Illinois – Jen's Highways and Horizons Travelogue

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!