The Route 66 Chick

Friday afternoon found me headed north for Atlanta, Illinois, to give a program for the "Dinner Programs at the Palms Grill Cafe" winter series. I almost never mind driving, and it was an easy cruise up the interstate to Atlanta. (Well, as I usually do, I headed out of Edwardsville on Route 66 up to Hamel - doesn't that count?) I arrived in Atlanta just at dusk, parked across the street from the Palms Grill Cafe, and snapped a couple photos.  Many people had already arrived and settled in for dinner. The lovely Mrs. Rachel Neisler of the Atlanta Museum welcomed me warmly and helped me get set up. I was seated for dinner with three delightful people who had grown grandchildren, stories to tell, and great conversation to share. And then...to my right, the lady's story came out! I was sitting next to a former Harvey Girl! She was one of a group of four that had traveled from Illinois to Santa Fe in the 1940s. Oh, yes! I'm headed back to Atlanta soon for an inter...

After several hits to our Blue Carpet Corridor organization, including one sad and tragic one, we have re-organized and are once again making progress. And after some slow-downs, brainstorming, and meetings, the Edwardsville Route 66 Conference has definitely picked up steam.  As for the Blue Carpet Corridor Coalition, first we lost our vice-president (but thankfully just to an extremely busy schedule and other projects). Then on September 22, Stan Barker, our president, leader, and friend, passed away. We vowed that all that Stan worked for would not be lost and we redoubled our efforts to re-organize and move forward with BCC plans. To that end, after some gentle arm-twisting, I traded in my secretary hat for the president's hat. Dave Tucker of Taylor's Mexican Chili in Carlinville (check out their story at  http://www.taylorschili.com ) more than stepped up to the plate and now serves as our very active vice-president.  Suzanne Gray of Virden as secretary and Gl...

Hannibal, Missouri - the birthplace of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, and always a fascinating small city to visit. This was at least my fourth trip there, and the community seemed more prosperous and the historic attractions in much better condition than my last visit, about ten years ago. It was Sunday, October 12, the last day of our 12-day trip, and Steve and I planned to make the most of it. We had a pleasant stay the night before at the Hannibal Inn and Conference Center which opened in 2008 in the former Holiday Inn. It still has the Fundome and a large cloverleaf pool. We had breakfast at Logue's Restaurant , a very busy mom and pop place not far from the hotel. The food was decent and the service good, and I urge you to click on the link just to hear their jingle, "Oh, the restaurant is a place to eat...home cookin' that can't be beat!" Then it was down to the riverfront for some photos and to visit the museums and historic buildings. On ...

After a pleasant stay at the Braidwood Motel on October 10, Steve and I were up early and headed for the small town of Mackinaw, Illinois. We had sunshine for the drive and nowhere we had to go after my program. The Mackinaw historical group had thought of everything. A sign announcing the program was arranged by the front door of the library. The group served coffee and donuts. One woman presented me with a handmade gift and the group had taken up a collection for gas money. And they had a really good crowd assembled. We got the laptop hooked up to their flatscreen TV with my new HDMI adapter and I was off and running with the "Route 66 in Illinois" program. Crowd responses peppered the program with great comments such as, "We had our first date there!" (Steak 'n Shake in Normal) and "We spent our honeymoon night there!" (Harbor Inn in Broadwell). I think a good time was had by all.  After chatting some more and packing up, we had a few ...

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...

Okay, so it was just a few hours at The Henry Ford. The day before we had cruised the Lake Huron shore on a nice section of the Dixie Highway and then had settled in at a KOA at Holly, Michigan. I often stay at those cute little cabins at KOA campgrounds and have found them to be cozy, inexpensive, and clean. One reason they work out well for me is because of my chemical sensitivity. Remove carpet, drapes, upholstered furniture, and bed and bath linens from the picture and you eliminate fragranced laundry products, carpet shampoo, anti-stain treatments, and smelly bath products. I had given Steve the selling on KOA cabins while I was on my trip out west in August, and he was all ready to give one a try. Of course, anytime you recommend a tremendous restaurant or lodging and take your friends there, it's terrible that time. This was the shabbiest cabin I've stayed in, for twice the price of all the others. I'll leave it at that. We'd been up late the night before getti...