Home Again on Route 66

Here’s the perfect Christmas gift for a friend who loves to travel. We have three kinds of hoodies designed and printed by Marie Fiedler right here in central Illinois. Details are in the captions of the pics. Stop in at the shop and check them out!

Are you looking for the perfect gift for a history buff, car enthusiast, or teacher? Well here it is! This two year calendar features cool cars and trucks at iconic stops all along Route 66. Created by Efren Lopez, a veteran who has used his skills to serve in the US armed services as a combat photojournalist. This calendar is a great gift or stocking stuffer at 17.95. Two calendar years for the price you usually pay for one year!

We are open until Christmas this year! There are some new items in the shop that make great gifts, and this little picture book is one of the cutest! “Santa is coming to Illinois” is a darling book for the little ones in your life. Written by Steve Smallman and illustrated by Robert Dunn and Amerigo Pinelli, this story has Santa’s sleigh getting lost in lake effect snow, and flying by many Illinois landmarks (including Pontiac’s Route 66 mural!) as he is delivering toys. The book is hardcover and priced at just 9.99!

Guess what?! Home Again on Route 66 is open through December for all of your holiday shopping needs! They'll follow the same hours as the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum (10am-4pm daily!). This also means that the second floor exhibits that usually close for the winter will stay open through December as well! We can't wait for you to come with us this winter!

Pontiac is on the cover of ROUTE magazine’s newest issue! We have this issue in the shop. Come and get it! We’re 10-4 every day.

And voila!! Our December / January cover. It is the last issue of the year, and what an amazing year it has been. What do you guys think? Anyone know where this beautiful picture was shot?

ABC - What Do You See?

https://vimeo.com/645264703/1906f4dcac

ABC - What Do You See? This is "ABC - What Do You See?" by Good Name Co. on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

An illustration from “ABC What Do You See? Rolling Along Route 66.” I mixed it up in this wonderful book by …printing my own papers for collage and then a variety of sketching styles like you’d see in my travel journals. Some are detailed drawings and some are loose and free like this one of and in . This makes a great gift for children, and even for adults with a passion for road-trips!

If you’ve been to the Illinois Route 66 Museum and Hall of Fame, you may have met Rose. For many years she has greeted visitors from near and far in her position as a docent. Today she’s wearing one of our new T-shirts featuring Bob Waldmire’s converted school bus. Come get one for yourself in the gift shop!

We are stocked up and ready to stay open until Christmas! Remember us when you need a Christmas present for a friend who loves to travel! We currently have a nice stock of signed books by historian and guide Jim Hinkley. Get your gifts on Route 66!

After the conference, and I made sure to get Pontiac’s iconic mural as a backdrop for a photo! Keep your eyes open for Annette, as she is out on Route 66 promoting our picture book “ABC What Do You See? Rolling Along Route 66 .” It’s available in my shop too, so pick one up when you visit the museum….they make wonderful Christmas gifts!

Some of these books are available in our shop right here in Pontiac. They make great Christmas gifts!!!

I appreciate it so much when you all do any of these things to help get the word out. Thank you!

Who doesn’t love Free?
The below are free things you can do to support small businesses in your community.

Tonight, I’m signing copies of our picture book before my morning meeting with . You can find the book in many shops along Route 66 and on Amazon. It makes a great gift for children, or for anyone who loves road-trips and Route 66!

Author Annette Murray is out on Route 66 with her picture book "ABC What Do You See? Rolling Along Route 66" I'm sure she is seeing many things she wrote about in the book! Annette is the author and I am the illustrator. You can buy our book at Home Again on Route 66.

Hello, Chicago!!!!!

Thank you to Don for providing such wonderful tours to Pontiac's visitors!
https://www.facebook.com/visitpontiacil/posts/pfbid0G8KdcDAsxrsCMqeTGBXgYQaNzN5bdrKDXgwzHvrCYZJzpdJEYPJaQKRDPnWmBQPDl

Last ride with Don!
Today is the last regular trolley tour day for our volunteer trolley driver extraordinaire Don after 10 years of dedication . He gives the BEST trolley tours of Pontiac! If you want to experience his tour one last time (or maybe for the first time!), tours run today from 11:00-3:00. Tours start behind the Pontiac Museum Complex by the Route 66 mural. Make sure to thank him for all he has done for Pontiac volunteering countless hours to our town. It’s a beautiful day to

Today’s the day! Author and historian Jim Hinkley will be in the shop from 3-5 today to sign books and answer questions about Route 66. Don’t miss this chance to learn more about our favorite road! The shop is located in Pontiac’s old city hall building on the corner of Howard and Main Street. See you there!

Don’t forget to bring your books to be signed by Jim Hinkley at 3-5pm on Thursday, October 20 at our shop in Pontiac. If you don’t have any of his books yet, we have a nice selection and more on the way! Pictured are few of the books that came in today. Jim Hinkley is also an author of the Route 66 Passport, so get yours signed this Thursday.

If you want to learn more about Route 66 and preservation and business on Route 66 sign up for the Miles of Possibility Conference happening this weekend in Pontiac.

Is there a better road trip snack than a Stuckey’s Pecan Log Roll and a pop by Mother Road Sodas?! We think not!! We also have caramel nut popcorn and kettle glazed pecans by Stuckey’s. More Mother Road Soda flavors are on the way too!

This cute couple stopped at the shop and museum today. They are traveling in their conversion. Of course they were very intrigued with Bob Waldmire’s ! Follow their adventures .freedom_

Here’s an added bonus to the Miles of Possibility Conference weekend: author Jim Hinkley will be in our shop to sign your books and passports, and to answer your questions about Route 66. He will be here from 3-5pm on Thursday, so you can get off the trolley and visit with Jim!

