VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 11:17:09 02/25/02 Mon
Author: Jennifer
Subject: Weekend Trip on Route 66 in Illinois

Pat, my daughter Amber, and I had a wonderful weekend on Route 66! At the beginning of February, Pat and I discussed taking a trip for Cozy dogs, and a concrete at Ted Drewe's. Ted Drewe's reopened February 8, so we thought we'd go for it! Because of our schedules, this weekend was the soonest we could make the trip. We had beautiful weather - very lucky for February.

We always enjoy our trips on 66 in Illinois, we stopped at the Standard Station in Odell. In Bloomington/Normal, we wanted to see about the first Steak n' Shake, which we always forgot to do. We knew it was no longer there operating as a Steak n' Shake, but we thought we'd see if the building was there. There is a building there, which is a restaurant (Pat can help me on the name, I forgot -
sheesh!). We think the building is the same one.

Then we stopped at Funk's Grove for some souvenirs, and of course, maple cream and maple candy!! I'm already stocked up on sirup from my last trip. Then we made our obligatory stop at the Dixie. We didn't eat there, since we were going to have lunch at the Cozy Drive In, but we stopped at the Hall of Fame Museum. It was nice to see a section on the restored Meramec Caverns Barn in Hamel, since Amber and I had helped in the restoration last April!

We didn't go through the town of Atlanta, we were getting quite hungry for those Cozy dogs! We admired, as always, the Tropics in Lincoln, and we stopped for a few moments at the Pig Hip in Broadwell (I wonder where the flower bed is?). Last year the motel was up for sale, and now there is some work going on there...not sure if it's restoration with the intent of reopening, though.

In Springfield we followed the later alignment to the Cozy Drive In. We were thinking that on Sunday, we'd head over to the 1926 - 1930 alignment and see if the original McDonald's sign is still up (on MacArthur Blvd). I had taken that alignment on my August 2000 trip, and during the IL Motor Tour last year, we headed over there. The manager indicated the owner might be taking the sign down if it
couldn't be fixed at a reasonable cost.

At the Cozy Drive In, we had our Cozy dogs, and I was pleasantly surprised that the french fries were less greasy than they used to be. *DUCKS* Pat loved the greasy fries and I'm sure alot of people did too, but now they are better, IMHO. The Cozy dogs were terrific as usual!

In anticipation of our marriage and making our home together, Pat and I are excited about decorating our office/den in a Route 66 theme, and one item we wanted was a hanging wooden cut-out of the Cozy dogs logo, so we bought one! :) I also couldn't resist the "Beanie" version of the Cozy dogs.

We continued on our way south, following the newer alignment. We figured Rich Henry's would be closed by this time (if they're even open during the off-season), but one day we will get there! In Hamel, we stopped for a moment to admire the Meramec Caverns barn, as well as St. Paul Lutheran Church (with the blue neon cross).

We headed down into Edwardsville, where sadly the A & W has been demolished. I was happy to have seen it on my first trip (even though it was closed by then) and gotten some pictures which are on my website. But during subsequent trips, it was in various stages of demolition and now it's gone.

We briefly headed over to the Chain of Rocks Bridge (and I STILL won't stay at any motels in that area!). We went down by the riverfront for a bit, and headed back up. We followed IL 3 south and crossed into St. Louis on the Interstate. We hoped to get to the Gateway Arch to go to the top, but during the winter it closes at 6:00 and it was already 5:52. We made our way down Tucker, to Gravois and Chippewa and on to Ted Drewe's for our concretes! We had
our dessert before dinner, so we headed to the motel (we stayed in Fenton) then headed back and had dinner at Fazzoli's on Chippewa.

The next day, we intended to take the Interstate back because after dropping me off in Romeoville, Pat would still have to get back to Indy. After crossing into Illinois, we took IL 111 and headed to its intersection with 66, and had breakfast at the Hen House. I had
breakfast there on my August 2000 trip and it's still fabulous! Highly recommended!

After breakfast, Pat wasn't ready to get on the Interstate, so we continued on 66. We made a few stops, at Classic Country Cars, where Pat admired a Corvair, and at Lisa's III antique mall. In Mt. Olive, we stopped by Russell Soulsby's station, and then something new for us, we went to look at Mother Jones' Monument in the Union Miner's
Cemetery.

We went through Litchfield and decided that this summer, we will come out for a weekend, go to the Ariston Cafe, catch a movie at the Skyview Drive-in, and have breakfast at the Route 66 Cafe.

We continued on Route 66, but bypassed Springfield...we picked 66 back up again in Williamsville, went through Atlanta since we didn't on Saturday and had lunch at the Dixie Truckers Home. We bypassed Bloomington and Normal, but exited at Lexington. As we usually do, we watched the old phone poles and wished we could find an insulator. Instead of just wishing, I said we have to get out and
search for one! I offered buying one earlier at the antique mall as a joke, because of course, it's not the same! Along this stretch, we decided to stop (we "thought" we saw some lying on the ground at least 5 times!). So one one particular turnaround, I couldn't find what it was I thought I saw, but we stopped in an area and Pat went
out exploring (much better than in the late spring/summer when it's all overgrown). Last time, Pat ran into a tarantula out there! After a number of false alarms (Mountain Dew and 7 UP bottles!), Pat reached up his arm in triumph - he was holding his trophy - an insulator in perfect condition, and it even had the wooden peg attached! You should have seen the look on his face! I'll let you
know when the pictures are posted at my site! :) He also found a broken one, and the lower half of an old Coke bottle marked with Streator, Illinois on it.

It was getting late and we needed to head back, so we continued on. We stopped in Wilmington so Pat could get a picture of the Lombardi Chevy sign, and Amber wanted to take a picture of the Gemini Giant at the Launching Pad.

Then we were on the homestretch back to Romeoville and our weekend trip was over (though Pat still needed to get back to Indy). Till next time!

Jennifer

http://www.theroadmaveness.com

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Post a message:
This forum requires an account to post.
[ Create Account ]
[ Login ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-6
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.