Traveling the Mother Road
I am very happy I chose to drive Route 66, although I’m realizing I need to take my time more. Yesterday I was overly ambitious, covering all of Illinois in one day. If I didn’t have a free room waiting for me in St. Louis, I probably would have taken more time to do side stops and would have stopped for the day earlier. Last night I was pretty beat. But overall, still a good experience. I am in St. Louis this morning, taking my time to get started because there is severe weather moving through the area of Missouri that I’m going to. Check-out time is 11 am, about the time the weather is supposed to begin to dry up. So that’s my goal. (Although photos will most likely be posted later, because I’m still in veg mode and writing requires much less effort than downloading and uploading for me.) But now to the travels so far…
My journey started Sunday afternoon at 2:00 as I left Sam’s graduation party in Pewaukee to drive to Chicago. Thankfully the “up north” traffic was not bad yet, and talk of construction delays between Milwaukee and Chicago were greatly exaggerated. I was very excited approaching downtown where the Route begins at Adams by the lakeshore. Unfortunately, I had not checked to see that Chicago Blues Fest was going on this weekend. I still was able to start at the beginning of the Route, but had to fight so much traffic (both street & pedestrian) that I settled for simply looking at the “Begin Route 66” sign instead of stopping to do a video or at least a photo. You’ll have to take my word for it – I started at the beginning!
My timing was also a little off in Joliet, where I stayed overnight on Sunday. (Sidenote of interest.... the story is Joliet used to be Juliet, and nearby Romeoville was simply called Romeo. Who'd have guessed those Flatlanders were Shakespearean?) The museum was closed on Mondays. Oh well…. I still got some good kitschy stops in. The state of Illinois is very good at marking Historic Route 66. Some places required a little detective work and sharp observation skills as the signs became infrequent or the Route jogged around a lot (e.g. Bloomington-Normal area.) I also hit one spot where the road was closed with no signs with detours or guides to pick up the Route again. But I’m getting good already at figuring out how to find it again and to trust my instincts even when the signs are miles apart.
Much of Route 66 is now frontage road between the interstate and the railroad tracks. The route originally followed the rails for a good portion of the journey. So when all else fails, follow the frontage road and eventually you’ll find a sign again. I think it will take a little more work to follow it in Missouri – as soon as I hit the state line last night, all signs of Route 66 disappeared. My focus then was on finding the hotel (thankfully I picked up the GPS to navigate me through St. Louis traffic to find it!) But my guidebook has told me where to backtrack to find it along Highway 67…. So when the weather lets up this morning, I’ll head back to find it and hope it isn’t flooded like much of St. Louis is this morning.
Things I’ve learned so far….traveling Route 66 is an excellent way to see all of what America has to offer. In 24 hours I drove in trendy downtown Chicago, poor run-down city streets, suburbs, and rural farms. I saw skyscrapers and grain silos. Mansions and trailer homes. Upscale stores and roadside shops that still write receipts by hand. I visited the National cemetery where veterans are honored with great pride, and a small cemetery where massacred union workers are mostly forgotten. There have been extreme differences, but also things that I find in common everywhere. Amazingly, little roadside Pentecostal churches look the same in poor urban Chicago and poor rural Illinois. They all have names about 10 words long too (like Church of the Holy Truth of Our Lord Jesus Christ.)
I’ve also learned that I do have good instincts for direction and finding my way (yes, stop laughing Linda...) I’ve remembered how much I like singing along with Vonda Shepherd as I listened to her CD on the road (haven’t listened to her in a long time.) I also realize that chick music is much better road music for the Route so far....just feels better. I’m also learning that I’d much rather look at heavy rain and lightening from my hotel room than through the windshield! Hopefully it will stop soon….
More details when I post the pics – especially from the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and a few kitsch stops.
My journey started Sunday afternoon at 2:00 as I left Sam’s graduation party in Pewaukee to drive to Chicago. Thankfully the “up north” traffic was not bad yet, and talk of construction delays between Milwaukee and Chicago were greatly exaggerated. I was very excited approaching downtown where the Route begins at Adams by the lakeshore. Unfortunately, I had not checked to see that Chicago Blues Fest was going on this weekend. I still was able to start at the beginning of the Route, but had to fight so much traffic (both street & pedestrian) that I settled for simply looking at the “Begin Route 66” sign instead of stopping to do a video or at least a photo. You’ll have to take my word for it – I started at the beginning!
My timing was also a little off in Joliet, where I stayed overnight on Sunday. (Sidenote of interest.... the story is Joliet used to be Juliet, and nearby Romeoville was simply called Romeo. Who'd have guessed those Flatlanders were Shakespearean?) The museum was closed on Mondays. Oh well…. I still got some good kitschy stops in. The state of Illinois is very good at marking Historic Route 66. Some places required a little detective work and sharp observation skills as the signs became infrequent or the Route jogged around a lot (e.g. Bloomington-Normal area.) I also hit one spot where the road was closed with no signs with detours or guides to pick up the Route again. But I’m getting good already at figuring out how to find it again and to trust my instincts even when the signs are miles apart.
Much of Route 66 is now frontage road between the interstate and the railroad tracks. The route originally followed the rails for a good portion of the journey. So when all else fails, follow the frontage road and eventually you’ll find a sign again. I think it will take a little more work to follow it in Missouri – as soon as I hit the state line last night, all signs of Route 66 disappeared. My focus then was on finding the hotel (thankfully I picked up the GPS to navigate me through St. Louis traffic to find it!) But my guidebook has told me where to backtrack to find it along Highway 67…. So when the weather lets up this morning, I’ll head back to find it and hope it isn’t flooded like much of St. Louis is this morning.
Things I’ve learned so far….traveling Route 66 is an excellent way to see all of what America has to offer. In 24 hours I drove in trendy downtown Chicago, poor run-down city streets, suburbs, and rural farms. I saw skyscrapers and grain silos. Mansions and trailer homes. Upscale stores and roadside shops that still write receipts by hand. I visited the National cemetery where veterans are honored with great pride, and a small cemetery where massacred union workers are mostly forgotten. There have been extreme differences, but also things that I find in common everywhere. Amazingly, little roadside Pentecostal churches look the same in poor urban Chicago and poor rural Illinois. They all have names about 10 words long too (like Church of the Holy Truth of Our Lord Jesus Christ.)
I’ve also learned that I do have good instincts for direction and finding my way (yes, stop laughing Linda...) I’ve remembered how much I like singing along with Vonda Shepherd as I listened to her CD on the road (haven’t listened to her in a long time.) I also realize that chick music is much better road music for the Route so far....just feels better. I’m also learning that I’d much rather look at heavy rain and lightening from my hotel room than through the windshield! Hopefully it will stop soon….
More details when I post the pics – especially from the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and a few kitsch stops.
posted by Kris at 6/16/2009 09:47:00 AM
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