Come get your kicks on Route 66!
The Interstate Highway System may offer easier and faster ways to travel from A to Z, but The Mother Road can still provide an historic, quaint and charming weekend getaway or a breezy and fun day trip.
As a main thoroughfare for dust bowl immigrants, Route 66 saw its heyday in the 1930s. It spans more than 2,450 miles between Chicago and Los Angeles. The route is still peppered today with diners, driveins and many other unbeatable roadside attractions.
Countless songs, movies, books and TV shows chronicle this special section of pavement, but the reality about this famous piece of history is that touring historic 66 can be a smallscale and affordable trip. You can spend the whole day on Route 66, using as much or as little time and money as you like. The journey costs only the price of gas, and even that cost can be omitted through use of a bicycle or walking stick.
You’re bound to make a friend or two as you explore the simple and unexpected pleasures that dot the road’s expansive landscape. From the Sears Tower, to the mom-and-pop businesses, to the Meramec Caverns, the grand sights and the idiosyncratic places along the way make for an unforgettable experience. The joy and satisfaction of a simple tour come not from big events but from the accumulation of these smaller pleasures.
Nowhere is that principle truer than in the Land of Lincoln. Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive starts Route 66, which winds through the Loop before heading south towards Bloomington. There, you’ll find the original Steak ’n Shake. From Bloomington, head south and continue on to Springfield, where you’ll end up at Sixth Street – home to the one and only Cozy Dog Drive-In (www.cozydogdrivein.com). Although no longer offering drive-in service, the corn dog eatery is one of the tour’s can’t-miss attractions. The Waldmire family started serving their famous Cozy Dogs in 1946 at the Springfield Beach House, and the original restaurant opened soon thereafter. Stop by for a hot dog on a stick as you overlook the Route 66 path.
The original 66 Drive-In theater, also located on South Sixth Street, has come to life anew in a new location: part of Knight’s Action Park, off old Route 4 (www.route66-drivein.com). The new and improved version offers a double bill of movies from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. General admission is $6, and movies begin at dusk.
The area is also home to several 66-related events like the Route 66 Association of Illinois’ annual Motor Tour event from June 10-12, 2011 (www.il66assoc.org/activities). This year’s theme is “Bob Waldmire,” and the tour will travel from North to South. The Fifth Annual Logan County Route 66 Garage Sales (www.route66garagesale.com) will take place a bit earlier this year. On May 13 and 14, 2011, the 37 miles of Route 66 in Logan County will be covered with sales, vendors, flea markets and food. For info call 217-732-8687.
Springfield’s own International Route 66 festival occurs every September (Sept. 23-25, 2011) with classic cars, live music and an arts fair on the city’s historic downtown streets (http://www.familyevents.com/event/ 158).
In its various alignments, Route 66 has wound around three sides of the State Fairgrounds in Springfield. Don’t wait until August to visit this piece of history. From Harleys to horses to home shows, there’s always something going on.
A block south of the fairgrounds on Peoria Road, D-Day veteran Bill Shea has converted his Marathon station into a museum of gasoline and oil memorabilia, Shea’s Gas Station Museum. Not long ago he had to move another old station onto the grounds to create more display space.
Travelers from more than 60 countries and all 50 states have signed his
guestbook. He’ll make sure you do, too.
Litchfield,
50 miles south of Springfield, holds an annual Cruisin’ Route 66
Classic Car Festival each June along a stretch of the original highway.
Check the city’s website for dates and more information
(www.cityoflitchfieldil.com/news).
For
year-round pleasures on a smaller scale, here are a few suggestions: In
Atlanta, Ill., 46 miles northeast of Springfield, old signs on brick
buildings have been lovingly repainted. The J.H. Hawes wooden grain
elevator, built in 1902 and restored in 1993, is open for tours (May
through October) and is the only one of its kind in Illinois. The
eight-sided, pristinely maintained Carnegie library is a jewel that
sparkles with the village’s rich history. Towering over most of this is
an 18-foot fiberglass statue of a “Muffler Man” holding a giant hot dog.
This statue is an import from a hot-dog stand in Cicero.
In
Williamsville, just north of Springfield, Frank Kohlrus takes time from
his careers as a cemetery maintainer and guppy rancher to run Die Cast
Auto Sales on Elm Street (a former 66 service station). Kohlrus has one
of the largest collections of rare die cast models around. Be sure to
take in the Route 66 Dream Car Museum, a collection of vintage cars
owned by Phil and Pat Hawley. During the summer, there are sock hops and
cruises, too. This is a warm-weather destination.
A
long-abandoned stretch of early 66 forms the eastern border of
Carpenter Park, near Sherman. In 2002 it won a listing on the National
Register of Historic Places. Walk a hundred yards down this vintage
curbed concrete and you’ll be in another era.
As
you continue south from Springfield towards Missouri, you’ll find more
attractions along the way, such as another restored service station in
Mt.
Olive. From there,
cross into Missouri over the Mississippi River via Chain of Rocks
Bridge. Although closed to automobiles, the beautiful 1.6-mile bridge is
open to pedestrians and cyclists. It was included on the National
Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Once
in Missouri, you’ll find Route 66 State Park and many other beautiful
attractions as you continue on to St. Louis – and perhaps all the way to
Los Angeles. With a map in your pocket and old tunes on the stereo,
travel back in time and make some new memories on an old piece of
Americana.
