Fun Times On The Mother Road

Now that I've been home a couple of days, and had time to recuperate a bit from the trip, it's time to finish up with a few quick posts to wrap things up.
On Friday, I left St. Louis and headed out to find Route 66. My plan was to take it from the Illinois border up to Chicago, going nice and slow, getting some good photos, and memories along the way. I'd planned the route pretty carefully using a dedicated "Route 66 in Illinois" map, and Google Maps on my laptop. Using these side by side, I wrote out simple directions to myself that I kept on the front seat as I traveled.
After sitting in the parking garage since Tuesday, the car started right up, and off I went. Followed my first set of directions, and was happy to find right where I expected it, this sign;

Took the right turn, as indicated, and there I was, out on 66! Since being decommissioned back in the 80's, Route 66 is no longer just one road with a single identifying number. The original path of the road has changed over the years, as development got in the way, and in some areas, there is nothing of the old road left. In many cases, this occurs where the Interstate, in this case I-55, just ran right over the old road, thereby completely eliminating 66 from existence. In other areas, the original path of 66 twists and turns through local streets, and it can be tricky to follow, again, due to development and abandonment of existing pavement. The first dozen or so miles of this leg, however, were pretty easy to follow, and for long stretches, the 'original' Route 66 pavement was parallel to the road, just a few feet away;

Looking out through the windshield, you can see the old, original 66 pavement. Some of the road is in good enough condition to ride on; the state of Illinois has put steel barricades across the old pavement to prevent this. Here's a good shot of the pavement that shows these barricades;

Of course, these don't stop people from walking on the old road, and being that I'm just a typical tourist, I had to do that. So I took a little stroll on the pavement; now I can say that I walked on the original road!

As noted, you could drive on this pavement, certainly not fast, and there are plenty of really bad spots that would cause damage to your tires, or your car, but, it could be done.
Back in the car, and off we went. My first planned stop was just short of Springfield IL, for lunch. I hoped to make it to the Cozy Dog Drive In. This first portion of 66 was pretty easy to follow, the road only went back and forth across I-55 a couple of times, and between my directions, and the Route 66 signs, I made good time, and found Cozy Dog.

The parking lot was jammed, I waited a few minutes and a nice spot opened up right in front. Makes a good picture, I think!

Here's a place that celebrates it's heritage on 66! And nice also, to see that Hampton Hotels has a program to identify and honor these places. Right outside the door, another sign;

Turns out that a lot of places on 66 have these little signs posted, sort of a nice snapshot of what the road has to offer along the way. Inside we go;

Yeah, this place is a mini Route 66 museum/gift shop/roadside attraction! Loads of nostalgic items on shelves and on the wall. T-shirts and souvenirs for sale, lots to look at while you're waiting for, and eating, your food. Oh, yeah, food! That IS why I stopped here! Cozy Dog claims to have 'invented' the 'cozy dog', which is a hot dog dipped in cornmeal batter and deep fried. Rumor has it the original owner got the idea after visiting the Texas State Fair, and sampling a Fletcher's 'Corny Dog' - which most folks agree is THE original battered and fried dog. No matter, whether it was Fletcher or Cozy Dog, they've both been around since the late 1940's, so both must be doing something right. Ordered two cozy dogs and a medium order of fries.

 Talk about a minimalist service! Paper trays on a plastic cafeteria tray; plastic utensils and paper napkins at the condiment table, where I got the yellow mustard and pickles that you see under the dogs. So, were they any good? Yeah, they were. The cornmeal batter was nice and even all over the dogs; soft, warm, good cornmeal flavor, slightly sweet, and perfectly cooked. The dog is a typical 'midwest' dog - bland, with a hint of smoke, but very mild; nothing like the good, garlicky Nathan's we NY'ers love. The Cozy was good, but it did need the mustard to tie everything together. Excellent flavor combination, a winner. I see why they've been here so long and haven't changed. Here's a close up;

