Lincoln Highway Part 2, May 9th: To Clinton, Iowa

Drove on westward through Dixon and that magnificent arch over the road downtown. Dixon is the site of Ronald Reagan's boyhood home. We could see that the parkways along the road had been cleared and readied for planting the thousands of lavender petunias that have become the city's summer trademark.

Next, we stopped in Sterling and had lunch at the Parkway Inn, right on LH. It has been there for thirty years. Not only do they have great meal deals, I got a pepper steak on rice with a great sauce, soup, salad, bread, and dessert for $7.29; but also their soup comes in a bowl ($1.99) and is some of the best I've ever had. Then there's the 19 varieties of pie, and, at $1.59 a slice, a great deal. I had a Dutch pineapple as I've never heard of it before. Pineapple never tasted better. I highly recommend the place.

Leaving Sterling, we got on Illinois Highway 2, the old LH alignment and drove through some mighty pretty countryside.

I should mention that Illinois has some of the best historical road signage I've ever seen. You could essentially drive US-66, the National Road (mostly along US-40), or the Lincoln Highway without a map.

Got back on US-30 through Morrison, where there is a lot of road construction, past the Lincoln Highway B&B with its Boy Scout LH marker. Unfortunately, it is for sale. Hope someone buys it and continues with the LH heritage.

We took US-30 across the Mississippi to Clinton. The original LH headed north and crossed the Mississippi at Fulton, Illinois.

--RoadDog