State park closings

Dear Readers, The governor has decided to close indefinitely many central Illinois state parks and historic sites.

When I moved to Illinois I was astonished that entry to the state parks here is free. You can come and go as often as you like. When selecting to live in Le Roy, one factor was the proximity to Moraine View State Park. It's no Garden of the Gods or Turkey Run, but living 10 minutes away from a forest and a beach is better than having no access to green space. We also live 25 minutes from Weldon Springs State Park which also has a forest, a lake, and a restaurant.

State parks like Moraine View and Weldon Springs are a big part of what makes central Illinois livable. We may have to drive everywhere. We may have a hard time finding good restaurants. We may have to rely on the big box stores more than we like. But we have lots of access to green space, well maintained and well loved parks. During my times as a stay at home parent, I relied on the free state park system for entertainment, exercise, and introducing my child to nature. Closing our state parks, even in winter, hurts central Illinois where it counts.

I will be writing the governor about the closings. I'll copy my state legislators, but frankly I don't think the General Assembly is the problem here.
You can e-mail the governor here.
I'll send a real letter to his Chicago office:
100 W. Randolph St., Ste. 16-100
Chicago, IL 60601-3220

If you write, remember to address your letter to either the Honorable Rod Blagojevich or Governor Blagojevich. In the salutation use, Dear Mr. Governor or Dear Governor Blagojevich.

Keep it one page and one issue. Tell the governor that you are a constituent and identify the issue about which you are writing. Hit your three most important points and flesh them out. Tell the governor why state park closings matter in your community. Include a personal story that shows how this issue affects you and your family. If you have a relationship with the governor (voted for him, contributed money or time, know him personally) include that information.
Don't forget to spell check!

You are the expert. How often do you think the governor has enjoyed your local state park? Be courteous, but don't be afraid to take a firm position.

Underwood Park, Normal

Over the weekend we discovered a new-to-us park that while just off a main road (Linden) was hidden. Underwood Park is a really nice park. It's large and has two playgrounds with a mix of old and new equipment. There were bathrooms, a tennis court, several large and small shelters, a baseball diamond, basketball court, big shade trees, and plenty of room to run. A lot of Normal's parks have no shade, so I was really pleased to find a park with mature trees.

What I loved about Underwood Park was the fence around most of the park. I didn't have to stay glued to H making sure he didn't run into the road or an off limits area.

Sunday Five

I've been tagged by A Mom's Life to do the five unusual/interesting things about me. I'm gonna do my best to keep with the central Illinois theme.

1. In 1997, B and I got completely lost in the woods at Moraine View State Park after dark and had to figure out a way to a road, then hitchhike back to the park and the truck. It was October and got dark much faster then we anticipated. Luckily, we were wearing jeans and nice sweaters and not all hippied out.
2. Before we left Decatur I discovered a house for sale on 5 wooded acres right in the middle of the near west side - like halfway between downtown and Millikin and slightly south of Wood St. I was sitting in the long driveway thinking how magical it would be to live there when a whitetail deer walked right up to my car.
3. Millikin only charges $100 for alumni weddings at the chapel. We were probably one of the first weddings there and we put down a $25 deposit and Millikin never tried to collect the remaining $75.
4. On Phish's summer tour in 1997 or 1998 B and I did the midwest leg going to Indy, Chicago, and Wisconsin. We camped one night in Kickapoo State Park near Danville. We couldn't find firewood to buy any where and ended up burning some wood that made a huge black cloud of smoke. Oops.
5. On campaign in 2000 and 2002 on the Fourth of July I walked in 3-4 parades on each day. In 2002 the Fourth of July march of heat and concrete sealed my resolve to never do another campaign.

No name park, Bement

On the way to Arthur today we stopped at this great little park in Bement. I couldn't find a name for it, but if I were to hazard a guess I'd call it Veteran's Park.

The equipment was new, the park was wonderfully shady, and the porto-potties were clean.
There was a shelter and lots of old playground equipment too. There were swings and a simple old merry go round. My son loved running and hollering in the shelter.
There was lots of lawn for running and a generously sized sand box.
Bement has several family restaurants and a pizza place, so next time we go I'll plan to stick around for dinner.

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.

Starved Rock Adventures, Ottawa

This weekend was the most fun I've had in years. Our hosts plan great group trips, like a weekend at Cedar Point immedately before their wedding. This trip was in honor of our friend T's birthday and everyone had an excellent time.

