Time to get your kicks!

Today: Chicago, IL to Springfield, IL via Route 66

After packing up, we checked out of the hotel and headed to downtown Chicago to find the beginning of Route 66. The "Taste of Chicago" was beginning and our destination just happened to be on the street that they had closed off for the festival. Because the streets were closed off, and because it's Chicago, the traffic was bad. We got within a block or two of the streets and moved on.

Some of the bridges we drove over had big metal grates that made up entire sections of the whole bridge. We took these pictures for one particular person. Would you like to drive on a grate?



After lots of stop lights and twists and turns, we finally made it out of Chicago proper and back to sanity. Joliet, IL has a museum display dedicated to Route 66 with lots of signs pointing to it, so we stopped. Check out the artwork on the Bench Seat Couch.




This blog picture and fun fact sponsored by Melissa:
Did you know that the backlot used for River City (in "The Music Man") is also used as Hazzard County in The Dukes of Hazzard and as Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls, which frequently references the film.


The Gemini Giant is one of 3 "Giant Alerts" along our way in Illinois. Takes you back to the days when you made your sign bigger, brighter, or weirder to get attention from passing motorists...


Moving on, we were hungry since it was after 2, so we stopped for lunch at the Polk-a-dot Drive In in Braidwood, IL. They have great vintage stuff on display and great food. Everyone had a shake/malt with burger/hot dog and fries.



Atlanta, IL was the next stop. This is another town that has put quite a bit of effort into restoring some of the charm of Route 66. Here, we saw some nicely restored wall mural ads, a Giant Paul Bunyon with a hot dog, and a restored and working old Seth Thomas clock that has to be wound by hand every 8 days. There is also an old grain elevator but it was closed for tours by the time we got there. Driving out of town, you can't help but feel happier looking back at their water tower.






We made it as far as Springfield, IL and stopped for the night at the Hampton Inn & Suites. The kids had fun riding their scooters and we had a nice quiet evening.

We only have 2 days left, so we'll see you all soon.