With vehicle and our new trailer we picked up in Lawrence Kansas. We couldn't see much of Route 66 in the four day blur, but here's a shot of Scotty's Route 66 Bar and Grill, in Hamel, Illinois. 
The food and service were surprisingly good. We recommend the pork cutlets with mushrooms and onions. They're restoring an old dining car out back, and Scotty has a huge collection of animatronic stuff at the bar. While he was running Hank Williams Jr., Jim actually asked him if he had the singing fish--duh! So then we got to hear both playing at once. Scotty is over 80 but says he won't retire because if he was his wife wouldn't let him hang around at a bar six days a week.
On the way back we visited Ozarkland 
(Fireworks! Moccasins! Knives!), where they had a little hamster singing 'Kung Fu Fighting' and we remembered Scotty.
We had to be home today, so there wasn't much time to do anything but drive. i wanted to take pictures of Lawrence, but when i got there i remembered that though i really like the place, there's not much to see. My old dorm and class buildings were just too ugly to record. Here is a picture of the bland side of our new trailer 
...and a nice tree 
in the shady yard on Maine Street, where we picked it up. It rained all the time we were in Kansas and Missouri.
i insisted we go to Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City, but since we had the 21 foot trailer, we opted for the casino location. It was a hassle to get there but SO worth it. Don't ever miss the chance to try this barbecue. You WILL eat too much meat, and you WILL loooove it. Unless you can't or don't eat pork, forget everything else. Usually i prefer beef, and it's very good, but when you taste the pork, it's all over. On this midwest roadtrip i've eaten more pork in four days than i usually eat in several months. But the food was fantastic, and yes, i did bring back sauce and rub from Bryant's.
One more food/Route 66 note: on the old Route 66 strip in Springfield, Illinois there are many old businesses still in operation. We love corn dogs, and the Cozy Dog Drive In has the original (don't-call-it-a-corndog) cozy dog, and great fresh fries. It's also a bit of a 66 museum. We got wet a lot over the weekend, but we slept comfy and dry, and had fantastic food without ever paying more than $25 for two, including tip! If only the van was as cheap to feed!
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