Route 66 - Day 3 - Oct 11, 2019
Woke up after a great nights sleep in the Lincoln Walmart parking lot. I love Walmarts that cater to those boondocking and I always try to spend my dollars t
here when I can. Hit the road early and started marking things off my list. The Route 66 Ultimate Guide is a pretty good guide. Its not perfect, I've missed some things I wanted to see because I assumed they would be included, but unfortunately they are not. I'm trying to be more conscience now and double checking things. I started in Lincoln and ended the day close to the Illinois/Missouri border. I didn't want to cross as I wanted to hike the old Chain of Rocks bridge in the daylight. The walmarts in the area didn't offer overnight parking, so I backtracked for a few miles and spent the night at a rest area on I-44.
Highlights:
Springfield, IL - This town really embraces their connection to Lincoln and its obvious around every turn. Lincoln statues, Lincoln Scultptures, Lincoln libraries....If Lincoln slept there, ate their, sat their or breathed there, its marked. The highlight was the Lincoln home. Its where the Lincolns lived after he was a successful lawyer but before he became president. After his death, Lincolns son rented the house out to a local. Soon after, he discovered the man was letting people tour the house for a $0.25. He promptly kicked the man out and gave the property to the city (or state, I'm not sure) with the stipulation that they had to offer tours to people for free. At some point the National Park Service took over and they have preserved the entire block surrounding Lincolns home. Its really quite lovely. All but 3 of the houses are used as offices for the NPS and three of the homes you can tour. The only one anyone really cares about is the Lincoln home and you need a ticket and its a guided tour...but its free. I loved standing on the corner and looking around and knowing the entire neighborhood was probably exactly how it looked to Abe Lincoln. I also loved the tour. The house is exactly how it was when the Lincolns lived there. Out of sheer luck, an artist was invited to tour the Lincoln house and make drawings of the interior. Apparently, the whole community thought he still lived in a log cabin and the drawings and accompanying article in the paper was to show that he lived a very civilized life and he was no longer living in a one room cabin. Th
Also in Springfield, IL: I had a cozy dog at the Cozy Inn - this is the place that invented corn dogs. I love corn dogs and was very excited. I ordered a cozy dog and a grilled cheese. Oddly, they both tasted kind of the same and the both tasted kind of bad. I know very little about cooking, but I expect they have a problem with their oil. Big disappointment.
Turkey Tracks - many years ago, while Route 66 was being created...a turkey walked all over it while it was still wet. It is now one of the most famous chunks of Route 66. The section its on is part of the original and was only used for a few years. Another sections of road was created and Route 66 was rerouted in the process. Probably the only reason its survived.
Red Brick Road - A small section of Route 66 is red brick. Its been beautifully maintained. Its also on a section of road that wasn't used very long.
Macoupin County Courthouse - The largest courthouse in the U.S. Cost 25x more than originally estimated. Full of controversy and fun stories.
Henry's Rabbit Ranch - he was closing up while I was there and didn't see any of the furry mammal rabbits, but plenty of the German auto kind.
here when I can. Hit the road early and started marking things off my list. The Route 66 Ultimate Guide is a pretty good guide. Its not perfect, I've missed some things I wanted to see because I assumed they would be included, but unfortunately they are not. I'm trying to be more conscience now and double checking things. I started in Lincoln and ended the day close to the Illinois/Missouri border. I didn't want to cross as I wanted to hike the old Chain of Rocks bridge in the daylight. The walmarts in the area didn't offer overnight parking, so I backtracked for a few miles and spent the night at a rest area on I-44. Highlights:
Springfield, IL - This town really embraces their connection to Lincoln and its obvious around every turn. Lincoln statues, Lincoln Scultptures, Lincoln libraries....If Lincoln slept there, ate their, sat their or breathed there, its marked. The highlight was the Lincoln home. Its where the Lincolns lived after he was a successful lawyer but before he became president. After his death, Lincolns son rented the house out to a local. Soon after, he discovered the man was letting people tour the house for a $0.25. He promptly kicked the man out and gave the property to the city (or state, I'm not sure) with the stipulation that they had to offer tours to people for free. At some point the National Park Service took over and they have preserved the entire block surrounding Lincolns home. Its really quite lovely. All but 3 of the houses are used as offices for the NPS and three of the homes you can tour. The only one anyone really cares about is the Lincoln home and you need a ticket and its a guided tour...but its free. I loved standing on the corner and looking around and knowing the entire neighborhood was probably exactly how it looked to Abe Lincoln. I also loved the tour. The house is exactly how it was when the Lincolns lived there. Out of sheer luck, an artist was invited to tour the Lincoln house and make drawings of the interior. Apparently, the whole community thought he still lived in a log cabin and the drawings and accompanying article in the paper was to show that he lived a very civilized life and he was no longer living in a one room cabin. Th
Also in Springfield, IL: I had a cozy dog at the Cozy Inn - this is the place that invented corn dogs. I love corn dogs and was very excited. I ordered a cozy dog and a grilled cheese. Oddly, they both tasted kind of the same and the both tasted kind of bad. I know very little about cooking, but I expect they have a problem with their oil. Big disappointment.
Turkey Tracks - many years ago, while Route 66 was being created...a turkey walked all over it while it was still wet. It is now one of the most famous chunks of Route 66. The section its on is part of the original and was only used for a few years. Another sections of road was created and Route 66 was rerouted in the process. Probably the only reason its survived.
Red Brick Road - A small section of Route 66 is red brick. Its been beautifully maintained. Its also on a section of road that wasn't used very long.
Macoupin County Courthouse - The largest courthouse in the U.S. Cost 25x more than originally estimated. Full of controversy and fun stories.
Henry's Rabbit Ranch - he was closing up while I was there and didn't see any of the furry mammal rabbits, but plenty of the German auto kind.
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