Boozing in Chicago
Rob came to meet us at our hotel yesterday afternoon, bringing along his charming girlfriend whos (Polish) name I daren't try and spell right now (help me out Rob?). Rob drove us to a nice restaurant where we were too stuffed from our breakfast and lunch to have anything more than a started (me: calamari, Debbie: hummus)... and several beers. We both had some microbrewery ale, which was lovely. Afterwards we went on a quick car tour around some Chicago sights, followed by a "party pub" called Dick's. It wasn't really the right choice for the occasion (the doorman took our ID then asked if we were "eating or just getting plastered"). Rob had to give up early because he had work in the morning (I don't! I don't!). After they dropped us off, we had a last drink in the hotel bar before going to bed.
And We're Off
We picked up the car, it turns out we've got one class better than we paid for. It's a Nissan Altima, a classic piece of Americana ideally suited to a cross-continent drive. Debbie bravely took on the initial drive though crowded Chicago, coping with little things like not knowing how an automatic gearbox works commendibly. Before long we started seeing out first cool Route 66 landmarks.
We had to stop for a hot dog at Bunyan's hot dog stand in Berwyn, Chicago. Lovely stuff, and stupidly cheap. After a while (and after a minor navigation mishap where we lost the route for a short while) we got out of the built up areas and onto the proper route 66 of legend: long, straight, two lane roads, with old rickety telephone lines running alongside, often with a railway track beyond that.
Next thing we know we're in Wilmington, where the local teenagers are looking very clean cut, and hanging around the Launchpad Drive-In, home of the Gemini Giant. Does he look familiar to you?
We got a lot of miles under our belt, and we saw a lot of great Illinois scenery: it's very flat and there's a lot of corn fields, grain stores, small towns with their own water towers, that kind of thing.
We lasted two days in the USA without having a McDonald's, but today we passed one just as we both needed "the bathroom". Once we were in, we thought we may as well have a drink. And if you're having a drink, well, two dollars for a double cheeseburger... has to be done... We weren't really hungry after the hot dogs earlier, so I don't know why we did it. Anyway, the verdict is "greasy". Far more greasy than a British McDonalds: there was grease dripping from my hands and making the tray liner transparent. My window to weight gain.
So now we're holed up in the Budget Inn Motel in Lincoln Illinois, with 180 miles under our belts, waiting for hunger pangs which don't seem to be forthcoming. It's raining outside, but it's hot. It's been sunny most of the afternoon and we've been seeing buildings with thermometers mounted, reading 84 Farenheit.
The phone system here looks pretty ancient, so if you're reading this
it means the modem filter is working.