In Springfield we stopped at the Cozy Dog Drive-In (operated by the Wildmire family since 1950), where the corn dog was apparently invented. Neither of us can admit to being huge fans of corn dogs, but we couldn't pass by without stopping into this long-standing R66 attraction. These were definitely the-most-delicious mustard + pickle-topped corn dogs we've ever had. mmm.

With full bellies, next we found Maid-Rite along R66, which boasts to be the first drive-thru restaurant in the US, operating since 1924. Though they've since expanded the table area into a large back-end room, the building still houses the original seating room, a tiny space with five or six ~1.5 ft long (!) tables, each with a bench seat on either side, about the same size of the table (!). The restaurant's menu has not wavered far from its original offerings: Maid-Rites (sloppy-joe sandwiches), frosty mug rootbeers + rootbeer floats, french fries, milkshakes, pop and milk. With nothing priced over $2.79, and us squeezing our not-so-tiny selves around a tiny table, we enjoyed a quick + sloppy bite.

After a visit to the Springfield Lincoln Tomb, we continued on until we stopped for the night in a creepy Braidwood, IL motel. The next morning we stopped for breakfast in Wilmington, and found the local Gemini Giant. This former muffler man has been fitted with what resembles an astronaut (or welders) uniform, holding a Launching Pad rocket. We've seen a number of these fellows while touring R66:

They're big. They're scary. And there are hundreds of them. But where did the muffler men come from?

If there was a single ancestral birthplace of these hulking highway giants, it has long been shrouded in murk. Today's owners, often three or four times removed from original purchasers, had little or no information. Were some really seen in the 1940s, as chronicled in our Sightings Reports? Were they fashioned by "some company in California," or dozens of dead and defunct fiberglass makers? Tantalizing clues, and, to be honest, we didn't dig too deeply. It seemed better not to know....

Enter Steve Dashew, who stumbled onto our Web site in 1999. It was Steve's company, International Fiberglass, that turned out thousands of commercial statues in the 1960s and 70s... [read more on RoadsideAmerica]

Through Elwood, Joliet + Plainfield we were stopping to letterbox intermittently + trying to remain on R66 as much as possible... but after a long road trip through small towns and fields, driving through the outskirts of Chicago felt almost like driving along the vegas strip... so much to see + so hard not to detour from our intended path.

Chicago was much bigger than I expected, and made me realize just how small Vancouver really is. We tried to drive to what we believed was the very end of Route 66, however we were greeted by road closed barricades (how fitting) + were forced to circle a few block radius over + over in hopes of finding a 'Beginning of Route 66' marker of some sort. We never found one, but some sort of signage must exist... + was likely right under our noses! We'll have to search for it again the next time we crave deep dish pizza.

Another completely amazing Route 66 tour... followed by 4 days of play in my newest love: the windy city. Bliss.

Labels: a paltry bit of me, letterboxing, photography, R66 roadtrip No.2, roadtrips, Route 66, travel