Defintely one of the better markets in the area. This has been a heavy day trying to catch up on…read moresome reviews from our almost week long trip to St Louis. We were in town from Des Moines. If you're into antiquing or thrifting make sure this is on your list to stop at!

Let's tell you the story ... about a princess who changed everything about herself, and how it…read morebackfired in so many ways. Somewhere in the land of Illinois, in a little yonder place called "Granite City", there used to be a storage location that was simply known as "THE flea market'. 100's of vendors every weekend, it was THE place to go just for fun flea market shopping, along with the fun aesthetics of the history of route 66. It didn't matter if it was Rain, sleet, or snow, she was the belle of the Flea Market ball and everyone came to see her.... but it wasn't enough. The offer came in to buy her out and she took it. The problem was that not everyone that served under the princess wanted to move over and that those that didn't want to move were being thrown to the royal outlands! The princess set a bad tone for everyone taking the money and running... So, when she opened up her new kingdom, just being down the road, she thought everyone would welcome come running back to her. Her most loyal guards making an effort of staying with the princess, but the subjects had felt the agony of being tossed aside and vowed never again! That unfortunately is what happened to Rte 66 Flea Market. This was the place you shopped if you wanted something fun, whimsy, or just if you just wanted to make the day of perusing (and it could take a full day to peruse everyone) and all in one location. However, after wheeling and dealing they sold off the 'locker-complex' (yes think storage wars), and started rebuilding a new complex, no more than 100 feet away. This way they were able to keep their key building for their restaurant and bar (used to be known as Tina's Diner, then Rte 66 Diner, and now I don't' remember what it's called). The problem was this move was done so quickly that the vendors barely had time to even ask "what about us", as they were shown the door, with only a promise of something new. That new thing was the new Rte 66 Flea Market, same basic principle, but now with fewer vendors, and most of those were the, for the lack of a better term, long-timers, loyal guards, the ones who were set in what they sold, so finding something special or new just seemed to disappear in the wind, finding new accommodations as quickly as possible. Basically, the magic, that made Rte 66 Flea Market special, has slowly been withering away. Oh, you'll find some good shops along the way, Gary's Vintage Vinyl, The Leather Emporium (Harley jackets as far as you can see), Used appliances, even a Crystal shop, and a few others. And the Diner and Kickstart are still there (pub and diner) and they're worth stopping by just for those alone, but the "Flea Market Magic' just isn't there like it used to be. The owners do try to bring customers back, they even had a small mini-auto car show with a decent vintage classic vehicles showing off (see the Photos), and the vendors are friendly enough, but a lot of feelings were hurt of the vendors when they got told to "shut down and move", so they did. Sometimes changing things is the worst thing you can do, and Rte 66 has kind of learned this the hard way. Rumour had it that the owners were looking to buy back the original storage center, and have twice the flea market in size. It'd definitely make for one of the LARGEST flea markets in the area, but it's still hope against hope that they can bring the magic back. But we'll have to see. I'd really hope that one day Rte 66 gets back that flea market magic, but until they do, it's a very low 2*'s., but maybe someone can tell me the magic is back? But I'd still recommend a quick run by and you never know the vendors might have already made a quick change/improvement as the summer months approach