September Festivals!

Arcola Broom Corn Festival! Sept 5, 6, and 7. Carnival, parade, arts & crafts, live music, beer & wine. Arcola has one of the best little downtowns in central Illinois. Don't miss the great prices on antiques at the Emporium.

Bruegala! Sept 5 and 6. Eighth annual festival of international beer held at the Interstate Center in Bloomington. Over 200 beers, six bands, and a bean bags (aka corn hole) tournament. Sounds perfect to me.

Havana Oktoberfest! Sept 5 and 6. German foods, arts & crafts, and carnival. Sept. 5: Oktoberfest Parade kicks off at 6 p.m. Muddy River Brass Band, Phat Kitten. Sept. 6: Polka Pace Race and 5k Walk/Run (sign-up 6:30 a.m.) at 8 a.m., followed by pancake and sausage breakfast; 3-on-3 basketball tournament, 10 a.m.; Eddie Korosa Jr. and the Boys from Illinois, Bob Dozak Band, Still Kick'n with Angela Martin.

Mt Pulaski Fall Festival. Sept 4, 5 and 6. Civil War-era encampment. Cavalry rides in festival parade; Regiment Band performs on courthouse lawn; 1854 Cast Iron Tombstone Trial reenactment in the courthouse courtroom. You shouldn't miss the donut eating contest and central Illinois band Poprocks always puts on a killer show.

Scovill Zoo fall festival! Sept 6 and 7 in Decatur. Activities, entertainment, animals, and a teddy bear repair and picnic.

Taste of Country Fair Festival & Rt 66 Reunion, Sept 5, 6, and 7 in Lexington. Parades, juried fine art show, antiques & crafts. Local food vendors and entertainment.

Chrisman Days Celebration, Sept 5, 6, and 7 in downtown Chrisman. Fish fry, garage sales, flea market, horse show, and entertainment.

New Salem Traditional Music Festival. Sept 6 and 7. Jam sessions, bluegrass, old time music. Lincoln's New Salem historic site.

Atlanta Fall Festival. Sept 11, 12, and 13 throughout Atlanta. Features music, a carnival, free petting zoo, car show, art & craft vendors, great food and pie & cake baking contest/auction.

Abraham Lincoln National Railsplitting Festival. Sept 12, 13, and 14 at the Logan County fairgrounds in Lincoln. This is a can't miss festival with railsplitting, corn shucking, tomahawk throwing and a Civil War ball.

Tower Hill Community Fall Festival! Sept 19, 20, 21. Friday, Talent Show & Karaoke. Saturday, Car & Motorcycle Show, Tractor Show, Produce "500", Kids Competition & Games, Garden Tractor Pull, Parade, Auction, Scavenger Hunt, Live Music. Sunday, Demolition Derby!!!

The Touchstone Energy Hydrofest NBRA National Hydroplane Boat Races. Sept 19, 20, 21 at the Wilborn Creek Recreation Area. This is one of the best race sites in the country with the fastest competitors. Don't miss this exciting event.

Marshall Autumn Fest! Sept 19, 20, and 21 in downtown Marshall. Arts & crafts, car show, you get the picture.

2nd Annual Gourd Festival, Sept 20, 21 (9 am to 4:30 pm) at the Clinton Jr. High School. Gourd arts & crafts. Free.

Arts in Central Park, Sept 20, 21, and 22 in downtown Decatur. Annual juried art festival.

Railroad Days: Monticello Railway Museum, Sept 20, 21. Ride the vintage passenger and freight trains as many times as you want. $12 adults, $10 seniors, and $8 children between the ages of 2 and 12.


Apple and Pork Festival! Sept 27 and 28 in Clinton. A true fall festival prominently featuring the foods of the season. Wear sturdy shoes and don't miss the fine art booths.

World Wide Day of Play, Sept 27 in Bloomington-Normal. Tipton Park, Anderson Park, and at the Children’s Discovery Museum. HUNDREDS of exciting ways to play. Visit one or all of these three locations and enjoy free, fun activities! Everything is FREE! In addition to the activities, there will be great prizes and goodie bags.

This list is not exhaustive. Please leave a comment to add your local September festival information.

McLean County Fair

Last night we attended the McLean County Fair and it was a blast. The fairgrounds are far nicer than many of the county fairs in the area and the midway ride providers had a huge selection of newer rides. They had all the oldie but goodie rides, like the matterhorn and the tilt-a-whirl, but a lot of new "extreme" physical challenge type rides that I've never seen before.

