Route 66 - Day 2 (Springfield to St. Louis)

I got up this morning and left the historic Pasfield House Inn, walking towards the downtown historic district of Springfield, IL. First, I took a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Dana Thomas house which was built on the foundations of her family's home and designed to feature her love of live music (there's a musician's balcony above the main entrance!) and entertaining. Lots of the 'autumn sumac' and 'butterfly' Wright designs, it was beautiful. Then I walked over to Abe Lincoln's Springfield home and historic site where he lived from 1844-1861 before becoming president. Then I walked to the old State Capitol building, Lincoln Presidential Library and the Springfield Race Riot Memorial which commemorates the riot of 1908 which led to the formation of the NAACP. I headed out of Springfield through the Illinois farmland stopping at a Route 66 classic Ariston Cafe in Litchfield for lunch. After lunch I stopped by Henry's Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, roadside attraction 'The World's Largest Catsup Bottle' in Collinsville, IL and then at the Cahokia Mounds pre-historic Native American site before making my way to St. Louis. In St. Louis, I'm staying with my friend (and St. Louis native) Kate Lucas who lives in a converted loft building in Lafayette Square that used to be a shoe factory. Kate knows a ton about the history of the city and loves playing tour guide so we had a great time. She told me all about the shoe and beer industry histories of the area and showed me the French-style 'painted-lady' homes of the historic districts on the way to barbecue at The Shaved Duck. I had St. Louis-style Baby Back Ribs, mmm. After dinner we went to the City Museum. If you've never heard of it, there's really just no way to describe it -- you have to go. Basically, back in the mid-90s, a guy named Bob Cassilly bought an abandoned shoe factory (where Tennessee Williams worked when he lived here!) and started collecting anything and EVERYTHING to fill the building and create this insane genius vision of a museum/playground. Everything in the place had a previous industrial purpose but has been repurposed into this fantastical wonderland with custom jungle gyms and 10-story tall twisty slides (yes, I went on the twisty slides :)). It is truly amazing. We watched the last of St. Louis July 4th holiday fireworks from the rooftop and then headed to the famous Ted Drewes' Frozen Custard for dessert. They call their frozen yogurt concoctions 'concretes' because they're thick enough that you can turn it upside down and they stay put. They've been around since 1929 and the lines have not gotten any shorter. I had fresh peach ice cream with praline pecans.

Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Dana Thomas house - detail and reflection

Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, IL

Springfield 1908 Race Riot Memorial (complete with Barack Obama as drum major)

Monks Mound, Cahokia Mounds pre-historic Native American site