I have always had a "Things To Do Before I Die" list.  First on my list was Visit New Orleans.  Well, Katrina took care of that.  Next is Do Route 66.  So before the next catastrophic earthquake hits to make California an island or the Midwest a lake, I better do this one.  So my Journey begins...

Chicago  Almost at the border with Cicero is the old Castle Car Wash, closed now but plans underway to save the unique building.

Cicero  Infamous town of Al Capone's operations, some Route 66 era buildings still exist.  The Cindy Lyn motel still operates today.  Henry's Drive In has hot dogs that are "a meal by itself".

Cindy Lyn		Henry's
Robin Hood Mufflers

Berwyn  Ummm, well, it's Berwyn...

Countryside  The Wishing Well Motel was built in 1941. It originally had 10 cabins and was later converted into one building with 19 rooms.

Willowbrook  Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket opened in 1946 across the street from the (now gone) Hinsdale Airport.  I recently had their fine chicken dinner, highly recommended!

Joliet  Did you know that Romeoville was originally called Romeo and Joliet was called Juliet. In 1845 Juliet changed their name to Joliet in honor of of the famous explorer Louis Joliet.  Romeo did not like that one bit and changed their name to Romeoville.  I guess the divorce was not amicable.  In Joliet there was a fest downtown so navigation around the closed streets was challenging.  But soon we come to the Rialto Theatre.

Route 66 Raceway	Memorial to the 1942 explosion of the Joliet Arsenal

Wilmington  Wilmington is the home of the Gemini Giant.  The Gemini Giant is a large fiberglass "muffler man" of the 1960's era.  Next to the Giant is the Launching Pad Inn.  The Inn was built in 1960 and at first sold only hot dogs and ice cream, but has long since expanded to a full service menu.  The Eagle Hotel was serving stagecoaches in 1936.  It's the oldest hotel on all of Route 66 and was slated for demolition until the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program started  restoring it so that it can continue to cater to travelers for generations to come. The old hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Gemini Giant		The wall mural of the Launching Pad In

The Eagle Hotel		Dinosaur!
The Mar Theater open since 1937

Braidwood  First started in 1956 in a school bus painted with rainbow colored polk-a-dots, the Polka-A-Dot Drive Inn served lunch from a mini-sized kitchen inside the bus. Today the Drive In sports bigger-than-life statues of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Betty Boop and the Blues Brothers.  

Polka-A-Dot wall		Polka-A-Dot other wall
more inside the Polka-A-Dot		Lovely interior
Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant

Gardner  The Riviera Restaurant was built in 1928.  Reportedly, movie legends Gene Kelly and Tom Mix used to regularly stop here and it was a favorite out of the way joint for Al Capone during his heydays. During prohibition the old roadhouse offered both liquor and slot machines to discrete travelers.  Behind the Riviera is an old horse drawn Streetcar Diner that is well over 100 years old.  In 1932 the Streetcar was purchased and moved to Gardner. Soon it became a simple diner providing good food with just a small sign in front to identify it.  For a while it even became an unofficial stop on the Greyhound bus line before the diner closed in 1939.  In 1955 the streetcar was moved to its present location behind the Riviera.

Dwight  Dwight is rich in Route 66 history.  Ambler's Texaco Station was built in 1933 and has been servicing the Route 66 traveler ever since. It was in operation pumping Marathon gas until 1998 and ranks as one of the longest operating stations on Route 66. In 2003 it was restored to its current beauty and serves as a welcome center.  Another amazing building (not of Route 66 fame, but look at that mural!) is the Java Stop.  The building is incredibly narrow!  "Downtown" Dwight has some fantastic architecture.  The Keeley Institute was a home for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts built in 1903.  It is now the Fox Development Center which has priceless stained glass windows.  The First National Bank building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905.  The Strufe Motel started business in 1952 but has since been converted into apartments.

Ambler's Texaco Station		Big Al’s Hot Dogs
"Java Stop" coffee stop
Fox Development Center		Fedderesens' Pizza
Strufe Motel		Historical Society

Odell  The Odell Standard Oil Station was built in 1932. This historic station sold gas at 20 cents per gallon to the travelers of Route 66. The station continued to operate until the 1960's when it discontinued selling gas and was used as a body shop until 1975. After sitting neglected for years, the building was saved by the Illinois Route 66 Association. Fully restored, the old station serves as Route 66 information center. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in November, 1997, it was also the first recipient of the Cyrus Avery Award, which recognizes preservation projects on Route 66.   During the road's busy periods, 1926-46, a tunnel was built going under the road to St. Paul's Catholic church.  It was filled in the '50s.

