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.