Category Archives: Middle America

Wishing we were back on Spring Break…

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We are just about finished with our first week back from Spring Break and we are pooped.  At least I am, Henna and Corey have as much energy as ever before.  Anyways, we are beginning to seriously plan this summer’s trip.  And by planning I mean staring at a map.  When asked where we are going, I think Corey has the best answer, “west.”  If I were to add to that, I would mention that we are hoping to avoid the expressway as much as possible.  For starters, we are going to take route 20 west to maybe Casper, WY.  Then we hope to head south and revisit RMNP, see Mesa Verde (last time for me I was about 12), and the Grand Canyon.  But until then, here are some of our favorite photos from past Spring Breaks.  Man, Henna sure does look older now (but not Corey and I).

The pictures above are from Normal, IL., Branson, MO., Petite Jean State Park, AR., and Garden of The Gods State Park, IL.  which are all one to two days from our Chicago home.

River Towns of the Midwest: Cape Girardeau, MO

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Crossing over the Mississippi into Cape Girardeau we smiled at the big sign greeting us; “Cape Girardeau, hometown of the big mouth idiot Rush Limbaugh.”  Actually I just made that up.  There was no sign that I could see, but the visitor’s guide did indicate that one could take a self-guided trip past the hospital he was born in as well as other markers to that dopey bigot.

For the same reason why I wanted to fall in love with Mark Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, MO, I wanted to find serious fault with Cape Girardeau.  Ironically, it was Hannibal that felt worn out and offered to us only the most narrow of glimpses into its past.  Cape Girardeau, in contrast, had a friendly and comfortable feel.  Like many river towns, it was built on steep bluffs and seemed to rise up over itself with an elevated courthouse standing guard over the city.  The historic waterfront possessed a good number of 19th century buildings and just enough bars to remind everyone that Cape Girardeau is the home of Southeastern Missouri State University.  And lest you forget that Cape Girardeau is a river town, the waterfront is protected by a sturdy floodwall that tells, through colorful murals, of the interplay between river and town over the last three hundred years.

 

Then and Now: Rustic Hideaway, Southern Illinois

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We just completed maybe our 9th visit to the Southern Illinois area and we think 7 of those visits have been at the cabin Rustic Hideaway.  We at Hennacornoelidays travel often, but return seldom.  The places we do return to have special places in our hearts and serve as reference points along the way.  The Burnham Hotel in Chicago is our model of luxury.  Waterton Lake National Park is the standard to judge all National Parks and Rustic Hideaway is our relaxation point.  Below are some pictures taken there both yesterday and over the past week:

I also wrote a review of the cabin and the area for Splash Magazine.  http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Domestic_150/rustic-hideaway-review.php

 

Greetings from Union County

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Greetings from Union County.  Where exactly is Union County?  If I told you it is south of most of Virgina and possessed several mighty good wineries, would you guess Illinois?  Probably not, but Union County is one of the southern Illinois counties in a region often referred to as Little Egypt.  Why the shout out to Egypt?  Maybe the early settlers thought the Mississippi resembled the Nile River which would explain a couple of town names (Thebes and Cairo).   Corey and I first discovered this special delta ten years ago when an internet search brought us to Rustic Hideaway for our honeymoon.  Two years later we brought baby Henna (she was about 7 months old) and it was as good a spot as we remembered.  The three of us have been back most Spring Breaks since then.

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Corey and I once camped at Giant City State Park (en route to New Orleans) and the three of us also once rented a house close to the same state park.  But our first choice is always Rustic Hideaway.  To Hennacornoelidays, Rustic Hideaway represents the type of travel we seek out.  Although more now than ever before, there are not too many restaurants nearby which encourages us to stay in and make use of the small electric stove and the propane gas grill (lucky for us the grill has been recently upgraded and I can now use it without the usual accompanying cusses used to get it started).  The cabins are private and off a gravel driveway which is itself off a small road that gets little traffic.  There are two cabins on what I am guessing is an acre of land.  Behind the cabins is National Forest and a trail leads up and then on seemingly to nowhere.  This time we took it further than ever before and came to a better maintained trail that we followed before getting tired and turning back.  Without a destination the hike is both maddening and liberating to us as we feel no pressure to go on and thus have never hiked more than a mile in.  At night we have easter egg hunts (something I never did as a child) and play lots of board games (something I gratefully did have  as a child).  We also take frequent dips in the hot tub and enjoy bird watching from the deck.  The small inconveniences of the cabin are hardly worth mentioning but I will mention them anyways: well water and not as comfortable of beds as one would hope.  The first is easily enough remedied and the beds are only slightly worse than what we have at home.  Everything else in the cabin is simple charm and useful extras like coffee filters and spices.