We were able to join the trip for Saturday and Sunday, but the houseboat was rented from Thursday to Sunday. Saturday morning the golfers did their thing. We all met up around 2 pm to leave the marina and sail to the island where we would spend the night. The boat rental company owns a small island where you can park the houseboat overnight and watch the barges go by.

We spent the evening playing bean bags (alternatively known as cornhole), enjoying all the good brews everyone brought, listening to music, and catching up. There were friends from college there we usually only see once a year and some we haven't even seen that much. I swam in the river for awhile. It wasn't as yucky as I expected. At sunset the guys built a bonfire and we spent the rest of the night sitting around talking about pregnancies, babies, hobbies, work, and college stories that always get trotted out for laughs.

It was so relaxing to not be in charge of anyone or anything. I didn't say "Stop that" or "Be careful" for a good 26 hours. We did have big excitement when a very large barge came by in the opposite direction as the other barges. The anchors started coming out of the sand and the boat went sideways. But we recovered and got the boat straightened out and anchored much better around trees.

This was a great weekend activity for adults. One major thing was the expense though. We contributed what we could to the hosts for the weekend. But if you look at the Starved Rock Adventure website prices, those are not the actual cost. The actual cost is significantly more because of all the add ons you have to pay for once you are there that are not included in the web price (insurance, john boat, etc).

Good Morning, Illinois River

Sugar Grove Nature Center, Funks Grove

Sometimes a road trip yields unexpected surprises. Today's was no different. We wound our way through the country enjoying the golden corn and browning beans. We counted tractors and combines and sang Old MacDonald as loud as we could. I had printed out a Google map route for our destination, but missed a turn. I thought one country road is the same as the next around here, so I made my next right on a gravel road figuring it would meet up with the next part of the route a few miles north. Surprise! It did not, we landed smack dab in the middle of an industrial hog farm. Whoops! So we turned around and took the NEXT right and did find our way back to the route. Our target destination this morning was the Sugar Grove Nature Center near Funks Grove. We parked and made our way through the gourd tunnel following the path to the covered bridge and the woods.
In the woods there is a great play area for children with a cabin, tire horse swing, a fire pit, tractor tires, and a fort.We had a grand time exploring and climbing.
Walking back toward the nature center itself there are beautiful prairie vistas.

The nature center is a great place for small children. There was a tent to play in, lots of terrariums and aquariums, a reading nook, a sand table, and a "Nut House" with many puppets. I liked the bird sanctuary but my son was more interested in running hither and yon. So much tactile exploration to do here!

Remember the contest I mentioned Friday? Here's the 411. Write about your own Illinois road trip and enter to win a navigation system. Enter here.

Weldon Springs State Park, Clinton

I took my son to Weldon Springs State Recreation area outside of Clinton on this beautiful fall morning. We had a great time walking around this well maintained park. There is a restaurant, boat launch, playground, and many picnic tables and benches every where. The Boondocks II restaurant seemed to have quite a crowd for a Tuesday. We brought our lunch so we just drove by the boat launch and restaurant area. The bathrooms were super clean for pit toilets. We parked by the playground and entered the walking trail behind it. That trail seems to go all around the lake. We saw signs for other trails as well. Lots of shore fishing spots both along the main road and in the woods.

Wonderfully maintained wood chip and gravel path around the lake mainly in the woods.
Super nice fire pits. We ate our lunch here and were besieged by flies.
Veterans Memorial. I hadn't given much thought to today's date until we climbed a hill out of the woods and saw a clearing surrounded by flags. The main flags on the lake were at half mast. B and I were on our honeymoon in Canada six years ago today with no access to TV and were buffered from the 9-11 images.

Ultimate Play Space, Clinton

Last week my sister and I were driving around Clinton, Illinois on a blog research trip and boy were we impressed. The downtown area is much bigger and nicer than I expected. There seems to be some love for the square and lots of renovation going on in nearby commercial buildings. We saw one particular building with gorgeous copper work going up outside.

Why were we in Clinton? Specifically to visit the Ultimate Play Space! Located behind the YMCA is a 13 acre park with a elaborate wooden play area (fenced in!) plus a sprinkler park plus porto-potties, plus swing and the older equipment. The Ultimate Play Space is separated into a Tot Lot and an area for bigger kids. Awesome! I didn't get any photos, but you can check out the Chamber of Commerce website and photos here. Once you turn onto Alexander off Rte 54, it's a quick left following the sign for Kiwanis Park. It almost looks like you are turning into an alley or the Y parking lot.

