Route 66 roadtrip

So here is my attempt at posting about our recent Spring Break road trip,
which our 11 yr old twin sons proclaimed the best trip ever!
We took a total of 8 days to go from Chicago to Amarillo and back.
My only regret in retrospect was that we should have either taken more time or gone a shorter distance.
There were a couple days that the driving went on later into the evening than I would have liked.

So the first day we got off to a very typical late start,
what with dropping the cat off to the kennel and hubs deciding he needed to buy a new video camera....

our first official stop was at the Launching Pad, where we visited with the Gemini Giant,
and had our first Corn Dogs of the day....



We continued down the road to Pontiac where we marveled at the beautiful courthouse and stopped at the Route 66 museum, where we saw this gorgeous mural and amusing sign.




After a nice chat with the friendly couple who ran the museum,
it was on to Funk's Grove where we treated to a quick tour of the working side,
followed by a through examination of the shop...







Back in the Van, and we drove on down to Atlanta to visit with our second Giant of the day, Tall Paul.


Just a little further and we arrived at our destination for the evening, Springfield,
where we just had to find the last of the Illinois Giants before we could call it a day...


As we were driving to our hotel, we passed right by the Cozy Dog,
and knowing they would be closed the next day (Sunday) we had to stop for yet another corn dog...



The picture I took of the dog turned out blurry so here's a pic of them getting dipped instead.

SO amazingly the BOYS in the group were still hungry and wanted dinner later on, and we headed over to Smokey bones where I was was very amused by another sign.


The food was excellent- this was a sampler platter that we shared with St. Louis ribs, Brisket, and smoked turkey.
Everything was moist and delicious, tasting of smoke, the way it should. Sorry it's a little blurry....


Day number 2 to come....

We received a gift of the Maple Sirup from 6 Star (Laird) at a Roadfood meet n Eat. It is wonderful Sirup! Looking forward to your next adventure!

Iris it looks like you like to take the same kind of pictures that I do--I bet your boys had a blast! Looking forward to more of your report.

SO Day 2 was mainly a sightseeing in Springfield day.
It was also coincidently Easter Sunday- so the eating was very chancy.
We stayed mostly in Hampton Inn's and had their usually very nice and adequate breakfasts most mornings-
biscuits and gravy for the boys-
I tended to stick more with cereal, milk, and fruit.

So In Springfield we started off with a drive-by to the
Dana Thomas House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright,



We spent a long time having fun at the Abraham Lincoln Museum which is an amazing place, very new and interactive-all museums should be like this! The only negative thing I have to say is we decided to have lunch in their cafe since everything nearby was closed, and it was very lackluster. One son had the worst excuse for a hotdog I have ever encountered (of course we ARE from Chicago, but still...), I had a chicken salad croissant which mainly suffered from lack of chicken salad and lack of flavor, and hubs had a BBQ Pork sandwich which wasn't very good, but was probably the best thing of the bunch. I forget what the other son had- he may have had chips LOL...

We stopped by Lincoln's tomb, and rubbed his nose for luck.

Visited New Salem, where my nieces, nephew, Mom & Dad caught up with us.

After that we all went out to dinner at the only open place I could find that would work for all of us (nieces and nephew are vegetarian) New Buffet City. It was an Asian themed all you can eat buffet, and made a huge hit with everyone. There was sushi, steak, crab legs, dim sum, soup, numerous typical chinese entrees, macaroni and cheese, pizza, desserts, and even soft-serve ice cream. For the 9 of us - 4 adults and 5 kids it ended up costing something like $90 and I KNOW they lost money on one of my sons for certain!
It wasn't gourmet dining , but it wasn't bad for what it was.
No one had to wait and there was something for everyone.

More to come....

Day 3, Monday
Driving on towards ST. Louis tonight, thought we'd stop at the Ariston for a mid-morning slice of pie and history...
but got there and it was closed (perhaps they were visiting family for Easter).
So we went next door to Jubelts Bakery, and I had the best Pineapple upside-down cake I have EVER eaten in my entire life.
AND it was still warm and crunchy from the oven. Also sampled were Apricot Stix, and filled donuts, which were proclaimed equally delicious, but not the equal of the PUDC.




