich & Creamy ice cream stand has the dancing Blues Brothers on top. They are wrapped in neon so at night they look like they are dancing.
The Rialto Square Theatre – opened on May 24, 1926 as a vaudeville movie palace. The palatial European styled architecture is the work of Eugene Romeo, a Sicilian immigrant. The inner lobby was inspired by the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles in France. The arch between the esplanade and rotunda was designed to mimic the Arc De Triomphe in Paris. There are more than one hundred Czechoslovakian crystal chandeliers and light fixtures throughout the theater. The chandelier in the center of the Rotunda is called “The Duchess.” It is one of the largest crystal chandeliers in the United States. It weighs over 2 1/2 tons and is nearly 22 feet long!
On the outskirts of town we came across the Blues Brothers car high in the air at the Food and Fuel.

: Joliet Route 66 sign

: Smurf-vette at a Route 66 sign next to the Rich & Creamy

: Rich & Creamy w/Blues Brothers dancing on top

: Statue w/mosaic column pedestal

: The Rialto Square Theatre

: Rialto Square Theatre peek behind the columns

: Rialto Theatre - you can see the intricate artwork in the stone and the inner dome

: Rialto Theatre mural

: Blues Brothers car at the Food and Fuel

ELWOOD, IL

Elwood was a farming town but the threat of war in 1940 turned it into a munitions manufacturing hub. The War Department acquired 40,000 acres and built two massive plants to assemble bombs and shells. These factories employed more than 20,000 people who drove Route 66 from nearby towns to get to work and the highway was used as a corridor for shipments. Women entered the workforce during this time in unprecedented numbers and was when “Rosie the Riveter” debuted as a fictional icon representing female factory workers. Unfortunately, one of the factories experienced a deadly blast. In 1993 the land was established as a National Tallgrass Prairie and the Lincoln National Cemetery and the land is “healing.”

: Smurf-vette with Rosie the Riveter

: Informational sign

WILMINGTON, IL

Wilmington was supposed to be my next giant Muffler Man with the Gemini Giant (who wore a green suit, a space hat and held a rocket). Unfortunately for us, but good for the Gemini Giant, he was removed from the site in March and is currently undergoing restoration. When he is complete he will be put back on the route for others to enjoy. We did get to see what was originally a Sinclair gas station that opened in 1963 that has the famous green dinosaur still displayed on the roof even though its now a brake and tire shop. We also saw Nelly’s Restaurant which is a route 66 icon.

: A Sinclair Dinosaur

: Nelly's Restaurant

: Welcome to Wilmington mural

: Wilmington information sign

GARDNER, IL

Gardner was a small town with a big story to tell!

The Shop – a highly recommended gift shop and museum (was closed when we were there)
2 Cell Jail – Built in 1906 of dressed stone. It never held any hardened criminals, only the town drunk or hobos caught riding the rails. (This was the first of several tiny jails we saw on our journey)
On the jail grounds is a memorial to Reverend Christian Christiansen who is credited with supplying vital information to the WWII Allies which led to the destruction of a heavy water facility and the crippling of Germany’s atomic bomb development program.
Riviera Restaurant – This diner began life as a Kankakee streetcar. After being removed from service it was moved to Gardner in 1932 and converted into a diner. In 1937 it was again transformed, this time into a cottage. It later served as a playhouse and was moved behind the Riviera restaurant in 1955. It was restored back to its restaurant days by the Route 66 Association of Illinois and inducted into the Route 66 Hall of Fame in 2001.

: Welcome to Gardner

: The Shop

: The Shop

: 2 Cell Jail

: 2 Cell Jail

: Inside 2 Cell Jail

: Inside 2 Cell Jail

: Antique radio in 2 Cell Jail

: Tribute to Christian Christiansen

: Riviera Restaurant Streetcar

: Riviera Restaurant sign

: Route 66 owl carving

DWIGHT, IL

Dwight has a nicely restored Texaco gas station that is also a museum (closed when we were there…but I was able to peek in the windows) as well as the Old R66 Family Restaurant which used to be the Starks Restaurant. Smurf-vette also found another photo op.

