Shaded playground, huge shaded picnic area, bathrooms, walking path around creek, volleyball/sand…read morearea and massive sports facilities. Great park in a nice area close to the mall!

Clean, well shaded playground with lots of equipment to entertain the kids. Huge pavilion, walking…read moretrail, baseball fields, volleyball court, tennis courts etc very nice community park.

Very nicely done. Clean, well maintained and safe feel throughout the square. The giants all look…read morefresh and vibrant each making for great photo ops. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. Got our Passport stamp and got some great selfies with all the giants. The shops all close early, but its still an awesome experience and classic stop along your Route 66 journey.

Another one of the fun landmarks along Route 66. This one is a little more tricky to get pictures…read moreof, as it's large enough to get a distorted angle if you're taking pictures underneath Paul Bunyon, but the composition isn't great if you're standing across the street. Ideally, try to use 3x zoom if you can and check out some of the local sights in the area as well.

What a lovely little library on Historic Route 66! The library itself is a wonderful place for…read morelocal Mother Road information, but the pride and joy of the Atlanta Public Library & Museum is the clock tower. It is a 40-foot tall stone tower with a working Seth Thomas clock from the first decade of the 20th Century. It works on one winding for 8 days. One of the highlights of a Route 66 Motor Tour was being on site and at the clock one Sunday afternoon when it was time to wind the clock. Atlanta, Illinois, is worth a stop to see the Route 66 attractions.

How can you not love a guy holding a Big Hotdog. And have it be a classic Muffler Man makes it all…read morethe better so many things to take in around the Area

A nice detour to break up a long monotonous interstate car trip -- and to reminisce about what car…read moretravel along Route 66 might have been like in the 1960s. The statute is huge. I'm 5'4", and only reached Paul's knees! Took a few photos, and then set out for lunch. We had hoped to grab a quick lunch in Atlanta, Illinois, where the statue is located - but the cafe across from the statue was closed on a Friday in May around noon. We were able to get a soda (no diet sodas available) and Gatorade at the bakery next door (Misty's?). We ate a few abacus with our drinks at a picnic table next to a memorabilia shop that us currently for sale across from the statue. Looks like a cool place. Sorry it wasn't open. There is also an inviting souvenir shop next to the statue but we didn't visit.

Review Visit: March 11th, 2014…read more To quote my friend; "It's not even covered!" Now, to be fair and to preface this blog post, we did stop by after it received some storm damage. So the state it was in when we visited is not a representation of what it actually looks like. The low score is from my initial visit. Should I happen to make it back, I will update the score and post new photos to reflect what it really presents. Looking into it for this blog post, I would rather like to see it in it's former glory as it looks really cool! Okay, so with all that in mind, my friends and I left Springfield after a day of exploring. On the way home, we saw the sign for this covered wagon. I asked everyone if they wanted to stop and check it out. They didn't care... so 10 minutes later, we find ourselves looking at the wagon... or the damaged wagon. As stated above, it seemed to have received some storm damage and was in the process of being restored, so it was in really bad shape. But we had some fun taking goofy photos in front of it. It was muddy out, so we couldn't explore around the area too much. I have visited Lincoln, IL a few times since this photo was taken, so next time I am down there, I hope to have new/better photos of the wagon. It really does look cool from seeing other people's online photos. Plus, it's a nod to Illinois and the USA's history since it has Abraham Lincoln on it. The link to the website provided below is not to the Wagon's actual website... because it does not have one. But I do like Atlas Obscura, so I linked to their website. That way there is some reference material if you are interested in learning more about the wagon.

Exactly as advertised, this is the World's Largest Covered Wagon. It's worth a quick stop on your…read moredrive along Route 66 to take a fun picture as it's located off the main road in a large parking lot so you can feel free to slowly take as many pictures as you need. It's free to visit and not too far off the highway.

The drive from Chicago to Springfield is a pretty boring one. There is not much to see while…read moredriving down I-55. On the way home we decided to see a few roadside attractions to break up the monotony. Be sure to put this into your GPS because you'll see one sign on the highway about eight miles from the exit and no more. It is not difficult to find or to get to. There is a parking lot, as it sits just in front of the Best Western Lincoln Inn. This makes for an interesting sight to see and a piece of conversation on your drive. The website description on the explore Illinois website perfectly describes what you'll see: "The Railsplitter Covered Wagon is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest covered wagon in the world. A statue of Abe Lincoln reading a law book sits in the huge wooden wagon, which stands 24 feet tall." If you have the time, this is a good way to spend it.