Today Braidwood, Illinois, with its population of just a little more than 5,000 people, still provides a nostalgic glimpse of the vintage Mother Road with icons such as the Polk-A-Dot Drive In. First started in 1956 in a school bus painted with rainbow colored polk-a-dots, lunch was served from a mini-sized kitchen inside the bus. Today this great drive-in at 222 N. Front Street sports bigger than life statues of James Dean, Elvis, and the Blues Brothers, along with great food.