SPOTLIGHT ON ROUTE 66 RAMBLE: DAY 1, NORTHERN ILLINOIS

  • SIGN, SIGN This colorful new sign helps Route 66 travelers mark their starting line along busy Michigan Avenue across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago.
    SIGN, SIGN This colorful new sign helps Route 66 travelers mark their starting line along busy Michigan Avenue across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago.
  • EVERYWHERE A SIGN Following the 2,448 miles (give or take a few, depending on which routing you take), brown-and-white official signs mark different alignments of Route 66 over different periods of the road’s history. Sometimes stretches of original, or at least older, pavement exist; in other places, original road was torn up, blocked off, or overpaved by other highways. A map is a must.
    EVERYWHERE A SIGN Following the 2,448 miles (give or take a few, depending on which routing you take), brown-and-white official signs mark different alignments of Route 66 over different periods of the road’s history. Sometimes stretches of original, or at least older, pavement exist; in other places, original road was torn up, blocked off, or overpaved by other highways. A map is a must.
  • SPOTLIGHT ON ROUTE 66 RAMBLE: DAY 1, NORTHERN ILLINOIS
    SPOTLIGHT ON ROUTE 66 RAMBLE: DAY 1, NORTHERN ILLINOIS
  • ROUTE WARRIOR Route 66 champion and former schoolteacher Bill Thomas of Atlanta, IL, chair of the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership, was named in 2022 to the national Route 66 Centennial Commission, which is planning ways to observe and promote 100 years of Route 66 in 2026.
    ROUTE WARRIOR Route 66 champion and former schoolteacher Bill Thomas of Atlanta, IL, chair of the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership, was named in 2022 to the national Route 66 Centennial Commission, which is planning ways to observe and promote 100 years of Route 66 in 2026.
  • ON THE ROUTE there’s no telling what sights you’ll see—or from which viewpoints.
    ON THE ROUTE there’s no telling what sights you’ll see—or from which viewpoints.
  • BERGHOFF’S RESTAURANT on the Chicago Loop—only steps from the starting point of Route 66—has been family-operated for more than 125 years.
    BERGHOFF’S RESTAURANT on the Chicago Loop—only steps from the starting point of Route 66—has been family-operated for more than 125 years.
  • IN ATLANTA, ILLINOIS (one of 19 Atlantas in the U.S.), the newly opened American Giants museum tells the story of roadside advertising figures from Muffler Men to Paul Bunyan, to Big Boy and the Esso Tiger. Photo ops abound.
    IN ATLANTA, ILLINOIS (one of 19 Atlantas in the U.S.), the newly opened American Giants museum tells the story of roadside advertising figures from Muffler Men to Paul Bunyan, to Big Boy and the Esso Tiger. Photo ops abound.

    SPOTLIGHT ON ROUTE 66 RAMBLE: DAY 1, NORTHERN ILLINOIS