Day 2: October 20, 2019 Lincoln to Dixie Comment via blog

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My motel in Valparaiso was right on US-30 so I just turned right from the parking lot and headed toward Illinois. Some of this route was once the Lincoln Highway and some was not. My first stop was on a section that was. It was not just the Lincoln Highway, however; It was the Ideal Section of the Lincoln Highway. This multi-lane hard-surfaced and lighted section was built in 1923 as a model of what roads should be. A stone monument commemorates the section and information panels tell some of the highway's story. A bench like monument honors Lincoln Highway Field Secretary Henry Ostermann.

I parked a little west of the monuments and walked back to them. When leaving, it was much easier to turn right than to cross all the lanes of traffic. That allowed me to visit a bit of macadam and a descriptive panel embedded in the walkway and wall of a Walgreens pharmacy. A traffic light helped with again heading west.

The next two stops were also made in reverse sequence. I stayed with US-30 rather than the original LH alignment and that brought me to IL-1 about a mile north of the Hiway Bakery. The bakery is near the midpoint of a nearly two mile long section of roadway once shared by the Lincoln and Dixie Highways. I like to think of the bakery being on both highways even though it technically was on neither. The named auto trails had officially ceased to exist when the Hiway opened in 1939 but that was still a really long time ago.

After grabbing a couple of donuts and a cup of coffee, I headed back north to where the Arche Fountain marks one end of the DH and LH shared section. The fountain was erected in 1916 to mark the intersection of the Dixie and Lincoln. It's not a bad place for breakfast.

Earlier this year, eight Illinois breweries joined together to create the Dixie Highway Brewery Trail. Not all of the breweries involved are positioned right on the DH but Evil Horse Brewing is. It is the southernmost of the eight and the only one I could visit on this trip without a sizeable detour and/or wait. I asked about the name and was told that the brew master once had an unridable horse he considered evil which led to the naming of Evil Horse Farm which led to the naming of the brewery. It has good beer, a restored neon sign on the wall, and a Dixie Highway kiosk directly across the street. good

Evil Horse was the only brewery I had planned to visit today but that changed. In Danville, I took to the internet to see what of interest might be nearby and Big Thorn Farm & Brewery caught my attention. It turned out to be even more interesting in person than on my phone's screen. First off is its location at the end of a half-mile of gravel. Then there's the rustic open air bar and adjoining lounge. There's more. The really good beer is served in compostable cups and reading material on the bar explains that the operation is truly off-grid and how that is accomplished with the aid of solar energy. The last picture shows the "enclosed" bar that is used in winter.

And just like that, it went from the envisioned one brewery day to a three brewery day. My Big Thorn stop had done away with what I expected to be an early end to the day. It wasn't really all that late but I was hungry enough when I checked into a Paris, Illinois, motel that I soon set out for dinner at the top rated restaurant in town less than half a mile up the road. It was "Closed for maintenance". That sent me on into downtown where a sign pointing toward Lot 50 Brewing caught my eye. Good beer in a nice friendly setting I no doubt would have appreciated more if I hadn't just left Big Thorn.

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