Hello Everyone,
Last I left you in Odell, Illinois and the sun was going down and everything I wanted to visit was closed. So I checked my cell phone app and looked for a motel to stay at. Not too far away from Odell is Pontiac. I found a cheap motel there and vowed to return.
Not everything one will experience will be a positive one, and that includes motels.
The motel I found on my phone app was the Palamar Motel. I don’t know any of the history here, but I am sure at one time is was a prime place to stay. Today, only one of the two buildings are being used, and most of the rooms on the 2nd floor are rented out more as apartments than motel rooms.
It was super cheap to stay there, but I didn’t stay there for long. The room I got smelled as if it was treated for 50 years of mold, and the mold won. The residents upstairs were loud for most of the night and If it wasn’t for the fact that I can sleep like a log in most situations, I would have asked for my money back and tried to find a different place.
I drove back to Odell in the morning to get a couple more pictures of the inside of the Standard Oil Station. The office part of the building was a gift shop and the garage portion had some neat artifacts. Take a look below.
In Odell I gassed up the Man Van and got something to eat and started back down Route 66. The next town I drove to was Cayuga. Nothing much to mention regarding the town except for a couple of Route Related Geocaches; RT66:IL Hole in The Wall (GC12KC9, placed by Boo 2, 5 favorite points) and RT 66: Not the Monitor (GC5V5MX, placed by scrapfam, no favorite points). I have to confess that I didn’t find either of them. The first one was found by everyone else but me. Guess I didn’t have by geoglasses on tight that morning. The second one went missing and was archived a couple months later. Hopefully it’ll be back by this Summer.
There is one nice photo opportunity by the second cache, an old barn that is basically the start of a lot of advertising you’ll see for the Meramec Caverns.
After I went 0-2 on geocaches I got back onto Route 66 and arrived back into Pontiac. On the edge of Pontiac is an iconic restaurant, Old Log Cabin. There also happens to be a geocache nearby called, RT66: IL- Old Log Cabin (GC1D817, placed by COACHMAN12, 22 favorite points). The cache is easy enough to find and this is what geocaching description, on geocaching.com, had to say about this place...
When Route 4 (later to be called Route 66) was repositioned through Pontiac, Illinois in 1926, Joe and Victor "Babe" Seloti built a lunchroom and gas station and named it the Log Cabin Inn. The Log Cabin was built of cedar telephone poles and seated 45 customers. The interior still has the original knotty pine walls.
In a small window lined building behind the restaurant, Joe would lure customers to watch with the aroma of his secret recipe beef and pork barbecue cooked on a big spit. Meanwhile "Babe" would be next door filling gas tanks and fixing flats. In later years, Route 66 was made four lanes and relocated to the west side of the Log Cabin. the building was lifted up and turned around literally by horse power to face the new road. It was such an extraordinary event that hundreds from town came to watch.
The Old Log Cabin no longer has a filling station but the Restaurant is still in operation and serves many people traveling Rt. 66. It is listed in the Illinois Rt. 66 Hall of Fame.
Speaking of the Hall of Fame, it happens to be in Pontiac, Illinois and will the subject for my next blog.
Until then, I invite you to look me up on Facebook and Twitter (@richhavlik) where I announce when I update this blog.
Also, leave a comment down below, I’d love to hear what you have to say.
I am almost up to 3000 visits total for my blog. I am very thankful for you taking the time to read this. Please share it with your family and friends on your favorite social media.
I had the time of my life on Route 66. I know you will too. But don’t take my word for it, go experience it for yourself.
Thanks,
Rich
Your Favorite Route 66 Roadie-Wanna-Be
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