The Route 66 Chick

The inaugural Blue Carpet Corridor rolled out June 13-14 and we're leaving it unrolled! Part of the idea behind the BCC was not just to celebrate once a year, but to help our communities celebrate 66 and attract visitors all year long. To that end, we're asking our communities to have their passport stamps and extra passports at a designated spot all year which we'll list soon on the website. And we'll add news of events and attractions in our communities all year. You can see photos of our first event weekend on our scrapbook page at  www.bluecarpetcorridor.org A few thoughts about our first annual event - despite the rain and the threat of rain, and some kinks to work out before next year's event, the consensus of opinion is that the first-time event was a rousing success! Check out Geoff Ladd's blog on the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway site.  http://www.illinoisroute66.org/Stories-of-the-Road/Details/ArticleID/4748/Traveling-the-Very-First-Blue-Carpet-Corri...

You can find just about anything on Route 66 - including 14 authors representing a variety of genres gathered together in one local author fair at the grand re-opening of a great indie book store in a historic tourist inn in Edwardsville on Blue Carpet Corridor weekend. What?? It's the Blue Carpet Corridor Local Author Fair Sunday, June 14, at Afterwords Books, 454 East Vandalia Street - old Route 66 - in Edwardsville.  The hours are 1:00 - 4:00 pm, and, depending upon the weather, you might find authors sprinkled about not only in the main building, but on the lawn and/or in the front cabin as well. This will be the scene of a variety of activity this weekend, namely: Grand re-opening of Afterwords Books Mini walking tours of Route 66 sites along this block Edwardsville's Passport Stop - get your Blue Carpet Corridor passports stamped here Tourist Information - brochures, visitors guides, directions AND the Blue Carpet Corridor Local Author Fair featuring...

The only problem that Route 66 roadies should be facing in Illinois June 13-14 is how to fit everything into one weekend! An amazing array of activities and attractions await! When a handful of us gathered in Carlinville in November 2014 to establish the Blue Carpet Corridor, one of the first decisions to make was choosing the date. We eventually concluded that the second weekend in June made the most sense. We could build visitation onto two established and long-running festivals that weekend - Chatham's American Legion Homecoming and Edwardsville's Route 66 Festival. It also meant that the Blue Carpet Corridor would coincide with the Route 66 Association of Illinois' annual Motor Tour! And on alternate years, the Illinois Motor Tour begins in Edwardsville! This year's Illinois Motor Tour - the 26th annual! - kicks off on Friday evening with dinner at Solerno's in Hodgekins, leaves the Berwyn Car Museum on Saturday morning, and ends its first full day with the ...

Feeling pretty blue this week in Illinois, but it's a good thing. This coming weekend (Sat.-Sun., June 13-14) is our first annual Blue Carpet Corridor festival weekend! Our theme is "Miners, Mobsters and the Mother Road" honoring our heritage in this part of the great state of Illinois. After all the months of discussing, planning, getting quotes, designing things, writing things, a gazillion emails and phone calls, and ironing out a few kinks, the event is nearly here. Your BCC Pres. (me) and fellow officers Dave Tucker (VP/Webmaster/Master of Supplies), Suzanne Grey (Secretary), and Jim Wreath (Treasurer) have been pretty busy. If you've been asleep or under a rock during my nine million Facebook posts and numerous blog posts about the BCC, here's the scoop:   Unlike an organized motor tour, on BCC weekend you may start at any town, stay as long as you like, and visit as many or as few communities as you wish. Of course you will probably want to visit the P...

Now don't get me wrong, I do love a road trip. In fact, I love multiple road trips. But when I've got tons of work waiting for me at home, and somehow three trips end up scheduled in less than a two-week period, even I get tired out. The first trip (April 21-22) was a two-day retreat for all the Illinois Scenic Byways (we have seven!) directors, board members, and associated stakeholders, including, of course, the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway. The event was held at the scenic Pere Marquette Lodge on the Great River Road up north of Grafton, Illinois. Not a far drive for me at all, but I wanted to try out the lodging there (it was excellent) plus we had a scheduled soiree at the Grafton Winery (never to be missed!), and so I just stayed there overnight. The retreat sessions provided us with updates on Illinois tourism funding - or lack thereof - partnerships, byway programs, and a great chance to network with other Illinois tourism folks. Next up was a three-day trip (Apri...

Here it is - our tentative conference schedule! MILES OF POSSIBILITY : THE EDWARDSVILLE ROUTE 66 CONFERENCE Thursday-Saturday, October 29-31, 2015 Wildey Theatre, Edwardsville, IL Sponsored by the Illinois Route 66 Blue Carpet Corridor Coalition Hosted by the City of Edwardsville TENTATIVE SCHEDULE Thursday, October 29 12:00 noon – 6:00 pm Registration, packets/goody bags/info available – Wildey lobby Afternoon -  Edwardsville Historic Districts tours – by City of Edwardsville  Historic Preservation Commission Wildey Theatre tours – by Joan Evers , Wildey Theatre historian Evening -  Route 66 Pub Crawl – Stagger Inn, Springer's Creek Winery, Hi-Way Tavern, a couple newer Main Street establishments Friday, October 30 8:00 – 10:00 am Registration, pick up packets/goody bags/info – Wildey lobby 9:00 – 9:15 am Welcome – Wildey auditorium – Mayor Hal Patton 9:00 am Author Book Store/Artist & Col...

“ Miles of Possibility: The Edwardsville Route 66 Conference” EDWARDSVILLE, ILLINOIS, TO HOST MAJOR ROUTE 66 EVENT IN 2015 The City of Edwardsville, through its consultant/advisor, Edwardsville Preservation Commissioner and author Cheryl Eichar Jett, has announced that it will host a Route 66 Conference on Halloween weekend 2015 at the city's beautifully-restored arts venue, the historic Wildey Theatre on N. Main Street, just off Route 66. Edwardsville's annual tradition of the Halloween Parade, established in 1924, will celebrate the legendary highway with a Route 66-themed parade that weekend. Planning for the event has already garnered major endorsement. The conference is being supported by the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway organization, led by William Kelly, and the National Park Service Route 66 Heritage Corridor Program, coordinated by Kaisa Barthuli. by the City of Edwardsville, the primary venue for the conference is the beautiy-restorhistoric Wilde...