: Restored Texaco

: Inside the Texaco - old fire engine

: Texaco museum

: Old R66 Family Restaurant

: Old R66 - had great murals

: Smurf-vette at the Texaco station

: Dwight Route 66 sign park

: Dwight informational sign

: Dwight informational sign

ODELL, IL

Odell also had a nicely restored gas station – this one was a 1932 Standard Oil station. This was a project of the Route 66 Association of Illinois Preservation Committee and was identified in 1997 on the National Register of Historic Places.

PONTIAC, IL

I’ve been to Pontiac several years ago and was bummed when they had the mural park closed to have a street fair (the nerve!). Smurf-vette couldn’t get her photo op then, but, it was on our bucket list and Pontiac didn’t let us down this time.

Twenty murals were painted in 2009 in a span of 4 days.
Original Wishing Well Motel sign and well are in the mural square. This display honors just one of the many mom & pop businesses that served weary travelers on the mother road. At it’s original location, many thousands of people from around the world stopped to make a wish at this famous well. Even though it has been moved, the magic remains. “Yes, dreams do come true on Route 66. All you have to do is believe!”
Waldmire Land Yacht. Waldmire was born near Springfield in 1945. His prolonged passion for Route 66 begn in 1962 when his parents took the entire family on a motoring trip to California via Route 66. During that trip, Bob fell in love with the Mother Road and all that it offered. Bob then spent the rest of his life traveling along Route 66 in either this school bus mobile home, a 1964 Mustang, or his 1972 Volkswagen van. Bob supported his nomadic and eclectic lifestyle by painting and drawing for clients along the Mother Road. His art works are famous world-wide. The bus looks as it did when Bob passed away in 2009. It had solar panels, a rain water collection system, a comfortable back porch, a storage loft, a working toilet and shower, along with a bed, kitchen and work area.

: Famous Pontiac Route 66 mural

: The back side of shops on the square have murals painted on them

: Mural of a service shop

: Mural of a soda fountain

: Wishing Well Motel sign and well

: Wishing Well Motel well

: Waldmire Land Yacht

: Waldmire Land Yacht

: Waldmire Land Yacht sign

: Lipton Tea mmural

: Automotive mural

: Cute little truck

: A tile mosaic mural depicting indigenous tribe scenes

: Large mural of Route 66 map

: Chautauqua mural

: Coca Cola mural

: Smurf-vette photo op

: Route 66 information sign

CHECK OUT PART 2

We’ll pick up our Route 66 trip through Illinois with the town of Lexington in Part 2 of this series.

There sure was a lot to see (and I didn’t get pictures of everything)! What did y’all think? Are you inspired to get your kicks on Route 66?

Route 66 Trip Planning Realities

Jen — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 22:19:11 +0000

WHERE IT ALL BEGINS

There is already an enormous amount of documentation regarding the history of Route 66 so I’m not going to bore you with a lengthy dialogue on that specifically. No, I prefer to bore you with my beginning of Route 66. I’ve always loved cars and road trips and whenever I’ve been near stretches of Route 66 I’ve been excited to hop on, even for just a short stretch. Its always been a bucket list item of mine to drive the full length of Route 66, of which I’ve now accomplished half of. I definitely learned some things in both trip planning before you even leave home and on the road experience that will serve me well when I finish the second half of the highway in a few years. Hopefully anyone heading out on this adventure themselves will find a useful nugget of wisdom here.

ITS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER ROAD TRIPS

I came into this adventure with numerous successful road trips under my belt where I was able to see a lot of things in a short amount of time. Many of these trips were more scenic in nature though – like the scenic drives in National Parks or beautiful byways with pullouts for photo ops. It’s not unusual for my days to be 10-12 hours long and traversing 4-600 miles of backroads on longer days.

With that experience, I split this trip (Chicago to Mid-Point) up into what would normally be 5 relatively average days with 4 overnight stops along the way. The reality is, Route 66 is not like a scenic highway with pullouts. While there are definitely scenic parts of the route between towns, all of the photo ops are in towns which creates its own set of new to me challenges. Never have I ever had to turn around, go back, circle the block, dodge cars, or come at a photo from a different angle so many times on a trip before. This adds a lot of time to the trip and seriously slows down forward progress.

