And then things got a little weird

Last winter, when we chose our destination for our April vacation, I started looking up different things we could see and do there. Then I had an epiphany. The old Route 66 runs only thirty or so miles away from the resort where we would be staying. Bingo. Hubby would jump at the chance to travel a few miles of the iconic highway. Finally on the third afternoon we were in Illinois, we hit a few of those famous spots. 

In Wilmington, The Gemini Giant at the old Launching Pad Drive-In. 

In Braidwood, we first stopped at the Polk-A-Dot Drive-In. 

As I was walking around, taking pictures of the figures outside, Hubby noticed some squad cars and firetrucks a few blocks away. Pretty soon the road just past the Polk-A-Dot was closed off, and being curious and not shy, Hubby walked over to the office and asked what was going on. A gas leak. That didn’t sound good. 

We walked back to the Drive-In and just before we went inside we could smell natural gas. Hmm. Perhaps the inside of the Drive-In with its open-flame grill was not the place to be. But we bought some ice cream and headed back to the car. 

The next place on my map to stop was the Briarwood Zoo of metalwork animals. It was just past that officer with his car parked in the middle of the road.

Hubby was not willing to drive around the blocked-off city streets to get to it. He also reminded me that it just might not be safe.

Sigh.

Next stop, Godley, aka Scary Town. According to the “Illinois Route 66 Visitors Guide”, the town of Godley has the Route 66 Mining Museum along with Burma Shave signs. The museum was right along the main drag and naturally was closed, but I was still happy to find it. The Burma Shave signs though, nowhere to be found.

According to the book, “Travel Route 66”, the town of Godley is a once booming mining community, with only a few remaining homes. The “Exploring Route 66 Illinois” brochure says that Godley has the K-Mine Park, Community Center, trails and more. Hmm?

So we drove down what looked like the main drag. There were maybe a half dozen small older homes and a couple dozen trailer homes and then at the end of town, there was a new, modern park with all kinds of amenities, a building at the back which looked like a school to us, a community garden plot, a barnyard of hobby farm animals. We asked ourselves, “where did all this come from and who paid for it?” coz the people living in those mobile homes could not afford the taxes on a park like this. 

All we could figure was it had been built on mob-money. Then we started hearing dueling banjoes. So we skedaddled. I didn’t take any pictures of Godley, I was too afraid of the mob