Standard Oil station		Odell "subway"

Cayuga  Here is the northernmost of the two remaining Meramec Caverns barns along the Mother Road in Illinois.  The Meramec Caverns is a set of natural limestone caves that features beautifully sculpted patterns of stalactites and stalagmites, located in Stanton, MO.  The other barn is in Hamel, but we were not able to locate it.

Meramec advertisement on side of barn		This photo is one of my favorites - really personifies Route 66...

Pontiac  The Route 66 Museum and Hall of Fame has Route 66 artifacts, pictures, and literature capturing years of adventure on the old route. The museum was built inside a refurbished firehouse, which is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The old Log Cabin Café has been doing business since 1926. The building originally faced an older Route 66 alignment behind the building. When the alignment changed, the Café was lifted and rotated so that the door faced the other side of the building in order to accommodate their customers.

Chenoa  is a small railroad-junction town.  A lovely mural on the side of the old Ritz Theater (now closed) at the village square was painted by a local high school student.  The train depot was once a beautiful building.  Steve's Cafe was opened in 1918 and served "the best steaks on Route 66".

Mural			Old train depot
Ocoya grain elevators		Steve's Cafe

Lexington  Just north of Lexington, a stretch of closed Rt. 66 has been restored as an interpretive walk and park and filled with Burma Shave signs, a "broken down car" and original billboards.  Memory Lane is opened to motorists only during Lexington's Route 66 reunions, parade, and other Route 66 events.

Memory Lane			Oasis Drive In
Route 66 station is now the Kicks Bar & Grill

Towanda  Has the "Route 66 - A geographic Journey" an abandoned stretch of old Route 66 which has a sign for each state of Route 66 and lovely gardens on the walking path.

Towanda Geographic Journey with the signs behind it		Cute!

Funks Grove  In 1891, the Pure Maple Sirup Farm (yes, "sirup" with an "i" was Webster's Dictionary spelling of the product made by boiling sap), was the first commercial sirup camp. It is situated in a prairie surrounded by a natural maple grove filled with sugar and black maples. Lovely place.  YOu must go back in March to visit when they are making the sirup!

The road sign pointing to the grove		Sirup storage
Funk's Grove General Store		Funk's Grove Train Depot

McLean  Home of the Dixie Truck Stop.  It has been serving burgers and fries since 1928 and was quite busy when we dropped by.

Atlanta  Now home of Bunyon's Statue.  Originally on Route 66 in Cicero, this statue watched over Bunyon's Hot Dogs until the business closed in the early 2000's. In 2003, the Route 66 Association of Illinois relocated the landmark to Atlanta.  In Atlanta is also the JH Hawes Grain Elevator, built in 1903 and operated till 1976.  It was restored in 1993 and is the only wooden grain elevator in Illinois.  Palm's Grill opened in 1938 and is now being restored into a museum and restaurant.

Hawes wooden grain elevator		Public Library Museum
Palm's Grill		Now finished. - 2007

Lincoln  The town of Lincoln was christened by Abraham Lincoln in 1853 using a cup of watermelon juice next to the railroad depot.  The Tropics restaurant, opened in 1950 is up for sale. Original owner, Vince Schwenoha, served in Hawaii during a tour of duty, so he named his restaurant The Tropics. The original restaurant sign still stands with its signature neon palm tree.  The old Mill Restaurant became famous for its schnitzel shortly after it started business in 1931.  It closed in 1996 but is slated for renovation by the Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County.

Please buy me		2006 - Hopefully renovated soon
		Railroad depot
Renovation started - Sept 2007

Broadwell  The Pig Hip Restaurant operated from 1937 to 1991.  Today it is a visitor center and museum.  UPDATE 2007 - the Museum unfortunately burned down due to an electrical fire.

Pig Hip Museum before the fire		Die Cast Auto
Museum no more

Elkhart  Elkhart cemetery contains the graves of John Dean Gillett ("Cattle king of the world"), Governor Richard J. Oglesby and Capt. Adam Bogardus (wing shot champion of the world).

