July 17th continued.
We did have some reasonable food at the Elizabeth Fair, but that was the high point of it. It was definitely a hard deal to beat the $1.25 for a big slice of pie.
Drove US-20 to Galena and took a walk around US Grant Park on the other side of the Galena River. They have monuments to Grant and soldiers as well as four captured cannons from the Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War II.
JOHNNY ROCKER AT THE GRAPE ESCAPE
Unbelievably, we found a parking space right in front of the Grape Escape where we had seen they were going to have entertainment in the afternoon.
Johnny Rocker is in two bands and also performs solo singing a great variety of different songs. Too bad we were the only folks in the place for awhile, but he went ahead and gave us a show anyway. Eventually others came in. He played several songs by Social Outcast which i will have to check out.
GRANT HILLS MOTEL
We went back to the motel and ended up sitting outside from five to 10:30 talking with several other couples, including one from Woodstock, Illinois, about ten miles from us back home. This sitting outside your room and talking with people is one of the things I really like the most when you stay at a Mom and Pop Motel. Try doing that at the newer ones. It just doesn't happen very much, if at all.
What I'd Call a Pretty Good Day. --Cooter
Showing posts with label Elizabeth Illinois. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elizabeth Illinois. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
July Mississippi River Trip-- Part 3-- Elizabeth, Illinois
On July 17th, we took a trip on a lot of back roads throughout Jo Davies County in the very northwestern part of Illinois.
BLANDINGS LANDING
We visited Blanding's Landing by the Mississippi River across from Bellevue, Iowa, the only section of privately-owned land between the railroad tracks and the river for miles and miles in that area. The rest is owned by the government, in part for the nearby lock and dam as well as probably for flooding. There used to be the town of Blanding there, but no more.
SMALL TOWN AMERICA AT ITS BEST
We went to a parade in Elizabeth, Illinois, a small town about twelve miles southeast of Galena. With a population of 682, you wouldn't expect much, but you sure would be wrong. Besides a picture-perfect main street, US-20, (which unfortunately has traffic and LOTS of TRUCKS coming through), this is one town aware of its heritage. They have two museums as well as a reconstructed fort from the Black Hawk War.
They were having their 90th annual Community Fair and a parade to go with it. We watched the parade from the air conditioned Jug's Bar and Grill on Main Street. As hot as it was, that cold air sure felt good and the $2 parade specials like rum and Coke slaked our thirst. Being an agricultural community, there were plenty of tractors in the parade.
After visiting the local winery, we came back for the fair, but weren't too happy to have to pay $6 apiece to enter. There wasn't much of interest for us, but we did have a great meal at reasonable prices, capped off with some really great pies at $1.25. How do you beat that in these expensive days.
A Real Fine Town. --Cooter
BLANDINGS LANDING
We visited Blanding's Landing by the Mississippi River across from Bellevue, Iowa, the only section of privately-owned land between the railroad tracks and the river for miles and miles in that area. The rest is owned by the government, in part for the nearby lock and dam as well as probably for flooding. There used to be the town of Blanding there, but no more.
SMALL TOWN AMERICA AT ITS BEST
We went to a parade in Elizabeth, Illinois, a small town about twelve miles southeast of Galena. With a population of 682, you wouldn't expect much, but you sure would be wrong. Besides a picture-perfect main street, US-20, (which unfortunately has traffic and LOTS of TRUCKS coming through), this is one town aware of its heritage. They have two museums as well as a reconstructed fort from the Black Hawk War.
They were having their 90th annual Community Fair and a parade to go with it. We watched the parade from the air conditioned Jug's Bar and Grill on Main Street. As hot as it was, that cold air sure felt good and the $2 parade specials like rum and Coke slaked our thirst. Being an agricultural community, there were plenty of tractors in the parade.
After visiting the local winery, we came back for the fair, but weren't too happy to have to pay $6 apiece to enter. There wasn't much of interest for us, but we did have a great meal at reasonable prices, capped off with some really great pies at $1.25. How do you beat that in these expensive days.
A Real Fine Town. --Cooter
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