Addendum! B is a great sport and we returned to the Ultimate Play Space this evening to test it out. It was awesome! This is such a nice park and our son had a blast running with the herds of children. Here are some of the pictures I took. The Tot Lot was a big hit for H. Perfectly sized steps and all kinds of fun hiding places. Very nice materials and deep soft mulch. These photos show about 1/3 of the big kid play structure. It was huge and packed with children. You can see the sprinkler park in the distance.Some older equipment is spread out over 13 acres of lawn. I thought the motorcycle club brick was humorous.
Hopefully we can make it back for the Apple and Pork Festival, September 29 & 30, the quintessential Midwestern fall festival. If you like crafts you'll love the Apple and Pork festival. Myself, I love apples and pork so I go for the food and stay for the art.

West Park, McLean County

I found this small park in rural McLean County recently and returned today to take pictures. It's a creepy spot, perfect for teenagers who want to hang out undisturbed. Until the man with a hook for a hand comes to kill them!

"This park was donated to McLean County by Simeon Henry West on the 10th of September 1906 for a forest preserve and is dedicated to the lovers of forestry for all coming time."
The park has a small shelter with a fireplace and a couple picnic tables. There are two grills, a possible outhouse, and a water pump without its handle. The trees are really huge here. According to the McLean County website they are old growth. It also says there is a nature trail, but we didn't find it.

Mostly it's just trees and grass. You could tell it had been mowed recently and there were several piles of downed limbs, so the county must maintain it somewhat. The birds were going nuts while we were there. It sounded like a lively bird habitat.
The most interesting part was the messages written on the building.

I'll do my best to mark it on the google map. I took photos of the road signs nearby so I should be able to get pretty close.

Simeon Henry West links:

Deer Park, TX history

An ardent spiritualist

Bloomington Normal is a great town for children

This month I've made many trips into BN for childish fun. My son and I have been to the sprinkler park at Tipton Trails twice and the Children's Discovery Museum three times. Both are fabulous places for cool summer fun.


The Children's Discovery Museum in uptown Normal has three floors of activities for children and is perfect for ages 2 through 8. I haven't seen many bigger kids there. It's $4 per person over age 2 and opens at 9 am. We were there at 8:55 and were the first ones let in. It was neat. By 11 am the museum really fills up. We enjoy the car and train exhibits (of course) as well as the toddler area, the farm equipment exhibit, and the water tables. There is a really cool climbing structure on the second and third floors that is a magnet for the 5-8 year old crowd.

Tipton Trails sprinkler park is worth the trip. There is a nice shelter with picnic tables and bathrooms and a large sprinkler area with 6-8 different sprinkler zones. Next to it are swings, toddler sized play equipment and a very large barn/fire station themed piece of play equipment. All this is free and draws a crowd on hot days. It's located on College west of Airport Road and is free.

Black Locust Beach, Moraine View State Park

Friday afternoon B, H and I met up to play and swim at the beach area of Moraine View State Park. It was great! When we arrived there were only three other families there and by the time were winding up we had the beach to ourselves. Ducks were frequently swimming by and turkey vultures flying overhead. We saw a deer on our way in and got nibbled by fish.

The park is free, beach parking is free, and entrance to the beach is $1 per person. There are no lifeguards on duty, but there is a Department of Natural Resources staff person there. The beach is open from noon to 8 pm, Thursday-Monday, Memorial Day to Labor Day. The beach is pretty good size, probably close to 150 ft wide with trucked in sand. There are two changing sheds and a pop machine and shade trees in the grassy picnic table area. The swimming area is roped off from the boating area and gets about 6 feet deep. The lake is the perfect temperature for swimming. Take a trip there before it closes Labor Day. We'll be going back.

Findlay Marina, Lake Shelbyville

With the cooler mornings and school starting in some districts it is clear fall is on the way. I love fall, it is my favorite season and I'm looking forward to the weather, but I still have SO many summer activities to tell you about.

While it is still over 90 degrees where can you go for a bit more summer fun? Lake Shelbyville! What I love about Lake Shelbyville is that there are so many different parks, golf courses, fishing tournaments, restaurants in one very rural area.

Findlay Marina is just one choice for renting a boat for the day. For B's 30th birthday we rented a pontoon boat and invited 4 couples to spend the day cruising around the lake. It was a blast! We boated and swam and even got pulled over by the Department of Natural Resources patrol. We arrived before lunch and returned just before dusk. And for $200 plus food and drink it was a memorable party.

I grew up fishing, but have not had the chance to fish on Lake Shelbyville. I hear it is a wonderful place to fish and worth a special trip.

West Detention Basin, Normal

Today my son and I met a friend at the West Detention Basin park in Normal. It was the first time I've been there and I had a little trouble finding it. It is located on Raab Road west of Linden way, way, waaaaaaaaaaaaay north in Normal.

