From MO to IL
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Day 7: June 5, 2022 From MO to IL Comment via blog |
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It seems I never looked over the fence beside my room last night so didn't
realize this hood garden was there until this morning.
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Back in Pittsburg, when Mike and I realized that we would both be in
Springfield, MO, on Saturday following the conference, he mentioned the
College Street Cafe and we decided it would be a good place to eat
breakfast. We only became aware that it wasn't normally open on Sundays
when we were told that it would be. Because of some event in town, the
cafe planned to open to serve attendees. The owner told Phyllis at the
Rockwood and she told us. So we enjoyed the cafe's great staff and food on
a Sunday morning but the odds are that you won't.
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Following breakfast, Mike headed southeast while I headed slightly
northeast. I didn't travel on Route 66 but took I-44 which parallels it
for some distance. I exited the expressway at a couple of places with
Route 66 connections. The first was that monument to
juvenile jokes and
questionable taste,
Uranus,
Missouri. I saw the reason for my stop as I pulled in but still poked
arount the grounds and the store a little before heading to it. My mission
was to get a picture of the
Mega Mayor Muffler Man erected last year. He isn't in
the main complex but stands near the miniature golf course opened this
year.
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My last Route 66 related stop was at a major restoration project being
spearheaded by the same guy who painted that shield at Gay Parita. Rich
Dinkela (a.k.a., Roamin' Rich) is president of the Missouri Route 66
Association and has spent a lot of time painting shields along with
restoring and promoting all sorts of Route 66 stuff. Completed projects at
Shamrock Court
include new roof and gutters and relighting of the neon. Much remains but
there's no doubt that Rich will get 'er done.
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It was the lady on skis that caught my eye but once I stopped I instantly
realized that there was a whole lot more going on by the road near Sparta,
Illinois. I drove back the lane to a building but
found it locked with no one around. Last fall, someone luckier than me
found the artist onsite and made a video. It's
here and shows a lot more sculptures than the few I've
included pictures of. It's not the least bit surprising to find heavy
metal thunder references at a place called Iron Acres but it's pretty
obvious that someone here also listens to the Beatles.
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In the middle of 2019, Ron Warnick, of
Route 66 News,
told me about what he considered "the best and most creative brewery
I've encountered". I put it on my list and figured I'd get there in
the next year or so. But we all know how travel went the next year -- and
the year after that. Coming home from Kansas was the first time I was on a
path I could tweak to reach the brewery near Ava, Illinois. I also had to
tweak my schedule a bit since the brewery is only open Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday.
But the wait and the tweaking were worthwhile. My time at Scratch Brewing Company was delightful and both beers I tried were good. The most prominent bit of art is the creature with antlers, wings, and a tail on the tap room wall. The snakes are on a restroom wall and this hangs over a urinal. |
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