We were really there, as you may guess, to watch the demolition derby. It did not disappoint! Two hours of cars crashing, tractors pulling cars out of the mud, smoke, firemen, ambulances, popcorn, and hooting and hollering. One driver even came up into the grandstand to talk to his family next to us and described in gory detail how his friend was, "only a little scalped" when part of the car fell on his head while he was installing the back-up radiator for the next round of derby. He smelled heavily of gasoline and cigarettes.

On the way in we were given free fair tickets by a stranger, it turned out that kids under 3 were free to the derby, and rides were mostly only 2 tickets a piece. There were no lines for rides, apparently no alcohol sales, the whole Interstate Center to cool off in, and McLean County is so much more diverse than I knew.

All in all a great county fair experience.

August Demolition Derbies

Looking for some noisy, dirty fun? Look no further than your local demolition derby. The people watching ain't bad either.

Friday Aug. 1: Coles County Fair, 7 p.m. $12 Box seats, $10 general admission, $5 children.
Saturday Aug. 2: McLean County Fair, 7 p.m., $15.
Sunday Aug. 3: Logan County Fair, 6 p.m.,

Saturday Aug. 9: Effingham County Fair, 6:30 p.m., $15 Infield, $12 Grandstand.
Saturday Aug. 9: Vermillion County, Georgetown Fair, 7 p.m.

Early August Events

Aug 1-3: Decatur Celebration time! The Friday stages are Vince Vance, The Contours, and Jr. Walker’s All Stars. Saturday stages are The Smithereens, Bay City Rollers, and The Wings Tribute. I loved the Smithereens in high school and am looking forward to their show. Sunday stages are Plain White T’s, Edgar Winter, Caedmon’s Call, and Otis Day and the Knights. Prepare to have "Hey There, Delilah" stuck in your head for evah.

Aug 1-2: Pontiac Heritage Days. Music, trolleys, pie contest, horse and carriage rides.

Aug 1: Main Gallery 404 meet the artists. 5-8 p.m. Bloomington. Linda Isaacson Healy, Amy Simpson, Martha Burk and Rick Risberg. Jewelry, glass and wood.

Aug 1-2: Arcola city wide garage sale. Over 60 homes participating. Maps available at the Historic Train Depot, 135 N Oak St., the Shell Gas Station just off of Interstate 57 or Casey's General Store on U.S. 45.

Aug 1: Indian Classical Music Festival - RAHUL DESHPANDE, Normal Community Hall, 7-9 p.m.
Aug 3: Indian Classical Music Festival - PROF. L.K. PANDIT, 1901 Woodfield Road, Bloomington, 5-7 p.m.

Aug 2-3: Minier Corn Daze - music, pizza, tractors, free sweet corn (Sunday only), and a pickle eating contest.

Aug 1-7: Westville public library used book sale. Books start at 10 cents.

Aug. 1-3: the Farm Toy Show at Rockome Gardens from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Vintage and modern toys. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors (60+), $4 for children (4-12), and those under 4 get in free.

Aug. 1-3: Dorchester Homecoming, horseshoe tournament, food, coed kittenball tournament, bingo, garden tractor pull and washer tournament, bands.

Aug 2 thru October: Sleepy Creek Vineyard. Scarecrow exhibition by local artists are displayed in the vineyards. Free.

Aug. 5-8: Upper Limits Climbing Clinic for 11-15 year olds. And Friday nights between 4 and 10 p.m. kids 17 and under climb for half price, only $6!

Aug. 7-9: Divernon Homecoming. Carnival, food, car show, parade, horseshoe, hillbilly golf and washer tournaments.

Aug. 9: Hummingbird Festival, 9 a.m. to noon, Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site near Petersburg. FREE

Aug. 9: Gone with the Wind Tea, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. David Davis Mansion, Bloomington. $18.

Aug. 8-17: Illinois State Fair, Grandstand, Illinois State Fairgrounds. Featuring Fergie ($38, $34, $30), Aug. 8; “Weird Al” Yankovic ($20, $10), Aug. 9; Huey Lewis and the News ($30, $25, $20), Aug. 10; Illinois Symphony Orchestra (free), Aug. 11; Brooks & Dunn and ZZ Top ($38, $34, $30), Aug. 15; Natasha Bedingfield and Vanessa Hudgens ($25, $20), Aug. 16; Trace Adkins with Trent Tomlinson ($25, $20, $18), Aug. 17.

