Royal Oak Farm
This harvest season, Lisa, my mom, and I visited Royal Oak Farm Apple Orchard in Harvard, Illinois. Our first-time experience became a new tradition. Scroll down to see more photos and read more about Royal Oak Farm Apple Orchard. We read the recent online reviews as we looked for a new apple and pumpkin farm, … Continue reading Royal Oak Farm
Field of Dreams
“If you build it, he will come.” “Man, I did love this game. I’d have played for food money. It was the game…The sounds, the smells. Did you ever hold a ball or a glove to your face?“ “Is this Heaven? No, it’s Iowa.” Scroll down to see more photos and read more about the … Continue reading Field of Dreams
Fluffy Fluffy
Bad pancakes took the air out of your mornings? I know. I started Fluffy Fluffy with “bad pancakes.” That’s where it ends. Put down your plastic spork and drop your lukewarm buffet leave behinds. Fluffy Fluffy’s famous soufflé pancakes will put the bounce back in your step and the air under your wings! Fluffy Fluffy, … Continue reading Fluffy Fluffy
Lords Park
When the world was younger, and I was still an old soul, I lost myself at a small but memorable farm zoo in Elgin, Illinois. This was years before digital cameras, the internet, and blogging. I remembered bison and a pond filled with geese and ducks. Many years later, here I am again at Lords … Continue reading Lords Park
Illinois Railway Museum
The largest railroad museum in the United States is right here in Union, Illinois, about 55 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. Fitting that the Illinois Railway Museum was founded in 1953 near the largest junction of rail lines and freight operations in American history. We left the rubber on the road for the steel wheels … Continue reading Illinois Railway Museum
Cantigny Park
Gardens, a military museum, and a golf course sum up Cantigny. Flowers are of a temporal nature, and military conflicts sometimes flare up to preserve freedom, affording us the leisure to shoot a round of golf. A five-hundred acre park, a museum honoring the First Division of the United States Army (known as the legendary … Continue reading Cantigny Park
28 Mile Distilling Company
With the chill of early spring in the air, Valerie, Julie, Mark, Lisa, and I spirited away on a beer run that distilled itself into something stronger. Wait. Wasn’t there a commercial back in the day that pushed hard butterscotch candy from a well-meaning old man to a bewildered kid? Sorry for the abrupt shift, … Continue reading 28 Mile Distilling Company
Half Day Brewing Company
The name, “Half Day,” belongs to a town, road, and brewing company in Illinois. Over the years, the origin of this name has been mistakenly defined as a half-day’s horse and carriage ride to Chicago, and a chief named, “Hefda,” whose name was modernized as, “Half Day.” Neither of these folk tales are true. It … Continue reading Half Day Brewing Company
Mars Cheese Castle
Men are from Mars. There’s a man in the moon. The moon is made of cheese. That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for Muenster. I’m over the moon about Mars Cheese Castle. Scroll down to see more photos and read more about Mars Cheese Castle. The next time you’re on I-94 north … Continue reading Mars Cheese Castle
The Simple Luxuries 