Wine and Spirits Travel

After an exciting night at the Illinois Rock and Roll Hallof Fame Induction , my friend Lisa and I stayed at Harrah’s Joliet hotel. In the morning, we went downtown to explore. With Lisa walking and me in my scooter, the town looked easy to navigate on this beautiful day. We hadn’t eaten since early the previous evening, so we were ready for breakfast at the Route 66 Diner . The diner was decorated to pay tribute to the popular roadway that comes right through this town. There was no doubt as to what I was going to eat as they actually had a dish named “Marcia’s Platter.” No one seemed to know how it got its name, but the plate of scrambled eggs, vegetables, hashbrowns, and cheese was just what I wanted (with a side of pancakes). Lisa chose the Eggs Benedict and we relaxed with our coffee for awhile before heading back on the street. The downtown is quaint with lots of shops. We took a few minutes to stop at Sue Regis Glass to see some of the creations being made. I’m not

 The first Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction was delayed because of the pandemic. When they rescheduled, I was ready to go experience this exciting night – and spend some time checking out the city of Joliet. I took my friend Lisa along. It had been quite a while since we had traveled together, but we certainly had a lot of trips behind us. Our first stop was at a place I’ve never been to in any city, a prison. We spent about two hours on a private tour exploring one of the most famous in the country. Old Joliet Prison , which was featured in the Blues Brothers movie.     Given the importance of keeping a lot of the historical artifacts, the accessibility to every building wasn’t available to me. I still felt I got to see a lot from the outside in my scooter. I let Lisa do the deeper exploring and picture taking. It was even more interesting to hear about how important these structures were to the development of the prison system in the state, and one might say to

I’ve wanted to visit St. Louis Union Station since it was remodeled a few years ago and the attractions were added. I had heard nothing but good things about it. When I was invited to cover a Yellowcard concert in the Gateway city, I decided it was the perfect time. Brittany and I went straight from the concert to the Hilton at St. Louis Union Station , a Curio Collection Hotel. I was impressed the moment we walked into the lobby, with the high ceilings and light show that magnified all the art. I could only compare it to the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. We were exhausted and went right to sleep. In the morning, we had breakfast at Station Grille, one of the hotel’s restaurants. It was quite a meal, starting with freshly made pastries. Brittany had Chicken & Waffles. I ordered the Egg, Avocado & Quinoa, which was covered lightly with a balsamic dressing, and I loved it. After breakfast, we met up with our friend `Amanda and headed over to the other side of the hotel

We had a good night’s sleep at the Fairfield Inn on Fair Oaks Farm s in Indiana. The room was quite spacious for three adults, an 8-year-old, and an 11 lb. yorkie who was a bit excited to have three different beds to chose from. Breakfast is included at the hotel, and it was a nice buffet. We filled up on eggs, bacon, and waffles, and explored a little before heading outside. It was another cold day, so we dressed warmly. We went to check out the Igloos, a highlight of the Forest of Lights celebration. They are considered part of the Farmhouse Restaurant and are just outside those doors. They were heated and quite cozy. We were just supposed to go in for hot chocolate, but we were so comfortable we decided to stay a little longer for Mimosas, cheesecake, fries, and smoked brisket chili. When it was time for us to go to the Pig Adventure (you get times for tours when you purchase your tickets) we went to the bus. There are many different packages available, or you can buy individu