Our day started early with a 13 mile ride to Nadines Hash House for breakfast. We rolled out and headed into town at 0615 with light traffic. We could see the distinctive tower of Kendrick-Glennon Seminary from the road.
We regrouped may times at traffic lights
St. John’s Lutheran Church
Arch coming into view
St. Francis de Sales Oratory Catholic Church
Mike and yours truly with breakfast!
Great breakfast!
We filled half the restaurant and had a great breakfast. I ordered the House Hash with eggs and toast. They had a great coffee cup, and a warning sign that said stealing one would be a misdemeanor, but they are for sale for $8. I gave our waitress $10 and said to keep the $2 for serving Mike and I first, even though we arrived last!
Lots of abandoned factories near the river.
Mike and I rolled out first and made our way to the Gateway Arch park. We rolled around the whole park and by the time we left we were at the back of the pack.
Since 1946, but not lately!
Since 1890!
All but 2 of our crew could get a drink here!
Leaving the Gateway Arch park, we rolled along Broadway and Riverview roads. The road was the roughest of the tour so far. Many industrial buildings, most abandoned, and bridges across the mighty Mississippi River could be seen, in between dodging holes and cracks in the pavement.
Finally we joined a bike path that led to the next major site of the day, the Chain of Rocks Bridge.
The Chain of Rocks Bridge was opened in 1929 and was used as the primary river crossing for Route 66 from 1936 to 1955, and for the bypass alignment from 1955 to 1965. At 5,353 feet, it’s now the longest pedestrian bridge in the United States. It has a unique and distinctive 22 degree bend in the middle of the river crossing. The bridge was designed with the bend to set the piers on the ‘chain of rocks’ in the Mississippi River bed.
Good view of the bend in the bridge
Welcome to Illinois!
Original Route 66 pavement leaving the bridge
Navigation canal near the bridge
Luna Cafe
We used a series of Madison County Transit bike paths to avoid the city traffic to get into the countryside. Most of the paths were formerly rail lines that have been converted to bike and hike trails. We covered 12 miles on these excellent paths.
Just off the bike path, there was a short section of Original Route 66 ruins!
The bike path ended near Hamel IL. From here we continued on the 1940-1977 alignment.
Kathy caught me riding through corn on the way to the Pink Elephant!
The next van stop was at the Pink Elephant Antique Mall and Diner. So many Route 66 icons in one place, I decided to have lunch here and check a few out:
Donald Trump Muffler Man
Alien Lander
I was ready to sit in the shade, but realized there was more inside!
Jake and Elwood Blues
No room at the counter so I took a table
Fantastic hot dog and fries!
On the road to Mount Olive, there are closed lanes of old Route 66
After lunch, there was 18 miles to get to Litchfield and our overnight hotel for the evening. This is the Soulsby Shell service station in Mt. Olive. Henry Soulsby built it in 1926 and it was the oldest usable service station on the highway in Illinois. It stopped pumping gas in 1991 and closed in 1993.
Victorian home in Mt. Olive
I rolled into the our motel in Litchfield about 2:30 pm. We had dinner at the Ariston Cafe across the street. Owned and operated by the same Adams family that established the restaurant in 1924 and relocated it to the current location in 1935.
Fried chicken is their specialty!
After diner, Leland O. Storm, retired Illinois state trooper told many stories from of his years of service patrolling this section of Route 66. It was a very interesting presentation and a great way to wrap up our first day in Illinois!
Breakfast on your own in town, then load at depart at 0815 for the 84 mile run to Lincoln IL. Another flat day with a tail wind, we will want to hustle to be able to check out the Lincoln Museum in Springfield along the way!
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