Red Carpet Corridor festival adds second day, Bloomington-Normal to its itinerary

This year's edition of the Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor festival is going to be a two-day affair, with Bloomington-Normal added to its list of towns to visit. The May 6-7 event, which starts in Joliet, lengthens to 100 miles and 14 communities, according to a news release from the Illinois Route 66 Scenic … Continue reading Red Carpet Corridor festival adds second day, Bloomington-Normal to its itinerary

A lot going on with Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor festival

Towns along a 90-mile stretch of Route 66 in northern Illinois offer a lot during Saturday's Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor Festival, but Wilmington's seems especially enticing. Not only does that city's Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie offer the chance of seeing the famous Smokey Bear hot-air balloon and newborn bison, but the new owners of … Continue reading A lot going on with Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor festival

Streetcar Diner also was target of Riviera Roadhouse fire

When a suspicious fire in 2010 burned down the historic Riviera Roadhouse restaurant in Gardner, Illinois, the arsonist also unsuccessfully targeted the nearby Streetcar Diner that night. That little-known fact was revealed in more than 200 pages of documents and dozens of photographs obtained through an open-records request for Illinois Fire Marshal's Office reports from the … Continue reading Streetcar Diner also was target of Riviera Roadhouse fire

How about more than a well at the Riviera Roadhouse site?

An interesting idea hatched during a finance committee meeting of the Grundy County Board about the site of the now-gone Riviera Roadhouse in Gardner, Illinois. The Route 66 landmark burned down during a fire in 2010. The Morris Daily Herald reports an abandoned well on the property -- now owned by the county -- is improperly capped. … Continue reading How about more than a well at the Riviera Roadhouse site?

Bob Kraft, former co-owner of the Riviera, dies

Bob Kraft, a co-owner of the regrettably gone Riviera Roadhouse bar and restaurant along Route 66 in Gardner, Illinois, died last week at age 90 in a nursing home, according to an obituary in The Daily Journal of Kankakee, Illinois. Kraft and his wife, Peggy, who died in May 2013, owned and operated the Riviera … Continue reading Bob Kraft, former co-owner of the Riviera, dies