Mile After Magnificent Mile

This it the tourist slogan for Illinois, a play on the name of the main shopping street in Chicago. IE there are more miles worth seeing in Illinois than just the Magnificent Mile; or at least that's how I interpret it.

So this weekend, we decided to see if it was true. As you may have noticed, I have been doing a lot more photography wise, and one of those guys I have been working with runs his own business doing "Photo Safaris". Well on Sunday Gary was running an aerial safari from Rockford "International" Airport. Gary actually runs some really cool safaris, both locally and around the world. Click here or on the logo for more info.

I could have gone myself for the two hour flight in a Cessna, over Rockford, Galena and the Mississippi river, but we decided it was a good way to start to prove/disprove the Illinois tourist board, and take the whole family; with a view of seeing what we came across on the journey worth doing.

We left home around 10:30 on Saturday, knowing that it wasn't too long of a journey and so if we ran late it would not be a big deal. The scenery was pretty, the weather gorgeous (85) and the kids, for the most part were relatively quiet. Around lunchtime, we saw a sign for a Wild West Town, and decided to check it out for lunch. Donely's Wild West Town, cheesy as it sounds, was actually a lot of fun.

Not cheap at $15 per adult, you actually do get pretty decent value for money. There is a train, a small roller coaster, pony rides, canoe rides, panning for gold, shooting range, wild west show, etc; and it is all included in the price. All the folks are dressed in character and even talk in character, older words, accents and vocal styles, all designed to take you back. Lots of good wholesome fun for the family. Click here for a few more pictures including some of all of us, Addison included, trying our hands at lasso.

We arrived in Rockford, around 16:30 and found our hotel. Only problem is that I had made, and paid for, the hotels.com reservation for the previous night! The guy was going to honour the room for me, but they were fully booked, and so I ended up having to pay for another room elsewhere.

Settled in for the night, with an early start, the kids, who had not slept much during the day were tired and cranky and didn't really go to sleep until late; fighting it all the way. Eventually settled around 10, but with regular interruptions, it wasn't a great night of sleep for Lorraine. Click here for a few more pictures of the sleeping bag and general October fun.

I got up and left early next day, arriving at the airport at 07:20, another beautiful day beckoned. I had expected to be flying with one other person, Gary our Safari guide and the pilot. Well it turns out that Gary is the pilot! Flying since 1980, he has his own plane and he is running the show. I had to sit up front as I am a fat git and he wanted to distribute the weight appropriately. Unfortunately that meant that I only got to see one side and couldn't move back and forth. Fortunately it also meant that I had a set of controls right in front of me, and I was afforded the opportunity to take then and fly for a bit as well, now that was fun!

We flew out over Galena and all the way to the Mississippi. Lots of excellent fall colours and a unique perspective from the air, made it an excellent trip. Click here for a gazillion more pictures.



When I got back to the hotel, we hit Denny's for brunch then headed out for the day to a local Museum Village for a scarecrow festival that Lorraine had found on-line. Isn't the internet wonderful? We came prepared with old clothes galore, intent on making an entire scarecrow family; but what we didn't realise was that there would be other cool things to see and do.

The village itself is a collection of older buildings from around Illinois, relocated here to form the museum; and at only $6 per adult, and all attractions free once inside, it is great value. We started out at the Gazette, and Addison printed her name on her very own bookmark using the 100 year old press, next to the bank to get a money certificate, on to some rope making, before watching the blacksmith work in his shop.

We checked out the corn kernel removing device and the grinder used to make meal, before we headed to the scarecrow bit. We made four scarecrows, some turning out better than others; watched the old fashioned harvester run by a John Deere and a bunch of pulleys and belts, before having a quick bite to eat and checking out the fire station.

On the way in, I had seen this old mill, and wanted to make sure to get a picture or six of it, before leaving. There were too many cars and people in the background to make it a truly memorable shot, but if I was anywhere near in the winter, I am sure it would look fantastic with a covering of snow. Click here for more pictures of the scarecrows, the village and the mill.