Texas to Illinois...cool places to stop?

[stephinsouth]

Hi there, I am new to this site and so excited to find that such a site exsists in the first place. I hope someone can help me. My husband and I are traveling from Central Texas during spring break in March (10 days) and are planning to drive up to Streator, IL to visit some family and then head up to Chicago where we plan to go to the Field Museum and check things out. I'm wondering what kinds of wonderful stops we could make along the way? If anyone would like to make a suggestion we would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much!

Steph

[romerun]

last new year weekend, I went to hot springs,AK. But the hot springs itself is less exciting than I had expected, so I drove along a scenic drive, SR 7, in the map up to the north. There're many beautiful stops such as Ouachita national forest, buffalo river, Ozark national forest, mount nebo(number 4 ***), nimrod dam, natural bridge, etc..

[Quebec Gen]

Hi Stephinsouth,

I am new to this site and so excited to find that such a site exsists in the first place.

Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum.

I'm wondering what kinds of wonderful stops we could make along the way? If anyone would like to make a suggestion we would greatly appreciate it.

If you go through St. Louis : Gateway Arch, Museum of Westward Expansion, food and live music in the Elvis room at Blueberry Hill Restaurant.

In Springfield : for Route 66 memorabilia stop by Shea Gas Station
(see also Pontiac Route 66 Hall of Fame), have a quick lunch at the Cozy Dog Drive-In, self proclaimed inventer of the corn dog.

In Chicago : for nightlife start the night at the Green Mill (jazz) and check out Apartment Nightclub (dance club) on Lincoln St. For tasty pizza try Pizzeria Uno. You might want to take a free walking tour in The Loop, visit the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Ernest Hemingway Museum, the Frank Lloyd Wright Home or go up the Sears Tower.

Happy planning!:-)
Gen

[RoadDog]

Get on the Double Six and take it across Missouri and Illinois. It runs alongside, and close to, I-44 and I-55 so, if you get behind in time, you can catch up.

In Missouri, a good place to spend the night would be at the Munger-Moss Motel in Lebanon. Check out the concretes at Ted Drewe's in St. Louis.

Stop in Springfield. Definitely visit the new Lincoln Musem and Library. It is something else. I'd recommend the Route 66 Hotel and Convention Center with rooms at $66, and a real touch of 66. The famous Cozy Dog is about two blocks north of it. They feature Cozy Dogs, which were some of the first corn dogs.

The Ariston Restaurant in Litchfield, south of Springfield, is another place I would suggest

[stephinsouth]

Just wanted to thank everyone who has responded so far. I appreciate the great suggestions and have already started looking into them. Again, thanks so much and keep 'em coming if you have more!