Finally, this is the day we embark on Route 66. However, before we do, there’s something I said I would do. One of the reasons I (we) are in Chicago this time of year is because of the Taste of Chicago. This is an event that happens every year. Think of our Festival of the Arts, but with food, food, food, and no crafts. There is music and, did I mention, food.

And when at The Taste .. well .. you taste! The nice thing about the Taste of Chicago is you can get half portions. So, that’s what we did. The first one is a Steak Jibarito Sandwich from Sabor Latino Restaurant. It was pretty good.

Next is an Italian Sausage sandwich.

The third taste was from here.

That’s right, it’s Latin Indian fusion. I had the Chicken kabob with potato, tomatillo, and onion. It, too, was good. I didn’t see the tomatillo, I guess Trevor had that on his half. I managed to eat it before I remembered to take a photo, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

There were a lot of other places to eat as well. I won’t show them all, but I will show you this one.

Ok .. so the Taste is located in Grant Park. Do you know what else is located there? 10 points to the first one who can tell me where they’ve seen this before.

Click on the link for an intro into Route 66. If you’re using Internet Explorer it should open up the Media Player. If you’re using Firefox, right mouse click and select Open in a new tab. That way you can continue reading to the music.

Bing Crosby & Andrews Sister — Route 66

So .. if you’re listening the to music, and what I’ve maintained, Route 66 runs from Chicago to LA and NOT the other way around! :O)

We followed turn-by-turn directions from a web site I found. It is surprisingly accurate. So, there’s not much to see in the Chicago area. What’s nice is that the state of Illinois has signs up that show which way to go. Makes things quite a bit easier. But, like I said, not much to see until you get way outside Chicago. That’s when the gems start. Here’s the first one.

This picture is from Joliet, IL. We drove right through Romeoville in order to get to Joliet. Now these two cities weren’t always named Romeoville and Joliet. They used to be Romeo and Juliet. You know .. from Shakespeare fame. As story goes, Juliet changed her name to Joliet and a jilted Romeo then changed to Romeoville. I find it interesting, in a strange way, that Joliet road rips right through the heart of Romeoville. Just like a woman .. huh? :O)

We stopped in Wilmington for a bit to eat at the Launching Pad.

They had really cool tables.

We both had the Italian Beef. It didn’t have the jardiniere, but it was still good. A bit soggy on the bottom and salty, just the way I like it.

In Gardner, IL, I made a wrong turn and ended up at a cool little spot. Here are a couple of pictures.

This is a two-cell jail. Let’s take a look inside.

Oh my! How’d he get in there?!? After I broke him out, we went on our way back to Route 66.

In Dwight I saw this sign that made me turn.

It was attached to …

Behind all of this was another building. Any guesses as to what it is?

A little ways down the road, we came across this.

This place, evidently, has earned praise for its architectural design. Trevor says it looks like a couple of freight cars stacked together. Anyway, it shut down a little over two years ago and is for sale, building and land, for the low price of $149,900. Wonder why it couldn’t make a go of it. Right across the street is an official Route 66 attraction. So, of course, I had to take a few shots.

What was their slogan? “You can trust your car to the man with the star“? Something like that.

Then we enter Odell. There’s another gas station there. Boy, they sure do love restoring old gas stations.

Now, there have been several realignments to Route 66 over the years. Ever wonder what they did with the old roadway? Well, we were traveling right next to an older one. I don’t know how many realignments there have been, but I found it oddly fascinating driving next to an older roadway.

At this point we detoured off Route 66 and went the Clinton, IL. I wanted to eat at Ted’s Garage. But when we got there, it was closed. Too bad, I was looking forward to it. So, we headed straight for Springfield. We arrived a little late, so just checked in.

Next is our trip around Springfield. See you then.