Illinois
Route 66 starts in the city of skyscapers, Chicago. Since Illinois is where the route was first constructed, it is also the first state where it was fully paved.
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The problem of the construction of this part was that the materials used were quite dangerous, causing many accidents and making the route be named "bloody 66". A few years later, fortunately, the state was provided with more funding to enhance the road.
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These days the route has been replaced by the I-55 (freeway) but, when it was still used, it measured 484 kilometers.
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Lou’s Mitchell
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The first stop we need to do is this restaurant located in downtown Chicago. This family business started in 1923, and it is considered “the first stop on the Mother Road” because of their great food and because it is located almost on the starting point.
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To realize how important this stop is, we can see that many important people has visited it during all these years, such as presidents of the U.S (Bush or Obama), mayors, governors, athletes, authors and many others.
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This restaurant is a clear example of how little businesses saw an economic growth thanks to being close to the road, where tourism increased astonishingly.
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A really funny fact about this place is that, since it is always so crowded, the owners give away free donuts to people waiting in line.
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Chain of Rocks Bridge
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Although it is technically in the state of Missouri, you will visit it before even setting foot on the state. This bridge was used in Route 66 to cross the Mississippi river and we could say that it is one of the most important ones in the United States of America, having as one of its best features the fact that it has a 22 degree turn.
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Its name comes from the rocky rapids called “Chain of Rocks” that made it really difficult for people to navigate across this river, due to its high danger.
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With the exorbitant cost of $1.250.000 (which later on went up to 2.5 million dollars) , the construction of the bridge started in 1927, and by 1928 it had already been all the way built. After some inconveniences, causing the delay of the opening for traffic during 6 months, the bridge finally opened in July 1929.
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Nowadays, is it a really visited place, especially by cyclists, attracted by many features it has, one of those which could be the fact that it makes you feel as if you were back in the late 80’s!
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