Cruisin' Illinois: Route 66 | News Special | WGNTV.com | WGN TV

Cruisin' Illinois: Route 66

Julian Crews, Reporter

May 3, 2007

This is the spot. The place where the great highway begins. Here in Chicago at the corner of Lake Shore Drive and Jackson.

But to feel the essence of Route 66, you've got to leave the city and your inhibitions behind and head south.

That's not a mirage, as you reach Springfield, just the legendary Shea's Gas Station Museum.

"We've had people in here from 64 countries," says Bill Shea.

Route 66 "goodwill ambassador," Bill Shea, greets you with a dry sense of humor.

"One good thing about the old days, they're gone," Bill says.

This lovable rascal says he pumped gas for honest Abe. The jokes are 'old school' and so is the memorabilia.

Everywhere, hanging from the ceiling old Route 66 "stuff" from the days when a hamburger cost 15 cents.

But wife Helen wishes he'd just throw some of it away.

Julian: "Did you ever get frustrated that he'd never throw anything away? Helen: "Yes. Yes. He doesn't throw anything away. Nothin!"

And there's nothin' like this souvenir shop, a block from the Lincoln home. Owner, Tom Rebman, will model his tacky collection.

There's the Lincoln bobblehead, toothpick holders, golf balls, refrigerator magnets, a penny, the size of a pancake, snow globes and salt shakers.

But if you're hungry for a taste of history, visit the Cozy Dog Drive-in," said to be the birthplace of fast-food.

A: "it takes some practice. It looks easy … but when you physically go to do it? Q: "there's a science to this?" A: "u-huh."

Using custom-made implements, designed by founder, Ed Waldmire, these fast-food revolutionaries flew into the stratosphere. Inventing a route 66 original.

The folks here at 'Cozy Dog' struck fast-food gold, back in 1945 when they claim to have invented the concept of impaling a hot dog and then encasing it in deep fried batter.

Don't call it a corn-dog. It's a cozy dog. The regulars will tell you. They've been eating 'em up for 60 years.

"Of course, I brought my kids here and now my kids are bringing their kids here."

A third-generation of Waldmires keep tradition alive.

But it's death they're serving up, when you reach the end of our journey.

You'll meet the grim pioneers, men who invented the process known as emballment. One of the first to be preserved, strangely enough, was the slain president, Abraham Lincoln, who came home on a funeral train. "It was clear that some form of preservation had to be applied," says Jon Austin, Museum of Funeral Customs.

It's a road and a spirit that'll never die.