Get your kicks and check out these can't miss summer stops on Route 66 in central Illinois

Everybody loves the glow of neon signs, said Ace Sign Co. CEO Todd Bringuet.

A lot of those pieces at the sign company's museum in Springfield have a connection to Route 66, he said.

"It's a different experience it seems like for so many visitors," Bringuet said. "We'll have folks from Springfield who will come in and, of course, the international visitors."

Like others in the tourism industry, Bringuet expected tours will only ramp up with the centennial of the "Mother Road" being marked in 2026 and central Illinois will be a big part of that, including a new Route 66 Experience at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

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Route 66 was the nation's first transcontinental highway stretching from Chicago's Loop District to southern California. It was decommissioned in 1985.

Historically high gas prices are fueling travelers' concerns about heading about this summer, a Washington Post-Schar School at George Mason University poll finds.

Concerns about hotel/motel rates and airplane flight prices are also on travelers' minds.

In Illinois, the average price of regular gas has hit $5.56 per gallon. Airfare went up 33 percent in April compared to last year, while lodging prices rose more than 22 percent, according to an index of travel prices compiled by the U.S. Travel Association.

Another survey by The Vacationer indicates that four out of 10 Americans are planning to head out by car. That same survey notes that more people are headed out this summer, 143 million versus 132 million last summer, as more worries are shed about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ace Sign's move to the old Sears warehouse on First Street provided an opportunity to display the old signs, Bringuet said.

"We saw people really appreciating that and ever since then, the Route 66 tourism and the interest in the old signs continues to build year by year," he said. "We love to share that history with the community."

Scott Dahl, director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, suggested Route 66 enthusiasts start at the Visitors Center in the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices on the Old State Capitol Plaza as a starting point.

There, he said, travel consultants can help visitors navigate Route 66 treks and they can also pick up an Explorer Passport to guide them through the different locations in Springfield.

If gas prices are a concern, here are some stops on Route 66 in central Illinois or places that continue to tell the highway's story.

Ace Sign Co. Museum

Where: 2540 S. First St., Springfield. The museum is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tours are free.

The museum's collection includes one part of the Sonrise Donuts sign that long sat on the Ninth Street branch of Route 66.

Visitors will also recognize the roto-sphere or “Sputnik” sign that hung at the Bel-Aire Motel and was rescued in 2015. The "Sputnik" was one of a mass-produced series of fiberglass units from the early 1960s.

Other signs related to Route 66 include "Mr. and Mrs. Dog" from the Cozy Dog restaurant, Art's Motel and Restaurant in Farmersville and the former Tropics Restaurant in Lincoln.

Route 66 Motorheads Bar, Grill & Museum

Where: 600 Toronto Rd., Springfield. The museum is open daily from 7 a.m.

Ron Metzger’s restaurant just off Interstate 55 boasts the world's largest Route 66 sign, a 32-foot-by-32-foot emblem that was installed by Ace Sign Co. in 2020.

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The sign may be new, but Motorheads sits on the site of a former Stuckey’s and the 60-foot poles on which the sign hangs are remnants of the former store.

The museum includes memorabilia from Bill Shea's former Route 66 museum (Shea died in 2013), a porcelain sign from the A. Lincoln Motel and the four-ton concrete seal that had been part of the Bel-Aire, which stood from 1950 to 2015.

Route History

Where: 737 E. Cook St., Springfield. Open by appointment only. Call 217-503-4129

Route History will soon give visitors a chance for a "metaverse experience" using augmented reality and virtual reality. Through that experience, they can more fully sense what it was like for Black travelers on Route 66 from the mid 1930s to the mid 1960s.

The experience, which will also be taken to schools and other venues throughout the state, is in part tied to "The Negro Motorist Green-Book," a guide published annually by Victor H. Green from 1936 to 1966 that pointed out places accommodating for Black travelers.

Route History opened in 2018 and is located in the former Diss Texaco gas station near the Fifth, Sixth and Ninth street alignments of historic Route 66.

Route 66 Experience

Where: Illinois State Fairgrounds, Gate 2, Springfield

Visitors to the Illinois State Fairgrounds will be able to see the "Mother Road" and the communities along its route in a microform as the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway rolls out the Route 66 Experience over the next several years.

