How lucky we were to arrive in St Louis and drive down Grand Boulevard just as the sun was setting, the vintage streetlamps were glowing, and the breathtaking Fox Theatre neon sign was all aglow. Our eyes were exploding with neon joy. The Fox Theatre, known locally as The Fabulous Fox, opened as a movie palace in 1929. It was, at the time, the second largest theatre in the United States, with 5060 seats. It was designed by C Howard Crane in a kind of regency Asian style known

How lucky we were to drive over McKinley Bridge at magic hour! Picturesque x 1 million. Bridge aficionados will recognize this as a steel truss bridge….. hmmm, yes, I thought so. It opened in 1910 in a blaze of glory as a combined rail and car bridge, and then slowly fell into disrepair. In 1978 it became a vehicle only bridge and then it was taken out of service and closed all together in 2001. It was finally given a major overhaul and was re-opened to traffic in 2007. The

The Luna Cafe, with its aged wooden siding, large verandah, and epic neon sign, has been going strong since it first opened in 1924 - yes - 1924!!! It pre-dates Route 66! It is steeped in local legend, including the rumor that Al Capone was a regular customer, and that there was a secret casino in the basement. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It is said that when the ruby colored glass red cherry on the neon sign was lit up, a certain type of lady was in the house, ea

The Greenway Motel sign must have once been a shining beacon in the small town of Mitchell Illinois. It seems to have way oversold the nondescript mid century beige brick motor court style motel it proudly heralded. The neon is now gone, but the epic arrow style sign remains, complete with (non working) light box that once highlighted the Motels Route 66 pedigree. We also love the tiny tacked on sign advising there are now telephones in every room. It had the look of perm

This sweet little sign is all that remains of the circa 1940’s Apple Valley Motel. The adorable 11 room motor court was destroyed by fire in 2016. It was just one of hundreds of roadside motels that opened during the motor court boom of the post-war 40’s and 50’s as American families took to the roads for family road trips. The Apple Valley Motel had a little wooden front office and covered driveway that led to 11 first floor rooms, arranged in a U shape, with parking s

They’re modern, they’re retro, and their design even gives a passing nod to Mondrian. They’re the matching set of small-town murals that make up the Route 66 postcard trail. Often, they’re located near the 6 on 66 monuments, giant Route 66 shields, and this one is across the road. Each of the Route 66 postcard murals depict things that are unique to their location. In Hamel these include a cross from the circa 1931 St Paul Lutheran church, the Hamel water tower, a bicycle f

The Welcome to Hamel billboard is a double whammy - it’s painted on both sides! It stands in a pretty little garden and has the same classic car / retro license plate / road trippin’ theme that so many billboards along Route 66 have. Is it a rule or something? Anyhoo .. it is fun to see the same theme interpreted in so many different ways as you drive along. Standing right next to the billboard is a 6 on 66 monument. These are dotted along Route 66 and we love them, they ar

Wheezies???? ... as in the asthmatic penguin from Toy Story!??? No … Weezy’s, as in the historic roadhouse on Route 66 in Hamel Illinois. This Weezy’s opened in 1937 as a roadhouse named Tourist Haven. Over the decades it has had quite a few name changes, from Village Inn to Earnie’s Roadhouse, to Scotty’s Bar & Grill. Brilliantly, each time the roadhouse was re-christened and re-christened again, the new owner would keep all its predecessors' signage, and it is all displ

We love the Route 66 Postcard trail - a series of giant postcard style murals depicting local highlights. The Welcome to historic Livingston mural sits in the perfect spot on the wall of the former Livingstone High School building, now an antique mall…. and it’s the perfect spot because the local highlights depicted on the mural, a pink elephant and a Futuro house - are right there on the grounds of the antique mall. The mural also depicts classic cars, and an ice cream c

The Livingston Muffler Man stands alone in a field beside The Livingston Antique Mall (where you’ll find many other giant things, from a giant tricycle to a giant pink elephant) He is a Paul Bunyon style muffler man, standing at around 15 feet tall, but he is missing his axe, so his jazz hands look a little lonely. The Livingstone Antique Mall owners found this muffler man in Kentucky and shipped him to Illinois. He lived inside the antique mall before being moved into th

The Pink Elephant Antique Mall, along Route 66 in Livingstone Illinois, is one of the greatest stops we have ever made. It’s a roadside wonderland all by itself. Housed in the old circa 1929 Livingston High School Building, the antique mall hosts more than 50 dealers, a little diner, and a 1950’s themed ice cream shop. (if you get ice cream you can sit outside in a giant ice cream cone to eat it) Inside the antique mall, keep your eyes out for the two GIANT kit kat cloc

