Sunday, August 01, 1999
Day 2: Chicago, IL - Litchfield, IL
We slept in until about 9 am today, because we were both shot. After showering and packing up, we had to get the motel manager to get the lovebirds to move their double parked car. He tried to tell me the car wasn't for a registered guest, but once I described them, the maid knew which room to try.
We ate breakfast at Lou Mitchell's. It is this wonderful restaurant/bakery near the start of Route 66 that's been around for over 75 years. This old woman was walking along the line of waiting customer's with a basket of freshly made donut holes with powdered sugar, telling anyone who would listen about the history of the restaurant and about Lou Mitchell who's been dead for a few years, but actually worked at the restaurant into his late 80's. The food was fresh and delicious, and Chris said it's the first time he's ever had a waitress call him "Hon."
After breakfast, it was off on the "Route." Route 66 through Illinois we found is very well marked with Historic Route 66 signs. We had a couple of maps and sources for directions, but the signs were actually the best way to follow the old road. We ended up driving less than 8 miles of freeway out of over 250 miles today. We became adept at seeing old traces of even older road than we were driving on either running parallel to or angling away from the current "old road". There was almost no traffic on our trip today once we left the Chicago area. Though the road was the freeway frontage road for part of the today and we could see the freeway traffic less then 100 yards away, it somehow felt like a better way to travel alone on the two lane at our own pace.
We traveled through the capital of Illinois, past the state capitol building along the 1926 alignment of the road. We arrived at our Litchfield about 6 pm, pretty well shot. We were going to go see a movie at the drive-in here in town, but even Chris was too tired for that tonight. I didn't fight with him about going to bed early. We ate supper at another Route 66 famous location, the Ariston cafe. Chris gave it a 6 out of 10 rating....which might have been a little generous.
The 66 Motor Court where we're staying tonight could be called "authentic", but "seedy" might be a little more descriptive. Chris was most upset there wasn't a door on the bathroom, just a folding type thingy that doesn't latch. Yeah, the wallpaper might be peeling from the walls and the dark brown paneling an orange shag carpeting a little dated, but hey, it's only 33 bucks a night and it's the only motel on the old road here in Litchfield. The air conditioning works well...I think I have the room cooled down to about 60. Cindy...you'd love it, I know.
Tomorrow it's off to St. Looey, the Gateway Arch, and the Missouri Ozarks. It'll be good to see some hills after the flatness of Illinois.
We ate breakfast at Lou Mitchell's. It is this wonderful restaurant/bakery near the start of Route 66 that's been around for over 75 years. This old woman was walking along the line of waiting customer's with a basket of freshly made donut holes with powdered sugar, telling anyone who would listen about the history of the restaurant and about Lou Mitchell who's been dead for a few years, but actually worked at the restaurant into his late 80's. The food was fresh and delicious, and Chris said it's the first time he's ever had a waitress call him "Hon."
After breakfast, it was off on the "Route." Route 66 through Illinois we found is very well marked with Historic Route 66 signs. We had a couple of maps and sources for directions, but the signs were actually the best way to follow the old road. We ended up driving less than 8 miles of freeway out of over 250 miles today. We became adept at seeing old traces of even older road than we were driving on either running parallel to or angling away from the current "old road". There was almost no traffic on our trip today once we left the Chicago area. Though the road was the freeway frontage road for part of the today and we could see the freeway traffic less then 100 yards away, it somehow felt like a better way to travel alone on the two lane at our own pace.
We traveled through the capital of Illinois, past the state capitol building along the 1926 alignment of the road. We arrived at our Litchfield about 6 pm, pretty well shot. We were going to go see a movie at the drive-in here in town, but even Chris was too tired for that tonight. I didn't fight with him about going to bed early. We ate supper at another Route 66 famous location, the Ariston cafe. Chris gave it a 6 out of 10 rating....which might have been a little generous.
The 66 Motor Court where we're staying tonight could be called "authentic", but "seedy" might be a little more descriptive. Chris was most upset there wasn't a door on the bathroom, just a folding type thingy that doesn't latch. Yeah, the wallpaper might be peeling from the walls and the dark brown paneling an orange shag carpeting a little dated, but hey, it's only 33 bucks a night and it's the only motel on the old road here in Litchfield. The air conditioning works well...I think I have the room cooled down to about 60. Cindy...you'd love it, I know.
Tomorrow it's off to St. Looey, the Gateway Arch, and the Missouri Ozarks. It'll be good to see some hills after the flatness of Illinois.
