An early start this morning as we had to pick up the car by 9am at O’Hare airport which was a good one hour in the traffic. It is worth mentioning that the conventional taxi is not easy to get in downtown Chicago these days, as many just don’t want to get stuck in airport traffic, and therfore Uber or Lyft are the best options. The valet parking man at the front of our hotel very kindly got us a Lyft cab on his account for which I paid him cash.
Another post Covid change that has occurred with hire cars in the United States is that the rental companies will now not rent you a Satnav so either you take your own or use Google maps. Luckily we found this out before going so took our own Garmin loaded with the North American maps.
Even with the Satnav we eventually found our way out of the airport and onto Interstate 55 South that goes towards St Louis with Springfield being the first major city on the way. It was roughly 200 miles to Springfield. Our guide book told us that we could go off the Interstate and drive on parts of the old Route 66 going through towns like Joliet and Wilmington, which we did, but this only proved to be partially successful as we hit a diversion and due to lack of road signs could not find the old road so reverted to the Satnav and found the I55 again.
For those who have not driven in the US, they have some very nice rest areas on the side of the Interstate roads where travellers can use the rest rooms (as they are called in the US), buy snacks from vending machines or picnic at tables and chairs provided (photos below). The one we stopped at even had a small Route 66 display and it was nice to have a break and sit in the sunshine. It was up to 31 degrees centigrade today so the weather has taken a turn for the better.
We reached Springfield at about 2.30pm and found the Abraham Lincoln Doubletree hotel. For those who may not be aware, Springfield’s claim to fame is that 16th US President Abraham Lincoln lived in Springfield and bought his one and only house here in 1844 which he left in 1861 when he becane President. He never returned as he was assinated in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth, a southern confederacy sympathiser.
A few minutes walk from our hotel was the site managed by the National Park Service where the house of Abraham Lincoln and the houses of his neighbours have been restored to thier correct periodical condition and can be visited.
We then rounded the day off with a meal and, of course for the driver, a beer.
Tomorrow we are driving to Arthur, Illinois, to vist one of the oldest Amish communities in the United States.
Copyright: words and photos John Cruse 2022