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This is going to be the first of a couple of blog entries about Union County and the surrounding area.  I am also going to write-up a review (my first ever travel review) of Rustic Hideaway for Splash and when I do will post the link here.  Right now the coffee is starting to wake me up a bit and I am going to warm up in the tub before the ladies wake up.

Some Great Playgrounds Out There

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Sure, nature makes a great playground, but so does man (and woman).  Here are some of our favorite mechanical attractions.

The Missoula County Fair

Corey and I have been there twice, but only once with Henna (the first was as newlyweds on our return trip from Alaska).  In the ten or so years between visits we changed much, the fair not so much (although we did miss the horse racing present on our first trip).  That is a good thing.  Both times there we wandered through prize cows and llamas as well as other questionable western livestock and dined on funnel cakes and other tasty fried treats.  Corey does not like things that spin her, but Henna does and the two of us enjoyed watching rainbows from the Ferris wheel.

St. Jospeph, Michigan

Where there was once a religious retreat there is now an awesome beach, playground, and carousel.  All of it sits below the down town area where ornamental cannons stand guard.  Upstairs (at grade level) is an OK children’s museum as well as several ice cream shops.  Parking is cheap or free, no beach fees at all, and the carousel will not cost you more than a few dollars.  What is there not to like?

The Carousels of Oregon

Salem and Albany Oregon both have sister cities near the east coast and love things that go round and round.  In Albany volunteer workers have been spending the last several years carving and painting works to complement a restored 1909 Dentzel machine that will ultimately power their creation.  Donations and visitors are always welcomed and our short time there felt like being in a dream factory.

Salem residents and tourists have been enjoying their carousel for some time.  The carousel is housed in a small building within a larger green park a short distance (but a busy street crossing) from the downtown area.  Incidentally, the Salem visitor center is the only center I know that sells bottles of wine from a nearby winery. 

Millennium Park, Chicago

We have not made the final selections yet, but I think we are going to omit this park from our Great City Park list (the Lakefront though is still in the running).  As consolation prize, we will mention our hometown park on our great man made attraction list.  The reason for this lofty honor, the cool off factor.  Not much in Chicago is free, but standing under a giant waterfall and dodging underground sprinklers is.  And we love it.

Do you have a favorite playground?  Please, Hennacornoeli minds want to know.

Living the Rock and Roll Dream

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One truth of the road is that the nicer the hotel, the more they nickel and dime you.  Find yourself, say, at the Holiday Inn Express in Ripley, West Virginia (I have found myself there and I have to say there is not much to do in Ripley, West Virginia) and expect free Wifi and a nice continental breakfast in the morning.  Go to the Burnham Hotel in Chicago, as we often do, and you now get Starbucks in the lobby.  But just until 10:30 and no rolls, bagels, or crackers.  The good WiFi will cost you extra and do not expect a mint on your pillow.  This time though they gave us $10 toward the mini bar.  With that voucher, we could have gotten no less than two M and M bags.  Instead we used it toward cocktails ($6 for each mini plastic Beam bottle- we drank it over ice because we did not want to spend $3 for a can of Coke).

One thing I do not get about the Kimpton hotels is the gold fish you can request.  One of our favorite retreats, Rustic Hideaway, used to have a resident gold fish.  Quaint.  And stressful.  “Did we feed it enough?”  Yes we did.  “Did we overfeed it?”  Maybe.  The comment book was filled with fish related fears and concerns.  Every once in awhile a fish died and the guests felt horrible.  By the way, that is exactly what we are looking for in our family vacations.  “Daddy, where do fish go when they die?”  Red Lobster.

At the Kimpton hotels, the fish is at least voluntary.  Which leads me to wonder, are business men   really so lonely that they need a surrogate pet.  I always thought that that is what hookers are for.  Maybe the pet care should not be voluntary?  Maybe part of the Kimpton experience should be that you, the visitor, are responsible for a pet of management’s choosing.  I see dogs, cats, boa constrictors, kangaroos (for their Australian properties) and Moose (Canadian properties) all in storage waiting for the lucky guest to arrive. 