NAVIGATION CHALLENGES

Again, on my other scenic road trips, I was used to having to plan my routes by placing waypoints on Google Maps and saving them in advance of my trip so it would take me on the scenic highways I wanted and stay off the fastest or shortest route like it constantly wants to recalculate you on. That is borderline unrealistic for Route 66. I’d probably have 66 saved maps (can only have 10 waypoints per map) to get it to go where I wanted.

So, knowing this would be different, I ordered 3 books, a set of 8 maps, plus a laminated map. I thought for sure, armed with all of this that we couldn’t go wrong. When I found the Begin Route 66 sign (which GPS will take you to) I was excited to begin the journey…we were on our way! Five minutes later, in a maze of one way congested downtown streets, we were struggling to figure out where our next turn was. Sure, the paper map may have said “turn on such and such street” but I had no idea if that was in .8 miles or 8 miles. It was stressful! Not only that, the navigator has to keep their eyes glued to the tiny print of the maps and hopefully not lose their place while looking around and trying to enjoy the trip.

By the outskirts of Chicago I had pulled into a parking lot and downloaded the blue (free) Route 66 Ultimate Guide app for navigation. The screen shots in the app store show nice maps and distances to the next turn like any normal Google or Waze type navigation program. The app itself says “it does not include a live map…this is to increase safer driving, and allows you to experience Route 66 without having to watch an app.” Umm, okaaaay, but I was desperate so onward we went. Listen, this thing couldn’t even get me out of the parking lot. I found my own way to the road and used it for about 15 miles but it was almost like the paper map we already had. It would just tell you the next turn but no map and I don’t even think it told me distances to the next turn. There may be other merits like the points of interests but the navigation part was a no-go.

So, into another parking lot I went and downloaded the yellow (paid) Route 66 Navigation app. While this app wasn’t without its challenges, it did keep me on Route 66 with clear instructions and a visual map. The books and paper maps rode in the trunk for the remainder of the trip. I highly recommend bypassing everything else and just hocking up the cost of the app as part of your trip expenses and move on with life. Now, this does not help with pre-planning…it does best while you are on the route and want to stay on the route.

We wasted at least an hour, probably more like 2, just sorting out our navigation issues. It was really a rocky start to a trip and was totally uncharacteristic (and need I say humbling?) for us.

Another item of note is that neither of these apps are compatible with Android Auto (and I assume Apple CarPlay) so you will be navigating directly from your phone and not your cars in-screen display. This means you may want to be prepared with a phone mount on your dash (which I wasn’t) to have it visible. The other thing to think about is which phone to put the paid app on. If the navigation app is on the same phone that is your primary picture taking phone then you’ll have an added layer of annoyance of always unhooking your phone and disconnecting the navigation to take pics and then hooking it all back up again. If you are wiser than I was, you’d pay for the app on the phone not taking the pics.

My navigator also wants to remind readers that there is more to being the navigator than reading the map. For one, they too are along to enjoy the sights and when they look up to see a famous icon then look back to the map, its very easy to lose the place in the route instructions and its very hard to tell if we’ve driven past the next turn or not. In addition to keeping the car on the route, the navigator also has the added duties of retrieving snacks to keep the driver from getting hangry, topping off water jugs, searching for the pen that fell down the side of the seats, getting the phone ready for an upcoming photo op, finding gas stations and meal stops, etc. All of these other things take their eyes off reading the map and makes navigating by books and paper maps infinitely more difficult. So, take it easy on your navigator and pay for the app.

Note – I am not affiliated with the yellow Route 66 app in any way or earn a commission by recommending it. This is just my true personal experience on the road after using all of these various resources, wasting time unnecessarily, and having a meltdown or two while we got our act together and settling in with what worked best for us.

My last tidbit of navigating wisdom is, yes, the route is mostly well marked. But, I did experience areas where signs were missing or were confusing. I would not solely rely on the route markers along the road to be your navigational beacon.

