The Mother Road

We could see a beautiful sunrise over Lake Michigan from our hotel room this morning. While Sue got ready, I went for a run along the lake shore and the Chicago River Walk. Beautiful morning for a drive!

Sunrise over Lake Michigan

We checked out and drove down to Adams Street across from the Art Institute of Chicago where Rt 66 officially starts. It ends one block over on Jackson Street because they're both one-way streets. We drove past the Start of Rt 66 sign and we were on our way! But we didn't make it very far. In less than a mile we sopped at the Lou Mitchell Restaurant for breakfast! The restaurant has been serving food at the same location for over 100 years and is a Rt66 institution.

And so it begins!

Serving breakfast for over 100 years

But by 9:00 we were on our way, winding through the Chicago Streets and out into the suburbs. I'm not going to mention every stop we made and every attraction we saw because it will be just too long and boring. I'll let the pictures I post to the talking. We drove through Cicero, Berwyn, McCook, Romeoville and Joliet. (is it a coincidence that Romeoville is right next to Joliet?) Joliet has a number of attractions having to do with the Blues Brothers since some of the movie was based there, including statues of Jake and Elwood dancing on the roof of the Rich and creamy ice cream store. In Joliet we also stopped to see a plaque where the first Dairy Queen was, to honor Sue's mom who never went on a trip without stopping at a Dairy Queen if she could find one.

A giant "Muffler Man" holding a chicken wing and hot sauce

The oldest White Castle on Rt 66

Vegas-style Welcome to McCook sign

The first Dairy Queen

The Blues Brothers car up on a big pole

Jake and Elwood on the Rich and Creamy. The name Elwood was taken from the next town south of Joliet along Rt 66

Going through Wilmington, we tried to find the Gemini Giant, a 30 foot tall fiberglass "muffler man" dressed up like an astronaut holding a rocket ship, but all we could find was the concrete slab where he used to stand. Later on, at the Rt 66 Museum, we found out that a crazy lady bought the Launch Pad restaurant where the Gemini Giant was located and threatened to destroy the statue if someone didn't buy it from her for $100,000. It was such a local icon that the community raised the money to buy it and took it down, intending to re-install it in a town park in the near future.

Some big cows

Where the Gemini Man used to be

In Braidwood we stopped at the 50's themed Polk-a-Dot Drive in for lunch and took some photos with some of the local citizens.

Anyone remember these?

The Polk-a-Dot Drive In

On through Dwight, Odell and Pontiac. In Pontiac we visited the Rt 66 Museum, which was really cool. Pontiac had several other interesting museums and 25 outdoor murals. We would have liked to spend more time there, but we planned too many things for today and were running late.

In Dwight, one of several nicely restored service stations along the Rt. Jack is a local volunteer and he let us in and gave us a tour of the place.

Dwight's first mechanically powered fire engine. Inside the garage. Photo curtesy of Jack

One of the Murals in Pontiac

Frank Lloyd Wright-designed bank. Supposedly the only one still operating as a bank

We continued through Normal, Bloomington, McLean, Atlanta, Lincoln and several more small towns before making it at 6:00 to Springfield Illinois where we had a reservation for the Rt 66 Motel and Conference Center. The Conference Cener is a combo Diner/Bar/Motel and Rt 66 museum. A little schmaltzy looking, but hey, that's what we're here for!

Another Muffler Man

And yet more Muffler Men

World's Largest Covered Wagon. Evidently now an uncovered wagon. Also, voted by none other than the readers of Readers Digest as the #1 roadside attraction in the US!

We went out and got some dinner, then doubled back to see some of the roadside attractions we'd skipped past, including another giant Muffler Man and Pinky the Pink Elephant, wearing glasses and sipping a martini! After all that excitement (4 muffler men in one day!), we were exhausted, so we retreated to our hotel room to plan tomorrow's itinerary and write up today's blog!