Illinois Route 66 Blue Carpet Corridor

10/02/2024

The October issue of the THE PRAIRIE LAND BUZZ is now online, including my article on some great Illinois Route 66 attractions that are also said to be haunted! Enjoy my Halloween/October story! You can read it online at https://thebuzzmonthly.com/current-issue/

05/17/2023

“ Million Dollar Courthouse”

09/08/2022

Mark your calendars for Oct. 20-23 in the fun Route 66 city of Pontiac, Illinois! You can register before Oct. 1st and get $10 off your registration! https://route66milesofpossibility.com

10/20/2021

There's still time to register for this weekend's event!

10/18/2021

It's Miles of Possibility week! Not too late to register for this coming weekend's great lineup of speakers, presenters, and fun! https://route66milesofpossibility.com

10/17/2021

We are grateful for the support of the organizations and institutions who are bringing the 2021 6th Annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference Oct. 21-24 to you next week! We thank the Illinois Coal Museum at Gillespie (on Route 66) for their support. If you have not yet visited this amazing museum that honors coal miners and labor leaders, put it on your list! Get registered now for this coming weekend's event: https://route66milesofpossibility.com
http://www.gillespiecoalmuseum.org

10/16/2021

Home The Visitors Center and Gift Shop will be closed on the following days and times for Museum professional development: Thursday, October 28, 9am-5pm and Mondays November 1st, 8th and December 13 2-5 pm. Sorry for any inconvenience. Online Sirup Sales! Cruisin With Lincoln on 66 Cruisin' With Lin...

10/12/2021

In the next few posts, we'll be highlighting the organizations and institutions who are bringing the 2021 6th annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference to you this year! We so appreciate our contributors who are presenting this year's event! Joliet, Illinois, will be the host of Miles of Possibility in an upcoming year, and we encourage you to visit "the first hundred miles" way before then! https://www.heritagecorridorcvb.com

Home of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, The First Hundred Miles of Route 66, and Starved Rock State Park. Find out more about the area, attractions, and events - plan your next trip!

10/10/2021

In the next few posts, we'll be highlighting the organizations and institutions who are bringing Miles of Possibility to you this year! We so appreciate our contributors who are presenting this year's event! Springfield, Illinois, our capital city, will be the host of Miles of Possibility in an upcoming year, and we encourage you to "Visit Springfield" way before then! https://visitspringfieldillinois.com

When you think Springfield, IL...you think Abe Lincoln, and why wouldn't you, he's our most famous resident! Be sure to check out our '5 Must See Lincoln Sites' blog. "All that can be said is justice and fariness to all." A. Lincoln

10/08/2021

THE 6TH ANNUAL ROUTE 66 MOPCON VI will be held Thursday - Sunday, OCTOBER 21-24, 2021!

10/02/2021

09/29/2021

We're so happy to announce that Bill Thomas (Road Ahead Partnership, Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway) and Casey Claypool (Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway) will team up in one session at the 2021 all-virtual 6th Annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference Oct. 21-24 for great updates from those two outstanding organizations! Bill will present “Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership Update - Route 66 Centennial!" and Casey will present "Road Ahead Partnership: the Route 66 Extraordinary Women Initiative!" Read more about their presentations and Casey and Bill's bios below! You can register for the event at: https://route66milesofpossibility.com
BILL THOMAS
Bio:
In June 1963, Bill Thomas and his family headed out on Route 66 from Central Illinois in their new Chevy Bel Air station wagon on a vacation trip to Disneyland. They stayed in small motels, ate at mom and pop cafes [or had bologna sandwiches kept cold in the Scotch cooler], enjoyed no seat belts, and endured no air conditioning. The trip made an impression. Nearly 60 years later, Bill is now Chairman of the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership, a national organization dedicated to preserving, promoting, and economically developing the Mother Road. With the approach of the road's 100th Birthday - and all the excitement and opportunities that event is sure to generate - Bill is thankful to his parents for introducing him to Route 66 at a young age.
Presentation Title/Description:
“Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership Update - Route 66 Centennial!"
This session will present a brief update on the status of the Road Ahead's current work, including efforts to designate Route 66 a National Historic Trail, plan the work of the national Route 66 Centennial Commission, preserve and sustain vintage motels along Route 66, conduct new research on the economic impact of Route 66, and more. A question/answer session will be included.
CASEY CLAYPOOL
Bio:
Casey is the Executive Director of the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway and has led the organization since March of 2020. Casey is a 1998 graduate of Western Illinois University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management.
Currently, Casey is a member of Illinois Women in Leadership, the co-chair of the Route 66 Monarch Flyway Initiative, and heads the 100 Extraordinary Women Task Force in Illinois. She is also a member of the Illinois Route 66 Centennial Commission, the chair of the Economic Development Working Group for the Road Ahead Partnership, and sits on the board of the Old State Capitol Foundation.
Presentation Title/Description:
Casey will talk about the recent Road Ahead Partnership Initiative: the Route 66 Extraordinary Women Initiative. Women who own or operate small businesses and attractions along Route 66 face challenges every day – from maintaining their historic properties to competing with large, chain store operations. Still, they persevere – because that’s their nature. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has brought travel along Route 66 to a near standstill – greatly increasing the challenges for these women. Many struggle to stay open. Some have closed. Others are on the brink. Once the pandemic passes, it will take considerable time for recovery. You’ll learn more about this extraordinary initiative and how you can be of assistance.

09/29/2021

Register by midnight October 1st for this year's all-virtual 6th Annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference Oct. 21-24 and be entered into a drawing for a chance to win your very own Illinois Route 66 road sign! Donated by Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway, this authentic metal sign measures 24" x 30" and will look great on your Route 66 memorabilia wall! (Attendees already registered are entered into the drawing.) You can get signed up now at https://route66milesofpossibility.com!

