Road Trip Day 1 - Thursday, April 25th, 2019

Stayed the night at a hotel near the airport, picked up the car and headed into Chicago, armed with Google Maps and the EZ Route 66 guide – both essential.

This photo, taken at the start of Route 66, is probably the most expensive ever.  It cost $20 to park for a few minutes nearby, as stopping on Adams Street is impossible. Finding Adam Street is in itself a mission, but if you are aiming for the whole hog, no point in skimping at the outset!

Once on Adam Street, exiting Chicago is surprisingly easy – just follow Adams and then Ogden south and west and watch the skyscrapers disappear in the rear-view mirror. The area you traverse has clearly seen better days, with vacant lots and defunct businesses, the remaining period houses like the stumps of rotting teeth.  Joliet is the first town where you can see iconic Route 66 memorabilia. Stop for an ice-cream and take a short walk from the parking lot and you can glimpse the Correctional Facility that features at the opening of the film “The Blues Brothers” – hence the figures on top of the parlour.

A little further on in Wilmington is the first of the “Giants” – huge fibre-glass statues that were used to advertise car body shops and became known as “Muffler Men”. The current name of this one was chosen by local school children to commemorate the Space programme.  

The Route is lined with gas stations and family-run restaurants; the gas stations are defunct but many of the restaurants survive as going concerns.  Some of the gas stations have been restored and are on the list of historic sites, such as this one in Dwight. 

 But not all have been so lucky. 

Towanda

Odell

I made my first food stop in Lexington at “The Shake Shack”, which is a favourite for the townspeople as well as tourists – a good sign. Here I met three charming locals – Bea and George Lowery and their friend Robert. The walls of the diner are covered in the signatures of travellers, so I added mine! 

I’ve been asked whether I set a mileage goal each day.  No – it’s a time goal.  Although 66 runs in parallel with the Interstates for much of its length, diverting to the many small towns along the way takes time, so mileage is not especially relevant. So, I start looking for somewhere to stay before it gets dark, heading for a junction with the interstate. Spent the night of Day 1 in a Super 8 at the junction in Maclean, Ill.