Ragtop on Route 66!: Day 3: Springfield to the Mississippi River!

Day 3!

And we woke up in a campground in Springfield. People really love Lincoln in this town. We first stopped by the Oak Ridge Cemetery, where we visited Abraham Lincoln's Tomb.

Also inside are 3 of Lincoln's sons and wife Mary Todd. Lincoln's fourth son Robert is buried in Arlington in Virginia.

Next we stopped by Abraham Lincoln's home. He lived there 25 years and built several additions to accommodate his growing family. In 1860 he left to serve as president, promising to return but never did.

Outside of Springfield we came across and old stretch of the original Route 66 which is amazingly paved with bricks!

In the small town of Girard we stopped by the old Whirl-A-Whip. So named after the unique Whirl-A-Whip Machine that infuses any number of flavors into soft serve Ice cream. There are only two machines left in operation in the US.

Here my dad with one of the owners Brent, who owns the business with wife Anita. Brent gave us a tour of how the machine works. He also showed us how they make their signature "soft taco" which is make with home made dough, and deep fried. It was too delicious to be real. Check out my dad's latest video about Whirl A Whip, below including the tour of the machine.

Next. What's this????

In another stretch of the original Route 66, paved what has been called the Portland Cement. in 1926, the state of Illinois paved this road, and sometime in the night a gang of turkeys escaped a nearby turkey farm. They ran across the wet cement before turning around and going home. Those mischevious hooligan turkeys.

Here is the beginning of the Chain of Rocks Bridge, which used to carry Route 66 over the Mississippi river and into Missouri from Illinois. Now we walk.