Ok, this is an iffy one … technically Henry’s Rabbit Ranch has now closed to the public after the death of its creator Rich Henry. However, part of it, including the vintage gas station and pumps can be seen from the street. (but the store and little museum are closed) Also sadly, the live bunnies (in its heyday there were more than 50 of them!) no longer reside here, and the collection of Volkswagen rabbits cannot be seen from the street. This is private property so we d

Here is something we have learned travelling across America - gas stations can be adorable - who knew!? They can be modern day Buc-ees style adorable, and they can be retro and vintage style adorable - who knew we would look forward to visiting a gas station!? The Soulsby Shell service Station in Mt Olive Illinois is a perfect example - ADORABLE!! This circa 1926 “house with canopy” style of service station was designed by the original owner, Henry Soulsby. He designed it

Any time’s a good time for pie…. so even though we weren't really hungry, and in the name of Roadside Wonderland research, (yes, we did it for YOU), we stopped at The Ariston Cafe - and if you’re passing by, you should too! We sat at the very vintage counter and had very modern baklava pie - recommended! The beautiful neon clad Ariston cafe is the oldest along Route 66. It began its life in 1924 in Carlinville Illinois but followed the mother road and moved to Litchfield

The Saga Motor Hotel, along old route 66 in Pasadena is a mid-century classic. It was designed in 1959 by Harold Zook in a beautiful mix of Moorish fonts and details and mid-century clean lines and breeze blocks. Its huge neon sign has been designated as a Pasadena Historic Sign. Our first retro delight upon checking in was to be given an actual key to access our room. There are adorable rooms around the pool, with tiny private terraces and breeze block privacy screens. We

We brake for neon signs, and the Litchfield Museum is the home of the fabulous Vic Suhling Gas For Less neon sign. The museum was literally built around the Gas for Less sign, which still stands in its original 1961 location. The museum is worth visiting too, and entry is free. There are lots of displays and artifacts in and around the building - there is a hand drawn fire wagon, vintage cars and gas pumps, vintage signs, a windmill from the Litchfield Windmill Factory

Cool neon sign alert, and it’s kind of a miracle this one is still standing. Vic Suhling’s gas station was built in 1961, complete with this epic googie style neon sign. The business was sold in 1968, and even though the new owner was named Paul Stewart, and not Vic Suhling, the sign remained.In 1973 the gas station closed for good, but the property was not sold until 1989. The new owner demolished the gas station in 1990, but the sign survived. Twenty years later, what was

In 2022 the Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau created The Mural Trail, a series of 12 giant postcard murals dotted along the last hundred miles of Route 66 in Southwest Illinois. Each mural celebrates the local roadside wonders and vintage highlights of that town. They are wall sized tourist information works of art and stop the car Instagram moments. We stopped the car for this one in Litchfield Illinois. ---------------------------------------------------------- Midw

These shield monuments are dotted all along Route 66. The giant black and white Route 66 shields are 12 feet tall. There are a few different designs, all variations on the same theme. This one has the 6’s hollowed out waiting for your best Instagram pose. This one is located in Litchfield Illinois. --------------------------------------------------------- Midwest USA No. 31 -last visited October 2023

Drive In Movie Theaters seem threatened by extinction these days, but in their mid-century heyday, when many families were yet to own a television, they were a booming business, and every town seemed to have one…. and they all had such glorious names like The Auto-Vue Drive In, Moonlite Theater, Silver Moon Drive In, or The Stardust. The Route 66 town of Litchfield Illinois has the Sky View Drive In. It opened in 1950, and is now the only original drive in theatre still exi

Just off old Route 66 is the perfect picnic spot for a serene respite from your busy day hunting out plaster dinosaurs and giant muffler men (or is that just us … hello .. is this thing on .. ?) This historic covered bridge crosses Sugar Creek, just outside of Chatham Illinois. It is so picturesque I thought either Laura Ingles from "Little House on the Prairie", or Gordy and Chris from "Stand by Me” might come strolling out of there at any minute. The bridge is 110 feet

We know many Americans who consider the corn dog to be their national dish. I mean, who ever thought of wrapping a weenie in cornbread!? and then French frying it? .. and then poking a stick up its bottom?? Well, according to Illinois folklore Ed Waldmire did, that’s who! The cozy dog drive in is allegedly the birthplace of the first hot dog on a stick. Ed’s wife Virginia christened their invention The Cozy Dog. Then she designed the cutest logo in the history of weenies

Vintage signs lovers, midcentury kitsch aficionados, classic car and vintage gas station enthusiasts, route 66 explorers and hungry road trip travellers .. get your smelling salts out, because Motorheads celebrates all those things in a massive, enormous, extreme and wonderful way. Like, holy wow! The enormous restaurant and bar is a great pit stop in a burger, pretzel, pub cheese, cheeky beer way, but the star of the show is the fabulous sprawling museum with its classic

