Content Produced in Partnership with Enjoy Illinois
Where better to get your kicks on Route 66 than on the Illinois portion of America’s legendary ‘Mother Road’? Not only does this stretch of America’s 3,666 km long historic ‘Main Street’ begin with one of the largest and most exciting cities on the entire route, Chicago, and ends near one of the country’s oldest and most significant Native American archaeological sites, the Cahokia Mounds. Its 483 km are lined with some of the most iconic attractions of the entire route, which is due to celebrate its centenary in 2026.
Without a doubt, you’ll want to begin your exploration of the route with a stay in big, vibrant Chicago, enjoying the attractions along its Lake Michigan waterfront, cloudpiercing skyscrapers, thrilling live theatre performances, tempting restaurants and treasure-filled museums. Next, treat yourself to a large and delicious breakfast at Lou Mitchell’s Restaurant, a Chicago Route 66 landmark since the 1960s, before heading out of town.
Soon, you’ll discover that the grand old Mother Road, created in 1926, plays tricks on its fans. Sometimes she retains her own persona, sometimes she morphs into Interstate 55 and sometimes she just glides happily alongside the interstate. As penance, she soon introduces you to a romantic duo – at least in Shakespearean terms – Romeoville, which offers some dining diversions, and nearby Joliet.
Spend time at The First Hundred Miles Welcome Center and Illinois Made Gift Shoppe, located in the Joliet Area Historical Museum. You’ll find a wide array of Mother Road displays, including figures of the famous stars of the locally filmed 1980 classic The Blues Brothers, John Belushi (‘Joliet’ Jake Blues) and Dan Aykroyd (his brother Elwood).
Also featured are exhibitions focusing on real-life local heroes, such as John C. Houbolt, the late aerospace engineer who led the team behind the developments leading to America’s 1969 moon landing. And don’t miss the museum’s two-story Apollo 11 exhibit, where you can step inside the Lunar Lander Simulator. Special events include summer concerts on the museum’s roof.
Then head off to the very place The Blues Brothers was filmed: the Old Joliet Prison, which was opened in 1858, closed in 2002 and is now managed by the museum. They offer 90-minute walking tours led by former prison guards and summer Monday ‘Cruisin’ to the Slammer’ events including prison tours, car shows, music and food trucks in the parking lot. This past August, Belushi and Aykroyd actually turned up to front a gala fundraising event for the prison site. (It’s worth noting that other media made in Joliet include Prison Break, Natural Born Killers, Public Enemies and Empire.)
Ordinarily, music lovers would also want to spend time at the city’s Illinois Rock and Roll Museum, which includes tributes to the likes of Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Dinah Washington and at King Cole. Planning to open in 2023, the new Illinois Rock and Roll Museum will include a related Hall of Fame and Music Hall or staging live performances. Before leaving town, you must swing by the majestic Rialto Square Theatre, built in 1926 to stage Vaudeville theatre and silent films. Graced by a grand Barton organ, this venue has hosted many famous stars over the years and still welcomes nationally recognized acts today.
As you head southwest out of Joliet, you’ll visit three more special towns that boast great selfie stops: Wilmington, home to the massive, roadside Gemini Giant, Braidwood’s 1950s time-warp Polk-A-Dot Drive-In and Dwight’s Ambler’s Texaco Gas Station, which is said to be Route 66’s longest serving petrol station operating from 1933 to 1999.
Pontiac is also a must-stop for its Route 66 Association of Illinois Hall of Fame & Museum. It contains a huge array of Mother Road memorabilia as well as tributes to the restaurants, petrol stations and individuals which have helped put Illinois’ Route 66 on the international map. Outside is a huge Route 66 painted ‘Shield’ which serves as an ideal photographic background. Also in Pontiac is the Young Lincoln Statue depicting the future US president when he was a 31-year-old attorney employed as a litigator in the local county circuit court.
The city of Lincoln itself commemorates the persona of Honest Abe by depicting him in “The World’s Largest Covered Wagon”, crowned by his signature stovepipe hat. Elsewhere in the city, there’s a much smaller statue of a slice of watermelon commemorating the day in 1853 when Abe inexplicably christened the then new town with watermelon juice.
Many visitors also choose to visit the impressive tomb where Lincoln, his wife and three of their four children are buried, along with the fascinating Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM). Unlike some such museums which focus on exhibitions displayed behind glass, this one features dioramas of Lincoln’s life, including: his assassination while seated in Washington DC’s Ford Theatre, a hallway filled with the sounds of people shouting out against the president and his controversial wife and one of the presidential office featuring a hologram look-alike of Lincoln.
Springfield’s other attractions include the impressive Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Dana Thomas House, which contains more than 100 pieces of custom-made furniture and over 250 works of original art glass, along with the Ace Sign Company’s Sign Museum Featuring restored Route 66 signs.
Now you are entering the Last 100 Miles of Illinois’ Route 66. Many of this area’s attractions – food, drink, shopping, nightlife – are covered in accompanying features. For instance, in the Great Outdoors section, it is noted you can walk or cycle across the historic Chain of Rocks bridge in Edwardsville. In the past, it was the main toll road across the Mississippi River into Missouri. And here it should be noted that Mt. Olive is home to the historic Soulsby’s Shell Service Station and that Cahokia (founded in 1699) is not only the state’s oldest town but contains some of its oldest buildings.
Most importantly, the nearby Cahokia Mounds are both a National Historic Landmark and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spread throughout the site’s more than 8,000,000 square meters are some 80 Native American-originating mounds dating back to 1,000 years before the first Europeans arrived in the area. In fact, they are considered the largest and most complex archaeological site north of Mexico’s great pre-Columbian cities. Visit the site’s impressive museum to learn more before you say farewell to Illinois’ Route 66.
For more information, visit EnjoyIllinois.com/Route66
