Left Camp-a-while campground after a quick cleaning of the RV and went to see Lincoln. Missed the old Mill restaurant right away but did see Postville Courthouse, a replica. Lincoln did frequent this court as lawyer and the Deskins tavern across the street to meet with colleagues for lunch and stay overnight.

At the former site of the burned down famous Pig-Hip Restaurant and Motel we only found a plaque and an empty lot.

In Williamsville we had a wonderful hour at the vintage gas station at 117 N. Elm. The owner is a collector of everything and anything collectable and even has a small section with household goods. The die cast auto section however was a bit disappointing, the kittens however in the old truck made up for this.

In Springfield we peeked through the fence at the fine collection of car related ‘toys’ at Shea’s service station. Too bad it was all fenced off.

As the capital of Illinois Springfield gives tribute to Abraham Lincoln in a big way. We visited the tomb and rubbed the nose -as so many did before- of Lincoln’s bronze bust.

Time for lunch at the Cozy Dog Drive-In. Ed Waldmire invented these corn dogs while serving military duty at Amarillo, Texas and established a small chain of eateries in 1949 at the same time as the first couple of Dairy Queen’s in Springfield with corn dogs as their specialty. Corn dogs are hot dogs fried in batter. And yes, they are really tasty.

A nice chat with some of the other patrons followed about the economy in Springfield after the manufactoring sector left the city. After taking a quick picture of the old sign of the former Art’s Motel at Farmersville and of the Sky View Drive-In Theater, which is still showing double features on Friday, Saturday and Sunday since 1951 we visited the Ariston Café, had great cake and got our picture taken behind the bar by the owner. It is a family business still today.

 

Yet another old gas station came our way in Mount Olive, the Russell Soulsby Shell Station, followed by Henry’s Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, which will not offend vegetarians and make German eyes smile!

Another drive in visit in Mitchell, the old Balair, was followed, and yes, there is a pattern, by another café, the Luna Café.

The Chain of Rocks Bridge was our last item on the Illinois agenda and it was a bit of a scary one. This bridge carried in the old days the traffic of Route 66 across the Mississippi from Illinois to Missouri. Today the bridge can only be used by pedestrians and cyclists. We wanted to do the same, but auto glass on the first parking lot and a lot of young people hanging out in their cars and more people coming and parking next to our RV made us feel uneasy and we took off and started the Missouri leg of our trip.

A KOA camping spot in the Eureka area was nice an quiet after our trip through St. Louis where we did not miss out on Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, the predecessor of the Dairy Queen Product in Springfield.