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Published: June 22nd 2015
We didn't have many sites to visit today so took our time and decided to follow the old road as much as we could instead of taking the I44 all the way. This proves difficult in this section due to how much has been abandoned, closed or just doesn't exist anymore. Past about 1984, the actual route 66 doesn't exist and it is just a mix of dozens of different highways. We got lost a couple of times but we did also manage to cruise through a lot of the old road which is dubiously sign posted.
The first stop was the "worlds largest rocking chair", a staple tourist attraction that was very cool and a lot bigger than I thought! The store next to it was closed so we got our pictures, and jumped back out of the blazing heat to the next stop.
This was an old bridge in a town called Devils Elbow, named after a pretty sharp turn in the road. This area is littered with fascinating history that I wont bore you with! As we descended off the main road into the abandoned area, the sat nav told us: "Turn left in 100 yards
into the Trail of Tears"......We knew at that point it would be good!
We did also want to see an old abandoned gas station and an even older bridge further on in a town called Hazelwood but the road here was closed and looked like it had been for a while and wasn't worth investigating. One thing that really opened my eyes today was just how much of the old road that once thrived has been abandoned or gone into disrepair from the construction of the interstates through out the country.
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Tony Austin
non-member comment
Normal, Illinois
I've been following your route on ye olde atlas, and it says there's a town about halfway between Chicago and St Louis called Normal. Which is a bit weird. Did you see this town? Hope you took a pic of the road sign!