You can see how the batter is perfectly distributed on the dog. The side of fries was good also, these were shoestring size fries, but cooked until they were very well done, which gave some of them a consistency closer to packaged potato sticks than french fries. A little ketchup, and they were really good, and went very well with the Cozy. Overall, I'd say if you're passing by, you really should stop. They do have other items on the menu, but let's face it, you come here for the Cozy dogs!
Back on the road, and for the next couple of hours, I had to really pay attention to my directions and the road signs. "Historic 66" as it's called on the signs, really starts to meander once you're north of Springfield. Couple of very tricky maneuvers required to stay on the road. I actually did lose the route once, at a point where I think a sign should have been to indicate a turn, but there was no sign there. Fortunately, I have a pretty good sense of direction, and was able to put myself back on track after only a few minutes.
On I rolled, passing through small towns, where 66 went down residential streets; through some industrial areas; and through large fields of corn. Once in a while, you'd see something like this;

Right in the midst of 'town'. Sign identifies it as the "Bunyan" statue, but for the life of me, I don't recall Paul Bunyan being a connoisseur of hot dogs; what is that, an Oscar Mayer? Armour? Well, in any case, what was originally a tribute to Paul has been purchased by a small cafe' located just to the left of the statue, and it now proudly advertises their fare. Better to be hawking dogs, I suppose, than to be torn down!
Up the road I went, passing up what would have been my third hot dog of the day (even I have to be reasonable from time to time!). After a time, I rolled into Odell IL, and came across this little gem;

It's a former 'filling station' that closed up in the early 1990's. The building is original to the 1930's, and instead of letting it fall into disrepair, or worse, seeing it demolished, the Village of Odell purchased it, and it now serves as a welcome center/Route 66 attraction. Inside, the former repair area now serves as display space for t-shirts, hoodies, wall plaques, trinkets, and all sorts of 66 merchandise. What's neat however, is that they left the area just as it was when it was a repair station. It's loaded with old tools, motor oil cans, windshield wiper supply boxes, etc., as you can see;

What was interesting to me was that the 'store' is operated by the Village of Odell. I purchased a couple of items, and the receipt was "Village of Odell Recreation". Very cool! Hung around a bit, chatted with the gal who was working there, and then decided that a vintage gas station needed to be seen with a vintage car;

Now there's a photo good enough for a postcard, or maybe even a Christmas Card! As it was getting late in the afternoon, I got back on the road, hoping to make it to the Chicago area before stopping for the night. All went well, I followed 66 to where it hooked up with I-55 for the last leg up into Chicago, and stayed on until I was about 20 miles outside of Chicago. At that point, traffic going into the city got really bad; so I decided that I'd stop for the night. Checked in to my hotel and relaxed for a bit, caught up on the emails of the day, and after a little while, it was time for dinner. Fortunately, I was only about half a mile from another legendary Route 66 spot, Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket.

This place has been on loads of television food shows, including Guy Fieri's 'Diners, Drive In's, and Dives'. He allegedly called the chicken here 'the best on Route 66'. We shall see. Headed over, and found that it's sort of off the road a bit, in a small industrial park. My suspicion is that the original Route 66 used to run through here, but now it's been absorbed into I-55. Here's a stock shot of the 66 sign on the front of the place;

Inside, it's split into two sides, the 'dining room', and the 'bar'. It's old, noisy, with simple no frills tables and chairs. Lots of Route 66 stuff in the main dining room, in the bar area, where I sat, three large screen televisions all with the MLB playoffs on. Again, here's a stock shot of the dining room;

 Got settled in, looked over the menu, lots of good choices, but honestly, what else would you order on your first visit here except the fried chicken? They had a 'chicken basket' meal which came with fries and a side, but there was also the 'dinner', which came with 'unlimited' trips to the soup and salad bar for just a couple more dollars, so I decided on that. You are advised to allow up to 30 minutes for the Chicken, as all orders are cooked fresh, so off to the salad bar I went;

