Text by Tammie

    A prison in Joliet, Illinois, that Route 66 passed the gates of from 1926 until 1940, is open for tours.   “Old Joliet Prison Historic Site,” at 1125 Collins St., was closed and abandoned in 2002 after its construction in 1858.   In the early years, the prison was an industrial facility that leased convicts out to work.    Today, self-guided and guided history tours are available seasonally from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.   More information is available here .  

  Passengers can enjoy nature while on a boat tour to “see” a segment of Route 66 submerged under Lake Springfield in Springfield, Illinois. Fish and waterfowl such as ducks and loons frequent the lake. Visitors, too, looking for the original alignment of Route 66 from 1926 to 1930 under the lake can visit the lake for free on Mondays and Fridays through Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. Hours are 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays. The boat tour is 45 minutes and comes with a tour guide. More information is here .

  The new Museum of Route 66 that’s located in a former bank in Lincoln, Illinois, is getting ready for its July 11, 2026, grand opening. The museum is in the old State Bank of Lincoln (formerly a Heartland Bank branch) at 508 Broadway St.   A “soft opening” is happening there now in which visitors can preview the Museum of Route 66’s transformation. In the works are:   n   A diner with a loaned jukebox with songs such as “Into the Darkness” and “Southern Cross” by Crosby, Stills & Nash plus “Sometimes You Just Can’t Win” and “Get Closer” by Linda Ronstadt.   n   A barbershop with a barber pole.   n   WGYK (W Get Your Kicks) radio station, a live station, from which live remotes can occur.   n   A bank vault containing information about gangster Al Capone and his friend John “Coonhound Johnny” Schwenoha, a local bootlegger.   More information is here .

  The Route 66 Sign Museum located in the 60,000-square-foot Ace Sign Company at 2540 S. First St. in Springfield, Illinois, has a “Big Boy.” With nearly 100 historic signs, many rescued and restored, The Route 66 Sign Museum has a “Top’s Big Boy” restaurant franchise “Big Boy” fiberglass statue. That “Big Boy” is next to a tricycle, which is next to a restored 1949 International truck, which has hand painted on it “Ace Sign Co.” in 1940s/1950s’ style. Museum tours are at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays for a $5 donation. More is here .    

    Steven Richie talks about eating on Route 66. Greg Laun talks about hitchhiking on Route 66. David Johnson talks about staying safe on Route 66. All three are part of the dozens of people who share their memories of Route 66 via touchscreen TVs in the new “Miles of Memories: Stories of Route 66” exhibit at the Illinois State Museum, 502 S. Spring St., in Springfield, Illinois. The “Miles of Memories” exhibit dovetails with the museum’s online “ Route 66 Oral History Collection .” " Miles of Memories” will be displayed through April 4, 2027. Admission is free, and the museum is open daily. More here .    

    Courtesy Rocio Abrego on Unsplash Route 66, the “Mother Road,” convincingly “speaks for herself” in Crystal Sershen’s new book “Dust & Dreams: Roadmap of the American Soul (A Memoir of the Mother Road, in Her Own Words).” The Mother Road is 100 in 2026, so it’s a perfect time for her to narrate her own experiences. "Dust & Dreams" is “fiction inspired by history.” “I echoed the paths of wagon trails, stagecoach runs, the Native American footprints laid down millennia before them – and my destiny was to connect the vital organs of the country with a new lifeblood that would transform it into one body, one nation, one people,” “Dust & Dreams” says. “I wasn’t to be just a road. I was to be a bridge between past and future, between ruin and rebirth.” More is here .