Roadside America: Illinois Tips


	Feed the Tree Archive: Illinois	Tips, leads, and stories from site visitors -- archived from Feed the Tree. Trip Planning Caution: Some tips may not be verified.

Bikini-clad Miss Uniroyal for the Giant Women collection — located just south of downtown Peoria, Illinois. [Martin Ince, 4/4/98]
Abingdon, Illinois: Spent inherited $ on "Tallest Totem Pole East of Mississippi" instead of recreation for kids in early 70s. Grew up there. [Thomas Gardner, 3/10/98]
My little lady and I (Laura Fiorilli, also a Smiler) took a grand trip home to North Carolina from Chicago in December. Some things we saw on the way:
1) In Springfield, Illinois, downtown on (I think) Lincoln Square, there's a plaque commemorating the starting spot of the Donner Party. Especially convenient if you're visiting the Lincoln Home or doing the walking tour of the Springfield Race Riot of 1908.
2) We hit Olney too late to see the white squirrels in person, but we did get to see the town's christmas light extravaganza which featured some impossibly cute kids and giant wooden models of the white squirrels. [Josh Lucas, 1/18/98]
No Meat Option at Medieval Times: We were assured that we could get a vegetarian meal at the Medieval Times in Schaumburg, IL, and I called to double check. "Sure", they said. (I was still wary, that same year Midway Airlines gave me a chicken sandwich as my vegetarian meal. The flight attendants insisted "It's not meat!, it's chicken!) Our MT meal was vegetarian, but very, shall I say, anachronistic. Corn on the Cob was the mainstay. Were not the Middle Ages Pre-Columbian? Corn is from the New World. The french fried potatoes, ditto. Our plate also had a few grilled vegetables and vegetable soup (probably with a beef base but we are not that picky.)
We will probably return to MT in a couple of years when we take the girls to Tourism Central - Florida - now that we live so close. It was hokey but fun. [Kirby Bartlett-Sloan, 1/18/98]
Bartlett, IL: The muffler man reported on Rt. 20 may be a delapidated Texaco Service Man. [1/6/98]
There was a muffler man on Rt. 20 and, I think, Bartlett road in Bartlett, IL. I haven't been around there for 4 years or so, so it may be gone. I think they sold tires out of a barn there. [HughdeMann, 11/25/97]
I realized you've not included the replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Niles, IL. The tower is on Touhy Avenue a couple miles west of 1-94 and about 5 miles east of I-294. Niles is a Northwest Suburb of Chicago and the replica stands in front of The Tower YMCA. It's just recently been renovated (as of July 1997) and is pretty neat with fountains and early Italian style phone booth. [Andrew Miller, 10/25/97]
[RA: Been there many times. Here's a photo and description.]

Springfield, Illinois: There's a TERRIFYING giant fiberglass Abe Lincoln holding an ax at the Illinois State Fair Grounds here. He looks more like a crazed ax-murderer than the Great Emancipator. Reportedly, children cower and cry at the sight of him. [Tom Wood, 10/1/97]
The Pinto Pelt: One of several whimsical automobile sculptures (along with 8 cars on a spike) at the Cermak Shopping Center, Berwyn, IL, created by Dustin Shuler in the late 1980s. [Kirby A. Bartlett-Sloan, 8/26/97]

This year I set off on a road trip to see ever greater attractions. First stop was Ahlgrim's Funeral Home, Palatine, IL, for a round of miniature golf [in the basement]. Mr. Ahlgrim, who usually opens the place to groups (b-day parties, Scouts, etc), was away, but a nice young man named Carl opened the place for us (since there were just two of us) and allowed us free rein for as long as we wanted. Wow! [Diane Longenecker, 8/27/97]
"Spindle," cars on a spike, Berwyn, Illinois. Remember the great drive by in the movie "Wayne's World?" The shopping center the sculpture is located in has lots of weird sculpture. I have heard that the Berwyn police initiate new cops by sending them to investigate a report of a car smashed up against a wall at the shopping center. The recipient of the joke finds "Pinto Pelt" which is the outside of a Ford Pinto mounted on the wall outside the Walgreen's drug store.
The (Cermak shopping plaza is 1/2 a mile east of the cemetery containing the Circus Train Wreck memorial. [Kirby A. Bartlett-Sloan, 8/26/97]

Just a quickie to let you know that the Al Capone Museum is closed as we discovered on a Chicago trip in May of this year. Boo-hoo. [kritter, 8/11/97]
[RA: The Capone's Chicago site is now occupied by eatertainment nightmare Rainforest Cafe. We visited Capone's Chicago in 1996. The free historical displays outside the theater included Capone's bathroom door. The main attraction was an all-animatronic, theater-in-the-round, hosted by a robot Capone. The half-hour show, which featured aromarama effects, chronicled Capone's life and murders. The show ended upbeat as all the characters (even the dead ones like Hymie Weiss and Dan O'Bannon) -- except Carrie Nation -- return to sing "My Kind of Town." The gift shop sold replica tombstones, thug mugs, and wooden tommy guns.]
Entrance to the Animatronic Theater.
Animatronic Capone

