IMAGES of ROUTE 66  

Taken by Jacky & Mike Smith in 2001

  The State of Illinois  

 

Chicago - My kinda town...

Standing on Lake Michigan, the city's origins date back to 1779 when trappers' huts were built on the Lake edge.
A huge fire of 1871 destroyed some 90% of the buildings.  By the 1890s, it had been completely rebuilt and was
the second largest city in the USA.   The World's first skyscraper was built here in 1885.

Route 66 started in the City at the junction of Michigan Avenue and Jackson Boulevard.

:

 

Sears Tower - 110 Stories
Tallest building in the USA

View of downtown Chicago from the 104th floor of Sears Tower

 We spent two days site-seeing Chicago before setting off on Route 66.  The Sears Tower is a must-do.  We had a clear day and the views were fantastic.

Reflective office building
in Chicago's business district

 


Ferris wheel at the
Navy Pier, Chicago.		 Vintage Pepsi Truck at the
Navy Pier, Chicago.

 

The Navy Pier is now part fun fair and part souvenir shops and restaurants.

 

 

Chenoa

Indian word for "White Dove".  Established in the 1850s at an important railroad junction.


(video still)

 

Family Restaurant
on old Route 66,
at Chenoa.

 

 

We stopped here
for our first lunch
on Route 66.

 

 

Funk's Grove

Village that grew up after Isaac Funk established his Funks Maple Sirup (that's the way they spell it!) business
in the maple tree woodlands during 1824.  It became a fully commercial enterprise in 1891, and when Route 66
was built through the land in 1926, travellers made it a regular stop-off to buy the sirup.  It is still in the hands of the
Funk family, and there is now a thriving mail order business.  All other businesses in the village are now closed.

We stopped there to buy our maple sirup and to take photographs of the village.

Funks brochure

The Village Pump - no longer pumping.

 

Sirup Containers

The sirup we bought and took home.

The Village Shop - no longer trading.

 

McLean (Illinois)

Site of the famous Dixie Truckers Home since 1928 - one of the oldest truck stops in the States.
It is still in full operation (Interstate 55 passes by), and houses a Route 66 Hall of Fame.

The trucker below jumped down from his vehicle when he saw us taking photographs.  We persuaded him to pose for this portrait.

 

Sign at the
Dixie Truckers Home		 Illinois Trucker at the
Dixie Truckers Home

 

 

 

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ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COPYRIGHT JACKY & MIKE SMITH, © 2001.  NONE TO BE REPRODUCED ELSEWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION

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