Chicago and Route 66, Part I

We took a road trip this August (2013), for three good reasons: (1) we wanted to see Chicago, (2) we wanted to drive the old Route 66, which actually starts in Chicago, and (3) we wanted to escape the heat of Texas in August!  It was great.

We chose a round-about path up, because we wanted to avoid driving the same route twice.  First stop, Little Rock.  This is historic Little Rock High School (looks more like a college)

which was the scene of some early school desegregation conflicts.

After the Rock, we headed north to this little town called Walnut Ridge.  In 1964, it was the scene of the Beatles' super secret vacation weekend during their first American tour.  Not even the town was supposed to know, but a bunch of teenagers found out, and they're still celebrating!  They renamed one main road "Abbey Road" where you can find the cartoon Beatles

and statues of the fab four from the Abbey Road album.

 These cartoon figures set just outside of a shop called "Imagine".  Ask Linda about

the owner Carrie Mae, and her Bob Dylan bracelet.

 

The Abbey Road statues

Before... 

 

and After!

   

We blitzed through Missouri, Kentucky, and Indiana, til we spotted this street festival at a little town called Vincennes. Yep, it was a watermelon festival!  Free watermelon?  Don't mind if I do... 

 

 Finally, Chicago! 

 

 

 

The first few nights, we stayed at this Hilton, out in the 'burbs. 

Actually, we discovered the neighborhood was Al Capone's old stompin' grounds.

 And I do mean stompin'.

 

Lunch at Giordano's (thanks, Ashley!). 

Check out the deepness of the deep dish pizza!  

  

The famous Second City Comedy Club

 

Old Town Chicago

 

It wouldn't be a trip to Chicago without a stop at White Casle. 

 

I don't even remember this 

 Architech Frank Lloyd Wright built his home in the Oak Park area,

and designed several others. 

Hmmm...that's a lot of right angles, and squares..

 

  Maybe I'll just take this one.

   

All that walking around makes me hungry. 

 

Wrigley Field!  The historical ballpark is just sitting in the neighborhood!

Great for walk-up fans, or where you have mass transit.  The entire area around the field

is called "Wrigleytown" and it's crammed with restauraunts and sports bars. 

 

We found this spot (Flaco's Tacos) serving fajitas and sangrias,

and the weather was so great we could eat outside!

 

Next day we visited Garfield Park Conservatory.

You know us, the Master Gardener and Igor, the obedient servant.

 Time to move Downtown!  We spent the next three nights at

the Inn of Chicago, in the heart of downtown.  

We were half a block from Michigan Ave (the "Miracle Mile")

which is a shopper's paradise. and three blocks from Navy Pier, an amusement park

built on a huge pier that juts out about six blocks into Lake Michigan.  

 

  

 

We took an excursion boat around the Chicago Harbor, and learned a lot about the city.

The view of Chicago from the harbor, just before sunset.

 

Aaah, the open seas, the smell of salt water...wait. 

This is not the ocean, it's a lake!

But it's a Great Lake! 

 

Just one more look at that skyline before we dock. Then we shared

some cinnamon almonds, and saw a cool Tiffany Glass exhibit.

 

After hanging out at Navy Pier awhile, we caught a rickshaw (one of those bicycles

 with a carriage in back) over to another fine Deep Dish establishment, Lou Malnati's.

(Thanks B-ran!) A picture of Marty with the Babe and the Babe! 

 

Next morning (and every morning) we had coffee on the rooftop patio at our hotel.  

 

 

Then, a walking tour of the city.  First stop, the Chicago Tribune building.

This is a century old structure, and scattered throughout the masonry for the first two stories, are blocks and stones collected from renown buildings the world over: Taj Mahal, the Parthenon, the Berlin Wall, the Great Pyramid, Notre Dame de Paris, Great Wall of China, and yes, the Alamo.

 

At Millenium Park, we saw the Cloud Gate. It's an interesting piece of art,
polished to reflect like a mirror. And because of it's curved form, it creates some really weird images.  And as you might guess, it's nickname is "the Bean"!

 

Right next to Millenium Park is Grant Park, where you can see Buckingham Fountain.