We kept encountering these eerie stretches of road that would run parallel to historic 66 between us and the RR tracks that were all overgrown and occaisionally bulldozed thru so no one would try to drive on them.


Stopped at the Soulsby Service Station in Mt. Olive for a hint of how things used to look.


And stopped at the very unique Rabbit Ranch in Stanton IL which is just a pale foreshadowing of the "ranches" in Amarillo...


Arrived tired and hungry at our hotel, the Hampton Downtown at the Arch.
They weren't kidding, because here is the view from our hotel room:


As I said we were hungry, and the hotel offered us a free beer at their restaurant,
which was an Irish pub name Tigin. That sounded pretty good right about then...


We followed up with some high class appetizers all round.
Hubs had a really yummy corned beef egg-roll type thing that I got a very blurry blurry photo of.
I had a quartet of delicious smoked salmon roses on some blini with capers.

Son #1 had a very respectable mini-burger with fries

and Son #2 had a plate of tempura-type chicken fingers served with his favorite sauce-Ranch
(have you seen the TV commercial about the ranch tooth? it's him... more amusing ranch stories to come)


Well thus fortified we went to explore the Arch, which some of us enjoyed, and some of us,.... not so much. If you've ever been to the Arch to get up there you go inside a pod about the size of your standard clothes dryer, and you go up slowly and creakily like a ferris wheel type motion. One of the boys got a tad claustrophobic, and just didn't really....appreciate the experience shall we say. He also thought the Arch would fall over once we got up there. Probably from the enormous weight of all the corn dogs we had consumed up to this point....

Anyhow the view was terrific!


So we didn't stay up there too long but went back down and went back to the hotel for a nice swim before heading up to "The Hill" for dinner at Gian-Tony's restaurant.
We had a starter of St. Louis classic toasted ravioli which were fantastic, and my picture was fantastically blurry,
Son #1 had the Italian classic spaghetti and meatballs

Son #2 the same, only no sauce (because they wouldn't serve it with ranch dressing LOL)
Hubs and I split an order of Bocconcini Alla Tony, which is breaded & rolled veal, stuffed with prosciutto ham & mozzarella cheese, served in a white wine sauce with mushrooms & peas.
It was heavenly, and they served it with a side of garlic spinach (also a little blurry).




My suggestions for a post-dinner concrete were quickly shot down..
but tomorrow is another day....
More to come...

I'm especially enjoying the st louis section of this trip since my husband are heading there on May 2nd for 2 and a half days! :)

Great stuff!

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Keith

Nice job...love the photos. Wondering if the Paul Bunyon figure was from the hot dog place of the same name on Ogden Avenue in Cicero.

Love the trip so far!
I'll be taking this same trip, Chicago to at least St. Louis, maybe Joplin later this year.
And, many of those place were already on my list.
Can't wait.
I have a particular interest in Giants, too.
--Dana

I feel for the son who reacted to the 'inside the egg' feeling in the ride up the Arch. I have done it once and WILL NEVER attempt it again. The Nat'l Park Service was very lucky that day that I didn't do the 'rip the door off and jump' sequence that was urging me on!! I do like the Lewis and Clark Museum in the foot of the Arch !

I do think the Tall Paul was originally from Cicero...

OK, so here's day 4
Started off at the City Museum in St. Louis
This place is like heaven for kids -
It's so hard to describe- it's like a huge folk art playground
My kids would have stayed there for days if we could have, and I understand it's open late nights on the weekends-I imagine it gets pretty fun for the grown ups then....
Here's the main entryway - the thing on the left is a 2 1/2 story slide:


And who should I find upstairs???


Now this next stop may not be everyone's idea of a complete lunch,
but it certainly made a big hit with my crew and we were all filled up for hours....(there will be more St. Louis stuff on the return...Do I hear the Budweiser theme playing?)




So leaving St. Louis we had to make a true Route 66 pilgrimage, but had been concerned due to the recent flooding in Missouri. We called ahead, and they told us they were open for tours....