Springfield Illinois is an incredible treasure trove of roadside Americana - vintage signs, neon, gas stations, diners, and of course, muffler men! The Lauterbach Giant is a Paul Bunyon style muffler man. Today he is missing his axe, but on special occasions he holds an American flag instead. The Lauterbach Giant has been on a few road trips of his own. In 1961 he made his first stop at Midtown Tires in Springfield. That business only lasted a year, so in 1962 the muffler m

Honestly, I thought my eyes might explode from all the vintage neon joy they were soaking in. If you’re a vintage sign lover, a fan of neon, or just a bit of a sticky beak into how this small yet fabulous sign business operates, the Route 66 Sign Museum is for you. You can book tickets online, but we just showed up, and for $10 each we were shown throughout the entire factory, including its collection of almost 100 historic and beautifully restored signs. The museum is ho

What happens when a giant Carpet Viking has a mid-life crisis, finds the business he has guarded for decades is no longer selling Viking carpets, and needs to find a new lease of life?? Well, apparently, he sheds the horns from his helmet, trades his burgundy and brown color palette for blue and gold, and gets a new job as mascot for Springfield Southeast High School. (Go Spartans) In 1967 the Barker-Lubin Homebuilders store stopped selling Viking Carpet products, which was

Abraham Lincoln lived in this charming twelve room, two story home for seventeen years, and only left when he got a new job and had to re-locate … to The White House … to become President of the United States. Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, who was born in this house, donated it to the State of Illinois under the condition that it would forever be maintained, and open to the public at no charge. The National Park Service, who maintain the home, did better than that, an

We turned a corner in Springfield Illinois, and there it was! The State Capitol Building! It wasn’t even on our radar, so we didn't have too much time to stop and explore but next time we will for sure because the interior is just as glorious as the exterior! The first legislative session was held here in 1877, and today, if the legislature is in session, you can still watch the action from balcony level seating. There are lots of things to do here, besides gasp at the be

Springfield Illinois is a treasure trove of Route 66 roadside wonders, big and small. It’s little glimpses of road trip life in a different era that make travelling Route 66 so fun and interesting, and Mahan’s Filling Station in Springfield, is one of those lovely little vintage glimpses. The tiny filling station was built in 1917. Throughout its long life it has been a Texaco station, a Marathon station, and a Philips 66 Station, and relics of all it’s past lives remain

The Legends Neon Sign Park sits in the Illinois State Fairgrounds within the Route 66 Experience. It’s a neon lovers fever dream, with a mix of recreated and restored vintage neon signs screaming the names of long defunct businesses and motels, as well as their amenities. The epic Chain of Rocks motel sign boasts about its PHONES in white neon, its TVs in green neon, and its VACANCIES in red neon. Other signs include the A Lincoln Motel, the Coliseum Ballroom and the Bel-

The Route 66 Experience inside the Illinois State Fairgrounds is a must see, especially for Route 66 travelers and vintage sign and neon lovers. It’s open every day of the year, just inside Gate 2 of the fairgrounds, so we suggest visiting outside of fair time when you might get the whole place to yourselves, like we did. (if you visit outside of fair time, enter via the fairgrounds main gate - we were able to drive in and park inside the fairgrounds) The Route 66 Experienc

Look at this fabulous mural on the side of the men’s Rest Room at the Illinois State Fair!! Just be sure nobody is coming out of there when you aim your camera at it or you will seem creepy! Sometimes you find roadside wonders in unexpected places…. and who, on a road trip, does not enjoy finding a bonus restroom. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mid-West USA no. 19 -last visited October 2024

In the mid 1800’s, when a young Abraham Lincoln was working chopping and splitting logs for the Frontier Fencing Company, would he have ever thought, in his wildest dreams that this moment would one day be immortalized in a giant 30-foot-tall fiberglass sculpture at The Illinois State Fairgrounds …. oh, and that one day he would grow a beard … and become president. Lincoln's youthful employment with an axe earned him the nickname “the Rail Splitter”, and this nickname was W

On 9 acres, on the outskirts of Carthage Missouri, on Route 66, sits the 66 Drive In Theatre. There are probably less than 300 drive in movie theatres that still remain across America, and this is one of the greatest. It opened in 1949, four years before this area had television, and originally had loudspeakers dotted throughout the parking area to provide sound. At the entrance gate the glorious streamline moderne style illuminated neon sign still stands in all its glo

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 giant Herman Munster scar across his forehead and on his wrists … no, I don’t know why he has any of these things. He is also sitting on top of a building, which houses a local restaurant, kind of hiding in plain sight. The restaurant is called Cigars and Stripes BBQ Lounge, and The Berwyn Muffler Man is also known as The Cigars and Stripes

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,...

This decaying Flintstones themed park is one of our greatest finds ever in the history of Roadside Wonderland. Hanna Barbera’s "The...