Once completed, the experience will feature QR codes and story boards detailing historic attractions and businesses along the route in Illinois

The project is expected to be completed before 2026.

International Route 66 Mother Road Festival

Where: Downtown Springfield, Sept. 23-25

The International Route 66 Mother Road Festival will return to the city this fall.

Related: History lesson: Through 'metaverse experience,' visitors will get up close with Route 66

The Friday Route 66 City Nights Cruise features over 2,000 classic cars and a "Hail to Heroes," recognizing servicemen and servicewomen.

There's a burnout competition, a Ms. Mother Road competition and entertainment from Eastbound and Down, the Blooze Brothers, Groove Daddies, One Foot In and the Neverly Brothers.

Illinois State Museum exhibition

In advance of an exhibition highlighting the Route 66 centennial, the Illinois State Museum is collecting items related to the history of Route 66 in Illinois that were made, purchased or used between 1926 and 1977.

Earlier this year, museum officials announced that Robert "Bob" Waldmire's family had donated a significant collection of his art and personal belongings to the museum to lay the foundation for the collecting initiative.

An itinerant artist and peace activist, Waldmire traveled along the old Route 66 from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Those interested in contributing to the museum's Route 66 collecting initiative can visit the ISM website.

Paul Bunyon hotdog statue

Where: 112 SW Arch St., Atlanta

Because everyone needs to see a 19-foot-tall fiberglass and polyester resin statue of a "Muffler Man" cradling a hotdog.

The statue has been part of the town since 2003, inheriting it from Bunyon's, a hotdog establishment on Ogden Avenue in Cicero which closed in 2002. The statue actually graced the top of Hamlet A. Stephens' restaurant when he ordered it in the 1960s before it became part of the street-level scenery.

"Paul Bunyon"--the spelling sidesteps trademark issues--sits across from the now-closed Palms Grill Café, which is re-op as Missy's Sweet Shoppe.

Muffler Men like "Paul Bunyon" used to dot Route 66. One sits outside of Lauterbach Tire & Auto Service at 1569 Wabash Ave.

Cozy Dog Drive In

Where: 2935 S. Sixth St., Springfield. Open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday

One of the iconic stops along Route 66 in central Illinois, the Cozy Dog Drive In, has been operated by three generations of the Waldmire family.

Cozy Dogs, the original corn dog on a stick once known as "crusty curs," were officially launched at the Lake Springfield Beach House in 1946, according to an online history.

Cozy Dog has been at its current location since 1996, the site of the former A. Lincoln Motel.

Lincoln watermelon marker

Where: 101 N. Chicago St., Lincoln

The only town ever named for Abraham Lincoln prior to his presidency includes a monument in the shape of a two-foot-long watermelon slice. On Aug. 27, 1853, Lincoln christened the town after buying a watermelon from a nearby wagon, cutting it open and pouring its juice onto the ground.

The town would have been familiar to Lincoln as a traveling lawyer on the old Eighth Judicial Circuit, which included Logan County.

The marker was erected in 1964 by several service clubs.

Henry's Rabbit Ranch

Where: 1107 Historic Old Route 66, Staunton. Call (618) 635-5655 for hours.

One of the quirkier stops on Route 66, Henry's Rabbit Ranch proprietor Rich Henry has both the four-leg and four-wheel rabbits at the gift shop/emporium.

The vehicles are buried nose first, a sort of ode to the Cadillac Ranch, west of Amarillo, Texas.

One vehicle that isn't buried is a Volkswagen which belonged to the late Bob Waldmire, a local artist and icon of Route 66.

Of the fuzzier variety, Henry told Roadside Attractions he had 50 at one point before paring back. Guests can get souvenirs "autographed" by the rabbits.

Turkey tracks, Nilwood

Where: Donaldson Road, Nilwood

Thirty-four separate turkey tracks are imprinted in the road near Nilwood in Macoupin County. A domesticated turkey or turkeys made the lasting impression on the wet highway cement.

The original Illinois Route 4 in this area was paved between 1920 and 1922, so it predated Route 66, which was created between 1926 and 1930. This old section of Route 66 is also known as Donaldson Road.

A roadside sign calls attention to the turkey tracks.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Here are can't miss things to do along Route 66 in central Illinois