Route 66, Day 2, Wednesday 8 Feb. –Bloomington to Springfield. Snow Day.
The good news: the car was fine. They looked at it right away when I showed up first thing in the morning at the Audi dealer in Normal. A false warning light. No charge. Once again, really nice people in these parts.
The not-so-good news: as soon as I drove out the big door at the Audi dealer it was snowing. It snowed and snowed and snowed. It didn’t let up until I got to Springfield late afternoon. The driving was an adventure. Thankfully, my TT has the Audi “Quattro” all wheel drive – I needed it.
In one of the pictures you can see a big rig jack knifed on I-55 in the direction of Chicago. The freeway was completely blocked. I think the traffic was backed up to St Louis. Sometimes Route 66 was left in place right by the interstate replacing it. Not always – there are plenty of stretches where it is away from the interstate and going through the countryside and the towns and cities, and those are the best ones. I was on a stretch where it is right next to the interstate and got that shot.
The first picture is the David Davis Mansion (a/k/a Clover Lawn), a Victorian home in Bloomington that was the residence of David Davis, a Supreme Court justice and Senator from Illinois. It is a museum now. I was on the lookout for any indoor activity as you can see form the picture. Next the Beer Nuts company store, another inside activity. They are made exclusively in Bloomington. Who knew? The next two shots are also in Bloomington along Route 66 in the downtown.
The countryside along Route 66 south of Bloomington had its own special beauty in the falling snow. First the Funk home (1864) out on the prairie near Shirley just off Route 66. Closed for the winter but I got some exterior shots. Then to Funks Grove to the maple sirup farm (1891) there. That’s how they spell it – it is not a typo.
After Funks Grove it was more towns time has forgotten. Most of the remaining pix were taken in McLean and Atlanta except for the last six. Both are classics. In Atlanta, I had lunch at the Palms Grill Café (opened on Route 66 in 1934). They couldn’t have been friendlier. Homemade soup on a very cold day. Great sandwich. Wonderful conversation. Just about perfect. Hot Dog Giant (Muffler Man) is across the street – the second one of the drive. (The first was Gemini Man in Wilmington the previous day.)
Then a short stop in Lincoln; counting back six pictures that’s the Postville Courthouse State Historic Site in Lincoln (a replica of the original courthouse used by lawyer Abraham Lincoln as he traveled the circuit of courtrooms in central Illinois).
Finally, the last five shots in this set were all taken in Springfield.
That Maid-Rite near the Capitol in Springfield is one of the few surviving early Maid-Rite franchises and claims to have the first drive-thru window in the US ever.
I had dinner at Supotos, one of those traditional southern Italian places some of us went to with our families when we were younger. I was the only non-politician there. The Illinois legislature was in session, and it was jam-packed with politicians and lobbyists. They gave me a non-politician table towards the back. Apparently it is a restaurant popular with the politicos.
We end with our third giant of the Illinois Route 66 drive outside Lauterbach Auto Service in Springfield (taken the next morning). Finally a Muffler Man at a location where mufflers are actually being installed. Fancy that.
