Happy 4th of July!

I've spent a couple of lazy days with my friends, reminiscing and catching up.  Having lived in St. Louis and visited a number of times, I don't feel the need to be a tourist, especially in this weather.  We did go to a cool theater yesterday.  A man played a real organ down in front, and when we exited the theater, someone stood there with a tray of Hershey kisses and mints for us to choose from.  The organ player asked us if we enjoyed the show--very nice.

So here are some more Illinois photos--these are from my second day in Illinois.

The town is Funk's Grove, and it was one of my favorite places.  The Funk family has made maple sirup for the past 6 generations.  Unlike Maine, with its many syrup houses, Illinois doesn't have many.  I went into the store, and Mrs. Funk and her son, Mike Funk, served me.  In the grove was also a beautiful church and cemetary built in the 1800's.  In the tiny town itself was an old RR depot and general store.

Meet the Bunyon Giant.  Nineteen feet tall, he lives in downtown Atlanta, Ill.  He used to be in front of a restaurant in Cicero, Ill, but was rescued and moved.

A group of signmakers who call themselves Letterheads got together in 2003 and painted murals on many walls in Atlanta to recreate the look and feel of Rt. 66 in its heyday.

An example of the old Burma Shave signs, ads for a product or place on small signs strung along the roadside.  Each sign has a few words--you have to read all of them to get the message.  Some are just for fun.  I saw a series that said:

The wolf

is shaved so neat and trim

Little Red Riding Hood

is chasing him

Burma Shave

Springfield, home of Lincoln.  Guiness Record Book calls this the World's Largest Covered Wagon!

I spent an hour in this museum in Springfield with the gentleman who runs it.  Packed full of 66 memorabilia.  I hadn't seen a gas pump like this--I've seen my share of old gas pumps already.  This one pumps gas from the bottom up, then gravity takes over and it comes down through the hose.

In Litchfield, this is all that's left of a gas station.  I think that many times along the route people have tried to save some piece of the past.

So there is a sampling of the many places I visited in Illinois.  Tomorrow I will continue down 66 through Missouri.