Day Two – Foyil
Saturday dawned sunny and we were ready for day two on Route 66. Before we headed over to Route 66, we just had to shop the farmers market at The Artichoke Restaurant (another blog post). We arrived on Route 66 at lunch time and decided to head over to Annie’s Diner.Originally Annie’s Diner was the Top Hat Dairy Bar. We are told it was a local hangout and Annie’s seems to be taking over where Top Hat left off. Although we were the first customers for lunch, soon more arrived. The first were two gentlemen from Australia and New Zealand. It has been their dream to drive Route 66 from Chicago to LA. They were fulfilling their dream and doing it in a rented yellow Mustang convertible. They were interesting to talk with and soon locals arrived and we had great conversations. For us, this is what makes our travels even more interesting.
Driving the Mother Road
Next, we headed over to Ed Galloway Totem Pole Park (another blog post). The park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is home to a 90 foot totem pole, the world’s largest. There is also an eleven sided Fiddle Shop (gift shop), home to Ed’s approximately 300 fiddles. Each fiddle is made from a different type wood.
90′ Totem Pole
King Kong was in Foyil, standing on the corner, so we headed over. First off, he is not life size, but he is on the corner at Route 66 and E-430 Road. He stands watch over Kong Korner and Kongs Kafe Gorilla.
King Kong on the corner
A short distance from King Kong is the Andy Payne Monument. To celebrate and promote Route 66 Charles Pyle organized the Transcontinental Race (Bunion Derby) in 1928. The race started in Los Angeles with the path being mostly on Route 66 and ended in New York at Madison Square Garden. Andy Payne, who loved to run and ran five miles a day, entered the race and won the $25,000 prize. Payne was a resident of Foyil and became a hometown hero. Only one other race was held in 1929.
Andy Payne
From Foyil we headed up Route 66 to Chelsea to see more of Route 66 sights and get some kicks.
Annie’s Diner
Fiddle Shop
A few of Ed Galloway’s fiddles