This is the most famous formation called the stage curtain:


Sadly, there was a lot of devastation to be seen. The caverns themselves had been completely flooded just a few days earlier, all the gift shops were closed, and there were dumpsters full of stuff outside
(darn we couldn't spend any extra money on souvenirs),
But the campground was really trashed...you have to respect the power of mother nature.


We saw lots of unusual things driving down the road:


But our early dinner was definitely one of the more "memorable" experiences of the trip. Now I don't know how I got it in my head that the Elbow Inn was the place to stop.
But we go in, and what do we (and the twins) spy but hundreds of lovely brassieres hanging from the ceiling and lots of biker types shooting pool. One nice fellow says "The restaurant side's over there", and so we nervously go and sit down , and we......are.....the.....only.....family.....in.....there.
Anyhow, braving on, we order some beer and BBQ sandwiches, which come and are actually pretty good. Before we leave, I have occasion to use the facilities which are quite interesting, In addition to the usual seat and sink, there is a lovely little upholstered nook, just big enough for 2 to well.... you can imagine....
Anyhow, we now have a new policy- anyplace looks iffy- Hubs checks it out first....


Slept that night at Springfield, MO.
More to come...

quote:

Originally posted by irisarbor
So here is my attempt at posting about our recent Spring Break
Back in the Van, and we drove on down to Atlanta to visit with our second Giant of the day, Tall Paul.

Irisarbor,
This must be the guy Annette sang about back in something like '58! (I've got that 45.)
Funny thing... I've been all over Atlanta, but I've never seen this statue. It's surely nowhere near the corner of Miller Reed Avenue and Blashfield Street, S/E, unless they just have plunked it there since I last visited.
Your post is most interesting. No problem about slightly out-of-focus photos; I'd imagine that my first few dozen will be less legible than anything you've thusfar submitted.
Can't wait to read the rest of your report.
Occasionally Focused, Ort. Carlton in Ever-Amazing Athens, Georgia.
P. S. C'mon, I know you were talking about Atlanta, ILLINOIS! Tee hee.

LOL, did you leave them a souvenir at the Elbow Inn? I'm thoroughly enjoying your report and pictures. I love pineapple upside down cake, wish I could try some of the world’s best.

Thanks for sharing

Next time you are in the area make time for a food stop in Rolla, a really nice college town at exit 185. Plenty of nice places to eat in a 'safer' environment!!

quote:

Originally posted by irisarbor

Hubs and I split an order of Bocconcini Alla Tony, which is breaded & rolled veal, stuffed with prosciutto ham & mozzarella cheese, served in a white wine sauce with mushrooms & peas.
It was heavenly, and they served it with a side of garlic spinach (also a little blurry).

Blurry or not, this looks really good...thanks!

Brad

So now did you have prior knowledge/experience with Gian-Tony's or had you heard about it somewhere? And how many questions did those boys have about the decor of the Elbow Inn?

Day 5
On Day 5 we reach our furthest point and my boys ultimate goal- the Big Texan in Amarillo.
They have been watching this place on the live webcam for weeks in anticipation...
The lure of Amarillo has been strong for the boys,
we come prepared for the "ranches" with numerous cans of spray paint
...but I get ahead of myself.

We start by driving out of Mo. on the little corner of 66 that cuts into KS.
There are only 12 miles of 66 in KS but they are all wonderful!
We go over this gorgeous sweeper of a bridge-
I LOVE this shot- it is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip...


Immediately on entering KS, you are in Galena,
where you see a beautifully restored service station
run by one of the very enthusiastic 4 women on the route.


Sitting in front of the station is the truck that was the inspiration for the character Tow Mater in Cars


and across the street is an old building with some ghost writing that is seen in the movie too


Further on down we come to the beautiful rainbow bridge


We pass lots of really unusual murals, I thought this one was almost haunting


But back to the really important stuff, the FOOD!
In Vinita, OK is a Roadfood Classic, Clantons


Where we had some wonderful Chicken Fried Steak!
We talked it up so much that one of the boys even ordered it!
(of course it wasn't the ranch dressing twin)


After lunch as we drove thru aptly named Weatherford we saw more windmills than I have ever seen in one spot- there were hundreds of them


Crossing into Texas we had to make a quick stop in Shamrock to see the U Drop Inn
In the movie Cars, Ramones Paint Shop is modeled after this famous icon of Route 66




Finally after a loooong day of driving, just as the sun was starting to set,
tired and hungry we rolled into the BIG TEXAN.


