Welcome to Roadside Wonderland

Atlanta Illinois must be the Muffler Man capitol of the world, with Muffler Men on just about every corner. and home to the American Giants Muffler Man museum.   One of our favorites is the giant hot dog man - yes, it’s a Muffler Man holding a giant hot dog! Happy days.   Before moving to Atlanta giant hot dog man lived at Bunyon's Drive Through hot dog stand in Cicero Illinois. He was erected there in the mid-sixties and lived there for 40 years until Bunyons closed in 2003.

What a lovely picturesque little town McLean is.   And what remains of the historic circa 1853 McLean Train Depot is the station building, a train signal, and a lovely vintage sign.   Situated on old Route 66, the depot is one of the first buildings ever erected in McLean Illinois (population 806), and one of only two stations still standing in Illinois that hosted the 1865 funeral train that carried the coffin of President Lincoln.   Blink and you’ll miss it, but still an in

It’s not often that we describe a gas station as adorable, but it’s not often a gas station has hanging baskets of flowers, windows framed by shutters and a cheery green and white clapboard office and workshop with flower boxes and a porthole window.   You’ll find this adorable Ambler/ Becker vintage Texaco station at the intersection of Old Route 66 and Illinois Route 17 in the tiny town of Dwight Illinois.   Incredibly, this adorable site (have we mentioned its adorable?) w

We do have a soft spot for Muffler Men, and the 30 feet tall Gemini Giant is one of the greatest muffler men in existence (even though his “space helmet” does rather resemble a muffler man welding mask).   Like most Muffler Men, he currently does not stand in his original location, having enjoyed a few different locations around his hometown of Wilmington Illinois, along Route 66.   When we visited him, he was living his last few days beside The Launching Pad diner, where he

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s the bluesmobile, complete with giant speaker tied to the roof, sitting at a zany angle, on top of a 25...

We love city welcome murals - larger than life postcards celebrating a town or cities highlights within the letters of its name….. and...

The big guitar sits on top of the Illinois Rock’n’Roll Museum, in Joliet, on Route 66. (in fact, the body of the guitar is in the shape...

Not too far from the Old Joliet Prison, former home of incarcerated Joliet Jake of Blues Brothers fame, you’ll find a giant mural...

We weren't there to pick up Joliet Jake, nor were we on a mission from God, but still, we were most excited to see the Old Joliet Prison...

Glorious neon sign, glorious vintage dining room, glorious chicken.   The Dell Rhea Chicken Basket is an OG Route 66 roadside stop,...

Yes, he is holding a giant chicken wing …. yes, he is also holding a bottle of hot sauce … yes, he’s smoking a cigar…. yes, he has a...

Stop the car!! - giant neon hot dog alert!!   Hot dog king Bill Henry took the plunge from mobile hot dog wagon to drive-in restaurant in...

Come for the neon sign … stay for the giant pretzel.   The Berghoff German restaurant is an incredible 125+ years old, opening in Chicago...

Let’s start at the very beginning, it’s a very good place to start.   If you’re going to wind from Chicago to LA, getting your kicks on...

Shaw's Oyster Bar, and it’s more high falutin’ adjacent crab house, is a Chicago Institution. It’s been around since the early 1980’s,...