09/26/2021

We're so happy to announce that Jim Hinckley and Joe Sonderman will serve as our Celebrity Emcees at this year's all-virtual 6th annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference! These two gentlemen have been involved with Miles of Possibility since our beginnings in 2015 and are a vital part of the Miles of Possibility family. After a half-dozen years of great presentations for the event, they agreed to take on a different role this year. Never knowing either of these gentlemen to be at a loss for words, we know they'll do a fantastic job! Read both their bios below. Don't miss a minute of this year's event -- get registered now at https://route66milesofpossibility.com!

JIM HINCKLEY
Jim Hinckley is an internationally acclaimed author, lecturer, historian, tour guide, and tour development consultant with three primary areas of expertise; Route 66, the American southwest and the American automobile industry between 1885 and 1980. His portfolio of published work includes fifteen books, and more than five hundred feature articles for a wide array of publications including True West, Old Cars Weekly, Hemmings Classic Car, Route 66, Antique Power, and Cars & Parts magazine. His work has been the subject of interviews on television and radio programs, for blogs and podcasts, and for a variety of print media. Among the most prestigious of these are Jay Leno's Garage, Rudy Maxa's Travel World, and Frommer's. Audiences and venues for his presentations have been equally as diverse. In 2015 he was a featured speaker at Vakantiebeurs (a tourism fair) in Utrecht Netherlands, at a fundraiser for the Route 66 Association of Kingman, at Route 66 State Park, at the Miles of Possibilities Conference in Edwardsville, Illinois, and for tour companies from Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Norway, and Germany. In 2016, Hinckley spoke at the European Route 66 Festival in Germany, a Route 66 festival in Holbrook, Arizona, the Miles of Possibilities Conference, at the Missouri History Museum, and at the 90th anniversary of Route 66 celebration in Los Angeles. His blog, Jim Hinckley's America - Route 66 Chronicles, as well as Jim Hinckley's America podcast, YouTube channel, and Facebook live program has developed a loyal international following. Hinckley also provides content, photographic and text, for corporate websites, blogs, advertisements, marketing campaigns, and event or festival promotion.
JOE SONDERMAN
Joe Sonderman is a Route 66 historian, collector, and author with more than a dozen books to his credit, most of them on Route 66 history. He is also editor of the Route 66 Association of Missouri's quarterly magazine, Show Me Route 66, for which he writes many articles, and was also a long-time regular contributor to the international publication, Route 66 magazine. Joe is an avid collector of Route 66 postcards and photos, with thousands of his images available to view on his website www.66postcards.com. For 25 years Joe was an on-air radio personality in St. Louis. Next, he kept track of modern highways in his position at Missouri Department of Transportation, but now he does the traffic alerts on St. Louis (and other Midwestern cities) on various radio stations. His latest books are: Route 66 in Missouri and Route 66 California

09/26/2021

InSites to Go and Windy City Road Warrior present a Zoom virtual tour. Presented with the Route 66 Miles of Possibility Conference, October 24 2021 at 11 AM....

09/24/2021

We are excited to announce that our California friend Scott R. Piotrowski will be one of the presenters at the all-virtual 2021 6th Annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference Oct. 21-24! Read Scott's bio and program description below. And be sure to get registered, so you don't miss any of the exciting sessions, at https://route66milesofpossibility.com!

SCOTT R. PIOTROWSKI

Bio:
Scott R. Piotrowski was born near Cleveland, Ohio in 1971. After graduating with a BS in Mathematics and a minor in History, he moved to Los Angeles in 1996 to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. Although he did not know it at the time, that move to Los Angeles would be the turning point of his life, not just his career. It was on this trip that he first encountered Route 66 and shortly after that he began to actively work on documenting it and other historic highways through photography, videography, writing, and public speaking. By 1999 Piotrowski had completed work on a non-fiction film entitled 158 Miles to Yesterday and in 2003 he released the book Finding the End of the Mother Road: Route 66 in Los Angeles County. To this day, this book is still the only guide book to detail the road’s westernmost portions. Currently, he is also President of the Board of the California Historic Route 66 Association
Often overlooked in exchange for more conventional Route 66 locations, Los Angeles’ Mother Road is not only dense in history, but rich in the cultural fabric of the historic highway. From the Mayan themed Aztec Hotel in Monrovia, to the Broadway Historic Theatre District, to the artist-centric Sunset Junction, Route 66 in Los Angeles County is worth exploring in great detail. Scott R. Piotrowski has done this in car, by foot, and with mass transit over the last 20 years, and continues to find new landmarks and stories with each passing year!

Program Title/Description:
"A New Way To Look At An Old Road"
Longtime Route 66 Historian Scott Piotrowski will discuss the hidden gems of the Mother Road's westernmost reaches, and how to enjoy them with less hassles and greater detail.
From locations such as the Aztec Hotel and Colorado Street Bridge, to Chicken Boy and Millie's Cafe, Route 66 weaves a vibrant fabric through one of the most diverse locations in the world. Long misunderstood and therefore ignored, one should not forego the highway that brought that this far out of misconceptions of what lay ahead.
Just like the rest of the Mother Road, unique architecture and mom-and-pop businesses dot the road in Los Angeles County, and the approximately 100 National Register of Historic Places Landmarks in the corridor assure that you will find something to enjoy from Claremont to Santa Monica, and dozens of communities in between.

09/21/2021

The bad news is next month’s annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference won’t be in person because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The good news is the virtual format will allow speakers from virtually all over the world. The Oct. 21-24 conference is called “A Worldwide Celebration of R...