Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Day 2 Summer Vacation 2009

Illinois is the Land of Lincoln and so that is what we are doing today, driving on the Lincoln Highway. We will be in 2 States today, Illinois and Iowa.

We started in Plainfield IL just outside of Joliet Illinois where we finished Route 66 last summer. This is an ideal starting location for us, because The Lincoln Highway and Route 66 share a 3 block long section of the same road.

0176 Plainfield IL Lincoln - Route 66 Alignment 0173 Plainfield IL Lincoln - Route 66 Alignment 0174 Plainfield IL Lincoln - Route 66 Alignment

We then pushed on to Franklin Grove Illinois where we stopped at the Lincoln Way Cafe. Unfortunately it was not open today as the owners had closed up and left town on their first vacation in 7 years. They are due back tomorrow to re-open the Cafe.

0187 Franklin Grove IL Lincoln Way Cafe 0189 Franklin Grove IL Lincoln Way Cafe

Across the road from the Lincoln Way Cafe is The Lincoln Highway National Headquarters. Inside we were warmly greeted by Lynn Asp. Lynn and the National Headquarters were featured on the PBS documentary “A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway” We watched this DVD several times at home as we planned this summers road trip. It was a pleasure to meet Lynn and spend time chatting with her. We wanted to buy a couple of T-Shirts but they were low on inventory and did not have our sizes.

0204 Lynn Asp at Franklin Grove IL Lincoln Highway National Headquarters 0208 Franklin Grove IL Lincoln Highway National Headquarters

Here is the exterior of the building.

0193 Franklin Grove IL Lincoln Highway National Headquarters0194 Franklin Grove IL Lincoln Highway National Headquarters0202 Franklin Grove IL Lincoln Highway National Headquarters

We drove through Dixon Illinois and saw their Victory Memorial Arch.

0213  Dixon IL Victory Memorial Arch 0212  Dixon IL Victory Memorial Arch

Then it was onwards toward the mighty Mississippi where we crossed from Illinois into Iowa. Clinton Iowa has a great sign marking this.

0214 Clinton IA Welcome to Iowa 0215 Clinton IA Welcome to Iowa

Iowa is often referred to as The Hawkeye State, but I would call it “The Endless Fields of Corn” State. That is pretty much all we saw as we drove along the Lincoln Highway through this part of Iowa.

0218 Calamus IA 0219 Calamus IA 0224 Between Stanwood & Mechanicsville IA

In Mount Vernon IA we found an original section of the Lincoln Highway that is brick and had a neat old pony truss bridge over the railway tracks.

0228 Mount Vernon IA Original Brick Lincoln Highway 0230 Mount Vernon IA Original Brick Lincoln Highway 0234 Mount Vernon IA Pony Truss Bridge

The Youngville Station & Cafe in Watkins Iowa provided another photo opportunity, but that was all, as it too was closed today.

0242 Youngville Station & Cafe Watkins IA 0243 Youngville Station & Cafe Watkins IA0249 Youngville Station & Cafe Watkins IA

There were a few photo opportunities in Belle Plaine Iowa. First was The Lincoln Cafe.. guess what… it was closed. For a Tuesday, in the first week of July when all the tourists are travelling, this is unusual to find business closed. We encountered this along Route 66 as well, I guess these business owners need a break once in a while, and I suppose that Tuesday could be considered a slow day during the week.

0250 Lincoln Cafe Belle Plaine IA 0252 Lincoln Cafe Belle Plaine IA 0254 Lincoln Cafe Belle Plaine IA

Also in Belle Plaine IA is the F.L. Sankot Garage & the Preston Garage.

0255 F. L. Sankot Garage Belle Plaine IA 0262 Preston Station Belle Plaine IA 0263 Preston Station Belle Plaine IA

For you John Deere tractor lovers…

0264 John Deere Tractor at Preston Station Belle Plaine IA

We had dinner at the King Tower Cafe in Tama Iowa. It started pouring rain just as we were parking so it was good to be inside instead of driving.

0265 King Tower Cafe Tama IA 0266 King Tower Cafe Tama IA 0268 King Tower Cafe Tama IA

Although we were having dinner, I think that what Karen had would be better classified as a dessert, A Pecan Waffle with Strawberries and Whipped Cream…

0268a King Tower Cafe Tama IA 0268c King Tower Cafe Tama IA 0268d King Tower Cafe Tama IA

Our last stop today before heading to our hotel is the Lincoln Highway Concrete Bridge in Tama Iowa.

0269 Lincoln Highway Concrete Bridge Tama IA

So we made it into Marshalltown Iowa at our hotel after driving 525 Kilometres today. We saw temperatures as high as 28 C, but that dropped quickly to 18 C when the rain started around 5pm. We will study our maps and notes this evening and head out in the morning to see more of this historic highway.

To see all of our photos from today, you can check them all out on my FLICKR site.

1 comment:

  1. What a great trip! I hope that you will come back to Illinois and enjoy some of Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition's (ILHC)projects. ILHC is the management agency for the Illinois Lincoln Highway -- the only portion of the highway that has achieved a National Scenic Byway designation. Due to that designation, we are able to fund projects that enhance tourism along the Lincoln Highway corridor in Illinois. Currently, we have an exhibit in the Dixon Welcome Center; three interpretive murals in Creston, DeKalb, and Rochelle; an interpretive kiosk in Aurora; and a traveling exhibit. Next on our agenda are 40 more murals and 16 interpretive gazebos to tell the story of Lincoln Highway and how it impacted communities along the highway and its corridor. Please check out our website: drivelincolnhighway.com. We also have a Facebook link on our home page. Click it and become a follower! Happy travels...

    Diane Rossiter
    Associate Director - ILHC

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