Springfield, Illinois

June 10th – Springfield, Illinois: Butterflies, Bobbleheads & Big Feet

We rolled into Springfield on a Tuesday, ready for weirdness—and we were not disappointed.

First stop: the Travel Center. Let’s just say Janet might have snuck in a quick butt tap and bolted (video evidence exists). Just outside, a statue stood facing west, like it knew where we were headed. And then… a giant foot sticking straight up in the road. Why? No idea. But obviously, we had to share it with you guys.

Around town, we found a rooftop hula girl bobblehead that brought back car dashboard memories, and a dinosaur riding a unicycle (yes, you read that right). Springfield doesn’t do boring.

Then came the butterflies. The city has a whole map of them, and we chased as many down as we could. Our favorite? The pizza butterfly—even though we didn’t eat there, it stole our hearts. Janet posed in front of some jalapeños for a devilish shot, but my version didn’t quite come out.

Lunch was a picnic! We grabbed a chicken salad sandwich from Beefaroo (SO good), and donuts from Layered Donut Shop. Thanks to our coupons, the whole meal cost next to nothing. Buy-one-get-one sandwich, buy-a-drink-get-a-free-donut—boom. Budget lunch win!

We also spotted a massive steel bird’s nest sculpture in the sky that said “we’ll see y’all for lunch.” Tempting!

Onward: one building had vintage arcade games stuck on the walls. Then we found a literal fork in the road. Janet laid down by it—don’t worry, she was just resting (sort of... mulch is stickier than it looks). We even crossed paths with Cheech and Chong (briefly) and took a victory photo with the iconic “We Can Do It” sign. We’re almost through this road trip—and we really can do anything.

Springfield surprised us again with a 66 sculpture made entirely of old hubcaps, a few abandoned towns, and a meet-and-greet with our favorite furry giant. Peg tried helping him hide behind some bushes—unsuccessfully, but we tried.

Springfield? You were wild. You were weird. You were wonderful.