State Route 2 to the south of Springfield is Route 66. There is a steady flow of traffic from the local towns, some interstate travelers and it is dotted with burgs that have not changed much in fifty years or more. Driving through the town squares and seeing a slice of Midwestern America that is harder to find these days was a treat! Some of the original zigzags have been smoothed out into 50 mph curves but the road was mostly original. It was sort of a letdown to have to rejoin the interstate east of St. Louis but there was one more gem before we crossed the river.
The old Chain of Rocks bridge is closed to vehicle traffic but there are parking areas on both ends of it. We opted for the Illinois side and started walking for what seemed an inordinate amount of time just to get through the trees and underbrush before the river and the famous bend in the bridge. What a sight when the trees opened up! The Missouri River is probably half a mile wide at that point, not many feet deep but the water rushes over a barrier just south of the bridge so the river sings as you get out to where you can see it. There are old castle-like structures in the stream that have elevator baskets for bringing workers up to the business end of the towers. And in the middle of the bridge there are two steel 66 shields, one labeled “Illinois” and the other “Missouri” right at the state line. Traffic on the interstate was at a crawl; we could see it to our north and knew we would have to fight some of the traffic as we headed west, but just then we were more absorbed in the late afternoon ambiance of old steel and swift water.