The reason for my stay in downtown Chicago (I live on the northwest side of the same city) was to help me better cover the Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival (CBB).  Another good reason is that hotels in Chicago are pretty reasonable in January.   One quick note about the festival; I have seen my share of bluegrass and I have to tell you that bluegrass festival in Kentucky (or anywhere else where the music is played) means something different than it does in Chicago.  For example, in Wyoming, where we once stumbled onto such a festival, it meant homemade quilts sold on the side and large, homeschooled families who do not care much for that Darwin fellow.  The only bluegrass I saw at the festival was being smoked in the bathroom. 

I have only been writing articles for Splash for a short time.  However, I can already tell how organized a place is by the press kit.  My favorite so far was what the Black Ensemble Theater put together.  It was on a flash drive.  They let me keep it.  I was happy.  At the CBB, I was emailed two photos prior to the date.  At the concert, there was a crudely put together sheet listing who was playing and when.  They would not let me have there only copy.  After some negotiating, they gave me an envelope and a pen so that I could scribble down some notes (I’m not always so organized myself; I forget a pen and the little notebook that I carry).  Later my wife had the idea to photograph the list and that is what we used the rest of the night as we texted each other notes. 

The music by the way was very cool.  And loud.  Very loud.  It also went on altogether too late and we left before the headline act got on stage.  And if that is not living like a rock star I do not know what is.

Note:  The link below will take you to my review of the CBB festival: http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Music_107/chicago-bluegrass-and-blues-festival-review.php

Happy 100 year birthday Starved Rock!

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I was saving Starved Rock for when I had a little more time.  But the local news talked about this being the 100th year that Starved Rock has been open to the public and I could not resist commenting and posting some pictures.  Starved Rock State Park is our favorite winter destination.  Who can resist competing with other families for that sweet spot by the fireplace, tag and other games in their giant pool, and making that annual pilgrimage to a spot where a group of Native Americans supposedly were starved out.  The first few years we pulled Henna on a sled through Aurora canyons until the trail became too steep.  Now, in between snow ball fights, we sled down iced over boardwalk stairs on our buts.  Each year there also seem to be more resident eagles as well as more possums and the occasional stray cat that the bartender feeds.  And what always impresses me is that this pocket of wilderness resides less than two hours from home.

Flight 93 Memorial

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The field would have been another lonely, filled in former coal mine if it were not for the tragic events of 9/11.  Instead there is this long road that takes you to a parking lot filled with tour and school buses as well as minivans, cars, etc.  Nobody dare speaks in too loud of a voice as the wounds here do not feel distant at all.  Where other memorial sites seem to encourage picnic baskets and frisbees, this one encourages quiet contemplation and a shared grief. 

The evil is told plainly in fact filled signs.  The NPS avoids hyperbole and lets the facts speak for itself.  People purposefully planned and executed innocent people. 

Other signs are just as plain.  Above is a picture roster of those aboard Flight 93.  They include tourists, a woman from Hawaii, an observant Jew, and several persons who overtook the terrorists and possibly prevented a greater tragedy on 9/11.  What struck me is that this is who we are:  many people from many different backgrounds with different beliefs who, when necessary, pull together for a greater cause.  The bad guys hate that.

Blue Mound State Park

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Took a small road trip to the highest point in southwest Wisconsin.  O.K., you cannot see the curvature of the earth from the top of Blue Mound.  We also did not need Sherpas and really had no trouble acclimating ourselves to the altitude.  But the views were nice and a good time was had by all.  Only regret is that we did not bring bikes (there are miles of bike trails in the park and easy access to bike trails that extend maybe a hundred or so miles out).  The campsites were large and pretty, but the park is off a highway and the constant roar of traffic got a little on my nerves.  But this is a cool state park and is definitely Hennacornoeli approved.

Take that Yahoo Page

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Recently my Yahoo page offered one of their endless fluff photo essays (which I always waste a few minutes on) on the prettiest colleges in the U.S.  In what I was sure was an oversight, my alma mater, Ohio University, was not listed.  It just so happened that I took a recent road trip through beautiful Athens, Ohio and was pleasantly surprised at how well it aesthetically stood out even when compared to the University of VA (which I had just visited a few days prior and did make that stupid Yahoo list) as well as William and Mary (which I also had just visited).  Thomas Jefferson did not design OU (like he did with UVA), but OU is old in American terms (early 1800s) and is the tenth oldest US public university as well as the oldest college in the Northwest territories.  Although I attended OU for four great years, I had never approach the campus from W. Va which added to the charm.  Route 33, heading north-west from Ripley W. Va, snakes beautifully through the low hills and wide valleys of Ohio and W. Va.  Unfortunately the road loses some charm after Athens on its way to Columbus.  Take a gander at these photos and tell me if Yahoo missed the boat.