Finding Big Things in Atlanta, Illinois.

Hello Everyone,

After my stopping in Funk’s Grove, the next town is McLean, Illinois. The Sun was showing the early signs of setting, so I had to choose between seeing the couple of route related stops in McLean or go for a geocache called, Ron’s Steakhouse - McLean (GC2X0R1, hid by Razor1965, 2 favorite points). I picked the geocache. It wasn’t a difficult find, but a quick fun one.

If you are McLean, there is place you may to stop at and take a look, it’s called Dixie Truck Stop. It’s considered Illinois’ oldest truck stop. Dixie Truck Stop opened in 1928 and the lunch counter started out with just 6 stools.

After finding the geocache, it was time to find a motel. I found one in Atlanta that was reasonable and not Route 66 related, but for the life of me, I can’t remember the name.

The next morning I had a blast. There are some fun places to stop and take pictures and enjoy some of the fun on Route 66.

One of my favorite things on The Mother Road are the Muffler Men. They have one in Atlanta called Bunyon that holds a large hot dog.

Here is what theroadwanderer.net says about it,

The Route 66 Park will also become the home of the famous Route 66 Bunyon Giant from Cicero, Illinois. Another fiberglass giant from the hey-day of the Mother Road, for 37 years the Bunyon Giant, holding an enormous hot dog, once drew customers into the Bunyon Drive In. The passing of time had not been kind to this Mother Road relic. When the drive in closed the giant was in danger of being lost forever. In stepped the Illinois Route 66 Preservation Committee to save the day. The Bunyon Giant has been restored and now will become a part of Atlanta's proud Route 66 heritage.

Another fun place to stop in town is the Atlanta Museum. 

It’s hosts a large room of vintage video games like Asteroids, Ms Pac Man, old style pinball machines, etc... I can’t believe I am at the point in my life where the games that I spent hundreds of quarters on are now called vintage. Down below is a link to a Facebook Live post I did while I was downtown Atlanta. It starts out in a park that celebrates Route 66, shows off Bunyon, and for the most part ends at the museum. The deeper I go into the Atlanta Museum, the grainer the video gets, so apologizes ahead of time.

https://www.facebook.com/RichHavlik/videos

In the video I mentioned a geocache was hidden the park that is across the street from the museum. I couldn’t find and evidently the geocache got archived and now I can’t find it on the geocaching map.

Outside of that cache, there is only one other in town that I did go for, Glad You’re Here! (GC2CP99, hid by dolly1397, 1 favorite point). Another easy find, but you may want to wait until after normal business hours to get it.

That’s it for Atlanta. My next stop is in Lincoln, Illinois where I find a large wagon and get stopped for geocaching by the local police.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you like what you see, please share it on your favorite social media. Speaking of social media, you can find me on Facebook and Twitter (@richhavlik).

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Got any questions or comments, feel free to post them down below. I’d love to hear what you got to say.

If you read all of this so far, I have a bonus link to another Facebook Live I did in Pontiac when I was at a place called Octane 66. Enjoy.

https://www.facebook.com/RichHavlik/videos

I had the time of my life on Route 66. I think you would too. But don’t take my word for it. Experience it for yourself.

Thanks

Rich

Route 66 Hall of Fame

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for any delays. I have been working on a video blog for a special place you should defiantly visit when you drive through Pontiac, Illinois; The Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum.

After I found the geocache by the Old Log Cabin on the north side of Pontiac, I went to look for another one called, RT66: IL-RT 4 Bridge (GC1BFQ0, hidden by COACHMAN12, 3 favorite points). I looked for a long time and came up empty. The geocacher before me didn’t find it either, so I don’t feel so bad. 

My next stop was the Museum. My first of many museums I’ll see on my trip. What I really enjoyed here was it hosts the Route 66 Hall of Fame. There are many mentions of the people that helped make Route 66 great. The only regret was that I didn’t spend more time reading up on these people and places. 

I got the following from http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14537 that talks just some of what you'll find at the museum.

“A good place to indulge in Route 66's resurrection is the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum, the first big Mother Road aggregate attraction heading west out of Chicago. Opened in 2004, its exhibits fill a couple of bays in Pontiac's old firehouse (the rest of the building houses a military museum, the old city jail, and antique shops). Size-wise it seems appropriate for a museum devoted to one road in one state. Only 301 of the highway's 2448 miles are in Illinois.

"People will come in and they'll read everything. Everything. They'll be here for hours," said museum guide Rose Geralds. Route 66 diehards include nostalgia buffs, people too young to have been alive when the road existed, and international tourists who are as thrilled to be driving Route 66 as they would be riding the Chisholm Trail. One entry in the museum's guest book is from an Iraqi visitor from Falluja: "Thanks for liberating me."

Many of the museum's exhibits recall vanished Illinois Route 66 businesses, such as the booths from the world's first Steak and Shake, which closed in the 1990s. A sign next to them says that Chester Henry, a member of the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and a man of foresight, took the booths "and saved them for the future museum." According to Rose, the booths have been so popular with sitting visitors that the museum has had to repair the upholstery.

The Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum celebrates Route 66 fandom as well as the road. A lithograph on one wall is by "postmark artist" Ken Turmel, who visited every post office on Route 66 and had them stamp his hand-drawn Route 66 map (Ken printed 2,448 copies to sell in 1997, and according to his website he has around 500 left). Outside, on the museum's wall, is the world's largest mural of a Route 66 sign. In front of it is a small roadway of original Route 66 pavement bricks, saved by the town and re-laid here. Visitors are encouraged to park their vehicles on this hallowed ground and snap souvenir photos. "Cars, motorcycles, a covered wagon, a guy on stilts..." said Ellie Alexander, Pontiac's tourism director, listing the various conveyances that have posed.

The museum's most treasured items are the VW hippie van and "School Bus Road Yacht" of the late Bob Waldmire, who was the Johnny Appleseed of Route 66's revival (Bob ran the Hackberry General Store and his family runs the Cozy Dog Drive In, both Route 66 icons). For decades Bob drove the highway, drew whimsical sketches of what he saw, and sowed seeds of nostalgia that eventually blossomed into places like the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum. According to one story, Bob's personal stash of pot was kept in two boxes slung under the VW van -- still visible in the museum -- and he'd warn off curious police by telling them the boxes were nests for his snakes.

"He was a hippie," Rose acknowledged. "But he was a very nice man."

For Route 66 pilgrims, a walk through the Waldmire Road Yacht is a highlight not only of the museum, but of their entire Mother Road odyssey. They can touch Bob's rocking chair made of branches, examine his rock collection, thumb through his Jethro Tull vinyl records, admire his hand-built sauna and toilet. It's the free-spirited cloister of a loveable hobo, and many visitors probably wish that they could pack up and spend their days rambling the Mother Road just like Bob.”

I hope you allow yourself some time to spend at the Route 66 Hall of Fame Museum. My next time going through Pontiac will have a longer pause here.

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I had the time of my life on the Mother Road. I think you will too. But don’t take my word for it, go experience for yourself.

Rich