Bunyan Muffler Man: At Lamb's Farm, in Libertyville IL, a Bunyan Muffler Man is accompanied, not by Babe the Blue Ox, but by a fiberglass "Bessie" the brown cow, and a fiberglass milk bottle [10k jpeg photo]. Lamb's Farm is a community for mentally handicapped adults, a tourist attraction since 1961.
Lamb's Farm is mainly a petting zoo with LOTS of goats. A mini-train ride winds past beautiful wild flowers and a decaying fiberglass horse and bear. The place is perfect for a 2 and 3 and a half year old (like my daughters). It will probably continue to be popular with them until the age of 6 or 7. [Kirby Bartlett-Sloan, 8/10/97]
A quick note to let you know that Big John still exists in Metropolis, Illinois. I've recently returned from the US and used Roadside America as my travel bible whilst driving from Atlanta to Seattle with a friend. Big John does still exist if not perhaps a little weathered. [James Lipscomb, 7/20/97]
The Cobden Museum is in Cobden, IL, a little town just south of Bald Knob Cross. It's just an old store front full of junque, but they do have a stuffed two-headed squirrel, and they did have an Indian skeleton (probably been reclaimed). The "curator" used to be an old guy who could barely talk (his son would "interpret"), and if you were lucky, he would play the hammer bells for you! I called the Cobden Post Office yesterday (no phone at the museum) and apparently the place is still open occasionally, though the old man has passed. [Joe Wilson, 7/31/97]
Hog Capital of the World: located in Henry County in Northwest Illinois is Kewanee, known as the Hog Capital of the World. A gigantic celebration is held every Labor Day weekend where 50 thousand pork chops are grilled and sold to the public. There is a 6-foot tall concrete pig located in front of city hall making known to visitors and locals alike that they are in the hog capital. [L. Flannery, 7/10/97]
Rockome Gardens, Arcola, Illinois, is still aging (they had to tear down the treehouse at the end of last season. One of the trees was rotting.) I had a chance to walk through the Haunted Cave. It is so rare to find a good walk through haunted house anymore. The cyclops calf is still there.
One of the performing chickens went on strike while we were watching. (they are from Educated Animals, Hot Springs, AR). My daughter got to pet the chicken as it was taken out of the "basketball" machine and got the prize free from the new chicken that replaced it as the caretaker tested the chicken.
One very bizzare (but popular) attraction is the Horse Powered Buzz Saw. They have reconstructed a buzz Saw that one could have purchased via mail order at the turn of the last century. For $1 you ride on the Belgian Draft Horse "Betty" as she circles two or three times, just long enough to saw off a circle of wood. After the ride you cross over to the blacksmith shop and have a bored employee brand letters into the slice of wood at $1 for the first 4 letters and 20 cents for each additional letter. Warning - three days after we returned home last year, some sort of grub ate its way out of the circle of wood. [Kirby A. Bartlett-Sloan, 7/9/97]
I am an ex-resident of Metropolis, IL. In addition to being the Hometown of Superman, Metropolis is also the burial site of the Birdman of Alcatraz. I can't remember which cemetery he is buried in, but it's on the west side of North Avenue. You forgot to mention that Metropolis celebrates "Superman Days" in June every year. There are races, beauty contests, dance, food, etc. [RBTLBecker, 6/27/97]
No truth to the rumor that Big John no longer stands watch over Midwestern supermarket lots. I saw him just last Thursday, looming over a store in Benton, IL; sacks clutched tightly. He's not illuminated at night, though. Have these people no pride?! [Darren Snow, 4/13/97]
We now have a 30 ft. Superman in Metropolis in place of the one you are showing to everyone, at a cost of $130,000. We also have a gambling casino at our beautiful riverfront called the Merv Griffin Landing. The citizens of Metropolis are very proud of our landmarks, along with it being a great community to raise your children and retire. We have an excellent school system and our unemployment is zero at this time and has been for several years. I think you need to take another look at what you have been making fun of and go on Oprah again and show the real Metropolis. [The LaGores, 3/7/97]
[RA: We've written some new info on Metropolis, its 15 foot (not 30) statue and other noteworthy improvements...]
On Illinois Route 116/Farmington Road just west of Peoria can be found an elusive Uniroyal gal. The tire she held proudly is long gone, but her attire has long been a subject of debate. For many years, we stood in awe of the startling two-piece red swimsuit, only to see it replaced by the PC police with a less enticing (read, boring) knee length dress. Rumors circulate that the bikini returned, but I have not seen her since 1992. Bonus: The auto repair shop is near a filthy, dirt-bowl stock car speedway and the Caddyshack putt-putt/driving range complex. [Brandon Goldsberry, 2/28/97]
Big John of Metropolis, IL was just fine as of Spring 1995. However, much like in Deadwood, SD, the casinos have taken over. Can Big John's demise be far behind? [Dr. Todd Wyatt, 2/17/97]
In Oquawka, Illinois there is a grave marker with a cement elephant, that marks the spot where in 1971 an circus elephant named Norma Jean Elephant was killed by lightning.I forget the exact directions but it is on the Mississippi river, not too far from Galesburg, Illinois.
It also has a glass case, with photos of the dead elephant and a hilarous story about the trainer"Possum Red" that was thrown into the air by the lightning blast that killed his prize elephant. Oquawka is a very small town. Head towards the river on the "main drag" and you'll see signs for the Grave of Norma Jean Elephant. It is also near the 'public pool, which is by the water tower. [John Coulter, 1/1/97]
[RA: Norma Jean is part of the Elephant Burial Ground, in the Roadside America Pet Cemetery]

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