S
spmarshall
Guest
Took a week's vacation and went to Chicago via Detroit. I rented a car in Detroit, appropriately at the Ren Cen/GM HQ (and the car was a Chevy). I spent most of the drive there off Interstate 94, and on Old US 66.
This photothead includes a major Frank Lloyd Wright Building, small towns, infamous places, icons of Americana, scenes from at least three cult-classic movies and something for just about everyone.
I get off I-94 in Ann Arbor. It's raining in AA, and the downtown was closed for an arts fair, but I-94 was a pain, and old US 12 is a much nicer drive.
One of the first towns I hit was a place called Marshall. By this time, the weather cleared, and I found myself in a beautiful small town.
After Marshall is Battle Creek, home of Kellogg's. As soon as you drive into town, you swear you could smell Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies. The Kellogg brothers, especially JH Kellogg, were strange, obsessive people, who became the subjects of a book and movie called The Road to Wellville. The sanitorium that Kellogg worked at later became a military hospital, and is now a federal office building.
And after Battle Creek is Kalamazoo.
Then drove along I-94 for a while to make up some time, but I-94 has got to be one of the most boring highways I have ever been on, as bad as 401 between London and Chatham. I got back off the Interstate in Benton Harbor.
Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, on Lake Michigan are sister cities, separated only by a minor river. However, Benton Harbor is about 90 percent Black, St. Joseph 90 percent White. And neither are that big.
Then, you enter the heart of Middle America....
The first town is Michigan City. Not a very impressive town, a large outlet mall is in the downtown now. But going west along one of the streets, you drive along the South Shore Line, North America's last interubans. And as I discovered, it still sees regular freight service.
Then Gary. I had to check it out. With Flint, I have now visited two of the three cities that make of the trifecta of the worst cities in America (East St. Louis, just wait!).
Hey! Bennigans!
And finally, I reach Chicago!
I take the 95th Street bridge on the far south side. One of the first scenes of the Blues Brothers.
What's a road trip to Chicago without checking out Lower Wacker Drive?
In Wisconsin, the next stop (Chicago pics will be in several upcoming threads), I visit Racine and Kenosha. In Wisconsin, you now get a midwest accent not unlike what you hear in the movie Fargo - there seems to be Canadian and Scandinavian influences on a very American accent. The use of "Ya" and roof pronounced "rough" are hallmarks I noticed.
I'm in Racine for a tour of the Johnson_Wax_Headquarters, a FLW masterpiece. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed inside the grounds.
They have one of the original FLW-designed work stations on display. Looks like it was designed for computer keyboards, but since in the 1930s, clerks used manual typewriters, these desks were not ergonomic. Remarkably, most original furniture is still in use, though the four-legged chair is not the chair Wright intended to design (read about the chairs in the link above for the whole story).
Kenosha bought 5 of Toronto's PCCs, and are now using them to link the downtown, bus terminal, Metra station and waterfront. Fare is 25 cents. Each streetcar is painted for a different city, the only one out today is in Johnstown, PA, colours (one is kept in TTC livery). The operator was very friendly and we talked about the cars and the town.
Keeping up the fares (wow they were a lot cheaper not that long ago) and the Ontario label amused me - I doubt Ontario subsidizes this operation, thiough I think Kenosha got a steal when they bought our streetcars (and we so shortsighted to not keep them), but they are making good use of them. The waterfront is nice, and new development is tied to the streetcar route. An expansion of the circular route is planned.
Americana around Chicago:
Chicago is the eastern terminus of Route 66. I got my kicks driving the segment from Michigan Avenue down to where it joins I-55 toward Joilet.
They take old 66 very seriously.
And I found myself in Oak Brook heading back. Oak Brook is where the McDonald's HQ is, and the restaurant you see is part of "Hamburger University", where franchisees are trained. Though I'm not a big McDonald's fan, I pull in. After all, its Americana, and appopriate for a Middle America road trip (this is where Middle Americans get obese!).
Here's a curiosity - near the end of the CTA Pink Line, at Cermak and Harlem, is Cermak Plaza. There's some weird art in the parking lot, but this is well-known. I wasn't the only one gawking - I met two ladies from California, who wanted to see it because of Wayne's World. I now realize why it looked familiar. I love it. Note the old Cermak Plaza sign in the background.
With the construction on the Dan Ryan expressway, I took an alternate. Not entirely by accident, I find one of the most famous dead malls in the US - Dixie_Square_Mall. It was abandoned in 1979, and its last tenant was Universal Pictures that year - for the filming of The Blues Brothers. It still stands, barely. The suburb that surrounds the mall, Harvey is similarly bleak.
Heading back into Indiana, the big story is of someone shooting at cars on the Interstates - the "Indiana sniper" according to the local Chicagoland and South Bend newscasts. He was caught the day I drove through, but he allegedly killed one driver, injured four others and caused several collisions.