THERE IS MORE THAN 1 ROUTE

Yup, that’s right. More. Than. One. So you’ll be driving along and pass a brown Historic Route 66 sign with an arrow to the left and your map or navigation app says to stay straight. OMG, I’m so confused! Do I stay straight, do I go back and turn? There were times when a pole would have 3-4 Route 66 signs, including bicycle routes. Seriously!

There is generally what is considered the “old” or “original” route that still exists in some areas and then there are some newer rerouted sections. Sometimes it has been rerouted several times in a particular town so they put these handy year markers (that mean literally nothing when you are driving) saying choice A is the 1926 to 1932 route and choice B is the 1932 to 1947 route and choice C is the bicycle route or yet another block of years. Which one is best? What are you going to miss taking one over another?

I’ll admit, I have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Knowing there were sections I wasn’t driving on was making my FOMO kick into high gear, but, a little research helped me make a decision and stick with it.

My pre-planning research indicated the majority of the sights to see are on the newer sections of Route 66. And, I discovered while we were on the road that there were little sections of the old road preserved that you could still walk or drive on for some novelty without having to truly drive the oldest route (great for calming the FOMO!). I’ve also heard the oldest part of the road is the most rough and while the Corvette is a great open road cruiser its strengths do not shine on rough roads riddled with potholes, so for me…the oldest part was a pass.

Also, the yellow navigation app gives you choices. Route A is the newer route (and recommended) and Route B is the oldest parts of the road. It will automatically tell you directions based on which choice you made so just keep with the motto “always trust the GPS” and don’t panic when you see a sign saying Route 66 went left while you went straight…that was likely Route B. If you want to look ahead, you can look at the attractions in the towns and it would tell you if it was on Route A or Route B which could also help you decide which fits your personal desire of what you want to see or accomplish.

: Original road from 1926-1947 preserved next to the newer roadway so it can still be seen

ROAD CONDITIONS

Prior to hitting the road, I had quite a few people mention they were shocked I’d take my Corvette on this road. They seemed to think the road was left to deteriorate and is in complete disrepair and I’d end up damaging my car by doing this. I really wanted to drive this all-American road in my all-American car so with some amount of trepidation I set off expecting to be dodging potholes for most of the way. My personal opinion is just because this is Route 66 doesn’t mean its been left to be overtaken by nature. Did I experience potholes and rough patches of road? Absolutely. Did I experience those same things on nearby roads that were not Route 66? Also, absolutely. Don’t get me wrong, I-55 is going to get more attention for roadwork than Route 66 running along beside it but it was in reasonably good shape the majority of the time. There were areas they were actively upgrading the road surface. In small towns Route 66 is often their Main street and is upkept as any other Main streets in America are. In the big cities like Chicago and St. Louis where all of the surface streets are pothole laden disaster zones, Route 66 is no different.

NUMBER OF DAYS

Who scoffed at the people online saying the full Route 66 takes 3-4 weeks to travel? That would be me. It really all comes down to how you want to travel. I am a “see and go” person. I do not need to hang around a location for days and experience all the things. I absorb information and sights quickly, appreciate what is in front of me, snap my pictures to share with all my peeps, then I’m ready to move on to the next sight that awaits me. Don’t judge me…I don’t judge you for taking cruises every single year. We each have our own travel style preference and this is mine. It is definitely not for everyone though.

While I still think 3-4 weeks is excessive, I think 2 weeks is appropriate for the full Route 66 or 1 week is good for doing half at a time. I did half in 5 days/4 nights and I needed more time (see above, the turning around for photo ops was a huge time suck).

DAY 1

I started my trip in Gary, Indiana which is only 45 minutes from Chicago. We had some personal genealogy to do near Chicago before we started so we didn’t actually reach the start sign until about noon. We made it to our first overnight stop of Bloomington at about 7pm. This day was okay for us, but if you are interested in stopping and going in gift shops, visitors centers or sit-down Route 66 diners, then you either need to get on the road earlier than noon, or, stop in Pontiac for the night. (Bloomington was my stop because I was meeting a friend for dinner there) Pontiac and Bloomington are both large enough to find accommodations of some sort.

