South to Utica and the Illinois River - Trip 1

So, we start this trip out in Pecatonica, Illinois, at the Crooked River Cafe where no two coffee mugs are the same and there is artwork on the wall for sale. The wait staff here on Saturday morning acts like they were all just called in from a day off because somebody else didn't show. But the breakfast here is the best. Meat, eggs, gravy, and potatoes will get your system ready for the Bloody Mary at Ridott.

Pec, about 15 miles west of Rockford on Illinois Route 20, is a town that is struggling from a failed and aging hippie artsy scene and the beginning of the growth brought on by folks with more money than sense moving into little towns and then proceeding to ruin them. They do have the world's worst web page dating back to dawn of the World Wide Wait. (www.aeroinc.net/pecweb/)

But, I digress from the trip - something that will never happen again.

After breakfast, take 7th Street (Sumner Road) west out of town to Farwell Bridge Road and zigzag west and south to Ridott Corners Tavern. Refreshments are served there.

There's not much to see between here and IL251, so just head south and east until you find it. If you end up on IL2 take it south along the Rock River to Dixon. The following east-west highways will get you to IL251: US20 if you want to explore the inner bowels of Rockford, IL72, IL64, and IL38. If you cross I39, you have gone too far east.

IL251 is flat and straight, but rich in life and history. Continuing south on IL251 you will enter the west edge of a wind farm. Stop along a side road and take this in.

IL251 used to be US51, the carotid artery of the Midwest. Running somewhat parallel to the train tracks that carried the City of New Orleans and The Panama Limited, songs were written about it. Bob Dylan sang a C. White song in 1962 on his first album, and John Lee Hooker did "Goin' Down Highway 51." Running up Wisconsin way down to no man's land, Highway 51 and the trains moved the black people and other southerners up from the South to the more industrialized North to find work and back to see their families in the South.

I took Highway 51 from Rockford to as close to New Orleans as you can get on it back in 1965. The towns and the trucks would make for slow going as the tar strips thump-thumped on the tires. But now, you can pretty much have this road to yourself. (explorehwy51.com/) The Interstates now have all the traffic.

Taking IL51 south, stop at Jerry's in Compton. It doesn't look like much but its got real character(s). Food and drink are available, but if you order a Bloody Mary add your own hot sauce. They use Sriracha Chile Sauce (www.hotsauceblog.com/). It's a bit warm. Farmers and construction guys hang out trying to avoid their work and their wives, and they all appreciate a fresh group of people to hit with their stories. Good burgers. Breakfast is the only meal served on Sundays.

Pulling off on N4750th road to watch the windmills in the perfect countryside quiet, the scene becomes surreal. The only sound from these generators is a silent whoosh mixed with the rustling of the field corn when the blade comes down near the ground. Some more photos can be seen at (www.pbase.com/). This mostly clean source of energy would be used more often if folks wouldn't mind having these things near them. And I don't understand why they don't. If it was a strip mine, a compost incinerator, a refinery, or even an ethanol plant, I might understand, but these things in their simple elegance of power generation are beautiful. I wouldn't be ashamed to have one near my house.

These are not the windmills by Paw Paw that can be seen from the rest stop on I39. There are more of those, but they are smaller.

Some facts:

- Each tower is 214 feet tall.
- Each tower has three 85-foot blades.
- Each blade weighs two tons.
- The blades spin at 25 rpm.
- Each tower cost $1 million.
- The towers are .8 megawatt towers. Newer towers are 1.5 to 3 megawatt towers.
- The farmer does not pay taxes on the improvements, which is paid by the developer.
- The farmers took three acres of land out of production for their five wind towers.
- Six new jobs were created by wind farm.
- The 63 wind towers increased the tax revenue of the county by $350,000.
- The farmers have a 30-year contract with the developer, which can be renewed after that time or the towers removed.

From: (www.wiedp.org/)

Back out on IL251 south through Mendota until the Troy Grove turn off - US52 (N 37th Rd). It's about six miles. Population 350, Troy Grove has a memorial for James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok born here in 1837. Wild Bill accidentally shot and killed his deputy, which led to the end of his lawman career. He was murdered by Jack McCaw during a poker game at Nutall and Mann's #10 saloon. He had aces and eights, known from then on as the "Dead Man's Hand." The following actors have portrayed Wild Bill Hockok: Guy Madison, Lloyd Bridges, Josh Brolin, Keith Carridene, Sam Elliot, Gary Cooper, Howard Keel, Jeff Corey, Charles Bronson, and Sam Shepard.

Visit the memorial in Troy Grove, but not too long. This city has a lot more to offer. Back on US52 is Chubby's: home of the "Largest Ham Sandwich in the World." Late Saturday afternoon the parking lot will fill with whatever the folks are driving at the time, be it four-wheelers, trucks, motorcycles, or lawn tractors. Conversation here is rich in hoggin' for catfish (complete with pictures), local gossip, and the antics of those who were here last night. A very friendly and welcoming place. Sorry, closed on Sunday.

From Chubby's take US52 east over I39 to East 8th Road. The folks at Chubby's will tell you to take 9th, but that is gravel. East 8th turns into IL178 as you pass under I88. Take that on in to Utica following the traffic to downtown. Bars, restaurants, and biker gift shops abound. Stop in downtown to get your bearings.

The state parks here are the main features and are worth visiting. Check out their web sites for info before you go. Trails and campgrounds can be closed for statewide firearm deer seasons, plus other reasons. Starved Rock has an old Civilian Conservation Core (CCC) built lodge that is worth a visit and a few night's stay. These buildings and other park projects were built, to the consternation of the local labor force, by Roosevelt's plan to employ young men during The Great Depression. Although today we are grateful for these rustic lodges, this program was one of many, including the refusal to deficit spend, lower interest rates, deflate the dollar, and cut taxes, that actually prolonged the depression and its suffering for many years.

