It may seem funny, but our roadtrip to Chicago revolved around McDonalds. Now you may know that I put a heavy reliance on McDonalds when I travel abroad, but the food should be pretty safe/familiar in Chicago right (and there are no local specialties)? Yet I still went to McDonalds a lot!
One reason was because they was a heck of a lot of them. Every time there was food at the side of the interstate, there was a McDonalds! I suppose one reason is because Ray Kroc, the man who brought McDonalds its success (or infamy) was situated in Chicago. Indeed, one of the tourist attractions we specifically sought out was the re-creation of Kroc’s first McDonalds location in Des Plaines.
Aside from the several other times we went into McDonalds for a quick snack or meal, the other tourist destination we specifically sought out was the Rock ‘N’ Roll McDonalds. This location has its own Wikipedia page AND it’s longer than Ray Kroc’s page. Why is this location called the Rock ‘N’ Roll McDonalds? I think it’s because they have a little rock ‘n’ roll museum in a separate building (including the Beatles walking on Abbey Road).
This location is special because of a few things, it has a two-lane drive-thru (we didn’t try it though), it has escalators to the second floor, they sold McDonalds gelato, and there was a museum inside. The museum had displays of various memorabilia from McDonalds through the decades, as well as popular items in pop culture during those times. It was nice to see some TMNT but I think what would have been cooler is if they had displays of all their Happy Meal toys through the decades!