If you want to have the free 72 oz steak this is what you have to eat in 1 hour by yourself:


You get to sit at a "special" table on a raised stage (which is on the webcam ) when you are trying,
and here #1 son looks longingly at the special table:


So what did WE eat? Well, #1 son was VERY disappointed that they were out of rattlesnake that night. (No, he really was...) So we ordered some calf fries aka Rocky Mountain Oysters-
(on the menu it says if you think it's seafood- stick with the shrimp). So they came, served with two sauces- a red sauce and ....ranch dressing! Now Hubs, Myself and son #1 KNOWS what these are, but son #2 really hasn't been paying attention, picks one up, and dips it in the ranch and eats up. After eating a couple he asks me, "Mom what kind of chicken fingers are these?" I said, "Son, these aren't exactly chicken fingers..."
well you can guess where it went from there...too funny
But they actually weren't bad- I thought they were very mild and inoffensive, kind of had no taste at all-they had the texture of a chicken liver without the liver taste- mostly tasted of the breading.


We then had a 36 oz ribeye steak that we shared between all of us-
We were so hungry I forgot to take a picture. I'd like to say it was great,
but I think it's really more about the "shtick" than the steak at the Big Texan.
It didn't even really look like a Ribeye, and it was OK, just not great, and not trimmed well, one of got a hug hunk of fat and gristle, so he (Hubs) actually ordered up a small filet which I DID take a picture of:
It also was good, but not great, and also didn't look like any other filet I've ever gotten....
But we did have fun- there was a band, and they walked around, and Hubs even sang with them-(we really had to tip extra for that LOL


That night we stayed at the Homewood Suites in West Amarillo,
which was really nice- a step up from the Hamptons- I'd recommend that place for certain
More to come-

Day 6 is another REALLY long and REALLY busy day. LOTS of pics.

We start out the day by visiting the famed Cadillac Ranch which turns out to be something like 100 yards from our hotel.
This is also the ONLY picture from the whole trip of all four of us...
You can also see how much our boys DON'T look like twins...(they are obviously fraternal)
we corralled a fellow tourist, and returned the favor for them, of course.


Here you see son #2 hard at work on one of his creations:


And here you can get the feel for just how desolate it is:


We drive on to a short detour to Palo Duro Canyon, about 1/2 an hour south of Amarillo.
This is billed as the second largest canyon in the US after THE Grand Canyon.
It is also called the Grand Canyon of Texas.
It was big and beautiful. Their most famous formation is called The Lighthouse.


This is another one of my favorite photos from the trip:


There were even cactus growing:


We stopped for lunch at the trading post inside the park,
and were pleasantly surprised with the fare: BBQ pork sandwich for me,
chef salad for Hubs (bet you thought it was the other way around )
corn dogs and really decent fries for the boys,








After a circuitous route back to the main road, we connected up at Conway Texas, which just happens to be the site of the Slug Bug Ranch, where they have half buried, you guessed it, VW bugs...


Son #1 worked very hard to paint that "special spot"- you can see his back half here...


and around the side from the bugs we found this interesting tableau:


Driving on down the road we detoured through McLean, TX
which was absolutely the most deserted spookiest ghost town I have ever seen.
They have a Devil's Rope (barbed wire) museum there, but we just had too many miles to go...
have to leave something for next time....


Rolled in to Oklahoma City, tired and hungry (sensing a theme to these long days)
and ready for a really good steak




Cattlemen's is the real deal, here it is about the steak,
and the steaks look AND taste the way a good steak is supposed to.
We started off with an app of some lamb fries- (you know) when in Rome...
This time son #2 took a pass...


Even the salad was delicious- topped with some sort of special house dressing...


