Text by Tammie

  Visitors to Litchfield, Illinois, have only steps to walk to see iconic restaurants and a museum on Old Route 66. There’s The Ariston Café plus Jubelt’s Bakery and Restaurant. Information about those eateries is in the Litchfield Museum & Route 66 Welcome Center. The museum and welcome center are on the same property that Vic Suhling built a gas station and erected a “Vic Suhling/Gas for Less" sign.    The sign was refurbished and stands next to the museum and welcome center.   For more, click here .

  A “shadow statue” of a vintage service station attendant stands between the oldest building in McLean, Illinois, and the oldest truck stop in the U.S.   Located at Old Route 66 on U.S. 136 at the Interstate 55 Exit 145 in the village of McLean, Illinois, the “A Home on the Road” interpretive shadow statue and accompanying wayside panel pay tribute to the Dixie Truck Stop across the street and the McLean Depot steps away. The historic McLean Depot is thought to be the oldest building in McLean, which was established in 1855. The depot is on the same parcel of land as the statue at 266 E. Dixie Road. Dixie Truck Stop and Dixie Family Restaurant are at 315 E. Dixie Road across the street from the two-dimensional iron statue.   As it stands, the shadow statue is a perpetual “greeter.” More is here .

    The “Christmas in Carlinville” to be held Dec. 5, 6 and 7, 2025, in Carlinville, Illinois, will take visitors all over town. But there also will be festivities at the historic Downtown Square, the place where historically Route 66 once “circled.” Two courthouses also were once on the square. Now there’s a gazebo. There’s more about it all at Mother Road Moves .

  Atlanta, Illinois, was among stops for a recent Mother Road Moves newsletter . While there, we happened by the Paul Bunyon [sic] giant that holds a hot dog in a bun. We stopped for lunch at the Country-Aire Restaurant, home of delicious pie and Lumi, The Pie Lady giant that celebrates the owner’s wife’s pie-making skills. Of course, I took home a piece of delicious pecan pie. But can we also talk about the pork tenderloin sandwich I ate on-site? Scrumptious!

  The Macoupin County “Cannonball” Jail’s entrance faced U.S. Route 66. Route 66 in Carlinville, Illinois, was used for transporting illegal beverages in the 1920s. Leading to some people being incarcerated at the jail right on that same Route 66. Perfect. https://motherroadmoves.substack.com/p/cannonball-jail-kept-inmates-on-route  

  A museum dedicated to large, molded fiberglass sculptures known as “Muffler Men’’ is a tourist attraction in Atlanta, Illinois, that features “Big Friends.” The American Giants Museum, located at the corner of Vine and Arch streets on Historic Route 66 in Atlanta, Illinois, has several “giants,” including a giant sculpture of a Texaco Man.   The Texaco Man was part of a 1960s Texaco advertising campaign letting customers know that he gives “Big Friend Service.”   More about him and other giants are profiled in the newest Mother Road Moves newsletter. https://motherroadmoves.substack.com/p/big-friend-on-route-66