Route 66 Joliet to Odell

First a morning photo of the campground.

We are off on Route 66 (Highway 53) south of Joliet and just out of Joliet at a gas station we see:

It’s got a cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant.

It’s got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks.

It’s a model made before catalytic converter so it’ll run  good on regular gas.

Then we made a stop at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.

Wilmington.

First stop is the Gemini Giant at the Launching Pad Drive In (closed and for sale).

This is a muffler man that has been converted.

Blue is driving the girls around.

This is an old Sinclair Dino that used to be on Sinclair Gas Stations from 1934 on.

Blaidwood.

We stopped for lunch at a true 50 diner the ‘Polka Dot Drive In’ for the house specialty of French Fries with cheese and chili.

Gardner

Gardner has two Route 66 attractions. The first is a 2-cell jail built in 1854, and an old Horse Power Street Car converted to a dinner.

This is the original 18 foot wide highway, only 9 feet per side.

Dwight.

This is an old water tower that was built to supply water to a mansion that was here before the town.

Railway station

Fox Developmental Center (formally the Keeley Institute )

The Keeley Institute, known for its Keeley Cure, was a commercial medical operation that offered treatment toalcoholics from 1879 to 1965. Though at one time there were more than 200 branches in the United States and Europe, the original institute was founded by Leslie Keeley in Dwight, Illinois, United States. The Keeley Institute's location in Dwight, Illinois had a major influence on the development of Dwight as a village, though only a few indications of its significance remain in the village.

The cure was ..injections of gold chloride .. various elixirs, and other injections.

…… several generations of Americans joked about people, especially the rich and famous, who were "taking the Keeley Cure" or had "gone to Dwight" and Dr. Keeley is remembered as the first to treat alcoholism as a medical disease rather than as a social vice.

Restored Becker’s Marathon Station (1933) and as Ambler’s Texaco. This is the longest operating service station to pump gas on the historical Route 66.

More displays at Dwight

Some of the unused Route 66 highway. This is only 18 feet wide.

Odell

Odell has a restored classic 1932 Standard Station that was restored since 1999.

Photos around town

This town had a underpass for pedestrians to cross Route 66

From 1926 to 1946 this road was known as the ‘Mother Road’ or Route 66. During this period traffic was so congested that it became necessary to build an underground passage to safely cross church goers and school children.

In 1947, with the advent of the four lane bypass two blocks to the west …the tunnel, no longer needed, was filled in.

Off for home and tomorrow a drive to Nappanee Indiana for some motorhome service.

Back on Route 66 in a few days.