Williamsville   The Die Cast Auto Sales is a converted 1930's service station that now sells memorabilia.  The Williamsville Historical Museum is constructed from two railroad cars.

Historical museum		Die Cast Auto

Springfield  Shea’s Gas Station Museum was at one time an original Texaco station. Today it is a collection of over half a century of gas station memorabilia.  The first fast food of the Road was introduced at the 1946 Illinois State Fair. In 1950 the Cozy Dog Drive Inn opened and introduced the world to the corn dog.  The Pioneer Motel is the first landmark as you enter Springfield.  It opened in the 1940s and has been through several changes, but still is open today.

Pioneer Motel		Coney Istland
Sunrise Donuts		Bel Aire Motel

Auburn  has a red brick alignment built in 1926.

Virden  has a wonderful mural.

Carlinville  Carlinville is one of the “Best 100 Small Towns in America.” It has brick-paved streets and a gazebo in the town square.  There is a beautiful ‘million dollar courthouse’ and castle-like old county jail.

Benld  has the Coliseum Ballroom.

Waggoner/Farmersville "Our Lady of the Highways" Madonna Shrine, between Waggoner and Raymond is a marble statue of the Virgin Mary.  Art's  restaurant dates back to 1920 when it was known as Hendrick's Brothers Service Station. This eatery was rebuilt in 1952 after a fire destroyed the original building. Art's was refurbished and reopened in early 2006.

Shrine	Art's Motel renovated sign in Farmersville

Litchfield  Litchfield is home to several landmarks.  The Ariston Cafe, opened in 1924, is still operating today. The front faces the original 1930-40 two lane alignment, while the back of the restaurant greets four lane travelers.  The Skyview Drive In Theater has been operating since 1951 and tickets are just $2.  The Route 66 Cafe, located just down the street from the Ariston, isn't doing as well.

Ariston Cafe		Skyview Drive In
Poor Cafe		Nothing left but the sign

Mt. Olive  Mount Olive is famous as the home of the Mother Jones Monument, gravesite of the 1930s labor union leader who led workers at the local coal mines. Further into town is Russell Soulsby's Shell Station, a Route 66 landmark since 1932. The small community was bypassed quite far by the four lane 66, but the two lane through town is still quick and gives a nice view of a small Central Illinois town.

Staunton  An old gas station site, Henry's Rabbit Ranch, still features the old pumps and signage from yesteryear. Henry's Rabbit Ranch is another of the whimsical stops along the Mother Road, featuring a bunny image similar to the Jackrabbit Trading Post, with the spoof "Hare It Is!", a play on the Jackrabbit's legendary "Here It Is" sign.

Hamel  Just north of Hamel is St. Paul Lutheran Church and its large blue neon cross. It was placed here by a family who lost their son during World War II.  Hopefully I can drop by one night to get a photo of the cross light up.

Church of the neon cross		And at night
Village sign

Collinsville  Home of the world's largest catsup bottle.  This unique 170 ft. tall water tower was built in 1949 by the W.E. Caldwell Company for the G.S. Suppiger catsup bottling plant - bottlers of Brooks old original rich & tangy catsup.

Mitchell  Bel Air Drive In opened in 1950 and served Route 66 travelers till 1988.  The screen and parking lot are gone but the sign remains.  The Luna Cafe opened in 1924 and offered gambling and a bordello (the good old days!)  Today, it is still serving good food to this suburb of St. Louis.

Only the sign remains		Luna Cafe - wish I were there in the good old days
		Canal Motel

Chain of Rocks  The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge spans one of the most scenic areas of the Mississippi River. When it was completed in 1929 it shortened travel time between St. Louis, Missouri and Edwardsville, Illinois. It is 5,353 feet long and is one of the longest continuous steel truss bridges in the country. One of the most distinctive features of the Chain of Rocks Bridge is the 22-degree bend in the middle. This feature allowed southbound riverboats to align with the current, slip between the Bridge's piers and avoid crashing into two water intake towers midstream just south of the Bridge. The Chain of Rocks Bridge became a part of Route 66 in 1936 and was used until 1968 when the opening of the toll-free I-270 bridges caused a decline in traffic.  The bridge is currently open for pedestrians and bicyclists only.

Showing the turn in the bridge		The Mississippi River passes under the Chain of Rocks Bridge
Mississippi River water intakes just south of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge		Objects to entertain the runners and bikers