Route 66 Blog. Day 3

First of all let me add a footnote to yesterdays post. Due to the slow internet speed at our hotel, I was unable to post the clip of the houseband at Buddy Guys that I was trying to upload. The shorter clip that I did manage to post was of the warm up band; very competent musicians in their own right, but a completely different style than the house band. As soon as I can work with decent internet speeds I will edit yesterday post and feature the intended clip.

Left Chicago this morning and headed off for Springfield Illinois, the home of Abraham Lincoln.

But there are so many places to see on the way it has been a real rush to try to cover everything of interest en route.

First stop was Cicero, a suburb of Chicago to the south west of the city. But even before we reached Cicero we had to take a quick photo of a sign that heralded "The world's largest laundromat"

Once I drive past a sign that claims to be the "world's best/longest/oldest /tallest/ largest", I feel compelled to stop to investigate and to either ratify or dispute it's claim to fame. So here we have the world's largest laundromat in the otherwise unremarkable Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Illinois, unless anybody knows differently.

On to Cicero, known as a "Sundowner Town"

I would love to tell a story of a town who's residents had a particular penchant for a certain cognac based coctail, but unfortunately there is a much darker explanation.

According to sociologist James Loewen there were more than 450 "sundown" towns, neighborhoods and counties in Illinois whose communities were all white, which posted signs warning African Americans to leave before sundown. In1951, during the height of Route 66' s popularity, 3,500 whites rioted against a black man being allowed to rent an apartment in Cicero

Castle Car Wash. Cicero Reputedly a hideout for Al Capone on Route 66.

Next stop was a visit to the former home and studio of the famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright . We just managed to fit in a quick one hour guided tour. Very interesting story of his long life. He was still working on the design of the Guggenheim Museum in New York when he died aged 92.

We then sped off to see the "Gemini Giant" at "The Launching Pad Restaurant" in Wilmington.

There are number of these "follies" along Route 66, but in it's heyday when competition for business for the small restaurants and diners was fierce, they did actually serve a purpose. Anything to make an establishment stand out from the crowd to entice travellers was seen as good business practice.

During our next stop, which was in Pontiac, I interviewed a delightful lady who ran the front desk at the Route 66 Association Hall of Fame And Museum.

Rose has been working there for over 15 years and told us that it is the best job she has ever had. She went on to describe her passion for the history and preservation of "The Mother Road".

Rose proudly informed us that she is 85 years old and had lived in the Pontiac region all her life. She went on to tell us that she has no intention to stop working as she only bought her first house when she was 80 years old. She was a real character.

Outside the museum there we around 20 or more vintage murals decorating the nearby streets of the town, providing great photo opportunities.

Another "Muffler Man" as they call these oversized follies in these parts , Paul Bunyan the hot dog man,

was waiting for us about ten miles down the road in Atlanta, Illinois, another small town that was adorned with interesting murals.

After covering over 200 miles today and viewing thousands of grain silos along the route,

our last stop was to take a look at "The World's Largest Covered Wagon" according to an entry in the Guinness Book of Records in 2001

It provided a little taster of what awaits us tomorrow in Springfield, where Abraham Lincoln museums, libraries, memorials etc seem to dominate the whole town.

Playlist for today:

The Blues Don't Lie: Buddy Guy

Frank Lloyd Wright : Simon And Garfunkel

On the Road Again: Canned Heat

On The Road Again: Willie Nelson

Somewhere In Chicago: Strand of Oaks

Born To Be Wild: Steppenwolf

My Kind of Town: Frank Sinatra

Get Your Kicks On Route 66 : Chuck Berry.