The playground equipment is new and geared for smaller children. We had toddlers to preschoolers and it was just the right size for them. The equipment is very nice and has some unusual features but the kids didn't last long because it was hovering around 90 degrees and the playground has no shade. My friend and I sat on a picnic table under a small pear tree in one of three shady spots. I'm glad I took sunscreen and lots of ice water, because we needed it.

This park would be much more fun on a cool or breezy day. It was too darn hot today to be outside without shade. BUT, I did get suggestions on great parks in BN that I haven't visited. Tomorrow I'll get back to big parks that I love. Your choice, Moraine View or Lake Shelbyville?

Allerton Park, Monticello

Entering the gates of Allerton is a magical experience. In fact, the grounds of Allerton Park never fail to transport my head to a more child like view heavily influenced by novels like "The Secret Garden." In the spring the peonies and irises dazzle. In the summer you are likely to see brides and magical animals appear in the gardens. Surely fairies must be living along the river banks. From one minute to the next and one season to the next the art, gardens, mansions and wild spaces transform and reveal incredible beauty. Allerton Park is a place I visit a lot. It is my most favorite place in Central Illinois. I would live in the subdivision immediately outside the gates if I could. In the 12 years I've been visiting this grand magical park I've never seen it all. The park is so big and complex it will probably take many more years to appreciate it all. I take my son there in all seasons and it is my favorite backdrop for photographing him.

Allerton Park was named one of the seven wonders of Illinois this year. Allerton deserves that recognition. It is an amazing asset to Central Illinois, but surprisingly if you go on a weekday you are likely to be alone. I love to be alone there with my son. He can run until he drops and I don't have to worry about his safety very much. This wonderful park is free to the public, easy to get to, and inspiring. Promise me you'll go before too long.

Decatur Park District Trailways

Since yesterday's post about Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Park is the kind of trip you need advance planning for, today I'm going to tell you about a quick way to enjoy nature and get some exercise.

The trails that the Park District have created on the west side of Decatur are fantastic. Ten miles of trails stretch across multiple parks linking the west side from Lincoln Park and Fairview Park north to Stevens Creek and south to Rock Springs.

My favorite route is to enter the trail at Fairview Park and go toward Rock Springs. As you are biking, running, or walking out of Fairview Park you go down an invigorating steep hill, pass under a viaduct, and then you are in the woods. The noise from Main Street quickly fades away as you pass through the forest along the Sangamon River and later through restored prairie. I have seen large groups of deer resting along the path, blue herons, and many fish and smaller woodland animals.

This section of trail has some big hills so you may be pushing your bike once or twice. There are benches to rest on and nature guides along the way. While there are water fountains at each end, I take a bottle for stops along the way.

If you are interested in geocaching, the areas along the trail are an easy introduction to the hobby. For outings with small children, the trail at Kiwanis park is the spot to go. The trail is flat and open so it's easy to keep an eye on tykes, there is a fence along the road and a playground.

Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Park

JEPC State Park has an interesting backstory. It was owned by ComEd which intended to build a power plant on the site, but didn't. Then the state bought it and the Department of Natural Resources turned it into a giant conservation area. When you think of great Illinois parks most people think of the beautiful views in Southern Illinois or the river banks at Starved Rock. This park is not like that. If the flatness of Illinois bugs you, then JEPC is not the park for you. JEPC is flat, flat prairie and tremendously large. But if you want to be able to roam and run or ride horses and fish this park is really enjoyable.

We spent a long weekend at JEPC last summer with 2 other families. B and I rented a super cute cabin overlooking a lake for $40 a night, while another family brought their pop-up camper, and the third family used tents. The neat thing is we were all able to set up in a single area, which is unusual as most parks in Central Illinois seem to segregate the tents, campers, and cabins.

The cabin we rented was two rooms with 2 sets of bunk beds and a full size bed. It had a ceiling fan in each room, a cement patio with a grill and a picnic table. It was so pleasant. The beds were pretty hard, so I'll take an air mattress to throw on top of the full bed when we go again.

The other facilities were very nice. The main bathhouse was the nicest I've ever experienced at a park. It was clean and well lit with lots of individual showers and roomy toilet stalls. There were a couple good size playgrounds nearby. It was an easy place to enjoy with children.

JEPC State Park is pretty far west of Springfield and not close to many small towns, so you'll want to have your provisions before you arrive. Arrive before evening because this park is so huge that it is easy to get lost trying to find your way to the campsites.