The Route 66 Chick

R and R. Which can stand for rest and relaxation. Rules and regulations. Or rock and roll.  After the run-up to Blue Carpet Corridor weekend, I was really interested in some rest and relaxation. Also, Steve and I had family reunions the next two weekends (his in Michigan one Saturday and mine in Wisconsin the next Saturday). So we took the week in between off work and headed north.  We took off on a Friday and had to be in Flint, Michigan, for Steve's family gathering on Saturday at noon, so we couldn't do much two-lane stuff. We did take time for a leisurely lunch at the Palms Grill Cafe and some photos while in Atlanta. While at the Palms Grill we ended up running into Bill Thomas and Rachel Neisler, who make things happen in the 66 kind of way in Atlanta. We took a look at the new "high striker" (strength tester, strongman game) installed near Tall Paul. We took a couple photos but didn't do any strength testing. We spent our first evening on the road ...

On Friday morning (October 10) we were up and ready to head out from our cabin. We needed to make it back to Illinois that evening because I had a program to present on Saturday morning. And we had a highway picked out to travel - the old Chicago Road! We headed south from Holly to hook up with the old Chicago Road at Saline, Michigan. This route, US-12, is also part of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour and US 12 Heritage Trail. Once upon a time, it was the Old Sauk Trail. In conversation the previous evening, we found that it also has been  known as Michigan Avenue from Chicago all the way into Detroit, and a portion of it near Chicago was also known as the Red Arrow Highway. An especially scenic area with many lakes and many quirky attractions is the Irish Hills. This beautiful area gets its name from the Irish who settled here after fleeing the Potato Famine in Ireland. There are numerous Irish place names and the area overlaps three counties along US-12.  http://www.irishhill...

In my last post, Steve and I enjoyed a couple days of sightseeing and visiting in Mackinaw City, Michigan. We left there on Wednesday, October 8, and  headed south on Highway 23, following the path of the Dixie Highway for close to 300 miles.  We took the old auto trail's path of the East Mainline from Mackinaw City through Cheboygan - Onaway - Rogers City - Lachine - Alpena - Spruce - Lincoln - Oscoda - Tawas City - Whittemore - Prescott - Sterling - Standish - Bay City - Saginaw - Flint. Part of this beautiful drive is also designated as Heritage Route US-23 along Michigan's Sunrise Coast, from the Mackinac Bridge down to Standish. It was a chilly, windy day but the Lake Huron views were stunning and the fall colors were photo-worthy. We passed miles of adorable shoreline cottages painted in pastel colors with alluring vintage signs out front. Years and years worth of tourists have stayed, dined, loved, strolled, and vowed to come back here. I'm already trying to figure...