Godley to Gardner

“The path of memory is neither straight or safe, and we travel down it at our risk.”

--Neil Gaiman, The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch

Ironically, the more things change, the more they stay the same on Route 66, especially in the coal-mining country south of Braidwood. These days, the Exelon nuclear power plant dominates the eastern skyline, generating enough electricity to supply more than two million average homes in northern Illinois. The 4,457-acre site was built on land ravaged by strip mines which pocked the area in the late 1800s when coal was king. Some of the scarred land has been reclaimed by the Mazonia/Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area south of the generating station; however, the plant's release of radioactive tritium has tainted the groundwater, threatening and endangering many species, including the people who live in this area. The crimes against Nature in these parts will not go unpunished.

The bucolic landscape is strangely desolate along this stretch of Route 66. A few slag heaps mark what little remains of the once thriving coal-mining towns of Godley and Braceville, which barely cling to the map. Near Godley, an old truck sits atop the slag pile of the closed K Mine, and Exelon's cooling lake hides the scars of the defunct Torino, Rickson, and Turin mines. Like Godley, Braceville was once a booming town with many commercial establishments--general stores, banks, restaurants, a hotel, and even an opera house--but they are long gone. South of town, the infamous Riviera Restaurant--a popular watering hole during Prohibition and a favorite hangout of Al Capone in his heyday--now lies in ruins after being destroyed by fire in 2010. 

The passage of time has been kinder to Gardner, which manages to attract visitors with an actual downtown and one well-advertised attraction: an old two-cell jailhouse. Located in city park, the limestone structure was built in 1906 and was still in use until the late 1950s. Today, tourists are encouraged to "go behind bars" for photo ops. Perhaps more notable, though, is the Streetcar Diner next to the jail, a restaurant made from an old horse-drawn streetcar once operated by the Kankakee Transit System. Located behind the Riviera Restaurant for decades, the diner was discovered by the Illinois Route 66 Preservation Committee, restored it to its original appearance, and placed here in the park as a memorial to the Riviera and a reminder of a time gone by. 

These attractions emphasize the temptation to stop everywhere to see everything on Route 66. We are just barely underway, but we have already learned that such an endeavor is utterly impossible. Besides, which attractions represent the "real" Route, the "authentic" Mother Road? Which attractions are genuine artifacts that tell the truth about a place in time, and which ones are commercial advertisements for towns and cities seeking to profit from their proximity to Route 66? The path of memory often blurs this distinction. The risk is that I will follow someone else's path of memory rather than stay true to my dream of The Route, advancing confidently in that direction. Choices must be made, and no guidebook can make them for us.

The Mother Road is what we imagine it to be--and every choice we make along the way.

Once we leave Gardner, we turn onto an original four-lane stretch of Route 66 that runs parallel to a railroad track. Before I-55 was constructed, this section of Route 66 was a divided, four-lane highway; now the northbound lanes of I-55 largely supplant what were the southbound lanes of Route 66. In places, the freeway is just a few yards away, and it is quite unsettling to see traffic hurtling toward us as we head south.

Route 66 south of Gardner, IL

Soon, I-55 bends away from Route 66, exposing the remnants of the old southbound lanes. Access to these abandoned sections is barred by grassy berms or metal guardrails; in many places, patches of vegetation obscure the road surface; in some instances, grass has replaced the roadbed altogether. 

I am mesmerized by this ghost highway, imagining streams of phantom travelers heading west, each with a dream of the open road.