This guide to road-tripping along Route 66 presents the highway's very best stops--and it's the only guidebook with a fully integrated app.

Route 66 zigzagged southwest across Madison County, Illinois, before crossing the Mississippi River into Missouri. Various alignments of this segment of the "Mother Road" rolled through pastoral farmland, headed down main streets, and later straightened as it bypassed towns. From 1926 to 1977, the path of the highway changed numerous times and crossed the Mississippi River on no less than five different bridges. Along the way motorists watched for the blue neon cross on St. Paul's Lutheran Church to guide their nighttime travel; they counted on the doors of the Tourist Haven, Cathcart's, or the Luna CafAA(c) to be open for business. Travelers crossed their fingers that they wouldn't get stuck at the bend of the Chain of Rocks Bridge and hoped they could make it up Mooney Hill in the winter. A later alignment took motorists right by Fairmount Park and Monks Mound.

Route 66 is a fixture of American culture. For the truckers, salesmen and vacationers who have traveled it and for the people who live along it, the road is a reminder of the bygone days of the American motoring experience. Despite time, neglect and progress, Route 66 endures. Almost all of its 2,448 miles are still intact and drivable. Travel from Chicago to Los Angeles and experience Route 66 through this richly illustrated book. It presents pictures of many of the historic landmarks and longtime businesses which have become roadside institutions to several generations of Route 66 travelers, plus some places that are relatively unknown to the average traveler. Nearly all of the places shown can be visited today. The book is also a salute to those who supported the highway over the years, including Cyrus Avery, Jack Cutberth ("Mr. 66"), Lucille Hamon and Campbell's 66 Express.

Between the great cities of Chicago and St. Louis, there are 300 miles of adventure, history, culinary delights, and quirky attractions. The carefully selected images included in this book reveal the life and times of another era along the Illinois stretch of Route 66.