2025 PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY ADVENTURE - HISTORIC AUTO ATTRACTIONS

             

 Today it the day that I have been looking forward too for a few Years. A friend of mine who is a full time RV’er first told me about a museum near Rockford, Illinois call Historic Auto Attractions. He told me that it is one of the most amazing museums he had ever been to. In fact, he said that it was on par with the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D. C.

After talking to my friend and doing a little Research I put Historic Auto Attractions on My Bucket List. And today, I will be able to scratch it off my bucket list. Based on what I have read, and on the advice of my friend, I have set aside the entire day for my visit. That’s right, I have nothing else planned for today, other than to explore Historic Auto Attractions.

The Museum didn’t open until 9 a.m. and I wanted to be there right at 9 when it opened. The Candlewood Suites does not offer any kind of breakfast, so I checked out of the Hotel at 8:20 a.m. and made a quick stop at the stop and go store for a cup of coffee.

It was here at the stop and go that I realized my mistake.  This morning, I have been going by my Fitbit watch and computer clock which were on Eastern Time. But yesterday when I crossed into Illinois, I changed to Central time. The clocks on my Phone and in the car changed automatically.

When I got back into the car and set google maps for my short drive to the Museum it showed that the museum would be closed when I arrived. I then looked at the clock on the phone, and it showed 7:30 a.m. while my Fitbit showed 8:30 a.m.

So rather than have on 30 minutes before the Museum opened, I had an hour and a half. I couldn’t go back to the hotel since I have already checked out. A quick google search showed that there was a Cracker Barrel nearby, so I decided to head there and have breakfast.

After a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrel, it was time to make the 15-mile drive north to Historic Auto Attractions in Roscoe, Illinois. I arrived right at 9 a.m. Central time and was the first visitor of the day.

Historic Auto Attractions is a huge museum, consisting of more than 86,000 square feet. The museum is broken down into several themed exhibit galleries, like Gangster Land, the Hall of Presidents, and extensive exhibits pertaining to both President Lincoln and Kennedy.

In this post I am only going to cover some of the galleries and exhibits that I was able to move through rather quickly. In future post I am going to explore the larger galleries individually.

Galleries like, The Hall of Presidents, Gansterland, World Leaders along with the Kennedy and Lincoln Galleries will have their own blog as their artifacts and exhibits are simply amazing.

While those are the most popular galleries, today I am going to highlight some of the smaller galleries.

FRONTIER LAND

The first gallery that I came to after paying my admission fee is called Frontier Land. This gallery features artifacts from some of the wild west most iconic figures including Frank and Jesse James, Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill.

There are also exhibits from many of the most Popular western TV Shows. Things like the piano used in the Long Branch Saloon from Gunsmoke and Marshall Matt Dillons Hat, shirt, vest and boots.

Growing up I loved to watch “The Lone Ranger,” and was glad to see the Lone pistols, gun belt and silver bullets were on display, along with a revolver owned by Cole Younger and a rifle used at the Battle of the Little Big Horn by Chief Spotted Elk.

THE MONEY CAR

One of the more unique artifacts on display at Historic Auto Attractions is the 1976 Bicentennial Money Car. It is actually a 1976 Cadillac limousine that is covered in over 120,000 U.S. Bicentennial coins. Mostly pennies, quarters, and Kennedy half-dollars The car was created by a man named Hal Woods and it took him over 2-years to create his unique masterpiece. The coins added more than a full ton of weight to the vehicle, making it permanently undrivable.

 MISS BELVEDERE

Another Unique vehicle on display is the 1957 Plymouth Belvedere which was buried in a time capsule in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The car remained buried for 50 years before being unearthed in 2007.

As you can imagine, after being buried for 50 years, the car suffered significant damage and was nothing like the brand-new car that was buried back in 1957.

What was buried with Miss Belvedere back in 1957 ask? Well, some of the items recovered from her trunk and glovebox were a five-gallon container of gasoline, a case of motor oil, a case of Schlitz beer and items that were considered typical contents of a woman's purse, which included a bottle of tranquilizers, an unpaid parking ticket, 14 bobby pins, a compact, cigarettes and matches, two combs, a tube of lipstick, a package of gum, a plastic rain hat, pocket facial tissues, and $2.73 in bills and coins. 

Some of the items placed in the sealed steel capsule, welded shut and painted white, behind the car included a 48-star American flag, letters from various state and city officials and documentation for a savings account valued at $100 in 1957, A copy of the Daily Newspaper and a copy of Life Magazine. Some of those Item are on display with Miss Belvedere.

TV AND MOVIE CARS

One of my all time favorite TV shows was and still is “The Andy Griffith Show.” One of the cars in the TV and Movie Cars Exhibit is an actual Mayberry Squad Car used on the show. The Ford Squad Car is unique in the fact that a number of people who were featured on the show have autographed the car.

Some of the cast members whose comments and signatures appear on the car are, Howard Morris who played Ernest T. Bass; Betty Lynn who played Thelma Lou and “Fun Girl Daphne” played by Jean Carson.

 Another famous mover vehicle on display is The Griswold Family Truckster which was featured in the 1983 movie, “National Lampoon’s Vacation.

The last vehicle of not that I saw was a 1925 Ford Model T that was used in the Laurel and Hardy Movie, “Big Business.

When I arrived at the museum early this morning the young lady told me that the museum would be closing at 3 p.m. so that they could begin setting up for a private event.  I thought that I could still take my time and come back tomorrow and finish up my visit.

But she told me that the Museum would also be closed tomorrow. So, I tried to take my time in the exhibits that I really wanted to see while hurrying through some of the smaller exhibits.  

I finished right at 3 p.m. and considered returning to the Candlewood Suites but found that it was sold out as was most of the other reliable hotels in the area.  I spent a few minutes contemplating my options and decided to hit the road and head south toward Springfield, Illinois.

My plan was to drive south and just find a hotel along the way and then spend most of the day tomorrow in Springfield.

The distance from Roscoe to Springfield was a little over 200 miles and about halfway I decided to make a reservation at the Comfort Inn in Springfield by cashing in some of my Choice Privileges point for a free night.

It took me a little over three and a half hours to make the drive from Roscoe to Springfield. I arrived and checked in at the hotel about 6:45 p.m. After a quick supper at a nearby Applebee’s, it was time to call it a day.

And what a day it was. Historic Auto Attractions was simple amazing and if you want the truth, it was a little overwhelming. Tee number of historic vehicles alone was staggering and when you add in the other historic artifacts, I must admit that I was a little overwhelmed at times. I could have spent two full days in this museum and still not truly comprehended what all I was seeing.

This post only contains a small part of what I saw and as I have said, I intended to cover several of the larger galleries in their own individual blog in the coming weeks.

I am now almost two full days ahead of schedule. So, even though I have been to Springfield a few times before I do want to revisit the Tomb of Abraham Lincoln at Oak Ridge Cemetery and visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum again.

Tomorrow, I will probably leave Springfield and head east and spend the night somewhere between here and Indianapolis.

Todays 227 miles between Roscoe and Springfield were totally unplanned that will bring the total miles for this trip up to 1,267.