Route66: Illinois & Missouri

Chicago, Il – Springfield, Il – St. Louis, MO – Springfield, MO

Leaving the big city of Chicago behind. We found the entry of Route66. Yeah!

Countryside. Green lush fields. Cows & horses. Relaxed driving. Lots of Harley’s and Oldtimers. Beautiful weather. Temperatures getting higher. Sundae ice cream for lunch.

We get lost and we get back on the historic Route66. Not to get confused with different options out of different years…

We passed Springfield or “the land of Lincoln” – the capital city of Illinois. Illinois designated “Land of Lincoln” as the official state slogan in 1955. Regarded as a great symbol of democracy, Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States (1852) and is honored for his noble vision, statesmanship, humanity, and political skill.

Happy St. Memorials Day! The reason why we had sushi for dinner (the only restaurant with available seats): St. Louis rolls! ♥️

By the way, the USA counts >40 Springfields: the home of the Simpsons (they never defined which one though) & Brad Pitt was born in Springfield, MO. Happy birthday!

A bit about Amish people living in Illinois: apparently they don’t drive cars but horse carriages. They don’t use electricity or phones and tailor their own clothes and dresses like 300 years ago. Men are wearing black hats and beards. We didn’t see any since they are living about 100mi south of Route66.

Hello, St. Louis! I always wanted to be here because of Louise from St. Louis (sex and the city).

The city is beautiful and home to the baseball. St. Louis nickname is „the Gateway to the West“.

In 2006, St. Louis made it no.1 as the most dangerous city in the USA. One year later that status changed to Detroit. Nevertheless, the murder rate is here 3 times higher than in LA (dear mums, don’t worry, we made it and moved on…).

The 630-foot Gateway Arch is the centerpiece of downtown St. Louis— backing up to the Mississippi River and overlooking the Old Courthouse. After we’re done ogling the massive man-made monument from afar, we got transported by tram to the top for a panoramic view that stretches for up to 30-miles. Wow!

The ride up in the little 5-person pod (that looks like something from the future) takes about 4 minutes. From the top we peeked out of the thin rectangle windows to get the spectacular view below.

Cruising on the big river – the Mississippi.

It’s getting hot in here… Hot is when you stop blow drying your hair. Hot is when you appreciate A/C in the night. Hot is when you prio the shade. Hot is when you sweat even you don’t move.

Windows open. Wind in the hair. Cruising along…

A proper BBQ is when even the baked beans are mixed with meat… not for vegetarians.

Happy Memorial Day!

Moving on to Oklahoma next 🖖