Some of you oldtimers may remember it from the opening of "Married with Children". 

 

 

After a late breakfast at the Artist's Cafe (yes, I said breakfast),

we enjoyed the riverwalk along the Chicago river.

 

 

 

After a full morning of sightseeing, we jumped on the El, and rode the Loop.  That's a train that runs above (and sometimes below) ground, covering central Chicago.  It's a great way to see the city for about two bucks, and it takes about an hour, including the walk to the subway station!

 

That evening we went out. 

First, we walked over to the John Hancock Tower and rode the elevator up to

The Signature Lounge on the 96th floor. That's about a quarter mile above the street! 

 

Martinis, shaken and not stirred.

 

Spectacular view from the Signature!  Hello down there!

 

Then dinner at an Italian Ristorante called Volare.  We sat on the patio

 and enjoyed the evening. The food was delicious!

 

Afterwards, we watched the sunset from our hotel rooftop patio.

Not as tall as the Hancock, but not bad! 

 

Next morning, we began the trip back.  At the edge of Grant Park,

the very beginning of the "Mother Road" - Route 66!

 

The road winds through a few Chicago suburbs, on the way across Illinois,

and on to the Mississippi river.  In Willmington, just outside of Chicago,

stands the Gemini Giant, a 1960's remnant of our fascination with outer space!

Back in the day, he welcomed folks to the Launch Pad Diner.

 

A few blocks away stands the Mar theater, still operating today. 

 Gee, I like the sound of that name. 

 

Eight miles south of Lincoln Illinois, sits the town of Broadwell.  In 1938, a farmer stopped at the Harbor Inn and ordered "a sandwich off of that pig hip." Cafe owner Ernie Edwards liked the sound of that, and renamed the place "The Pig Hip".

 

A few relics from the Mother Road

 

Any relation to the Gemini Giant?

 

Yes, kids this is how businesses used to advertise.

 

In southern Illinois, just before we crossed the river into Missouri, we found the old sign

from the Bel Air drive-in, but the screen and the speaker boxes are long gone.

 

A few miles further down, in Mitchell, is the Luna Cafe, said to have been

a favorite hangout of Scarface Al Capone himself.  At one time, the fine dining establishment

was so pricey, that only gangsters could afford to eat there!

 

The Chain of Rocks bridge. 

Built as a toll bridge in 1929, it was "the way" to cross the Mississippi river

 for years. It's most unusual because it was designed with a 22 degree turn in the middle.

After 38 years, in 1967, the bridged was closed to automobiles, and now serves only hikers

and bikers, making it the longest foot bridge in the world. 

 

St Louis!

Because of St Louis' growth over the past century,

the alignment for Route 66 has changed many times.

Kinda hard to follow nowadays.

 

After spotting the arch, we stumbled upon an open-air farmer's market

in an historical neighborhood, called Soulard Market. We had our first fried ravioli, yum! 

 

This place was cool, and apparently famous, so I called my big sister, right then, from the market. 

I wanted to know why, even though she'd lived in St Louis twice,  I had never heard about this place from her. I thought it was a fair question.  BG said because it was downtown, with traffic and all,
she had never gone.  I need some more ravioli, and maybe something to drink. 

 

Next stop, Cuba!  The berg in Missouri, not the island nation off the coast of Florida.

They have the world's largest rocking chair, plus a bunch of really cool stuff. 

Cuba is one of those small towns that really
celebrates their connection to Route 66.

 

Even the headboard in our motel room was evidence. 

 

The main house for the Wagon Wheel Motel.

 

Linda read that this very progressive small town had launched a plan to draw people

and businesses to Cuba.  One way they do this is by commissioning artists to paint murals

on buildings throughout their town.  They have 12 murals so far. 

Each picture reflects something historical about their town, or some interesting event.

Here are a few: 

 The local lunch spot

 

Even Amelia Earhart.  Stories tell of the time she had to make an emergency landing

in a field near Cuba, because of mechanical problems.  She got the part she needed in town,

and continued her journey.  This mural recalls her visit and her plane.

