Day 3 Joliet Highlights Tour

Joliet is our next stop on Route 66, and Cass arrived in this beautiful bus to take us there.  

The Rialto Square Theatre was constructed in downtown Joliet in 1926 by the six Ruben brothers at a cost of two million dollars.  It was designed to be a "palace for the people" and featured vaudeville in its early years.  The Rialto's design is modeled after European-style architecture of classical Greek, Roman and Byzantine influence.  Though it was spectacularly beautiful, the Rialto fell into hard times and its location was even considered for a new parking garage in the 1970s until a piano teacher, Dorothy Mavrich, initiated the group that eventually restored the theatre.  Today, the theatre claims to be one of the top ten most beautiful theaters in the country, and justifiably so! 

The esplanade certainly looks like a palace.

 

The Rialto has 1926 seats, and we couldn't find a bad one! 

We were able to stand on the stage, but unfortunately, or fortunately!, no one in our group felt compelled to break out in song or quote Shakespeare! We learned that on the back wall of the stage there is a light bulb.  It's called a ghost light and it is left on when the theatre is not occupied…perhaps there are ghosts in the Rialto…or maybe they just prefer to leave it on for safety.  

As part of our tour, we were treated to an organ concert on the mighty Grand Barton Pipe Organ by the 84 year old organist. He often gives concerts for school children --- but we were interested in all those amazing sounds, too.  His performance of music from Phantom of the Opera was beautiful.

After the organ concert, we visited the "green room" where performers gather before and during a performance.  The walls were not green, but instead were covered with the autographs of many of the famous and lesser known Rialto performers:  Huey Newton, Patsy Cline, Lee Greenwood, and Willie Nelson and more!  

After our tour of this magnificent theatre, we boarded the bus to go just a few blocks to the Joliet Area Historical Museum.  We were greeted on our bus by Route 66 preservationist and author John Weiss.  The Historical Museum is a former Methodist church that has been very effectively repurposed as a museum.  And the very first exhibit we saw was Route 66!  

John Weiss explained to us that Route 66 was not built, but rather, Route 66 was created.  There was much discussion and politicking to determine the actual pathway.  Earlier plans for a road from Chicago to Los Angeles had incorporated more small towns, but the road in those plans was much longer than the final 2, 248 miles.  Each advocate wanted the road to go through his town, or past his business, because where the road went, the dollars would follow.  

Consistent with the era of the heyday of Route 66, the informational video at the Joliet Area Historical Museum was played in a drive-in theater with piece of furniture inspired by cars. 




The history of Joliet includes so much more!  A local guide gave us a walk-through with information about the F5 tornado that killed 29 in the nearby town of Plainfield in 1990.  The display certainly reminded us that weather warning systems have improved significantly since that time.  

The Joliet area is a land of stone and steel.  It was local stone that was used to construct the canal system connecting Lake Michigan with the Illinois River and the Mississippi River, providing a waterway from  the Great Lakes to Panama.  Later in the day, we visited what is left of Lock #1.
As for steel in Joliet, it was used in the creation of barbed wire, cook stoves, rails for the railroad.  The museum was an outstanding local museum, but hunger led us further down Route 66.  

Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket opened on Route 66 in Willowbrook, IL in 1946, and is famous for its fried chicken.   The Food Network claims that Dell Rhea's prepares 2000 pounds of fried chicken each week!  We were treated to the Dell Rhea lunch buffet.  Fried chicken and so much more. The spicy mac and cheese is also a legendary Dell Rhea item, but our most popular item was the chicken soup.  It's certain that no one needed dinner after this gastronomical feast.  

Our guide, John Weiss and his late wife Lenore have been important in the preservation Route 66.  As a Route 66 historian, particularly Illinois Route 66, John has authored many of the historical signs along the route.  He is both passionate and knowledgable about the road and has been awarded the John Steinbeck Award and the Route 66 Ambassador Award.



After our huge lunch, it was good to get out of the bus for a short walk around The Castle on Route 66.  In 1903, Congressman Madden built a beautiful home for his wife as a 25th wedding anniversary gift.  A 1/10th scale model of the White House, it was called Castle Eden.  Today the castle is home to aging priests as part of the St. Terese SpiritualityCenter.  

The life of St. Terese is represented in this wood carving at the Spirituality Center.  She founded the Carmelite Sisters and their work is with the aged and infirm.  We were able to tour the center and grounds, which included a chapel, a bookstore, large grassy areas with benches, and a new chapel construction project.  Of particular interest to our group were two trees --- one near the house is 350 years old, and another is 400 years old. 

We made a short stop at the now retired Old Joliet Prison which was featured in the movie, The Blues Brothers and as the namesake for the John Belushi character, "Joliet" Jake Blues.  The prison also served as the prison in Prison Break (2007) and Get Smart (1966) as well as many other films and TV shows.  




Rich and Creamy's soft serve ice cream was a treat, as well as the Blues Brothers dancing on the roof!  Just across the street, a wrecking service displays a wrecker and car on its roof --- just a few of the interesting attention-getters on Route 66! 

After a most interesting day of touring, we returned to our campground for a travel brief.  Our Adventure Caravans wagonmasters Barry and Terry Klein prepared us for our drive (yes, in our RVs!) to Pontiac on Route 66, as well as plans for our time in the Pontiac area.  

Thanks so much to Adventure Caravan guests, Jim Hamp and Larry McCall, 

who have contributed photos and content to this and several other posts!  

Thanks for making it a group effort!!!