ROUTE 66

On the south side of our little lake as you drive the eleven miles around....you come across this street sign....ROUTE 66....which directs us down a dirt driveway....



Over the last few years, often in the evenings after our ice-cream cone at the King of the Frosties....my Dad has taken us for a drive around the lake and down ROUTE 66 to see the sights and handiwork of local friends ...Mr. John Van Buiten and his lovely wife Hester.....
This series of 6 red signs say...."IF HUGGING.....ON HIGHWAYS...IS YOUR SPORT...TRADE IN YOUR CAR...FOR A DAVENPORT...BURMA SHAVE"....this was an old advertising slogan .....
The red signs lead you down this dirt road to almost a dozen little buildings.....all built by John, a retired builder from New Jersey ...
Among his charming diminutive buildings are a church, a schoolhouse, a service center, a bus stop, a post office, a barber shop, a lean to and an outhouse...



John has been an antique car buff for many years and he has collected not only classic antique cars but vintage gas pumps and all kinds of memorabilia.....The gas pumps and other items you see here are all authentic antiques...



He has outfitted one little building, inside and out as a post office...



Of course, there needs to be one of these...



A wonderful vintage weather vane adorns the top of this small building...



A miniature replica of a service station....Now when I say miniature....I mean small....you can walk inside all these buildings and they are outfitted as a normal size building....with counters and furniture and appropriate accessories...







This was my favorite building....a tiny chapel.....



The top of this sign was salvaged from John's home church in NJ which burnt down in 1946.



John and Hester renewed their vows here to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.....There was just enough room for their children and spouses to sit on the two pews (cut down from original old ones) and for their grandchildren to stand around the perimeter of this little house of worship....



A little school house complete with an antique school bell on top....







The General Store was filled floor to ceiling with all sorts of memorabilia and some antique tins and other utilitarian items which would have been found in an old store...



Here is John, posing at my request, inside the General Store....he has his carpenter's apron on as he and a friend are in the process of building a replica of an old ice cream parlor!



His Barber shop has this authentic old barber pole on the outside...



And inside are these two mannequins with this authentic antique barber chair...



Just look at all the old barber shop items he has on display!

The other morning, John and Hester let my Dad and I spend some time taking a closer look at all his little buildings...both inside and out...I took so many pictures....incredible and wonderful details! I hope the photographs shown here give you an idea of the love behind all the work that was put into creating this charming "village".... This lovely couple are so gracious and generous in sharing their ROUTE 66 with all who are interested....
Hope you enjoyed this little tour!