Baked goods

This morning we ventured out to the farmer's market again in an absolute deluge of rain. H and I tried baked goods from both Medici in Normal and Kelly's Bakery and Cafe in Bloomington. From Kelly's we got a blueberry muffin, a lemon poppy seed muffin, and an apple danish. All were good. I really want to try the green pistachio muffins next week.

The loaf of bread from Medici is so good I doubt it will last until dinner time. We each keeping having just one more slice! It is so soft with a lovely crust.

For dinner tonight we're having steaks from Heartland Meats, grilled green garlic, and a spinach salad with strawberries from our yard.

Central Illinois Life Round-up #17

Bloomington Farmers Market vendors Monkey in the Kitchen and I purchased from this morning included:

Twin Oak Meats - for brats and pork sticks.

Grand Prairie Food - green garlic. What do you think you do with a stalk of green garlic?

Ropp Jersey Cheese - various cheddars and a cheese spread.

Mackinaw Valley Apiary - yummy honey

A. Renee - wine, wine accessories, gifts, chocolate! The chocolate covered sunflower seeds were divine!

The farmer's market was hopping this morning, with a band and lots of folks admiring and purchasing radishes, turnips, and lettuces.

Save gas, play local - upcoming events in Central Illinois

May 23-26: Heart of Illinois Cluster of Dog Shows: the Interstate Center, Bloomington

May 25: 2-5 pm, Ogelsby Mansion Open House, the restored home will be open for tours, near west side of Decatur. Open Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays in June.

May 24-25: Springfield TT & Mile and National Championship Motorcycle races

May 31: Vintage baseball game at Rock Springs Nature Center in Decatur. Rock Springs Ground Squirrels v St. Louis Unions.

May 31: Crappie USA & Kids Fishing Rodeo, Nelson Park, Decatur. 6 am - 5 pm, tournament 9-11 am. Prizes include bicycles and a $5,000 scholarship.

May 31: BBQ, Blues, and Cruise, live blues music, family activities, kids art, Salsa Dancing, classic cars, great motorcycles, and local arts and crafts. Kansas City Barbecue Society sanctioned BBQ cook-off. Christian County Fairgrounds, Taylorville.


May 31-June 1: Funfest for Air-cooled VW, Effingham

May 31 -June 1: Decatur Park Singers, Young Park Singers, Decatur Chorale, Fairview Park, Decatur. 6 pm, free.

May 31-June 1: Kite Festival, 10 am - 5 pm, Rec-Plex grounds, Pontiac.


May 31-June 1: Glory Days, an 1830 Militia Muster, Petersburg. An 1830's Militia Muster with signing up for militia service and drilling will be held. The sound of musket fire will be heard on the prairies and bluffs of New Salem. The public will be invited to march carrying weapons (brooms) where Lincoln and the men of Sangamon County marched off to war in 1832. 10am - 4pm both days.


June 7: Art on the Square, Christian County Courthouse, Taylorville


June 7-8: Illinois River Wine Festival at Kickapoo Creek Winery in Edwards. The festival features 12 area wineries and includes food and live music from local bands. Nearby Mackinaw Valley Vineyard will host additional wine tasting and a battle of the blues bands at the Mackinaw Music Fest.

June 7-8: International Horseradish Festival Woodland Park, Collinsville (I know it's metro-east, but I couldn't resist a horseradish festival!)

June 13-14: Old Glory Festival, Veterans Park, Bement

June 13-15: The National Road Festival, , is an annual event held in several communities along the National Road Scenic Byway. Each community will offer unique attractions such as live music, antique tractor shows, local fare and more. Altamont, Effingham, Marshall.

June 14-15: Raggedy Ann & Andy Festival, Illinois Raggedy Ann & Andy collectibles, arts & crafts, children's adventureland, parades, contests & more! Arcola

June 20-22: Mother Jones Festival, 5K, artisans, antiques, carnival rides, wheat threshing, live music, and ethnic food festival, Mt. Olive.


June 20-22: Cruisin' Route 66, Litchfield Classic Car Festival, Litchfield


June 20-22: Taste of Champaign Urbana, West Side Park, Champaign

June 21: Vintage baseball, 1 pm, Rock Springs Nature Center, Trobaugh Field, Decatur. Rock Springs Ground Squirrels v Springfield.


