At Last the Shake
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Day 8: December 28, 2022 At Last the Shake Comment via blog |
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No one said you couldn't start the day with a bunch of drive-by photos.
Here we have a large liquid storage unit in Bourbon, an expressway sign
visible from old Sixty-Six, the Shamrock Court sign in Sullivan, a
closed-for-winter Ted Drewes in Saint Louis, and a very unclosed and busy
Donut Drive-In just down the street.
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After encountering that closed restaurant in Arkansas, I've been quite
good at checking the status of my destinations. Until today. This is the
former Eat-Rite Diner which has become
Fleur STL and
whose owner announced in late November that it would be "Open 8am-3pm
Wednesday - Sunday from here on." Except, apparently, over Christmas.
A hand written note on the door announced a closure from 12/21 through
12/28. With the sun shining, the temperature in the 40s, and Christmas
days in the past, I admit that I did not seriously consider calling ahead
and I've been beating myself up about that. However, after scouring the
restaurant's website and Facebook page in addition to the owner's Facebook
page, for an announcement I may have missed or a phone number I should
have called, I found neither. Time will tell whether this is an
unfortunate oversight during startup or an indicator of an overly cavalier
attitude.
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So I exited Saint Louis and Missouri on the McKinley Bridge and commenced
with some Illinois drive-bys beginning with the "Salute to
Steel" sculpture. Then it's the Luna Cafe in Mitchell, semi-retired
Rich Henry's Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, and Soulsby Station in Mount Olive.
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Union Miners Cemetery is also in Mount Olive but it's just a smidge off of
Old Route 66. Mary Harris "Mother" Jones is buried here.
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Drive-by shots if the Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center and a
recently patronized restaurant just across the street.
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I have been experimenting with the Route 66 Navigation app on this trip.
It offers a choice of two routes and a little north of Litchfield I began
to realize that the route I was following wasn't taking me where I wanted
to go. By the time this had sunk in fully, I was quite a ways north of
Litchfield due east of Virden. Switching routes took me through Virden and
right past the drug store where I bought the COVID test that ended my
October Miles of Possibility trip.
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Doc's Just Off 66
was to be my next stop when that positive COVID test occurred. Instead my
next stop, thanks to a just filled gas tank, was my own home. It was then
supposed to be one of the very first stops on this trip but the weather
related changes made it one of the last. But I made it, and, after looking
over some of the old drug store displays, settled down at the counter with
a wonderfully gooey grilled 3-cheese sandwich.
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But that sandwich was not the real reason I was here. At the October Miles
of Possibility Conference, Doc's' co-owner Casey Claypool described their
milkshakes and I've been craving one ever since. Her description mentioned
three scoops of ice cream and I snapped a shot as Skylar put the third one
into the cup. It takes time to turn all that ice cream and milk into
complete smoothness -- about eight minutes passed between this panel's
first and last picture -- but it is so worth it.
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The original plan for this trip called for a start quite a bit to the
north which implies that this reversed version would end farther north.
However, once I'd sucked down the last of the object of my quest, I was
ready to declare victory and head home. I did move a bit to the north to
pick up US-36 for my eastbound drive.
In October, I had driven home without stopping, and thought I might do the same this time. I had started much earlier in the day in October so told myself that if I encountered a suitable overnight stop with more than three or four hours of driving remaining I would take it. Rockville, IN, was just about the last place that decision could take place. I recalled a small motel there where I had stayed several years ago. When I saw the sign was still there and glowing, I pulled over and fired up my phone. Recent reviews indicated that the place had not slid a bit and a call resulted in a booking. The Parke Bridge Motel is every bit as cool as I remember and my room is every bit as nice as the one I had in 2015. |
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