Hubs and son#1 split a huge t-bone, Son #2 had the stand-out of the nite, a bacon wrapped filet.
It just picked up the nicest hint of smokyness from the bacony goodness.
I had a ribeye, which was awesome. The only pic that turned out good was the ribeye...
Food is harder to photograph than scenery....especially because they all start eating before I can take the picture!


Our hotel that night was the Hilton Skirvin, which was recently renovated and reopened.
It was so gorgeous. None of my lobby pix turned out- but it was originally opened in 1911 by Bill Skirvin who was the father of Washington socialiate Perle Mesta called the Hostess with the Mostest that they wrote Call Me Madam about. Here are some pix of the halls and our room.






The only downside is the downtown was so deserted there is nowhere to have breakfast other than hotel unless you get in the car, and we didn't really prepare the night before so we just had a light expensive breakfast in the hotel.

Some really fun goofy sights tomorrow...

I've never had lamp fries, how do they compare to beef?

Keith

I thought all the fries were about the same, very mild, about the texture of a lightly cooked chicken liver without the taste of liver, in fact without much taste at all. It was mostly about the taste of the breading in both cases I thought. More of a dare kind of item. But hey we can say we tried 'em.

Great report! What cool parents to go all that way so the kids can go tagging!

What a great report Iris! Wish I was on the road again...

Your report is terrific, What a great adventure for the kids.......a trip that they will never forget.

Iris, I absolutely ADORE this trip report! Lots of great food pics, location pics!! You and your family have a wonderful sense of play wherever you're at and it shows in the pics. I spent some time in St. Louis and did feel a bit claustrophobic in the Arch, but loved the view. That museum is awesome. I was 29 at the time, but was crawling around in it like a kid! I agree with you on the "Oysters". I had Rocky Mountain Oysters at Cassie's Supper Club in Cody, WY and tasted mostly of the breading. The most interesting (and scary) part of the night was when my friend and I sang karaoke at the adjoining club and ended up having a conversation with a woman who turned out to have a big black swastika tattoo on her shoulder. We hightailed it out of there right quick!!

OK so we're coming in to our home stretch...
Here's Day 7, staring from OKC

We decided to detour to Shawnee OK for an early lunch at Van's Pig Stand. It ended up being waaay off the road, but that's the way it is with roadtrips sometimes and Van was Hubby's Dad's name and is Son#1's middle name, so we HAD to .... 


We had the Pig Sandwich, which was OK, and the "Van-ized potato" sort of a bacon-y double-baked, which was also just ok, but then came the ribs....which were awesome, smoky, chewy, and really good. 

 
 

 

Following that adventure we made our way back to the road and took a scenic drive through Stroud, OK 


We did stop in to the Rock Cafe, thinking maybe pie... but it turned out to be a little more biker-y than pie-y,
at least the day we were there.... 


There was an adorable gift shop next door, which was, sadly closed.... 


Continuing along the mother road our next stop was the wonderful Blue Whale of Catoosa OK! 


I had no end of amusement from this mis-spelled sign... 


Our last fun detour of the day was the world largest totem pole in the totem pole park in Foyil, OK.
This place was really amazing. 


We wanted to try this catfish place for dinner but were stymied by strange highway construction and ended up having dinner at the Hickory Pit in Rolla, Mo, lured in by the promise of Burnt Ends on their sign.
We had a sampler plate with the promised Burnt Ends, some regular brisket, and some ribs. The Beef was good, very smoky, but kind of dry- The ribs were actually better, smoky and quite good.
They also had a really nice salad bar, and were kind of family-oriented type place- I'd recommend it it was a bit off the beaten path 201 W. Hwy 72- I forgot to even try and photograph any of the food- I was kind of crabby and frustrated and really hungry by the time we stopped (I know this has never happed to any of you...)

We slept in St. Louis again, and we got in way too late.
Our last day on the road is tomorrow.

OK so the very last day on the Road, and some of the coolest stretches of Old Route 66 ever are right here in Illinois! (especially in the southern part)

Well- who wouldn't want to start their day out with a Jim Morrison breakfast?
I know Hubs and I would...
Do I hear the King of Beers?
BEER TOUR!!! 