Have you registered for Miles of Possibility Conference yet? What are you waiting for?! It’s going to be great.

While illustrating the book “ABC What Do You See? Rolling Along Route 66” by Annette Murray, I included some UFOs you can see along Route 66. Included is the Futuro home that is at the Pink Elephant Antique Mall in Livingston, Illinois. Today I found a wonderful little video of a Futuro Home that has been restored to the architect’s original plan. It’s amazing! I’ll link to the video in the comments. Watch it if you loved the 1970s and want to be WOWED! https://youtube.com/watch?v=tFUTeiED9KM&feature=share&utm_source=EKLEiJECCKjOmKnC5IiRIQ

Today Marián Pavel stopped by! He is the creator of the Route 66 Passport, and also the Route 66 Navigation app to guide you on your 66 adventure. You can get your Route 66 Passport here at Home Again on Route 66 in Pontiac Illinois!

Have you registered for the Miles of Possibility Conference yet???

https://www.facebook.com/Route66MilesOfPossibility/posts/pfbid02fSDT3AuhPxAGbDjWymSZWYMMqbiqwamtNSdPnVPeF6EUUiCibNp9BRPRUKn1Mi8Ul

The exciting and energetic young band Gen FuZe will provide musical entertainment on Sat. evening, Oct. 22, for the 7th Annual Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference in Pontiac! Gen FuZe performs classic rock tunes you'll know by rock greats such as the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, ZZ Top, Journey, Allman Brothers, Billy Joel, and many more. Don't miss it! You can register now at https://route66milesofpossibility.com

Please leave us a review if you’ve bought or read the book. Thanks❤️❤️❤️

If you bought a copy of ABC, WHAT DO YOU SEE? ROLLING ALONG ROUTE 66, let readers know about it by giving a quick review at https://www.amazon.com/author/authorannettemurray.com
Thank you for your purchase and for writing a short review.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Check out this awesome jacket created by our visitor from Austin, Texas. She embellished it with lots of bottle caps!

Maren Morris - My Church (Official Music Video)

Happy Sunday! Many of us spend hours upon hours on the road, and sometimes the road is my church on Sunday. I’ve done a LOT of praying behind the wheel!

Maren Morris - My Church (Official Music Video) Maren Morris' debut album HERO, featuring ""I Could Use A Love Song"", ""80s Mercedes"" & ""My Church,"" is now available: Apple Music: http://smarturl.it/m...

Muffler Man Installed at Santa Monica Pier

Be on the lookout for this cool promotion by Mobil Oil. They will be installing the muffler man in various places along Route 66 starting with the Santa Monica pier. Along the way, you may be able to help them break some world records! I think it's an inspired marketing idea because the muffler men were all about drawing people to businesses by providing a novel roadside attraction. This traveling roadside attraction is sharing the spotlight with businesses along the way!

Muffler Man Installed at Santa Monica Pier The Mobil 1 Muffler Man was installed at Santa Monica Pier for the launch of the "Keep Route 66 Kickin’ campaign on Thursday, August 25, 2022.Mobil 1™, the w...

If you are looking for a place to stay in Missouri on your Route 66 adventure, give the Boots Court a call! I can’t wait to stay there again and see the results of the restoration.

Everyone loves a great underdog or comeback story, so please let me tell you one. I have lived in the Carthage area pretty much my whole life. I am not old enough to remember The Boots when it was built during the heyday of Route 66, or its early years, but it has been a fixture I always knew about. I am young enough to have watched Dirty Dancing and longed for a family lodge in the mountains. I can walk through the rooms of the Boots and imagine families of the 40’s and 50’s, when traveling was an affair that was treated as an honor and an adventure. I would have loved to have dressed up in my finest heels and pearls and flown on a Continental with the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Kay Thompson, and Fred Astaire in Funny Face. But alas, I am a child of the 70’s and 80’s.
By the time I was aware enough of the Boots Court Motel, other than to know it was down the road from Mr. Quick, it was the mid 1980’s, and it was no longer a shining establishment in Carthage. I know I am not the only one to remember this era of Boots history, because I have had many conversations that gingerly tiptoe around its past. Its past kept forming my opinions many decades later.
While the Boots Court has not been an undesirable location since the sisters bought and rescued it, it also hasn’t been what would be known as a mainstream motel in Carthage. It was a niche hotel for the Route 66 crowd, and while that sentiment is still embraced, the Boots is on the verge of becoming so much more.
The hospitality trend of boutique hotels and quaint Airbnb’s can find the Boots right in its midst. Our rooms are almost always greeted with an “Oh, this is so much better than I was expecting!” or “Ooohhh, this is beautiful” The Boots Court Foundation has worked hard to make our motel something to be proud to host your family or business clients for the night. While the chenille bedspreads over the foot of the bed might remind you of your granny’s house, the high-end linens will make you think you are at a 5-star spa. The radio tuned to oldies will also Bluetooth to your phone to play your kind of music, and the amazing Wi-Fi lets you know its 2022.
So, when you are planning for your next round of out-of-town guests or clients, we would love you to consider the Boots Court Motel. We promise it is not what you remember from the past, the rooms are immaculately clean, the furnishings are gorgeous, and you will be greeted with a smile and a tour if you have the time. We are embracing the Class in Classic and we want to share it with you!
Reservations may be made online at www.bootscourt66.com or by calling (417) 310-2989.