A 2019 Route 66 Trip to Lebanon, Missouri-- Part 1: To Springfield, Illinois

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12

Drove the usual way on Illinois Highway 47 to Dwight.  Then drove Route 66 to Chenoa and then to I-55 for the rest of the day to Springfield, Illinois.  First time ever that we were unable to  get a room at the Route 66 Hotel and Conference Center which was booked for a horse show and golf tournament in town.  Also, no room at the nearby Comfort Inn.

We went south to Toronto Road and got the last room at the Motel 6 and then back for our Cozy Dog fix.  Watched the first part of the Stanley Cup Game 7 contest between the St, Louis Blues and Boston Bruins.  Springfield is 100 miles from St. Louis and about half and half St. Louis and Chicago fans.  We saw the rest of the game at Motorheads on Route 66 on Toronto Road.  The place was packed with Blues fans.

We pulled for the Blues (even though we are Blackhawk fans) because they Midwest and no one wants to see another Boston/New England team win anything.

--RoadDog

N.C. Spring Trip 2016-- Part 1: Clear Ride Through

APRIL 29, FRIDAY

I took the usual drive to North Carolina.  Illinois-120 to Illinois-47, to I-74, to I-70.

Sadly, Illinois-47 has built up so fast that it takes a lot longer to drive it, but at least they are finished doing the road work in Yorkville.  Now the mess is north of Morris.

It may be spring, but it sure is cold right now.  Global warming my foot.

I found another Hardee's in Illinois at the Love's Truck Stop in Dwight, near the old Route 66 bypass.

Unfortunately, leaving as late as I did, 9:45, that meant I would hit Indianapolis right at rush hour (with the loss of the hour going to Eastern Time Zone).  I went through the middle of it and was lucky as there were just a couple slow-downs to 20 mph, but the rest was clear-sailing.

Then I-70 to Dayton, Ohio, and a stop for my Cincinnati Chili fix at Skyline Chili.

Stopped at a Motel 6 in Springfield, Ohio.

--RoadDog

NTNing Down the Road Part 2

This past Saturday, we went to three new NTN sites and revisited two others in Rockford, Illinois.

We have been to Rockford and played NTN before. However with NTN there are constantly places closing, dropping it, and adding it. So every so often you can go back. Of course, playing NTN is NOT the main reason we go on road trips, but something we try to add whenever possible.

We go to the NTN Buzztime web site and there you can look up places in towns you intend to visit. We always go here before taking any trip.

The first new place was Brewski's, which we found after some serious looking. The street is divided and at one point we thought perhaps it might be in a gentleman's club, but we just couldn't imagine why such a place would have NTN. I would imagine patrons have other things on their mind. Brewski's is located downstairs in a banquet facility, very dark, and someone should turn the air conditioner back as we like to froze.

They advertise the world's largest cocktails, and, judging by the huge glass, I would have to agree. You can get a margarita for $150 and they say there are about 50 drinks in it. I sure would have liked to see them make one of those. They also have a raffle to win a Brewski's Girl Lamp. This was a whole lot better than the one the father won on a "Christmas Story."

Several people were playing when we went in, but they all stopped for some reason.

Next stop was at Miranda's in a Muhlford Village, a shopping center that would appear to be essentially out of business.

Last new stop was called Cousins located right off the main shopping/restaurant thoroughfare called Business US-20, State Street. This is your standard sports bar; nice place, though. NTN was not on when we arrived, always a bad sign if they are going to keep it. Then, we could only get the Texas Hold Em. The bartender spent a lot of time getting Countdown on the screen. Then, they moved it to another set when the Bears-49ers preseason game came on. A big part of the floor was buckled from all the rain we've been having.

We got a room at the Motel 6 out by I-90 and played at the Damon's located nearby. This is one of the few Damon's that still has the game. At one time, pretty much every one had it. This is where they began the Glory Daze games for them exclusively before it went out to all sites. We like Damon's, but they are a bit on the expensive side. I LOVE their onion ring loaf!! And we also tried their new menu item, the Mini Burgers, which are two inch patties of Kobe-Black Angus beef. Those were so good that I almost didn't want to put all the other stuff on the sandwich as I normally do. I actually ate half the patty before putting all the extras on.

We then went to Scoreboard's in the Holiday Inn and played NTN. Their top player is Cactus who has over 20 million Players Plus Points. You usually get a 1000 PP points if you score above 3000-9000 points out of a possible 15,000. So, he has played a lot. Liz and I both have over 9 million points. Not easy to do because you get a wide variety of questions. Cactus, however, did not play team, and kept his answers to himself. And he definitely knew the answers.

Still Spendin' Too Much Time Playing NTN. But Really Enjoyin' It. --RoadDog