We did parts of Rt 66 in 2 trips this past year, traveling from the east westward. We're from Michgan so these were our journeys:
Spring trip started south of Chicago. We didn't want to take the MH through or near the city for obvious traffic reasons. Spent an overnight as a Harvest Host stop in Pontiac, IL. Tons of small town fun. They have a great mural walk around town, cute little painted cars that are out on the sidewalks seasonally. There are a number of fun small museums, including the Rt 66 museum. Be sure to visit the museum of the Gilding Arts. That was amazing. Contact their chamber. They'll send you some really useful brochures and are SUPER friendly. We definitely want to stop there again. Love the place.
Lots of other Rt 66 photo ops in IL. Google and you'll see there is a whole flyer on the route taking you through the state. We found that quite helpful. Many venues were not open since we were traveling somewhat soon post covid lockdowns, but there was still plenty to see. Springfield, IL has Rt 66 sites too, but we were really after the Lincoln sites there. You should do those. The relatively new Lincoln Museum is a must see. Check ahead. At the time we went they had timed entry reservations to keep the crowds down and spread out.
Fall trip picked up where we left off. Our destination for that trip was ultimately New Mexico; following Rt 66 to get there. Check out the Motorheads Bar & Grill south of Springfield. We actually were there early in the morning since that is how our timing worked out. I actually enjoyed that better. It was closed at that time of day, but there were so many great photos to be taken without excess parking lot traffic. (We were actually trying to avoid crowed venues, so all was good.)
Biggest hint: allow yourself much more time than you think you will need. We discovered this on the first day. We had been way too ambitious in planning how much we could see and enjoy in a day. Ended up deciding to skip some of the bigger cities en route with the idea of coming back and spending more time in the future.
Other highlights for us:
- Cuba, MO mural city (detect a theme here? Ya, I love public art and murals.)
- Just SE of St Louis - Cahokia Mounds. Technically also not Rt 66, but if you are that close you should stop. They are amazing. We were there years ago when our kids were young.
- The very small section that cuts thru Kansas. It has a number of spots that were inspirations for the Pixar movie, Cars. Cute and great fun to put in the scrapbook.
- Palo Duro canyon outside Amarillo, TX. Try to spend a few nights camped here. It is amazingly beautiful.
If you have a sense of humor, Uranus, MO. LOTS of bad bathroom humor, but hubby loved it. Biggest tourist trap ever and not really an original Rt 66 site at all. But quite the laugh if you can stand it.
As mentioned up thread, get a good guide book or two. I took several out of our library. They obviously had overlap but each had some sites that were not in the others. Perspective and interest of the individual authors.
Missouri and Texas will be HOT, even with AC. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. We came through in September and still found the heat and humidity almost stifling on a few days.
So many more highlights. Many are rundown old relics, but somehow it just added to the mystique. Give yourself time and be prepared to have a ton of quirky fun. We can't wait to travel the remaining legs of the trip sometime soon.
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