In 1933, "all unmarried, unemployed male citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 were eligible to apply for work as junior enrollees, with the stipulation that a substantial portion (between $22 to $25) of each man's basic $30 monthly allowance would be sent home to his dependent family. At its peak in 1935, when the age bracket for junior enrollees had been increased to between 17 and 28, pay for unskilled workers was $40/month, with $55/month for skilled labor. In 1935, enrollment was just under 506,000 men, an increase of 115% over the previous six-month enrollment period. Additional men and women (of any age) employed in administration or advisory capacities swelled the ranks to a total of 565,000 persons in the CCC work force in 1935.

"In addition to their cash stipend for the five-day workweek, the young men received three full meals a day, lodging, clothes, footwear, inoculations and other medical and dental care, and, at their option, vocational, academic, or recreational instruction." From: (Illinois DNR)

The other parks in the area are Matthiessen and Buffalo Rock. Camping, fishing, and trails are abundant. If you plan on staying a while, be sure to get this brochure: Starved Rock Guide

But, Midwest Backroads takes you on a side trip. The folks up at Chubby's suggested checking out the marinas along the Illinois River. So we headed east on IL34, just before the bridge to Starved Rock State Park. First stop: Starved Rock Lock and Dam Visitors Center.

"The decision to dam up the Illinois River was very advantageous in terms of economics. Over 45 million tons of coal, gravel, silica, soybeans, petroleum, fertilizer, grains, iron products and chemicals go down the river every year. Making the Illinois River navigable has connected the northern part of the country with the south. A grain barge can go from New Orleans up the Mississippi, to the Illinois River and other connecting rivers into Lake Michigan. From Chicago, the barge would travel through the Great Lakes and could either take the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic Ocean or the Erie Canal to New York. One barge can carry huge quantities of product. It is the equivalent of 15 jumbo railroad cars and 58 large semi trailer trucks. The towns that sprang up along the I&M Canal continue to grow today, in part because of the river trade.

"The lock and dams not only gave traders along the river easy trade route; they provide a form of energy, also. The Starved Rock dam has four generators to produce four megawatts of electricity, which is about 4000 homes worth. From: (NIU Reference)

The next stop is Starved Rock Marina. Just like the folks in Troy Grove promised - a good stop. A nice bar and restaurant, overlooking the river is called Captain's Cove. Slip, houseboat, jet ski, pontoon boat, speed boat, and villa rentals are available. Boats are for sale. Folks seem a bit stiff here, tripping over their money.

Continuing east on IL34, you may want to drive through Buffalo Rock State Park. It's small and is mostly walking trails. You'll have to get up off your butt and walk around to see anything.

"Buffalo Rock is said to have served the French as an early military, trading and missionary post. LaSalle and Tonty, after building Fort St. Louis on Starved Rock during the winter of 1882-1883 gathered almost 4,000 Indian warriors at the front of Buffalo Rock and formed a confederation against the Iroquois. Among the tribes in the confederation were the Miami who built their own fort on Buffalo Rock.

"Through the many years that followed, Buffalo Rock was used by a religious sect as a place for holding camp meetings, and still later was used as a site for a tuberculosis sanatorium. The Crane Company of Chicago purchased Buffalo Rock in 1912 and for a period of about 16 years maintained a sanatorium for sick employees and a summer vacation ground for thousands of employees and their families. In 1927 the Crane Company moved their recreation park to a larger area and donated the land to the state to become a park." From: Illinois DNR

Buffalo Rock has these other things. They were done by some artist named Michael Heizer. The DNR page says they are a "tribute" to Native American burial grounds, but they are actually a tribute to Micheal Heizer. This guy was not an Indian, nor do dead Indians lie underneath. They are mounds and ground carvings of a snake, turtle, catfish, frog and a water strider as seen from above. Heizer calls himself an American Environmental Artist. The mounds are called Effigy Tumuli and are becoming, like Heizer himself, eroded and overgrown. The name becomes meaningless when translated into "representation of a person mound." Who let this guy do this?

Near the lookout platform where you strain to make these things out, is a trail that will take you to an inland cliff. The locals say that if you climb down this cliff you can find arrowheads under the rocks. My cliff climbing days were over about the time gas was 75 cents a gallon.

Time to move on. Time for dinner and the end of a day with enough time to get home. Out of Buffalo Park take a right and head into the west end of Naplate (sounds like nameplate without the m). The name came from a major employer: The National Plate Glass Company, which gets hits none on the google.

My wife loves chicken. Having grown up on a farm where chicken was lunch and dinner during those months that the milk fell below Grade A, I still find it weird to pay for the stuff, but Cap'n Jack seems to make it worth it. In Naplate at 2001 Ottawa Avenue is Cap'n Jack's Chicken. The sign on the wall says "If the colonel had our recipe, he would be a general by now." Along with the usual sandwiches, ribs, and fish, Don and Debbie will fix you up with a 100 pieces of chicken at a time. This chicken is fried perfectly and you can get all dark meat.

This ends the day trip to the Illinois River. Information on the major parks, businesses, and attractions here is abundant and mainstream, and therefore, not covered here. We hope you enjoyed the account and its sarcasm, offensive opinion, and satire and take the trip. Please write me at the email in the introduction with comments and suggestions. No criticism will be accepted though, because it would certainly not be valid. Thank you for reading about this trip. I hope you enjoyed this one and will read another one.