 

Another time, Hollywood's Bette Davis and her husband planned

a secret getaway to Cuba, where they thought they wouldn't be noticed.

When a local reporter recognized them and snapped a picture, the husband

chased him down to confiscate the film.  This mural captured the episode for

all to see. And it's on the newspaper building as well! 

Check out those Bette Davis Eyes. 

 

And this mural is special. It depicts a train, with six young men leaving in uniform.

These servicemen, from Cuba, each sacrificed their life, fighting in World War II. 

The artist used pictures from their yearbook for the likenesses. The red section at the right

lists their names, branch of the military, and when and where they died.

 

Now as we leave Missouri, to head across the corner of Kansas, and then into Oklahoma,

we pause to admire the Welcome Center sign that was designed in the style of 1950-60s motel signs, in respect to Route 66.  They even include a "vacany" indicator at the bottom. 

 

Nothing to see in Kansas, except in tiny Baxter Springs, where back in the day

their local minor league team, the Whizkids, were hot stuff.  Until the New York Yankees

came down and scarfed up their best player. They keep his name on the street sign.

 

Don't know anyone from the Quapaw nation, but since I've never seen a pronunciation key

on a city limit sign before, we thought this picture deserved to be included. 

And don't call 'em Kwa-pah. It's O-Gah-Pah

 

If you're ever in far northeast Oklahoma, and need a hamburger like right now,

Ku Ku's is the place to go.  And watch that little Ku Ku at the top of the building.

 

Just so you know that travel wasn't always done at 75mph,

here's an original stretch of R66, no shoulders and only nine feet wide.

 

Bet you didn't know there is a Miami, Oklahoma.

 

Today, on the outskirts of Tulsa, there remains a memory from an earlier time:

A great Blue Whale, which was the centerpiece of Davis Water Park.

Hugh Davis, retired director of Tulsa's Mohawk Park zoo, set about building

this swimming pond, complete with a whale so big that swimmers could walk in the mouth 

and slide out the side! It was to be a surprise for his wife, but when travellers saw it,

they stopped and wanted to swim.  Davis hired lifeguards, and opened his water park to the public. 

 

Inside the whale is a loft, so swimmers could look out the portals,

and steps with a platform so they could dive off his tail.

 

We love this place in east Tulsa called Tally's Cafe, right on historic Route 66. They're open most days from seven til eleven, which is sad, because I would go back at midnight if they were open.

 

We're getting to be regulars at the Desert Hills Motel. 

Let's see...This makes it twice in one lifetime. 

 

On the way from Tulsa to Ok City, eat breakfast at the Rock House Cafe in Stroud.  It's great!

And here's a fun fact: the lady-car in the Disney movie "Cars" was based on the lady-owner of the Rock House.  So buy a souvenir coffee cup, but watch out.  The cup will cost more than breakfast.

  

Then head down historic 66 towards Arcadia.  Along the way you may blast past 

what's left of an old stone Conoco station, but slow down. This place was built around 1920, and sold gasoline and kerosene. Not pumped, but poured out of drums by a simple spigot, because there was no electricity this far out.  Their lights were kerosene lanterns (imagine that around drums of fuel!) 

 When times got tight in the 1930s, a travelling "salesman" offered a solution:

printing plates for US ten dollar bills. The owners took the plates and started printing bogus ten dollar bills. Business was so good they had to add a small room at the back of the station, for printing.

The only way into this room was through a window in the back of the original building.

 

Don't tell anybody you saw us here.

 

All good things must come to an end, including printing your own money.

The owners were busted, and the station has remained unused ever since.

 

Then in Arcadia we visited this round barn.  Nowadays the first floor is a Route 66 museum,

and the upstairs is availble for private functions.  And it's huge; it can acommodate 300 people.

 

Then as we neared Oklahoma City, we saw Pop's, the soda pop store.  They stock over 600 flavors.  On your way in you pick up an empty six pack carton, and fill it as you shop! We even found Fizzies!

 

This brings us to the end of Part I. 

Next time, we start in Oklahoma City and follow the Road west,  to LA. 

But after we rest up awhile.