Had a couple of days of downtime for football and laundry. Rained like crazy the day I did laundry. Got a call from John (MooMoo) Miller. Went out to dinner with him and his wife, Kathy. John is a very enthusiastic supporter of Route 66. Wish we could bottle it. John has been a convert since 1995, Kathy is still coming along. She has written a piece about being a Route 66 Widow. ;) Both are great supporters of the Illinois Route 66 Association. We had a great visit with them. It’s so nice to share stories of the road.

Next day we took a short trip to the Mother Road. Began our journey in Lyons, just south of Chicago. There are two forest preserves here. At least there will be something besides buildings here. Then went through McCook and Hodgkins. Not much remains here. Next stop was Countryside and the Wishing Well Motel. A quaint little place from the 40s. Guy Lombardo and Glenn Miller were regulars. Well maintained. Went through Indian Head Park where Route 66 Root Beer is bottled. A good root beer. Then into Burr Ridge. The old Porter House Restaurant is here.

Wish we would have arrived at our next stop later, since it was early and not time for lunch to us. Here in Willowbrook is Dell Rheas Chicken Basket. Known for its fried chicken. Smelled really good. Next was the White Fence Farm, also known for chicken. Local friends say that Dell’s is better. The White Fence Farm doesn’t open until 5pm. It has a zoo and live entertainment. Food is served family style. We drove through Romeoville and then past Stateville Penitentiary. Also through Crest Hill and the Kreamy Delight Drive In that has closed and moved its business to Main St.

The next town on our stop is Joliet. This is a really nice town. Artsy. We were able to go into the old Rialto Theater and look around. Beautiful! The ceiling is inlaid with gold. The chandelier is just wonderful. Well worth a stop. It’s used for concerts and such today. We missed the tour so didn’t get the history of the building. Tours are at 12.45 on Tuesdays. There is a nice walking tour of the town. This concludes our trip today. On the way home we stopped and had our first White Castle burgers. These would be good for a hangover. Can’t believe how thin the meat is. Tomorrow, Chicago.

RIALTO Theatre Joliet, Illinois

We started our day with a visit to Lockport and a little history from Lynn. We saw the first lock that has been preserved. I don’t know how any boats could go through such a narrow place. I guess the boats were smaller than they are today. We also saw an old swing bridge that had been saved. This bridge swung to the left to allow boats to pass through. Both are pretty cool. We followed the old road back the way we had gone the day before on into Berwyn. Here is a town that is proud to be a Route 66 town. Nice town. Now into the industrial town of Cicero. Here is Henry’s Drive In that boasts that “It’s a Meal in Itself!” and has giant hot dog with fries on the neon sign. Also here is Bunyan’s Drive In and another giant, this one holding a hot dog. There are three of these giants in Illinois.

Bunyon ‘s Drive In - Cicero, Illinois

We passed through a couple of rough looking sections, but never felt unsafe. The architecture through here is just magnificent. As I later found out all of Chicago is full of it. Chicago is actually a really neat town. Similar in some ways to New York City. So many great old churches here. It really was an exciting visit. Lynn and Jeff are great tour guides. For us small town folks, having friends take us around was a wonderful way to see this city. It’s nice when someone knows the area and can show you around. We had lunch at the famous Billy Goat Tavern, home of “Cheez Borger, cheez borger, no Pepsi, Coke.” You may remember this done by John Belushi and Dan Akroyd on Saturday Night Live in the 70s. A fun place and good burgers. Lots of newspaper memorabilia on the walls. The place has a steady business. We drove around and checked out Lou Mitchell’s, the United Center, Berghoff’s, and so many places I can’t remember.

We went over to the Planetarium for a great view of the city. We went to the top of the John Hancock building and went to the 94th floor for a fabulous view of the city. The sun was just beginning to go down and it was the perfect time to see the city from this angle. After this we went to Dick’s Last Resort for dinner. This is a wild place with good food. It’s like a scene out of Animal House. Think of the food fight, instead of throwing food people throw wadded up napkins. A place where adults can act like high school seniors. It was lots of fun. We could not have asked for better guides of this city than Lynn and Jeff. On the way home we stopped and got some Krispy Kreme donuts. Mmmmm good! Today it rained cats and dogs so we sat it out. Tomorrow we will move our base camp to Springfield IL.

	Chicago, Illinois
Earl cleaning windows on the John Hancock Bldg. Chicago, Illinois	End or beginning, depending on direction. Chicago, Illinois

We are making our camp at Mr. Lincoln’s Campground in Springfield. Modem available. I did want to mention that all of the previous campgrounds have had a modem hookup for picking up email. November 11th, Happy Birthday Route 66! And also Miss Lillian Redman who ran the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari. Of course, we had to go on a road trip on this day. We got on the dreaded Interstate and headed north to Bloomington. We attended a small postcard show here. Got quite a few good cards here. Ran into our friend Jeff Meyer here also. After spending my daily limit we headed for the Mother Road. We weren’t far from it. Bloomington is not a bad town, easy to get around. There are several sections of original brick road scattered about. Don’t know what it is about brick roads that intrigue me. Love them! The town is quite a mix of old and new. Fun to drive through. One thing I noticed was how clean it is here. Miller Park is here and it is beautiful. So green! We were surprised at how green it was in WI and IL, and so late in the year. We wanted to stop at the Beich Candy factory but it was closed.

A nice drive out of the city and into the country. Next stop was Shirley. Only homes here, no town. Continuing on into Funk’s Grove. This is really a cute little town. I may be prejudiced though as my maiden name is Funk. No relation to these. We stopped at the sirup store, and as usual for this time of year, it was closed. The Funks were not home so there was no hope for leftovers. One of these days we will hit this place when it is open. Great sirup! I’ve passed all my jugs on to relatives. Next stop is McLean and the Dixie Truckers home which houses the Route 66 Hall of Fame. Since we were here in ‘92 they have a new sign and have remodeled partially inside. The Hall of Fame is just that, a hall. Has got some great stuff to look at though. The Route 66 Museum was not open. Next stop was Atlanta. Being Veteran’s Day the town’s streets were lined with flags, very patriotic. Checked out the library and clock tower here. An octagon limestone building that is just wonderful. Past Lawndale in the blink of the eye.