June 21: Drivin' the Dixie Days, Gilbert Street, the Dixie Highway is an Historic Route in the United States, and in Illinois several groups come together every year to "Cruise" the Dixie from Blue Island to Momence. Stops are made along the way in several of the cities, Danville.

June 21-22: Danville Arts in the Park, Lincoln Park, Danville


June 27-August 10: Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Ewing Manor, The Taming of the Shew and Titus Andronicus, Normal


June 28: All in a Day's Work, Bring your family out to enjoy a "day in the life" of the average New Salem family. Observe cooking on the hearth, washing and mending clothes, spinning, weaving, knitting, butter churning, dipping candles; making baskets, and more. The Ann Rutledge Quilters and The New Salem Fiber Guild will also display quilts and textiles at the New Salem Visitors Center. 9am to 5pm, Petersburg.

Thai House, Bloomington

Tonight I brought home Thai House for the first time and it was good. I have not eaten Thai more than a handful of times, so I'm no expert on it. I got Pad Thai, Pad Kee Mao, steamed dumplings and chicken satay for the three of us. I asked for the Pad Kee Mao to be extra spicy, but I'm pretty sure we actually got mild. B couldn't taste any heat and I could, but not enough to send me for an extra glass of water. H liked the Pad Thai and tried both the appetizers but wasn't a very enthusiastic diner.

I will definitely go back and eat in the dining room of Thai House. It seemed to be a kid friendly restaurant and there are certainly meals our preschooler would eat. Next time I'd like to try something off the specials board. The specials creative with lots of fresh basil and vegetables.

Oversized specialties, Bloomington and Monticello

Tonight's post is going to be quick and dirty. I've found two meals that are big enough for B and I to share and yummy enough to return for. Schooner's in Bloomington has a pork tenderloin that's bigger than a dinner plate and ACTUALLY tastes good. Unusual. It's tender and has good flavor and is not dry. Good enough in fact that I'd love to watch sports there w/ B and pig out on tenderloin and wings.

Fillipo's Italian restaurant in Monticello has huge and very good calzones. B and I split one the other night for $12 and the crust was flaky and crisp, the sausage was chunky, and the whole thing had loads of cheese. It would have been nice to have a cup of red sauce on the side, but we ended up dipping into H's tortellini sauce. Fillipo's has a surprising selection of bottled beer, including Bass and Sierra Nevada.

Great live music this Saturday! Bloomington

This Saturday night: Red Edmund with Back Yard Tire Fire. The show is at Paulies in downtown Bloomington and starts at 10pm sharp.

Back Yard Tire Fire is a National Touring Act based out of Bloomington. Red Edmund has just released their debut CD and is Illinois/Missouri Regional Indie Rock. These two great bands are going to have an awesome show and YOU should be there.

Paulies is a really fun venue with plenty of room to dance, and dance you will to these two bands. I couldn't figure out how to embed the video, but here's a clip of Red Edmund.

If you are coming from out of town, be sure to make reservations for pizza at Luca just around the corner!

Central Illinois Food Banks

Sorry for the silence this week, I've been busy working full time for the first time in 3 years. Whoa! How do you bloggers who work do it? I barely have enough time to tackle my bloglines subscriptions and then it's time for bed.

So many Central Illinois bloggers have been writing this week about hunger in Central Illinois and the Eastern Illinois Foodbank's current food drive.

But what if your area isn't served by the Eastern Illinois Foodbank? Wouldn't you still like to contribute? I mean, who can turn a single dollar in TEN dollars worth of food? The food bank can. Magic. Talk about bang for your charitable buck.

In my small town IGA there is a box for food pantry donations right by the door and I try to drop something in when I can. But to do more you have to know more. Here's the contact information for eight more Central Illinois food banks who could use your donation of dollars or dinners as well.

Ford County Food Pantry (217) 379-9128 780 S Vermillion St Paxton
Center of Hope Food Pantry (309) 452-8240 116 N Cottage Ave Normal
Food Pantry (217) 345-2823 411 Jackson Ave Charleston
Loami Area Community Pantry (217) 624-9900 106 S Main St Loami
Jacksonville Food Bank (217) 243-1122 316 E State St Jacksonville
Midwest Food Bank (309) 663-5350 1703 S Veterans Pkwy Bloomington
Peoria Area Food Bank (309) 671-3906 721 W Mcbean St Peoria
Central Illinois Foodbank (217) 522-4022 2000 E Moffat Ave Springfield

Do you know of more food banks? Leave a comment!

