Day 1: Chicago, Illinois to Joliet, Illinois

Miles Traveled: 44
Travel Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes
Pictures Taken: 88 (don't worry, they're not all here in this post!)

The day actually started in Detroit, where we picked up the rental car.  At first, they gave us a Versa, which only had a hatchback.  After pointing out that stopping at countless tourist traps over the next 12 days with laptop bags and suitcases in plain view was probably not a very smart idea, they upgraded us to a Camry.

We then drove back to Ann Arbor to stash my car safely in the garage, and hit the road.  We started by meeting up with friends in Evanston for a late lunch at a local middle-eastern restaurant called Olive Mountain (not to be confused with it's Italian sound-alike cousin).  Then it was off to do a bit of the tourist thing in Chicago.

It was hazy, gray, and rained intermittently, but we stopped at Millennium Park anyway.

The first thing we saw was the splash park area.  There was the usual assortment of little kids squealing, bigger kids wrestling, and parents snapping pics and trying not to get the cameras wet.  HOWEVER... anchoring the splash area at either end are large (50 ft tall) rectangles made of smaller rectangles upon which are projected images of faces of a variety of people.  Water cascades out from these monoliths and contributes to the splash park experience.  Personally, I found them creepy and disturbing - especially the face of the girl that winked and smiled (the rest were static images).

Next stop - The Bean! It's real name is Cloud Gate, but everyone calls it The Bean as it resembles a giant, reflective legume.  There's an additional photo of The Bean over at my other blog HERE.

This is a shot from directly underneath, shooting up.

We then wandered up a bridge to nowhere (OK, it actually led to the upper level of the Museum of Modern Art) where we got some decent views of the surrounding skyscrapers.

As well as the amphitheater that looks like a giant bow.  Apparently it was a gift from Frank Gehry? There was a free classical concert scheduled for later in the evening but we did not stay for that.

Next stop - the sculptures from China!  There was a giant red dinosaur....

Rawr.

A very disturbing car hoisting a giant pig and two dangling fat men on it's tongue...

And a large wad of tinfoil sacred rock.

After all that culture, we decided it was time to actually start driving Route 66.  Woo! 

(Random shot of the El and some buildings.)

Chicago DID have a very small sign to denote the official eastern end of the route.

We crossed over the Chicago River and were officially on our way!

After winding through some....interesting....neighborhoods of Chicago, we found ourselves in Cicero, home of the first quirky/cheesy sighting of the trip!  Henry's Hot Dog where, "It's a meal in itself"!  (We did not stop.)

The next town was Berwyn, which is EXTREMELY proud to have Route 66 running through it.  They not only have banners on their light posts, they have this lighted sign!  The picture is a bit blurry as we only stopped long enough for me to lean out the car window and shoot quickly.

After that, it was a fairly uneventful drive to Joliet.  We detoured slightly from Route 66 to get to our hotel, but should be back on track tomorrow and on our way to the Land of Lincoln and beyond!