DAY 2

We had a few things to take care of in Bloomington and didn’t get on the road until around 10. Our goal was St. Louis because we were meeting up with another friend and partaking in a Cardinals game that started at 6:45pm. If we had gotten on the road a little earlier, or we didn’t have a time to be somewhere in the evening, this day would have also been fine. (Note, I’ve been to Springfield, IL before and did the Lincoln National Monument stuff so I skipped it, but if you stop plan to spend a few hours there). If you prefer to stop at museums or have a little shorter days and stopped in Pontiac on day 1, then I’d recommend making Springfield, IL your overnight stop.

DAY 3

Since I had to ditch the Chain of Rocks on day 2, day 3 actually started out backtracking to go back and get it. It was definitely a must see and glad we did that, but, it added probably 2 hours to our morning. Our overnight was in Tulsa, OK and this was a long day. Missouri was probably the prettiest state with rolling hills and pretty trees but if felt like it was never going to end. It was dark by the time we did the 16 mile stretch of Kansas (which was actually a great little stretch!) and almost midnight when we rolled into Tulsa. We drove the interstate for the last leg because it was so dark you couldn’t see anything on Route 66 anyways. I recommend staying in Springfield, MO (if you are coming from Springfield, IL) or in Joplin, MO (if you are coming from St. Louis).

DAY 4

One of my must see stops was the Blue Whale of Catoosa so keeping with my theme of backtracking, we left Tulsa and backtracked to Catoosa to see the whale. Then we went back thru Tulsa and on to Amarillo, TX. Although this day wasn’t as long as day 3, it was still long. If you stayed in Springfield, MO then I’d recommend Tulsa then doing the next leg to Shamrock, TX. If you stayed in Joplin, MO then I’d recommend Oklahoma City with the next leg to Amarillo, TX.

DAY 5

We started out by doing the Amarillo stretch of Route 66 since it was too dark the night before, and it was a great stretch but it required a lot of turning around and going back. It was a busy little downtown stretch. You could also get out of your car and walk, but this was Texas in June so we opted to turn around numerous times. We made our way over to the Mid-Point in Adrian which marked the end of our trip. We went back to Amarillo and had lunch at the Big Texan before we started our journey back home.

ACCOMMODATIONS

I really wanted this to be a great Route 66 experience where we saw all the things, ate at diners, stayed at old motels with neon lights, etc. I once stayed at the Historic Route 66 Motel in Tucumcari, NM (right up the road from the well-known Blue Swallow motel) and in my mind I was expecting motels like these all along Route 66. News flash – these kinds of motels are few are far between on the eastern half of the mother road. There were some more as you got into Oklahoma and Texas but Illinois and Missouri in particular seemed to not have many choices. There was one I was really interested in but the recent reviews scared me off. So that leaves traditional hotels or things like Airbnb or VRBO. I ended up using Airbnb because I could get a house close to Route 66 for essentially the same price as a hotel and gain privacy, separate bedrooms, better parking, etc. I expect when I do the western half of the trip that I’ll be able to have more of the motel experience (Wig Wam’s or bust!)

: Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, MO - renovated with the historic charm and great traveler reviews

FINAL THOUGHTS

Pick a handful of things you really want to see as the core of your trip. My must sees were:

The “Begin Route 66” sign
As many of the “Giants” as possible
Blue Whale of Catoosa
Shamrock Conoco
Pontiac murals
Leaning Tower of Texas
A specific mural in Yukon, OK
Round Barn of Arcadia
Pops store of Arcadia
Corvette mural in Joplin
Cuba murals
Chain of Rocks bridge

As long as you see the things your really want to see, then everything else is a bonus. Take the time that your schedule allows and do the best you can with what you have to work with. I chose to spare some funds on extra hotel nights and food and shorten the trip and while it had challenges it still worked out and I saw everything on my list, along with many, many more things!

They are actively revitalizing what they can on Route 66 and they rely on visitors like us to spend our money there to help them continue to make progress. Route 66 will turn 100 years old in 2026 so there is no time like the present to get on the mother road and enjoy it from pier to pier (the Navy pier in Chicago to the Santa Monica pier in California)!

