Illinois Route 66 - Broadwell

Ernie Edwards in 2005, full of life and with a lifetime of stories of old Route 66

Pig Hip Restaurant Museum in 2005

BROADWELL, ILLINOIS. The Pig-Hip Restaurant was my all time favorite stop on Route 66, and not just for the photo friendly restaurant and sign. The main attraction at the Pig-Hip was the proprietor, Ernie Edwards, who ran the restaurant from 1937 to 1991 before turning the place into a museum. In his late eighties when I met him in 2005, Ernie ambled out of his adjacent house after I had rudely arrived after closing time, opened up, and was nice enough to give me a personal tour. He made sure not to leave out any of his legendary tales of old 66, even after his wife, Frances, stopped by to join us, obviously with dinner waiting on the stove back at the house. I politely took my leave a few minutes later, but made it my business to stop by a couple of times in later years just to say hello to the Edwards', with one final visit in 2008 to see how they were coping after the museum burned to the ground in 2007. I found that Ernie, with his sense of humor intact and the stories still flowing, was now entertaining visitors on his back porch. He was even gracious enough to invite me into his home that day. Sadly, Ernie passed on in the spring of 2012, a huge loss for all of us.