The Journey Begins
Hi there! Welcome to the Second Great American Road Trip! Please start from the main road trip page! You can take an entire, uninterrupted journey by clicking on the "Keep Driving" link at the bottom of each page. Or, for a more leisurely "drive," take the link back to the Second Great American Road Trip page and pace yourself. Buckle up, crank up the radio, grab a Coke, and let's hit the road!
Day 1
Of course, our long journey begins in Rockville, Maryland,
a lovely suburb of Washington, D.C. We
were finally all packed up for the big move and my little Taurus was loaded down. We left
in the early afternoon and hit the road. Of course, we didn't even get as far as Germantown, Maryland before we had to
stop at Wal-Mart and get a new windshield
wiper for the car (something we forgot to do earlier in the week).
I must say that for the most part, this day of the drive was pretty boring. We drove into Pennsylvania , where nothing ever
seems to be "happening." The Pennsylvania
Turnpike is single-handedly the most boring road in America. I'm not loosely
throwing this "award" around, either--I have travelled on a many a boring road,
but this was the worst. Boring countryside and huge smelly trucks hogging the road. Yuck!
We took a break at the "Space Age" McDonald's
in West Virginia, and it was a real disappointment. It turned out that nothing about the
place was "space age" at all--it just had some big ugly murals of stars and
galaxies on the walls, and some cheesy 80s posters of the Space Shuttle. No "space
burgers" or "galaxy fries" or anything like that. Truly a bummer.
We kept on trucking through the "heart" of Ohio, where we finally reached Columbus, Ohio, a very clean and pretty
little city (which I was a bit surprised to find). Columbus' skyline is one of the
greatest--it is small, but the dramatic lighting on the buildings is spectacular
nonetheless.
Day 2
We started the day at a mega-store called Mejer, a huge grocery, convenience, drug,
clothing, variety store, and gas station. We had never seen anything like it. This place
had everything you'd ever want, and it was cheap. If you're driving through Ohio, I do
recommend a stop. We filled up our cooler and got some bagels for breakfast as we headed
out toward the boring state that calls itself Indiana. We have been through Indiana about
3 times now, and we're always amazed at how dull the place can be. We wanted to get on to
Illinois to begin our Route 66 day, so we didn't spend
much time in the state.
We hadn't decided to travel down Route 66, but we thought that since we were pretty close
we should probably head up toIllinois
and take in part of the road that we missed last year. It turned out to be a great idea!
After driving the entire Route, I'd say that the stretch through Illinois is probably the
best.
We joined the old road in Illinois, just south of Chicago.
Our first stop was in Funks
Grove, a tiny Rt. 66 community that is famous for its homemade maple
"sirup." We were driving down the old road and saw this sign in the trees:
Of course, we HAD to check it out. We followed the signs to the Funks
Grove Maple Sirup "factory," a small shack out in the woods. A nice barking dog
greeted us and we went in the shop to look around. There's a small museum inside with
photographs depicting how the sirup is made. It's an amazingly involved process. The Funks
family has tapping the trees and selling syrup since the 1800s. We bought a small jug of
sirup but judging from the sickening sweetness of the free sample, we won't be opening it
anytime soon. The Funks Grove Sirup is spelled this way because of the special process
used to make the syrup.
Much of Route 66 in Illinois is abandoned and worn. Weeds and grass grow through cracks in
the road's surface, and parts of the original road are nearly untravelable. If you travel
66 in this state, be prepared to bump around a lot, and it might not be a bad idea to
check on that spare tire in the trunk. Here's a photo I took while we were driving down
the old road:
Our next stop along the Mother Road was a true 66 tradition: the Dixie Trucker's Home in McLean, Illinois. The DTH is a very down-to-earth truck stop. Nothing fancy, but it has all sorts of amenities for truckers on the road. Dixie Trucker's Home opened in 1928 and has only been closed ONCE--the day the original truck stop burned down!
Be sure to look at the great mini Route 66 museum in back which features
some interesting memorabilia of the old road. It's relatively small, but there's a long
hallway with lots of stuff from the highway. And if you get hungry, this is a cheap place
to eat. You can get a cheeseburger for around $2.
The Cozy Dog drive-in in Springfield
has moved from its original location, but I have to recommend a stop there. The Cozy Dogs
are cheap ($1.00) and they are GOOD! The Cozy Dog is owned and operated by Buz Waldmire,
Bob Waldmire's meat-eating brother.
(As a side note: After meeting both brothers, I have to say that they are way
different. Buz fries hot dogs for a living, while Bob lives in a converted bus in the
middle of the Arizona desert). Anyhow, Buz makes your Cozy Dogs right in front of your
eyes, fresh to order. He takes the weiners, pokes a stick through the bottom and dunks
them into a thick cornbread coating before putting them in a deep fryer. The whole process
only takes a couple of minutes, and it's a lot of fun to watch. Buy yourself a basket
(about $4 for 4 Cozys and fries) and head outside to chow down.
We headed on down the old road through Illinois and enjoyed the countryside until we hit
St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis
was another nice city. The Arch is amazing! It's much larger than I thought it would be,
and it was a task to fit the whole thing into a picture. Across from the Arch a legion of
riverboat casinos flash their lights on the Mississippi River. In addition to casinos, you
can also see the world's only floating McDonald's!
The not-to-be-missed Route 66 attraction in St. Louis is Ted Drewes Frozen
Custard. This stuff is GOOD! It's like a very thick version of the thickest,
creamiest ice cream you can imagine. When we arrived, it was almost 10 p.m. and the place
was going strong. The parking lot is about 4 times as big as the actual custard stand, and
it was full. There were lines 15 people deep, but the counters moved quickly (probably due
to the 30 or so yellow shirt-clad employees hustling inside). While we were waiting, Matt
commented on the "diversity" of the customers. There were all sorts of people in
line, from young teens to toddlers to nuns and truckers! The Baskin Robbins next door was
virtually deserted with only one person inside--a lone employee! Once you taste Ted
Drewes' frozen concotions, it's easy to understand why. If you go to St. Louis, you'd be crazy NOT to stop here. Be
sure to have a Concrete--yum! Make sure you get a SMALL one though. (If you go for a
larger size, DON'T SAY that I didn't warn you)! They are very, very rich.
With full tummies and chocolate-smeared faces, we trucked on for another hour before we
called it quits for the night.
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