Stayed in South Bend Indiana the last night. Most famous for Notre Dame University, where not surprisingly, the football stadium is the largest building on its sprawling campus.
This photothead includes a major Frank Lloyd Wright Building, small towns, infamous places, icons of Americana, scenes from at least three cult-classic movies and something for just about everyone.
I get off I-94 in Ann Arbor. It's raining in AA, and the downtown was closed for an arts fair, but I-94 was a pain, and old US 12 is a much nicer drive.
One of the first towns I hit was a place called Marshall. By this time, the weather cleared, and I found myself in a beautiful small town.
After Marshall is Battle Creek, home of Kellogg's. As soon as you drive into town, you swear you could smell Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies. The Kellogg brothers, especially JH Kellogg, were strange, obsessive people, who became the subjects of a book and movie called The Road to Wellville. The sanitorium that Kellogg worked at later became a military hospital, and is now a federal office building.
And after Battle Creek is Kalamazoo.
Then drove along I-94 for a while to make up some time, but I-94 has got to be one of the most boring highways I have ever been on, as bad as 401 between London and Chatham. I got back off the Interstate in Benton Harbor.
Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, on Lake Michigan are sister cities, separated only by a minor river. However, Benton Harbor is about 90 percent Black, St. Joseph 90 percent White. And neither are that big.
Then, you enter the heart of Middle America....
The first town is Michigan City. Not a very impressive town, a large outlet mall is in the downtown now. But going west along one of the streets, you drive along the South Shore Line, North America's last interubans. And as I discovered, it still sees regular freight service.
Then Gary. I had to check it out. With Flint, I have now visited two of the three cities that make of the trifecta of the worst cities in America (East St. Louis, just wait!).
Hey! Bennigans!
And finally, I reach Chicago!
I take the 95th Street bridge on the far south side. One of the first scenes of the Blues Brothers.
What's a road trip to Chicago without checking out Lower Wacker Drive?
In Wisconsin, the next stop (Chicago pics will be in several upcoming threads), I visit Racine and Kenosha. In Wisconsin, you now get a midwest accent not unlike what you hear in the movie Fargo - there seems to be Canadian and Scandinavian influences on a very American accent. The use of "Ya" and roof pronounced "rough" are hallmarks I noticed.
I'm in Racine for a tour of the Johnson_Wax_Headquarters, a FLW masterpiece. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed inside the grounds.
They have one of the original FLW-designed work stations on display. Looks like it was designed for computer keyboards, but since in the 1930s, clerks used manual typewriters, these desks were not ergonomic. Remarkably, most original furniture is still in use, though the four-legged chair is not the chair Wright intended to design (read about the chairs in the link above for the whole story).
Kenosha bought 5 of Toronto's PCCs, and are now using them to link the downtown, bus terminal, Metra station and waterfront. Fare is 25 cents. Each streetcar is painted for a different city, the only one out today is in Johnstown, PA, colours (one is kept in TTC livery). The operator was very friendly and we talked about the cars and the town.
Keeping up the fares (wow they were a lot cheaper not that long ago) and the Ontario label amused me - I doubt Ontario subsidizes this operation, thiough I think Kenosha got a steal when they bought our streetcars (and we so shortsighted to not keep them), but they are making good use of them. The waterfront is nice, and new development is tied to the streetcar route. An expansion of the circular route is planned.
Americana around Chicago:
Chicago is the eastern terminus of Route 66. I got my kicks driving the segment from Michigan Avenue down to where it joins I-55 toward Joilet.
They take old 66 very seriously.
And I found myself in Oak Brook heading back. Oak Brook is where the McDonald's HQ is, and the restaurant you see is part of "Hamburger University", where franchisees are trained. Though I'm not a big McDonald's fan, I pull in. After all, its Americana, and appopriate for a Middle America road trip (this is where Middle Americans get obese!).
Here's a curiosity - near the end of the CTA Pink Line, at Cermak and Harlem, is Cermak Plaza. There's some weird art in the parking lot, but this is well-known. I wasn't the only one gawking - I met two ladies from California, who wanted to see it because of Wayne's World. I now realize why it looked familiar. I love it. Note the old Cermak Plaza sign in the background.
With the construction on the Dan Ryan expressway, I took an alternate. Not entirely by accident, I find one of the most famous dead malls in the US - Dixie_Square_Mall. It was abandoned in 1979, and its last tenant was Universal Pictures that year - for the filming of The Blues Brothers. It still stands, barely. The suburb that surrounds the mall, Harvey is similarly bleak.
Heading back into Indiana, the big story is of someone shooting at cars on the Interstates - the "Indiana sniper" according to the local Chicagoland and South Bend newscasts. He was caught the day I drove through, but he allegedly killed one driver, injured four others and caused several collisions.
Stayed in South Bend Indiana the last night. Most famous for Notre Dame University, where not surprisingly, the football stadium is the largest building on its sprawling campus.