Awesome October Events II

Oct 19-20, Jack-o-lantern Spectacular, Washington Park Springfield. Hundreds of hand-carved, illuminated pumpkins on display 6 pm – 10 pm· Free shuttles will operate from 5:45-10:30 p.m. from the Sacred Heart-Griffin West Campus parking lot.
October 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 31 Rocky Horror Picture Show, Charleston, Alley Theater.
Oct 20, 42nd Annual State of Illinois Invitational Marching Band Competition, ISU Hancock Stadium, Bloomington.
Oct 20, Boo Bash, Children's Discovery Museum, Normal. Come in costume for trick or treating in the exhibits, go on a pumpkin hunt and listen to some not so spooky story telling. Cost: $10 passholder/$12 non-passholder.
Oct 20, Sugar Grove Nature Center hosts an Autumn Celebration from 10 am to 5 pm. Live music, nature walks, an old tyme medicine show all for $2 per person, toddler and babies free.
Oct 20, Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello, US Cellular Coliseum, Bloomington at 7:30 pm.

Oct 21, Peter and the Wolf, Hoogland Center for the Performing Arts, Springfield. Performances at 2 pm and 6 pm, $10 adults, $6 children.
Oct 21, The Blue Man Group, Prairie Capitol Convention Center, Springfield.
Oct 21, 28, Victorian All Hallows Eve at the David Davis Mansion, Bloomington at 5 pm. Reservations required. Hear traditional 19th century eerie stories & learn some amusing superstitions. Then gypsies will read your tea leaves to tell your fortune. $18.

Oct 23, STOMP! Sangamon Auditorium at 7:30 pm, Springfield.

Oct 26, 27, 28, The Laramie Project, Charleston Community Theater, Tarble Arts Center, EIU, Charleston.
Oct 28, Halloween at Miller Park Zoo, 1-3 pm, show off your Halloween costume and enjoy face painting, crafts, up close creepy animal encounters, and a costume parade.

Oct 31, Evening with Poe, Allerton Retreat Center, candle light mansion tours, Edgar Allen Poe stories, Monticello.

Awesome October Events

Central Illinois is coming to the last of the fall festivals. At the same time, there is a wider variety of events and activities than in September.

Oct 5-7 Flatcon is coming to Bloomington Normal! This is a volunteer run gaming convention. Bring dice, dice, and more dice and meet the people behind the games.
Oct 5-6 Another historic reenactment! Take a candle light tour of the log cabins Lincoln called home at the New Salem State Historic Site, Petersburg. 7 to 9 pm. 217/632-4000
Oct 6-7 Haven't had enough apples or festivals yet? The Old Fashioned Apple Festival will be going on at the Okaw Valley Orchard in Sullivan.

Oct 6, 8, 10 The band I love to shake my heiny to, 56 Hope Road, will be at LSB Saturday and Millikin on Monday and the Canopy Club on Wednesday.
Oct 7 & 14 Oconee Fall Festival: Oconee. Hayrides, maze, crafts, pumpkins, and a zoo.

Oct 12-14, 19-21, 26-31, Perennial favorite, Boo at the Zoo begins at Scovill Zoo in Decatur.
Oct 12-13 Do you like ribs? Then downtown Arthur is the place to be for Braggin' Rights, a national BBQ competition. Many top ten Kansas City teams come to compete.
Oct 12-14 I hope the fall leaves are peaking for the Monticello Barn Tour. It is a self guided tour of barns in rural Central Illinois. Purchase a map in the lobby of the Piatt County Museum and start driving.

Oct 14 Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington will host an art and craft show.
Oct 14 The Allerton Diversified Farm brings us Pumpkinpalooza, featuring pumpkin chucking, pumpkin decorating, scarecrow stuffing, and hayrack rides. 11 am to 5 pm.

Later this week Central Illinois Life will feature the haunted scoop on houses, trains, and tours.

Utah Phillips performance, Bloomington

Utah Phillips will be performing at the McLean County Museum of History in downtown Bloomington Friday, October 12th at 7 pm. Tickets are $20 first come first serve at the door. Utah Phillips no longer tours as much so this is a treat and you should take advantage of the opportunity.