Nice enough salad bar, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, celery, onions, some deli style salads, croutons, couple of dressings. Soup of the day was either lentil or potato bacon, which is what I took. The salad was fine; lettuce was crisp, tomatoes were fresh. The celery and carrots came in stick form, so I had to slice them up with my knife in order to eat them as part of the salad. The 'Italian' dressing was okay, but oddly sweet, a little off putting. The soup however, turned out to be the highlight of the night. Creamy, hot, tender chunks of potato, just enough bacon to give it a nice smoky touch, and surprisingly, lots of pepper (and I suspect, a touch of cayenne), which gave it a nice little kick. I floated oyster crackers in it, and enjoyed it so much that I went back for a second full bowl. An excellent soup, one of the best I've had in a restaurant.
And then came the chicken;

Good grief, there's enough food on this plate for two, maybe three people! Along with the chicken came mashed potatoes and 'sauteed' green beans, and a small cup of chicken gravy. The potatoes were good, and obviously made fresh on site. Nicely mashed, bits of potato skin, some small lumps of potato, nice texture. Sadly however, not a lot of flavor, they desperately needed butter, salt and pepper. The green beans were okay, as another reviewer noted elsewhere, they had a bit of a greasy texture to them, and were just a touch undercooked. Overall, nothing to rave about.
And then there was the chicken. Looks good, doesn't it? Golden brown and delicious, as Alton Brown might say. Piping hot, it was too hot to pick up and eat in the traditional manner, so I carefully sliced into the first of two full breasts, and immediately noticed that the coating was rather difficult to cut through. The meat was properly cooked, juicy and tender. The coating however, was odd. It's a cornmeal based breading, and it wasn't really crispy, it was more on the side of 'tough', as it was difficult to bite though. And honestly, the coating by itself didn't have a lot of flavor, it was just sort of hot and chewy. The meat itself on the first breast was fine; chicken breast meat doesn't have a strong flavor profile, and with a touch of pepper, this was okay. The second breast, however, was not good. In addition to the rather odd coating, this breast had an odd taste to it. Took me a minute to place it, but then I realized that it reminded me of salt water. Almost as if they'd brined the chicken before frying it, but left it in the brine too long. Now, I don't know if they do use a brine, but boy, this piece of chicken sure tasted that way to me. Overall? Nothing extraordinary. Good (huge) portion size, good value for the dollar, but the main attraction, the chicken, was definitely disappointing. One surprise, however, was the drink;

Yup, genuine "RC", Royal Crown Cola! Haven't had that from a fountain in I don't know how long. Always the 'third place' cola, it was readily available where I grew up, but over the last decade or so, it's mostly disappeared. Happily, it still  has a good flavor, and for those who've known me a long time, yes, it still gave me the hiccups as soon as I took my first sip. It's funny, RC has had that effect on me since I was a kid.
Ate as much as I could, filled up so that dessert wasn't an option, and headed back to my hotel, my Route 66 day now over. I decided to avoid going all the way to Chicago the next day, as there were a couple of events going on that promised to make traffic rather nasty. With the old car, and it's sometimes balky 'three on the tree' transmission, the last thing I wanted to do was to fight traffic. 
This was a really fun day. Following Route 66 all the way though Illinois was a great experience, and I'd recommend to anyone who's thinking of doing 66 that they do Illinios first. I've been on 66 in AZ, TX, OK, CA, and it's a fun ride. But honestly, this section of the road is pretty easy to follow, while some of the other states are not. In 2007, Illinois managed to get their section of "Historic Route 66" designated as a National Scenic Highway. This allowed them to tap into a tiny amount of money to properly mark the road. They have good, clear, easy to spot signs, which really help to keep you on course as you track the road through the state. Of course, driving 66 means you don't make the kind of time you would on the Interstates. The top speed limit I saw on 66 was 55 mph; many areas, especially in 'downtown' districts, had limits of 25 or 30 mph. So you're not going to make great time while touring 66; but that's not really what it's about. It's about traveling a road that's steeped in history and heritage. Of re-living the trips of the past, seeing how America used to look, how we used to travel. And taking this trip in the Yellow Fish was really special, the car seemed to like 66 very much; it's happiest at between 50 - 60 mph, and that's about the limits for Route 66. And the people who are on this road, when they see the classic car, you get tons of thumbs up, horn honks, and other happy signals. Overall, taking the old car, and the old route, sometimes has distinct advantages. I'll post the wrap up of the last two days of the trip shortly.