South of Joliet, Route 66 is mostly on IL 53. This stretch between Joliet and Wilmington was built during World War II to carry heavy military vehicles. It’s now on the National Register of Historic Places.
In Wilmington, we saw our first “giant”! This one is called the Gemini Giant.
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| Gemini Giant at the Launching Pad Drive In in Wilmington, Illinois |
In pre-internet days, a lot of roadside businesses focused their advertising efforts on catching the eye of passing travelers with something large and dramatic, such as neon signs and giant figures. In the early 1960s thousands of giant fiberglass men were made in California, largely from the same mold. The first one was designed to look like Paul Bunyan, with the hands positioned to hold an ax. He was commissioned to advertise the Paul Bunyan CafĂ© in Flagstaff, Arizona (on Route 66!!!) and may now be one of two on the campus of Northern Arizona University. But these giant men were soon manufactured to advertise other businesses, with the ax replaced—sometimes awkwardly—with other objects. So many of them held mufflers that these giant men are sometimes referred to as Muffler Men no matter what they’re holding.
The Gemini Giant, holding a rocket ship, is at the 1960s Launching Pad Drive In at 810 East Baltimore Street in Wilmington, Illinois.
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| Launching Pad Drive In in Wilmington, Illinois |
Just a few blocks further down Route 66 is an adorable Sinclair dinosaur on top of BTI Tire & Alignment (formerly G&D Tire) at 200 East Baltimore Street, Wilmington, Illinois.
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| Sinclair Dinosaur atop BYI Tire & Alignment in Wilmington, Illinois |
South of Wilmington, Route 66 (IL 53) runs straight beside a railroad track. In Braidwood, we saw the 1962 Polk-a-Dot Drive-In.
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| Polk-a-Dot Drive In in Braidwood, Illinois (from TravelBlog.org) |
It’s now decorated with some fiberglass statues of celebrities.
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| Polk-a-Dot Drive In in Braidwood, Illinois (from RoadsideAmerica.com) |
South of Braidwood, Route 66 (IL 53) continues alongside the railroad tracks until just before Gardner, Illinois, where it splits off to the east to bypass Gardner. Here we took a quick detour off Route 66 to see a couple of historic sites in Gardner, at the corner of North Center Street and East Mazon Street. The first is a two-cell jail built in 1906.
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| Two-cell jail in Gardner, Illinois |
The jail door was open when we visited, so we were able to peer in and see the two cells.
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| Interior of two-cell jail in Gardner, Illinois |
Right next door is the Streetcar Diner.
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| Streetcar Diner in Gardner, Illinois |
Most early 20th century diners were manufactured to look like train cars. What’s cool about this diner is it began life as a real streetcar in Kankakee, Illinois, possibly as early as the 1890s. When Kankakee replaced streetcars with buses in the early 1930s, one of the streetcars was moved to Gardner and became a diner on Route 66.
The Streetcar Diner was restored in 2001 and moved to this location in 2010 to better preserve it. You can peek in the windows and imagine getting a meal there.
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| Interior of Streetcar Diner in Gardner, Illinois |
In front of the Streetcar Diner is a sign for the Riviera Restaurant featuring Betty Boop.
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| Riviera Restaurant sign in Gardner, Illinois |
The 1928 Riviera was a Route 66 institution until it burned in 2010. The sign was moved here for safekeeping.
IL 53 ends on the southern edge of Gardner. From here, we took “Historic US 66,” which runs along I-55 to our next stops: Dwight and Odell, Illinois.
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