Evergreen Cemetery Discovery Walk, Bloomington

I just found out about the Evergreen Cemetery Discovery Walk which is coming up this weekend. It's a unique history performance where volunteers research and act out local people who are buried at Evergreen Cemetery. This year's event will focus on those who have contributed to Illinois State University.

The McLean County Museum of History spends 11 months preparing for the event by researching the characters, writing the script, auditioning and rehearsing the actors, creating costumes, and then managing the performances. Wow, what a huge undertaking! The audience gets to walk around the cemetery for 90 minutes and see the actors dramatizing the lives of Jesse Fell, Edwin Bakewell, Angeline Vernon Milner, Henry McCormick, Elizabeth Mitchell Christian, and several others.

Performances will take place September 29 and 30, and October 6 and 7 at 11 am and 2 pm. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $12 at the museum ($10 for members and $4 for children and students) or $14 at the gate of the cemetery one hour before each show.

Eat meat like a local

Two restaurants that make me feel like a local on a night out are Caboose Smokehouse in Bloomington and Tom's Grill in Decatur. They share a lot of features including an exterior that makes you say, "We're gonna eat here?!?" and a dim interior dominated by a bar.

Tom's Grill looks like any rough and tumble package liquor from Main Street. But park in back and walk through the hallway plastered in family photos and you'll discover one of the most unique dining experiences in D-town. For starters it's got an old school mobster feel to the red leather booths and they bring an appetizer set up to the table with pickled beets. B and I were unsure what to make of this the first time. I usually order a steak there and it's really good. It's not overly seasoned (unlike Roadhouse's salty steaks) and always cooked to order (if you order rare it will truly be rare, not medium rare). Once I got the prime rib on special and it was really good too.

The Caboose Smokehouse lives up to it's advertisements, "Hard to find, easy to love." It is way off the beaten track in a residential area west of Illinois Weslyan. It's prettier than Tom's from the outside and you can smell the smoker a block away. Inside it is also a dimly lit bar with great meals. Last time B and I went we were both pleased with every aspect of the meal, especially the steak and ribs, and could have stayed and played darts all night. It would be a fun place to see live music, which they have every week.

Toddler interval training

I get so frustrated by celebrities who claim to get fit simply by chasing their kids around. So today I invented toddler interval training. I took H to a local cemetery because A) it has lots of smooth small roads to walk on now that students are using school tracks and B) it is relatively safe from vehicle traffic.

Initially I wanted to go into Bloomington and do this on Constitution Trail, but the volume of morning traffic set off my mom safety meter. So no post on the allegedly wonderful Constitution Trail, but maybe we'll venture there on a Sunday with two adults.

We set out this morning in our running shoes and the goal was to walk when H walked and run when he ran and not to turn down a race. We walked and ran and raced for 20 minutes before he wanted to be picked up. Then I put him on my shoulders and walked carrying an extra 40 pounds. We ended up doing 35-40 minutes of this and I did get my heart rate up, but did not break a sweat. On the other hand, H was wiped out and begging for a drink of water and a rest in the car.

PS not to return to my mommy blogging past, but for those that know us, H read a word yesterday. We were looking for a recipe for dinner and I handed H a printed recipe with no pictures and I didn't tell him what recipe he had. He pointed at the word beans and said, "This says beans." H is 2 3/4 and beginning to READ!

Mexican restaurants, Urbana, Springfield, Clinton

I told you we eat a lot of Mexican food. Here I go again with our old and new favorites.

In Urbana we like El Toro on Cunningham. It's easy to get to from the interstate, the service is lightening fast, the food is awesome, and all the waitstaff are super smiley towards children. I think it was opened by the original singing waiter from El Matador in Decatur. Those El Matador guys, they leave and open the nicest, most family friendly restaurants.

The first time a coworker suggested we eat at Xochimilco in Springfield I thought we'd be having Japanese. But it turned out to be a nice little Mexican restaurant in a strip mall on the west side. The original Xochimilco (I pronounce it So-She-Milk-O but that's probably wrong) is pretty similar to El Rodeo in Decatur. Serviceable but not stellar. I do really like the stand alone Xochimilco on the east side, especially for a late evening adults only meal. It's a fun place, more bar like than most Mexican restaurants.