Actually the Budweiser tour was really interesting, and a lot of fun.
The inside of the malt house reminded me SO much of the
Tout Sweet factory in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang movie with Dick Van Dyke...
(I know I'm dating myself here) 


There were also these cool Fox gargoyles of the character for their non-alcoholic drink that they made during prohibition. 


Of course, all the adults do get a couple of free beers at the end and that's never a bad way to start the day....

After the Bud tour, we left MO behind and crossed into Collinsville IL where
we just HAD to see the "World's Largest Catsup Bottle" (even if they do spell it wrong IMHO) 


We then stopped for some lunch in Stanton IL at the R&B Family restaurant, because they said they had GOOD FOOD 


and they did! Hubs had a BBQ pork sandwich which was good, Son#1 had a burger, which was huge, Son #2 had chicken fingers, which actually were (chicken fingers that is) but the stand out lunch item was my breaded pork tenderloin which was so huge it exceeded the bun capacity by several inches and was served with tortellini soup.
The soup was nothing special but the sandwich was totally top notch! 


So after lunch we followed the older (1920's) alignment of Route 66.
I found the EZ66 guidebook to be the most helpful of several I tried for this trip.
We drove through Carlinville, IL, where they have the most amazingly gigantic courthouse.
They call it the million dollar (white elephant) courthouse. 


Right across the street is a very historic old teeny little jailhouse.
Kind of like David and Goliath, or maybe Mutt and Jeff 


So we continued driving on some of the old alignments of the route,
and had to stop and take a picture with the stencil-there are more and more stencils
as they don't "disappear" like signs can.
(I love the barn in the background of this picture, and I didn't even notice it until later) 


Further on down there was even a stretch of the old route still paved in bricks: 


Well, all good things must come to an end, and our last meal on the road was a favorite Bloomington stop,
Biaggi's Italian restaurant, on the east side of the circle road that goes around Bloomington.
Son#2 had plain pasta with no sauce (again)
Son #1 had this lovely linguini with clam sauce 


Hubby had these scrumptious butternut squash ravioli: 


And I had these fabulous shrimp oreganata in a lemon basil sauce
(they usually serve them in tomato sauce, but I'm not big on tomato sauce,
so I asked nicely, and they nicely accommodated me) 


Can you tell we were all ready for a BBQ break? LOL

Well It was a wonderful trip and I've really enjoyed sharing it with you-
When we got home the boys said it was the best vacation ever,
and thanked us for taking them on Route 66, and you can't ask for better than that.
I really enjoyed it, and now I really have a hankering to do the rest...
but I want more time next time, so I don't have to go on the highway at all!

Feel free to message me also if you have any specific questions
Happy Trails

What a fantastic trip and even better job showing us!!

You did an excellent job on your report. Thank You for sharing!!

iris,

I am filled with a combination of admiration and envy as I read your wonderful report! I'm very happy that some of my Illinos recs paid off for you and I'm equally pleased to read about your own discoveries. R&B Restaurant in Staunton looks like it will be added to our repertoire when we travel I-55 from Chicago to KC.

There were so many interesting things to stop for when we made our Route 66 trek, it was a real disappointment that we only had a six day window to get from Chicago to St. Louis and then back (five days to Merramec Caverns on Route 66 and five hours home on I-55 on day six). You're stop at Ted Drewes brought back great memories of our visit when our daughters were about the age of your boys.

Other memorable moments were in Funks Grove (I hope you got off the main road and crossed the tracks into town where they maintain a two centuries old chuch and cemetery where almost everybody is named "Funk") where we made friends with the sirup family. We swapped Barbecue Sauce for maple sirup, a tradition that went on for several years after, anytime we traveled that way. They stopped swapping when one of their daughters married into the family that makes Head Country Barbecue Sauce in Oklahoma. They figured they had more than enough sauce to last them a lifetime and saw no further need to trade for ours.

I don't see any mention of The Dr. of BBQ in Springfield though. Sorry you missed that; it would have been one of the best meals you had on the trip.

Oh well, maybe next time.

Great report, thanks!

Buddy

Great report! Thanks for taking us along!