More neat things await us in Pontiac. Just north of town is the Old Log Cabin Restaurant, opened in 1926 and still in business today. A mile further and the bridge over the North Creek. Here is an original highway marker that was painted onto the end of the bridge. Very cool. On down the route and in the blink of an eye, we were through Ocoya and then into Chenoa. A very quaint little town. Lots of nice old buildings here.

Our next stop was Lexington. A really nice little town. They celebrate Route 66 in a big way in July. They have designated a park called Memory Lane and during July they have a fair. The park sits on a mile long section of original Route 66. They have billboards and Burma Shave signs along the way. The billboards were lying on the side of the road at this time. Guess they only have them up during the fair. The bridge is out here so we must get on the Interstate to get to our next town, Towanda. Not to be outdone by Lexington, Towanda has set up some picnic tables on the abandoned section and created a park and bike/hike path here too. They have included some information signs of businesses that used to be along here. Both parks are pretty cool. We traveled on into Normal. Was strange to see a large subdivision built up around the road. This caused some of the original road to be torn up and traffic to be detoured. The university was having a game this day and town was unusually busy with lots of traffic headed to the stadium. There used to be an original Steak and Shake here but it has been torn down in the name of progress. A convenience store now sits in its place.

Back through Bloomington and on to the Interstate and back to camp. We can now say that we have traveled all of Route 66 there is to travel on in IL. Albeit not all of it is on this trip, but we have done it. As we’re driving home there is this huge, glowing red orb in the sky. Oh yeah, it’s the sun! Haven’t seen it in a few days and there it is brilliant as ever. Right before going down. Figures. Tomorrow we move on to Stanton MO.

We had another day of down time for domestic stuff, cleaning and grocery shopping. Next day was to be very exciting for us. We met Shellee Graham and her husband, Doug, at Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Grill in Bridgeton, right off of bypass 66. What a cool restaurant1 Full of lots of rock and roll memorabilia from his show and rock stars in general. Shellee and Doug are real genuine people. They are true supporters of Route 66. Very interesting to talk to. Their impressions of Michael Wallis are priceless. The food was great and we had a wonderful time. It was so good to finally meet Shellee after hearing so much about her.

Shellee recommended that we go west a little way to check out the Stanley CourTel before they tear it down to add a bigger runway. Glad we took her advice. The neon sign is great, as is the motel itself. We followed bypass 66 (Lindbergh Blvd) out of town since it was quitting time and figured the freeway would be packed and sitting still. This route goes through quite a few towns we’ve never even heard of. There is not much of anything left from the old days along this route. We’d never done it before, so had to give it a try. We followed Lindbergh until we can to the junction with Manchester Road (Hwy 100) and then took this west. According to the Missouri US 66 Tour Book by Skip Curtis we are now on original Route 66 (1926-1932). There are a few of the older buildings remaining along here, but not many. Traffic is not sitting still, but there is plenty of it. We went through Des Peres, Manchester, Winchester, Ballwin and Ellisville before it thinned out. Driving this section is mostly like a very long strip mall. I’ve never seen so many stores so close together, some I’d never heard of, but looked interesting. Going into Grover was like driving through the country and it was there all of a sudden. A very welcome change of pace. We prefer the sections with little or no traffic on them. Next was Pond, Fox Creek, Hollow and then we dropped down to Gray Summit. Our country drive was over. The sun is setting now and there are nothing but lights going in each direction on the Interstate, it is one of the busiest travel days, the day before Thanksgiving. We go back to camp.

Big Chief Motel - Pond, Missouri

Today we hit the road with a goal in mind, Arlington. We took the Interstate back to Gray Summit to pick up where we left off last time. The Diamonds restaurant still sits vacant, a sad reminder of what happens to so many places along the road. So many great looking old buildings along here. We noticed that a lot of the buildings in IL were made of sandstone and in MO they seem to be of rock. Villa Ridge and the Tri-County truck stop, still a busy place and a great looking building.

Most of the road through here has been paved over, a lot smoother than the Interstate. We find this to be true in most of the states. Through Halls Place, now a wide spot in the road. Then into St Clair, a nice quiet little town. More nice old buildings, some in use. Nice country driving.

Next stop was Stanton, where we are staying. Home of Meramec Caverns. We wanted to go to the Jesse James Museum and the Toy Museum but both are closed for the season. Went through the village of Oak Grove before heading into Sullivan. A bustling little city. The beautiful Shamrock Motel is here. A great old place that is used as apartments now. It’s great to see places in use rather that sitting and decaying or being razed. Before getting to Bourbon we had to check out the old Friesenham dairy. The rock silo is a real treat. My most favorite city name along the road, Bourbon. I’m sure that the water tower here has been photographed about a million times.

Bourbon Lodge Bourbon, Missouri

One of the original cabins Bourbon Lodge - Bourbon, Missouri