We just discovered El Ray in Clinton. This tiny restaurant seems to be a refurbished Long John Silvers. It is a sit down restaurant but we had such super fast service it made our heads spin. Our son had a kid's burrito and rice plate which was nearly adult sized for like $3. B had the Fajita Quesadilla which was exactly the same as (west side) Fiesta in Bloomington and very similar to the beloved Mi Pueblito in Decatur. I had the Chili Colorado, which was not very good. The steak had not been cooked in the mole and the mole was very tomatoey instead of chocolaty. The mole was just drizzled on the meat.

I'm definitely willing to try again and see if I can find out what is really good. For us the location is very convenient and when you include the Ultimate Play Space in the trip, it's better than Fiesta with a side of Wal-mart. It took many meals at Fiesta to find the Pollo Encremada, which is out of this world.

This one is for Google

Google asks, I answer. What is going on in Central Illinois over Labor Day weekend? The following information is gleaned from the local newspapers. I did the sleuthing and decided what events were worthwhile for you. More events than this are happening so check out the newspaper links over on the right.

Friday, August 31st
Central Illinois Life favorites 56 Hope Road are playing in Decatur at the Cornerstone Tavern from 9pm to 1am.

In Peoria at the Riverfront Park, the Illinois Blues Festival will be going strong Friday and Saturday featuring Dave Mason, Watermelon Slim, Big James & the Chicago Playboys, Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones, and other blues performers. 6:45 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday. $12 for one day, $20 for both days.

All weekend in Decatur you can enjoy dancing at the Midwest Big Band Festival. The Decatur Conference Center and Hotel will be hosting four different orchestras; 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. Friday, 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday and 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday. This is an event I have personal experience with because these dancers joyously invaded my wedding reception and showed off their awesome dancing skills to our hired jam band.

Another all weekend event is the Allerton Music Barn Festival in Monticello. It's pretty expensive, but a meal is included. The weather should be fabulous. Features Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble, Donald Schleicher Festival Chamber Orchestra, Gusti Sudarta Balinese Wayan Kulit Gamelan Musicians & Puppetry. Tickets are $51 /SC & Stu $41 (includes meal), Festival Passes $226.

This is too good to pass up.
The Sleeze Factor is playing at Mac's Tackle Box on Saturday night in Decatur from 9pm to 1am with a $3 cover charge. If you've ever driven along Lake Decatur, Mac's Tackle Box is the bar/bait shop with the giant fish sign by the entrance to Nelson Park. I have no idea about the band, but the fact that there will be live music at a bait shop tickles me to no end.

Saturday night in Penfield at the Indian Ridge Campground of the Middle Fork River Forest Preserve there will be a guided night hike from 8:30 to 9:30 pm along the trails of the Middle Fork. Call 217.896.2455 to register. Free.

Sunday afternoon you'll want to head to Arcola for the Illinois State Old Time Fiddle Contest at Rockome Gardens. Register tomorrow for $4, after Aug 29 it's a whopping $6; call 217.795.2035 or 217.268.4106. Fiddling begins at 1 pm.

Sunday night the Pantagraph is hosting Pops in the Park at Miller Park in Bloomington. Music begins at 6:30 pm and features the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, with "Springfield Idol" winner Melanie Dennison playing music of Sousa, LeRoy Anderson, "Harry Potter" songs, and more. Free.

And finally, the reason for the day, getting tow down at a labor hall. On Monday beginning at noon (after the parade is over I bet) head on over to the AIW hall in Decatur for a DJ and later Whiskey and a Pickle at 5 pm. If you have never been to the AIW hall it is the eye popping epitome of Decatur labor halls. And I mean that in only the most loving and sincere manner.

There ya go Google, what's happening over Labor Day weekend in Central Illinois in a nutshell. I'll amend this post when I find more.

Pinstripes and Polkadots, Bloomington

Are you a Central Illinois parent interested in cloth diapering but just not sure how to get started? You are in luck because right here in Central Illinois is one of the web's most knowledgable cloth diaper shop owner. People all over the world look to Sarah for diapers and her insanely deep knowledge of all things diaper related. Plus Sarah's customer service is awesome.

Pinstripes and Polksdots has a great showroom where you can see all the latest options in cloth diapering. When I got started in cloth, Sarah tried several brands of diapers on my son until we found the best fitting brand. She stocks diaper so cute you won't want to put pants on your child. Take a peek in Callie's Closet for some great deals on discontinued, used, and imperfect diapers. I got some of our cutest diapers from Callie's Closet.