It’s Day Two of our Route 66 road-trip, driving from Springfield, Illinois to St Louis, Missouri. Who are we? Jeff and Jane, expat Brits living in Santa Monica, California. We have just finished our number one bucket-list item – driving Route 66 from Chicago back to our home town. Our mission? To Eat Vegan on Route 66 and share our experiences with you.
Route 66: Carlinville and Cannonball Jail
Leaving Springfield, we hit the road again, destination St Louis, Missouri. The scenery is green and pleasant, interspersed with expansive cornfields. Not even mentioned in our guidebook, the town of Carlinville proves to be an idyllic, historic town definitely worthy of a stop. With its multi-colored buildings surrounding a plaza, the historic district is totally charming. The local cafe Hawthorn Tree had oatmilk (hurray) and one solitary vegan sugar cookie (boo).
Just around the corner, the crazy Cannonball Jail literally has cannonballs embedded in its walls to prevent escapes. You can even pop inside to see the grim cells for the male prisoners. Conversely, the ladies-only cell upstairs was light and spacious with its own bath!
Route 66: St Louis Blues
The road into St Louis was very challenging. First, a fire truck blocked off the old Chain of Rocks bridge. Second, my valiant driver, husband Jeff, had to negotiate roadworks with narrow lanes, high concrete barriers and big trucks within inches of our vehicle. Third, Route 66 goes through a semi-industrial district full of abandoned warehouses and rutted pavement full of potholes. Finally, the road suddenly becomes one-way without warning except from the vehicles driving towards you honking their horns!
Arriving at our hotel, Missouri Athletic Club, the lobby was very welcoming and grandiose with wooden paneling and marble floors. Unfortunately, the room did not live up to that first impression – it was tired looking and smelt very unpleasant. Happily, we at least had a view of the Mississippi river in all its industrial glory! Additionally, we were dismayed to find that the hotel bar allowed smoking – and had nothing vegan to eat.
Eat Vegan on Route 66: St Louis Greens
Luckily, Happy Cow is your vegan friend – and the app pointed us to a nearby Thai restaurant, Aubergine. Here, we had a yummy plant-based meal of mushroom puffs, green curry and stir-fry. The next morning we had a lovely treat at a vegan cafe, SweetArt, in the St Louis suburb of Tower Grove. An enormous bowl each of coconut curry and bean chili – sometimes, it is easy to eat vegan on Route 66.
Tip of The Day – research the best part of town to stay beforehand. We found Downtown St Louis to be a big disappointment, but as we drove out through the city next day we came across much nicer areas to stay.
Finally, use my public shared Google Map Route 66 Vegan to locate all the places mentioned on this trip.
Miles Traveled Today: 115
Total Miles Traveled: 315
Next stop – Springfield, Missouri.
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