Fill 'er up with nostalgia: Shea's Gas Station Museum of Springfield, Illinois

Bill Shea Sr.

Bill Shea, Jr.

We drove down a nice chunk of Route 66 in Illinois in 2009 and stopped at a must-see along the Mother Road: Shea's Gas Station Museum in Springfield. Bill Shea, a gas man since the late '40s, turned his vintage former Texaco and Marathon filling station into a petroliana museum, stuffed with old gas pumps, oil cans, phone booths, signs, an Airstream trailer, Ward school bus and other mementos of the golden age of American roadside travel. Bill is in his 80s now and can still be found holding court at his station, but his son Bill Jr. does most of the meeting and greeting of tourists who have come from all 50 states and over 80 countries to get the full Route 66 experience. A second, even older 1920s filling station was moved to the property in 2000 and has been fully restored. It's a great place to poke around and smell the fumes of yesteryear for anyone old enough to remember when gas stations had hoses that rang bells and you got double Green Stamps with every fill-up. So pull on in to Shea's when you're in Springfield...it's a premium experience that will improve your smilage.

Walking in a wiener wonderland: Springfield, Illinois' Cozy Dog Drive-In

Springfield, Illinois has a lot to offer the eccentric roadside attraction fan, not the least of which is a glorious stretch of Route 66 that runs through town. A must-stop, especially around lunchtime, is the Cozy Dog Drive-In, birthplace of the hot dog on a stick. The story goes something like this: While patronizing a Muskogee, Oklahoma eatery in the 1940s, Ed Waldmire Jr. was enjoying the hot dog baked in cornbread he was eating and wanted to come up with a way to modernize it. His friend Don Strand developed a mix that would stick on a wiener while being french-fried. Ed put the battered dogs on cocktail forks and deep fried them with spectacular results, which led to their official launch in 1946. Originally called crusty curs, the more pleasing moniker cozy dogs was developed with Ed's wife's prodding. In 1949, the Cozy Dog Drive In was born, built on Route 66 at South Sixth Street. In 1996, Cozy Dog moved to its current location, where Ed's daughter-in-law and grandsons continue on with the business right next door to the original location.

They've got great Route 66 decor inside with their funky hot-dog-boyfriend-and-girlfriend logo and signage. They've also got the standard road food fare like bacon and eggs, cheeseburgers and ice cream. But how can an out of towner not get a Cozy Dog while in the presence of such greatness? I ordered one with a side of fries and, truth be told, it was the best deep fried battered weenie on a stick I ever ate. Frankly, we relished every moment we were at the Cozy Dog Drive In until we mustard up the energy to leave and ketchup on the rest of our journey. Bun voyage!

I got you Abe: Souvenirs from the Land-O-Lincoln

Abe's head on a stick, anyone?

Lincoln beard (no shaving required)

Lincoln mask (fool your friends!)

Who wants nuts?

Technically, these aren't Lincoln souvenirs,

but Civil War knickknacks don't come any creepier.

Lincoln and a big fan.

The sticker on the plate reads "Note for Food Use: Food Consumed from this Vessel May Be Harmful". In other words, it's for lookin', not cookin'.

Abe-pod.

What friend or loved-one wouldn't want one of the fine Abraham Lincoln mementos offered by the splendid gift and souvenir emporiums of Springfield, Illinois?

Springfield, Illinois' Tomb of Mr. Accordion, where you can pay your respects accordionly

That's Lincoln's Tomb in the distance.

You can't help but think that Lincoln would have been amused.

Seems like every town in Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana has an Abraham Lincoln claim-to-fame, but nowhere is more Lincoln-centric than Springfield, Illinois. The city's pretty Oak Ridge Cemetery is where Lincoln's vast tomb is located... a hallowed, sacred place. It is also the location of a tomb of a more eccentric nature. Roy Bertelli, aka "Mr. Accordion," has the primest piece of cemetery real estate, excluding Old Abe's, of course. In a triangular plot at the cemetery's entrance sits his tomb with its large crypt and granite tablet depicting an accordion playing a happy tune. There is a back story to all of this reverence, however. Seems after Mr. Bertelli bought his plot, the cemetery informed him it was sold to him by mistake. They then threatened to take him to court if he did not give it up. This got Mr. Bertelli's Irish up. As a World War veteran he felt disrespected and decided to build his tomb above ground. Upon its completion, he would stand on top of it and serenade cemetery visitors with accordion pieces from time to time before descending up to that big Polkabration in the sky in 2003. It's quite a sight to see and adds an unexpected bit of whimsy to a very serious place. Nobody pulls a squeeze play on Mr. Accordion. Nobody.