Wednesday the 18th: Funk's Grove, Normal, Stickney

*This little piece of the trip was the only time I slyly convinced my fellow travelers to join me on a Route 66 adventure. We chose to leave Springfield after lunch so we could make it to Funke's Grove for Maple Sirup when they opened at 1, they have been selling sirup here for almost 100 years. They also make wonderful maple sugar candy. Then we followed the Route into Bloomington and Normal, stopping at the only English style gas station on the route, still open with a nice gift shop (http://www.ryburnplace.com/). Terri told us about the Normal picture op just as you leave town. From here we joined the interstate and drove to a friend's recommendation for supper, Villa Nova Stickney pizza. We were disappointed the dining room and restaurant weren't open, but we found a nice park to eat in and enjoyed our pizza before heading to the hotel.

 

 

Tuesday the 17th: Lincoln's Tomb

 Unexpectedly, Lincoln's tomb is not at his Library and Musuem, as it is with Eisenhower and Truman. Lincoln is buried in the nearby cemetery along with all of his family except for one son (that son is at Arlington). The tomb is appropriately grand and fabulous, with a little hallway you walk through that contains small bronze statues of different points in his life and different clips of speeches. There are many unusual tombs nearby, so we spent a little time looking at them as well before finishing a loop through town and then going to Head West subs before heading East towards Chicago.

Monday the 16th: Springfield

The middle picture is actually from Hannibal: besides postcards, one souvenir from this trip was this lovely rainbow necklace with a loop so it can be used as a lanyard. It will be quite stylish for my id next school year.

Before leaving Springfield we did a good walk at Southwind park; the arches are from the 1893 Columbian Exposition, and the sunflower is part of a solar sundial. Lots of really fun things to explore. 

 

 

Friday the 13th: Springfield Illinois

 After finishing in Hannibal, we took that detour up to Quincy and then drove on to our nighttime stop, Springfield IL. Usually I'll take a picture in our hotel room to show our family that we made it; this was our last hotel with laundry for the next 5 days, so we did a quick load, swam in the pool, and had horseshoe sandwiches at D'Arcy's Pint. The next morning we did Mass at Little Flower for the Ascension and then went on to Lincoln's Tomb before lunch and a little more sightseeing on our way out of town.

 

 

Thursday the 12th: Lover's Leap

 *On our first day out of KC, we made a stop at Pershing State Park and then at Hannibal, MO for lunch. Upon arriving we found out that the bridge we needed over the Mississippi had closed the day before, and we needed to take a 40 mile detour. Okay. That also meant the park we wanted to eat in was closed, so we braved Lover's Leap high over the river and enjoyed our sandwiches there. In Hannibal we toured several Mark Twain sites, a gelato/chocolate store, and an art gallery. C and C also stopped into a game place and bought a dragon. Statue.

 

 

Wednesday the 11th: Back from Chicago

 I know the blog has been silent. Hopefully all 5 of my readers weren't worried. We went to Chicago and Indiana Dunes on a graduation trip for the Son, got back Monday, had a court date for my sister on Tuesday, and now today is hopefully a normal day before leaving tomorrow for a family reunion. Whew.

We ended up spending 4 days in the theatre district in Chicago, so I thought I would start with that part of the trip before describing the journey there and the national park and the journey home. To get the most out of this trip, we bought a City Pass that let us see 5 attractions for about 50% off. The first one we use was the Architectural Boat tour. This tour takes you up and down the river and then briefly out on Lake Michigan while having a docent share information about Chicago history and the architecture around us. This shot is looking back at the city from the Lake. Our docent was a history teacher on summer vacation, and he was both funny and super informative. We enjoyed the tour immensely. 

 

 

Friday the 30th: Puzzles

 These are the other two puzzles we have finished so far this year. We are working on a third, of the astronomical clock in Prague, but it's slow going with moving the boy home and moving rooms within the house to accommodate him.

 

 

Thursday the 29th: Music of the Week

 *Without work music, it's actually been very quiet. I have four or five pieces that I practice every day, but otherwise the house is mostly silent. While I do really enjoy music, having a chance for the auditory stimulation to be a lot less is really calming. I've even started singing in the shower again since I'm not overwhelmed with pieces to learn for work.

  

Wednesday the 8th: Food of the Week

 *This week is all about eating up leftovers. 

Sunday we had a salad kit and Pub Burgers (I linked a recipe last week) that were very good but perhaps not worth the work of grinding our own meat. OR perhaps we were a little too good at cutting out the fat and they ended up a little dry.

Monday we had leftovers and Tuesday we had Raisin Cane's as Husband had a work dinner.

Tonight I'm making bean and rice burritos; I cooked up some rice, but otherwise I'll be using pantry or fridge ingredients. At lunch we should get close to using up leftovers.

Thursday might be frozen pizza as long as perishables are used up.

Friday night parents will be here and we'll do either Black Dog pizza or Hawaiian Bros.

Tuesday the 27th: Ice Cream and Treats

 We got the ice cream in St. Joseph on our way back home. It was quite good but also too much!

My sister and a few of her children came to visit; we had pasta and peas and stuffed chicken. I think the stuffed chicken was successful, but we still had trouble with the filling oozing out.

For dessert I made meringue cups with lemon curd and whipped cream.

 

 

Monday the 26th: Saint in this week

 St. Philip Neri founded the Oratorians. In the 16th century he was known for his cheerfulness and great love; supposedly after his death his heart was found to be actually enlarged, breaking two of his ribs, after he asked to be able to love at Christ loved.

(Picture on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/358599189082879508/)

Friday the 23rd: St. Joseph

 We walked along the Missouri River (high above the river, too high to touch it) and then visited the Pony Express Museum, a wonderful visit. 

 

Thursday the 22nd: Music of the Week

 This week is just returning dresses and tuxes; I got all remaining music filed on Monday, and finals finish tomorrow. We are getting close to finishing up the school year!

Wednesday the 21st: Food of the Week

 *We have so many leftovers from this weekend's graduation that most of our food is working through those.

*However, there are a few scattered meals this week to pique our appetites.

Last night was Crispy Chicken Cutlets from Smitten Kitchen.  The most tedious part was trimming and pounding the chicken thighs; after that the recipe was very easy and tasty. We ate them with...leftovers...and strawberries from our favorite fruit farm.

Tomorrow I'll made spaghetti with a quick homemade red sauce. 

Friday I'll make Cod Provencal. This version has no olives, which is necessary in our household since the Husband hates olives.  

The weekend is always leftovers, but I think we'll make Pub Burgers. They are lovely, and we've made them in the past.

Tuesday the 20th: More trip

 *First is a description of the construction of the church in Weston.

*Second is the co-cathedral in St. Joseph Missouri; we went there for Saturday evening Mass before checking in to the Shakespeare Chateau and going to supper at Belle Epoque.

* Third and fourth are the Shakespeare Chateau in our room; lovely tiling and carved wood!

 

 

Monday the 19th: Saints of the Week

 There are many saints this week; the first one is St. Bernadine of Siena, an optional memorial tomorrow. A Franciscan preacher, he spread devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus.

 (Picture source: https://www.catholic.org/saints/fun_facts_arch.php?saint=7)