Life with Mary and Jay

Documenting our adventures and enjoying time in the not-so-fast lane.

May 30, 2026

Route 66, Day 2: Joliet to St. Louis

Yesterday was Day 2 of our Route 66 adventure!

We began in Joliet and made our way to St. Louis, packing in plenty of stops along the way.

We started the morning with visits to the Illinois Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum on Route 66 and the Joliet Area Historical Museum.

I’m going to need to do a separate post about the Rock & Roll Museum because it was AWESOME! 😍

After grabbing a quick breakfast, we continued down Route 66, did a quick detour for a truck having a very bad morning, and found possibly every bump on Route 66 along the way. 😂

Our first stop was Elwood, where we visited the Blues Brothers statues. We also noticed they were making sure to enjoy their Culture Espresso coffee each morning. 😍☕️

Next, we headed to Wilmington to see the Gemini Giant and the Landing Pad.

From there, we traveled through Gardner and Dwight, made our way through Odell, and then arrived in Pontiac.

Pontiac has truly gone all out in celebrating Route 66 and the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Mother Road.

While there, we visited the Route 66 Museum, which features a Volkswagen MiniBus, owned by the late Bob Waldmire, who traveled Route 66 many times in this vehicle. He “was an American artist and cartographer who is well known for his artwork of U.S. Route 66, including whimsical maps of the Mother Road.”

Additionally, this vehicle helped inspire the character Fillmore in the movie Cars.

From Pontiac, we continued through Normal—yes, we made all the jokes about the town’s name. 😂

Then we passed through Bloomington and on to Atlanta, where we visited the American Giants Museum. It was very cool and definitely worth the stop.

Leaving Atlanta, we drove through Lincoln and passed a large collection of fenced-off, abandoned buildings. After doing some research, I learned the site was originally the Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children, which opened in 1877. At its peak, the institution reportedly housed, educated, and “cared for” more than 5,000 individuals.

While driving past, I couldn’t help but wonder about the lives of the children and residents who lived there and the realities they faced. It’s an important part of history to acknowledge, even when it’s uncomfortable. It also made me wonder how many people drive past the site every day without knowing its story.

From there, we continued through Springfield, Litchfield, Staunton, Edwardsville, Mitchell, and Granite City before finally arriving in St. Louis.