We got to downtown Chicago on Saturday, May 19 about 10:30 in the morning to start our trip down Route 66. With a quick picture of the sign at the star of the route, we were on our way!
We worked our way west on the city streets of Chicago finally getting to Joliet Road, which carried us southwest out of the city and onto Route 66 through Illinois.
A Visit to Joliet
The last time we did Route 66, we were running short on time as we passed through Joliet just south of Chicago. We didn’t want to make the same mistake again, and planned to visit Joliet a little more in depth. We figured if it was good for the Blues Brothers, it was good for us too!
We started by stopping at Joliet’s roadside park on the edge of town commemorating the Route. It was a great chance to get out and stretch our legs – and enjoy some soft serve custard at Rich and Creamy on Broadway. Note that Jake and Elwood are dancing on the roof of this fine establishment!
After our ice cream, we stopped at the Joliet area Historical Museum in downtown Joliet and browsed their fine display on Route 66. Just after we parked in the museum lot, we met our first foreign travelers on the route.
There were two older gentlemen putting some gear in the trunk of a new dark blue Mustang convertible and Kathy couldn’t resist admiring their car. “We thank you,” they replied in a somewhat British accent. “We just picked it up. First time my friend here has driven a V8 seeing that we’re from New Zealand.” It turned out they had planned their trip to the states for 18 months, including picking up the new Mustang in Chicago, driving it on 66 to the middle of Illinois before taking a detour to Detroit to visit the Ford Museum, then heading south to Indy for the 500, before again picking up 66 all the way to the west coast, where they would commit the new car to ocean transit to it’s new home in New Zealand!
It was a great story, and one that reminded me of how many foreigners come to the US to travel the Mother Road to get a great taste of the US. We welcomed them and wished them well on their journey before heading to the museum.
Besides a great gift shop, there were a number of interesting displays about the history of Joliet and its place on the route. The gentleman manning the gift shop was friendly and more than helpful in identifying things to see and do in the area. Our visit also afforded Kathy a chance to sit and rest between two of Joliet’s finest!
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After visiting the museum, we walked around the downtown area, admiring the vintage 1920’s Rialto Theatre, a grand dame in the day and an even grander dame today based on the pictures and events announced outside the theatre. We also noted many of the old fortress style buildings that dotted the downtown, many with vintages in the late 1890’s.
The vintage of the old stone buildings downtown took on a whole new meaning when we stopped at the Old Joliet Prison for a photo op. Built on a limestone base of stone quarried in the area, the building was awesome even today. I can only imagine how formidable the prison must have appeared when it was first built in the late 1850’s. I can only assume that with such a formidable building on their doorstep, it wasn’t unusual for the citizens of Joliet to mimic the architecture of the prison with community buildings.
The Rebirth of The Launching Pad!
As we were leaving the Joliet Area Historical Museum, the gentleman manning the gift shop mentioned that the Launching Pad in Wilmington, the home of one of the original Gemini Giant statues, was now open with new owners and he suggested we may want to stop.
Lo and behold, as we rolled into Wilmington, we found the Launching Pad a buzz with people and classic cars in their small parking lot. I found a spot to park just down the road from the place and we walked down to see what the show was about.
We had a chance to meet some great car owners, many of them Route 66 veterans, as well as the new owners of the Launching Pad, Tully and Holly. It turns out they were cruising the route not that long ago and were smitten with the restoration bug. The place had fallen on some hard times, but with love and hard work, they are working to bring it back.
They’re currently working on restoring the kitchen, so they can get back into the food business, and they decided to host the event we were at to collect some great sunset photos for a collector’s calendar that they were putting together. Part of the event included hot dog meals cooked on grills in the parking lot.
We both enjoyed a hot dog and a drink and some great classic cars before we thanked Tully and Holly for their efforts in keeping the spirit of the road alive and worked our way down the road to Braidwood, our first night’s stay on the trip.