Rocket Man

A “Main Street” for America was the idea behind the promotion of Route 66 as a link between Chicago and Los Angeles in 1926. During the 1938 Depression, it became the path for many thousands of hopeful migrants fleeing the dust bowl and headed for California. Paving of the entire highway was a New Deal work-relief project employing thousands of men. The coming of the interstate system made the old route obsolete, but it remains a tourist draw highlighting rural towns, kitchy attractions, and a slice of Americana.

Yesterday after a long bike ride on the Wauponsee Trail, we detoured to Wilmington to find a Route 66 landmark, the Rocket Man (as my family always called him). He’d been a tourist attraction for years but was recently moved to a park, and we wanted to see where.  

The Gemini Giant was “born” in 1964 as an advertising prop for mufflers and many were on display across the country. He stands thirty feet tall and is made of fiberglass. He stood outside the Launching Pad restaurant for half a century, but when the restaurant closed, he was eventually auctioned off. The current owner is the Joliet Historical Society who used a grant to install him on loan until 2046 near the river in Wilmington.  

While we were posing for our pictures, we met a young couple from London who flew into Chicago to follow Route 66, visiting all the kitchy Americana along the way, until they had to turn south to get to New Orleans.  

If Route 66 can attract visitors from thousands of miles away, maybe we should all get in our cars and take a drive.  Road trip!!