Dad's Route 66 Blog

Discovering Normal Rockwell's America

Springfield, IL to St. Louis, MO and Beyond

Written By: trevixan - Jul• 10•11

So .. we had to leave this awesome motel. Granted it wasn’t the Ritz Carlton, or even the Ritz Cracker, but it was perfect for our journey. There are two places one must go to in Springfield. One is Charlie Parker’s, which you already have seen. The other is …

And, of course, I had to have a Cozy Dog.

Now .. a Cozy Dog isn’t really a Cozy Dog without mustard (and a bite).

You may be thinking .. it’s just a corn dog. Well .. it isn’t. I know corn dogs .. and believe me .. this is no corn dog. Corn dogs have a sweetness that a Cozy Dog does not. The way they fried it .. it was quite crisp. I regret that I didn’t buy a bag of their mix. Anyway, it was quite delicious and I don’t think I even gave Trevor a bite .. shame on me! :O)

Anyway .. you know how sometimes you’re looking for something and you find something else? Well .. that’s what happened. We were blocked on Route 66, there was construction going on and a section was closed. So we went back to a sign I saw. A sign leading to Sugar Creek Covered Bridge. I took the detour and found this.

And I suppose this is Sugar Creek.

Wait a minute. I’ve been neglecting something. When you think of Illinois .. what comes to mind? Well .. I’d be remiss if I didn’t show you what the true Illinois looks like.

There are many places in Illinois (and other states) where it’s corn as far as the eye can see.

Next we went through Mount Olive and saw something that we don’t see in our part of California.

Notice there are no arms on this thing.

Now .. one might think this is in the middle of nowhere .. but it’s actually right there in town. Can you imagine living here?

Notice how there are no fences in that last picture. Something else we don’t see that much in California, at least where I live.

Is anyone looking to buy a new house? This one is for sale.

Doesn’t look like that bad of a house. Can you see the asking price? If not, here it is.

There’s another one almost across the stree that’s for sale. It looks nicer but is unfinished.

So .. if you want to live in Illinois where it is cold in the winter and hot and muggy in the summer, I can show you the contact information for this house. :O)

Just down the street is an official Route 66 Roadside Attraction.

Here is the attraction.

When I was taking this picture, a gentleman on his bike asked me if I was doing research on this station. I said that I wasn’t, but on Route 66 in general. Then he told me a story about his grandmother living down the street and his father going to a class reunion back in 1999 and Russell Soulsby was there. He said he must have been about 95 at the time. Anyway, it was an interesting story. I’ll have to do more research on this place.

Our next stop takes us to Staunton, IL. Here we find an interesting Route 66 place.

Here’s the usual old stuff.

But, afterall, it is a rabbit ranch. Here’s a shot of Big Red.

You’ve heard of the Cadillac ranch, right? Well, here’s the Rabbit Ranch!

There was even a large rabbit around the side.

This is a restaurant chain in Illinois and Missouri. This particular one is just off the interstate in Mitchell, IL. We didn’t eat there, but I thought I’d get a shot of it anyway.

Across the way is an old drive in theater. Remember those? Not too many left that are operational. I am told that on Route 66, there are only three left.

After Mitchell, and close to St. Louis, we ran across Chouteau Island. We thought we were going across the Chain of Rocks Bridge, but it wasn’t.

Now we enter St. Louis. When in St. Louis, on a warm summer day, there is nothing better than Ted Drewes Frozen Custard.

Ted Drewes has been featured on Triple D. It’s been a favorite spot for locals, and now travelers as well.

Trevor had the Cookie Dough, while I had the Rapsberry. Don’t they look delicious?

Now, you cannot come to St. Louis without getting a picture of its most famous landmark. Yes, that’s the Gateway Arch. Trevor took this picture while I was driving.

And here is a more artistic view of the arch.

The arch is so big that I couldn’t get it all in one shot. You can also take a trip to the top and look down. Yeah, like we were going to do that.

Not surprisingly, the capitol building is right in front of it.

The streets around St. Louis were very difficult to navigate, so we moved on. But, as I promised, we did stop at a little place …

Cannot go to St. Louis and not have BBQ, right?

The ribs were firm but would pull easily away from the bone and the pulled pork had a nice sweet twang to them. Quite nice.

Then we hightailed it down to Sikeston, MO for dinner. As many of you know, we wanted to go to a specific place. Here it is.

It looks exactly like what I saw on television.

Trevor had a small Caesar salad and I had meatloaf.

That’s it for Lambert’s. I have other pictures, but I won’t post them here. You’ll have to wait until I get my album compiled.

And like the sign says .. Thank you for coming and reading these posts. And definitely Come again.

Next time we make our way to Springfield, MO. Not much to report, but I think you’ll enjoy the pictures that I did take.

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5 Comments

  1. Mary Kauhi says:

    At Lambert’s did they really throw the rolls while you were there?

    • trevixan says:

      Hi mom. Yeah .. they threw the rolls across the room, well, mostly. When they walked by us they wouldn’t hand us a roll .. they would still toss it and we were one foot away from them.

  2. Annette Thorsen says:

    I love the serenity of the covered bridge. I would have liked to have stopped there too, on the bank of the creek, and enjoyed the views. That is some “small” Cesar salad Trevor has there. Looks like a miniature flying saucer for the bread. Perhaps an inspiration for “throwed” rolls? 🙂

  3. Connie Wyatt says:

    OK, so I am gaining weight just salivating over all the food pictures! LOL! Loved the sight of Trevor’s “small” Caesar salad! Of course, I often have a whole meal consisting of only salad greens. But, I have to say, I really wanted a bite of your corn dog! 😀

    I enjoyed seeing the RR tracks, where the grass is growing, and there are no fences and the like! Reminds me of my childhood when we lived one block from the beach, but to get there, you had to cross over the tracks. Some years ago, we drove thru the town to see how it might have changed any, and I was sadly disappointed to see that there is now a chain-link fence all along the tracks and one can no longer cross over and enjoy the little beach where I spent many countless hours while growing up. Here in CA, there are way too many “safety” precautions that just take the joy out of simple pleasures! One could ALWAYS hear the train coming a mile or more out, so what is the big deal, anyway???

    Thanks for all the pictures you are sending our way! Makes me want to go on a road trip of our own, and take it all in, the good the bad, and the funny! I have a kindred spirit with small little towns!

    Travel safe!
    Connie

  4. Retha says:

    Hi you two,

    I missed this posting and so did not get to comment on the blog and pics. Great pics again. You finally got some bbq. I hope it was good. As for the railroad tracks not having arms, that is pretty common in the midwest and in the south. You take your chances in crossing. I do like California for that safety feature. I once served in unassigned territory in Illinois. I have to admit, I really enjoyed it. Diana Wong and I went there and I remember we did some bargaining for fresh eggs, etc. in exchange for literature. That tells you how far back this story went, for at that time, we were still asking for contributions for the literature. We went in the fall, and it was beautiful weather and beautiful colors on the trees. I am glad you got to visit Lamberts. Mom says the rolls are to die for. Do you agree? Well, maybe not to DIE for, but you get my gist. I loved the covered bridge and the one house that was unfinished. I wouldn’t want to live there, but did like the look of the house with that wrap around porch. Thanks for all the pics and the blog. I think we are all enjoying the ride. Be safe.

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