Chicago to Springfield part 2 of 2

Pontiac, IL has some nice Murals and a very thorough Illinois route 66 museum. In 2012 we got a great photo of our car and the Pontiac mural, sadly they were doing construction and we couldn't get up to the mural :(.  Luckily there was another mural we could use!

Welcome to Lincoln, IL the only city named after Abraham Lincoln while he was still alive!

The worlds largest Covered Wagon with Abe Lincoln in the driver's seat! 

Lastly we made it to Springfield! Which is also the Capital of Illinois! The area we stayed in had a lot of video gambling locations, including our hotel. 

Pink elephant with a cosmo? Was a nice touch.  Breakfast the next morning was at Charlie Parkers we got something they call the shoe. Ours was a layer of biscuits with sausage,eggs and hashbrowns layered on top. Smothered in half gravy and half  their special cheese sauce. All Delicious!

Day 1 Chicago to Springfield part 1 of 2

From my past experience I recall that Illinois  made a large effort to maintain the old sites of Route 66. Complete with road signs pointing out different routes and the years they were used.

2012 June 19 Cruisin' through Illinois

14 years later and they are still making a great effort to preserve their portion of this historical route. A lot of the Illinois sites especially Giants have been restored/repainted and given new life along with new surrounding signage. Photo ops and information centers! I feel partial this is because of the centennial year celebrations however also because Illinois seems to love their connection to Route 66. 

Joliet has the Rich and Creamy custard spot (some say it inspired or was the location of the original Dairy queen) was still closed for the season which is sad because in 2012 we got there too early in the day and ot was also closed. However the space around it is a nice historical area. 

Joliet prison as seen from the Rich and Creamy

Mother nature:

Spirit of the river

Gemini Giant - in space suit with a rocket! At the Landing pad. It use to be at a restaurant called the Launching pad which sadly enet out of business in 2022.

More Giants im Atlanta, IL. Other than the Hot Dog guy these are all new to us. 

Route 66 a revisit!

 Some of you may recall our first adventure on route 66 on June 18, 2012 -June 18,2012 Early Start

This time we left at 8:30am from Kenosha, WI to get to the recently moved start of Route 66 at Navy Pier in Chicago, IL. 

Why revisit a trip we have already done? Why not!? Lol, that and we always wanted to revisit route 66 because the first time through we missed a lot due to things being closed or just now knowing it was there. 

The official start sign has changed a lot...

Why now? Because Route 66 was established in 1926. 100 years of travellers traversing across the country, Cruising Westward or Eastward either way this route is seeped in so much rich americana! 

Navy pier and the new Route 66 sign.

Left Navy Pier at about noon.  Onward to Springfield, Il which is also the Capital city of Illinois!