The Ariston Cafe in Litchfield, Illinois, was built in 1935 with a simple brick architectural style common for new businesses in the frugal Depression years. As the original owners no doubt knew, Route 66 during the Depression years continued to carry much of the traffic between Chicago and St. Louis, the second and seventh largest cities in the country at the time. With this constant flow of travelers, the business even sold gas for a while. The Ariston has lasted as a restaurant since then, one of those must stops on the old road.
I arrived at the cafe towards the end of the day, which allowed for a neat photo with the neon signs turned on, but too late to stop for a bite as I needed to make St. Louis before nightfall. This is the type of trade off made necessary when making scheduled stops on a Route 66 trip, and it drives most roadies crazy. But the accountant in me likes to set a mileage goal every day, with a list of museums and roadside attractions to cover and with the motel reservations having been made far in advance. Hey, looking for a place to sleep at the end of a 12 hour day on the road is never any fun. Log Book: 227 miles motored on old 66.
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