Springfield, Illinois on Route 66
Springfield Illinois on Route 66
Saturday we awoke in the back row of the drive-in. What a fun night we had, watching movies outside the Mini Lite last night! Friday night’s line-up was Casper followed by Ghostbusters. Saturday was Cars, then Christine. We all turned in when Christine started. No nightmares needed!
The drive-in had a car show during the day Saturday so while Tony enjoyed the cars (while waiting to watch Cars teehee), Kate and I did another back-track trip to see the sites we had missed on driving day.
Springfield, Illinois
Big Boy Bob advertises a tattoo shop
There is a lot to see in Springfield. If we had the time, we may have stayed closer to here so we had more time for exploring. But we didn’t, so we made the best of what we had.
We drove to the north end of town to start, so we could pretend it was just part of our west-bound trek. The first stop that we wanted to check off on the Roadside 66 app, was a Big Boy Bob covered in tattoos. Yep, he is advertising a tattoo shop!
Illinois State Fairgrounds
While a fairgrounds alone might not be a destination, the Illinois State Fairgrounds features a Route 66 experience that was well worth the stop.
The fair entrance and building are really beautiful. Just inside the gate where we entered, a tall skinny Abraham Lincoln welcomes guests.
The Route 66 Experience is a walkable display of all of the towns on Route 66 in Illinois. There are several “barns” with lots of photographs and maps inside. There is a neon park. There is a mock-up drive-in theater. I could have spent twice as long there as we did, just wandering the route, reading all the signs, and looking at all the photos.
Service Stations
Naturally, we saw more vintage service stations. Some have been converted to museums or gift shops. Some sit abandoned and crumbling. I think someone could make an entire trip just finding and photographing old service stations along Route 66. In fact, I bet if I looked it up, someone probably has.
The Mahan’s Phillips 66 filling station is so tiny, that we almost missed it. From one angle, it appears to be part of the Italian restaurant building that’s next door. It didn’t appear open so we snapped a couple shots and kept moving.
One former service station is now a Green Book Museum. I hadn’t heard of the Green Books until Anthony Arno featured them on the Route 66 Podcast. I wish the museum had been open, I think it would be a wonderful place to visit.
Train Stations
I’m not sure if we’ve ever mentioned this, but we love trains. And train stations. So, as we drove through Springfield I couldn’t resist grabbing a photo of Springfield Union Station. Which, incidentally, is no longer a train station. Now it’s part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. It’s still beautiful.
Later in the day, I asked Kate to make a slight detour so I could get some photos of the Chatahm train station, which is now a museum. It wasn’t open, but it was pretty.
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
We visited the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, which isn’t really Route 66-related but is very interesting just the same.
When we visited a few years ago, I recall being able to self-tour through some of the homes. However, I don’t seem to have any indoor photos so I must be remembering wrong.
Now (and likely back in 2021), the only way to go inside a building is with a guided tour. We didn’t have time, and the tours were all booked up, so Kate will ave to go back for a visit when she can get a tour. We might do that as well.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Speaking of homes without indoor photos, we drove past the Dana-Thomas House State Historic Site designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and snapped a couple photos. In 2021, Tony and I did tour the home. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed inside the house so if you are interested (and I highly recommend it) you’ll have to go tour these homes on your own.
Springfield Eateries
Surely there are lots of great places to eat in Springfield, but we can only eat so many times per day. We do our best, so we can report back to you - but even we have our limits.
Cozy Dog Drive-In
We learned about Cozy Dog Drive-In from the Roadside 66 app, and found out this is where corn dogs were invented. Well, I’m not one to pass up a corn dog so we just has to stop here and try the original corn dog. It did not disappoint! There is no longer a drive-in - you have to go inside if you want to enjoy a Cozy Dog. So, inside we went! Kate and I each ordered a Cozy Dog and fountain drink. We enjoyed our dog and took some photos, and checked out the gift shop in the corner of the building. I think I regret not buying the stuffed Cozy Couple.
Lest I forget - there is a Bob Waldmire connection here. As in: Bob’s dad Ed invented the corn dog in 1945 and opened Cozy Dog Drive-In after his Army duties were finished.
Motorheads
The next stop isn’t one we ate in today, but Tony and I did eat there twice in one day our first time through. It was that good! I’m talking about the Route 66 Motorhead's Bar & Grill. The parking lot is almost as good as the food. There is so much going on out there! The newest addition to the parking lot is Big Ron - who started life as a Big John grocery store giant. Ron’s arms were rearranged, so he now holds up a big Route 66 shield and beckons hungry travelers to stop for a rest and a great meal.
Whirl-a-Whip
The third eatery on my list today is actually in Girard, Illinois. My maternal family name is Girard - same spelling! - so I always want to stop here for photos. Today Kate and I added to my wish and we stopped at Whirl-a-Whip for some whipped ice cream. The way I understatnd the story, the inventor of whirl-a-whip figured out how to make real ice cream as easy to dispense as soft serve. What I never knew is that there is a limit to flavors of soft serve - I know it’s usually only available as vanilla or chocolate but I didn't realize that was the nature of soft serve. Whirl-a-whip can be made any flavor that ice cream can - which is to say - any flavor! If you think you are too good to eat ice cream for dinner, then fine. They seem to have pretty popular food selections as well, judging by the food people were eating while we enjoyed our ice cream. Weirdly, I couldn’t find the the whirl-a-whip ice cream story on their website. So whoever wrote the description in the Roadside 66 app knows something special, and now so do we!
Hey, Turkey!
One last stop that we couldn’t resist was an old alignment of Route 66. Wait, let me tell you that “old alignment” has become synonymous in our brains as “really rough road” and if we are towing, we kind of avoid those. But in the truck Kate and I decided to take the couple mile option and see the turkey tracks in the concrete.
We also took an “original” detour and drove a mile and a half on original brick road. It’s so fun to drive along what you know is a 100-year old surface that is still completely usable and think about how the original Route 66 travelers did things.
