Westbound drivers will encounter the towns in the more sonorous order of Shirley and McLean, but wordplay aside, the stretch of Illinois farmland between Bloomington and Springfield is rich in Route 66-related heritage. In McLean, 47 miles from Springfield and 15 miles from Bloomington, old Route 66 emerges from the shadow of I-55 and you can follow old Route 66 along the west side of the freeway for just over four miles north to the delightful anachronism of Funks Grove (309/874-3360), where the friendly Funk family has been tapping trees and making delicious maple sirup (that’s how they spell it) since 1891. If you’re here in the spring you can watch them tap the trees and hammer in the spouts; each tree can produce four gallons of sap a day, but it takes 50 gallons for each gallon of the final product. Free tastings are available, and a full range of bottles is on sale.
From Funks Grove, the old road continues north, rejoining I-55 after four more miles near the town of Shirley, for the run into Bloomington-Normal. Hometown of politician Adlai Stevenson (and Col. Henry Blake of TV’s M*A*S*H), Bloomington-Normal sits at the junction of five different Interstate freeways, surrounded by miles of cornfields. Its main claim to fame is in being the only place in the world where that classic bar snack, Beer Nuts, is made; for a free sample (but no tour, alas), stop by the factory (800/BEER-NUT) at 103 N. Robinson Street.