Discover Chicago Portage National Historic Site

Jen — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 18:53:15 +0000

A ROUTE 66 SIDE TRIP

Starting at the beginning of Route 66 in Chicago, we made our way thru the craziness of the Windy City and entered the suburbs. Just 1 mile off of Route 66 in Forest View, IL is the Chicago Portage National Historic Site. Since a mile wasn’t far at all (at least from the comfort of a car on a nice day) and I try to visit National sites whenever possible, we ventured off our Route 66 path for a few minutes on this side adventure.

: Chicago Portage NPS sign

: Chicago Portage Sign

A BRIEF HISTORY

The Chicago Portage is a low and short divide between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River systems. It is considered on of the most important travel routes of the mid-continent and it played a significant role in the development of the United States interior and spurred the growth of the City of Chicago.

The easiest way to navigate across North America was often on natural waterways. Unfortunately, natural waterways do not always connect together like our modern road and highways systems do. Earlier travelers had to carry, or “portage,” their boats, gear and goods across land gaps to make connections to other waterways. Native American Indians who traversed this area for many generations shared their knowledge with early European explorers. The explorers Marquette and Joliet first crossed the Chicago Portage in 1673.

The portage connects Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River which was then improved with the I&M Canal. Then the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal allowed even larger ships in a new wider canal to cross the area and make Chicago the country’s busiest inland port. The railroads expanded trade and speeded transportation even further.

This national historic site preserves the western end of the portage and is one of only two national historic sites in Illinois.

: Chicago Trades on its Natural Advantages

: Chicago Portage map

: A History of People and Travel

PORTAGE TIMELINE HIGHLIGHTS

Twelve to fourteen thousand years ago, Glacial Lake Chicago drains through the Chicago outlet and about 4,000 years ago the Nipissing Stage of the Great Lakes drains thru and set the Lake Michigan elevation of 580 feet, which it remains today. In 1673 Marquette and Joliet cross the Chicago Portage and Joliet proposes a canal. Lots of things happen in the 16-1700’s – battles, treaties, cessions. In 1803 Fort Dearborn was built to protect the portage but the fort was burned as one of the first acts of the War of 1812…coincidentally, in 1812. In 1836 the I&M Canal construction begins and finally is done in 1848.

Tolls are definitely in use in modern Chicago and I don’t know exactly when tolls began, but it surprised me to know that in 1866 the I&M Canal brought in over $300,000 in tolls, the most ever! I guess Chicago knew a good thing when they saw it and kept tolls around…forever. In 1900 the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was completed. In 1933 the Illinois Waterway opens and the I&M closes. In 1952 the Chicago Portage was designated a National Historic Site. In 1984 Congress designates the I&M Canal as the nation’s first National Heritage Corridor.

: Timeline 14,000 years ago to 1800

: Timeline 1800-1900

: Timeline 1900-Present

MODERN DAY

The National Historic Site sits on approximately 300 acres of forested area. The Forest Preserves of Cook County maintain Portage Woods and Ottawa Trail Woods. This is the last remnant of the portage route that still appears much as it did when Native Americans and European explorers first traveled through it.

Today, most of the portage is unrecognizable but is as important as ever. The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, major railroads (I’m pretty sure I drove over almost all of them in the Corvette), the Stevenson Expressway, and industrial corridors all currently line the portage route.

Today, visitors to Portage Woods can enjoy walking and hiking on natural surface trails, cross-country skiing, scenic overlooks, birding, cultural interpretation signage and connections to the Salt Creek Trail System.

Its a lovely small park, but beyond an outhouse, there are no services. That includes no visitors center and, sadly, no passport book stamp for those of us who make a beeline for those suckers at anything with “National” in its title. If you have the time to explore the shaded trails, definitely take it!

: Native American with European Explorers portage their canoe

CLOSING

This is definitely a great quick stop on your Route 66 adventure where you can calm your nerves after the white knuckle adventure of Chicago. Learn a little history, thank those before us for laying the groundwork for our modern country, wander a few trails and stretch your legs. If you have a longer amount of time to spend, the trails definitely looked enticing in the shade of a hot day.

Enjoy!