Day 48 -- Wednesday, June 17

Springfield is the Land O' Lincoln and I wanted to get into the spirit of things so I headed downtown to take in a few of the sites. This capitol city does itself proud, avoiding, for the most part, tackiness (although if it's tacky you want, I can recommend a couple of gift shops. I browsed through one a bit and can only offer this report: it's a pretty poor gift shop if I'm not the least bit tempted to buy something. I'm a sucker for this cheesy stuff but not a single item in this establishment was calling to me).

Perhaps the highlight of the town's Lincolnia is the house in the downtown area where Abe lived with his wife and sons for 17 years. It was the only house the Lincolns ever owned and he didn't leave it until he was elected President. It was a small single-story building when the Lincolns purchased it. Soon, though, his law practice grew and the family's financial status improved so they added a second floor. Much of the furniture in the home is original; all of it is authentic to the period.

You can also visit the depot where, on a drizzling day, 1,000 people came to see the President-elect off as he boarded a train for Washington, D.C. Also available for viewing is the pew in which the Lincolns sat when attending Springfield's Lutheran church. Now, mind you, the church building which houses the pew is not the one in which the Lincolns worshipped; that was torn down after they left town for the White House. This sanctuary was, however, the site of Mrs. Lincoln's funeral some years later.

Before I left town, I had a couple of great corn dogs at a cool little 66 spot called the Cozy Dog Drive-in. It's been on 66 in south Springfield since 1949; definitely worth checking out. I also stopped in the Bachmann-Keefner Drugstore downtown for a milkshake they way they used to make them. This old-fashioned pharmacy has been serving Springfieldians since 1912 ; ask for your shake extra-thick.

South of Springfield, Route 66 really begins to take on the qualities one might expect from such a grand old road. Easily the best 66 hamlet I've yet traveled through is the town of Litchfield, about 42 miles down the road. It has a cool old motel, the 66 Hotel Courts; a great-looking cafe that dates from the '30s, the Ariston; another spot, the Route 66 Cafe, that is relatively new but is housed in an old building and a first-run drive-in movie theatre. This is one of the coolest drive-ins you'll find anywhere. Picture it: a drive-in theatre right on old 66 with railroad tracks running just behind the last row of parking spaces. You're sitting on the hood of your car, under a star-filled sky, enjoying the movie and every now and then the mournful moan of a train whistle fills the night air. Man, to me, that's just about heaven. I was tempted to hole up in Litchfield for the night but a free night's boarding awaited me a little farther down the road in St. Louis, so I resisted.

I had another treat awaiting me in Mt. Olive, just a few miles ahead. I had read of a Shell station there which has been open for many years and was, from day one, owned and operated by a brother and two sisters, the Soulsbys; it sounded like my kind of place.

I found the Shell station without too much trouble, pulled up to one of the two pumps and waited (I'd read that it was still a full-service station and I was looking forward to the royal treatment). After a bit, a gentleman of some years did appear, only to explain that they no longer sold gas. It seems that the EPA and Shell Oil had teamed up in demanding all sorts of equipment upgrades that the Soulsbys simply couldn't afford, so they'd had to cease dispensing fuel. Now, they dealt only in the sales and service of Magnavox televisions and radios, a long-time sideline to their petrol sales.

Although Mr. Soulsby was unable to fill my tank, he was ready, willing, and able to give me an ear full of good conversation before I went on my way. I asked a few questions, he did a little reminiscing and we both, I think, enjoyed ourselves immensely. I suspect he rather misses the steady stream of travellers stopping in. After all, he'd been serving up gas and gab here for nearly 60 years when the EPA and Shell pulled the plug; to have that suddenly come to an end would make for a difficult adjustment for any of us, I think. And, sadly, one of his sisters passed not so long ago and the other is not very well.

Mr. Soulsby keeps busy, though, with his electronics business and his hobby, ballroom dancing. At least once a week, Mr. Soulsby goes out and cuts a rug with any of a number of women serving as his partner (his wife passed some 20 years ago). He's convinced the dancing keeps him young and I'm convinced he's right. If you find yourself near Mt. Olive, take a little time to look up Mr. Russell Soulsby. You won't be sorry.


Before making the final run into St. Louis, I needed to grab some dinner and I found the perfect spot in Edwardsville: an A&W Family Restaurant. I hadn't seen one of these in years and I mean years, maybe 15 or more. It seems they no longer call their sandwiches PapaBurgers, Mama-, Teen- or even BabyBurgers but they're still darned tasty. I also enjoyed some fries and a frosty mug of creamy A&W Root Beer and drove off towards St. Louis a happy man.



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