We promised our granddaughter, Carmela, we’d take her on a short trip as a birthday gift. Right away she said, “I want to go to Casey.” Casey, Illinois, is home to the world’s largest—well, a dozen different things.
In 2021, Union Pacific’s legendary restored steam locomotive, BigBoy 4014, traveled five weeks, through ten states. Having filmed it in 2019 as it rolled through Illinois, Skip wanted to see more of it. When he mentioned he wanted to “chase the train” through Kansas, I was apprehensive. But it was a road trip, and I don’t pass up road trips. The experience turned out to be lots of fun, filming and photographing the train as it traveled from Kansas City, Missouri, to Salina, Kansas.
We captured our story in this video:
Life is getting back to normal! We’re experiencing far fewer mask mandates and cancelled events. Time to get back to exploring, and the Midwest Wanderer newsletter will guide you to some fun and interesting places to explore.
The famed Pony Express served as a speedy mail delivery service, beginning in 1860. Mail could make it from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California in just 10 days, less than half the usual 25 days for stagecoach delivery. Riders rode horses at breakneck speeds along ten-mile stretches, changed horses at a Pony Express Station, and continued on. At every third station, a new rider would quickly take over. The Hollenberg Pony Express Station, located in Hanover, Kansas, is one of the few remaining Pony Express stations remaining on its original site, and you are invited to tour it.
Due to Covid-19, many of the free or inexpensive outdoor New Year’s Eve celebrations have been cancelled. A few have come back, though, in 2021. (Updated for New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2021.)
Christmas festivals at zoos have become huge holiday attractions. In the Midwest alone, at least eighteen zoos celebrate with holiday lights, carols, animal shows, and even ice skating rinks. Brookfield Zoo, Chicago’s oldest holiday zoo event, is celebrating its 40th year in 2021. But the very first zoo holiday lights event in the nation was Indianapolis Zoo’s Christmas at the Zoo, which dates back to 1967!
Many other zoos have hopped aboard the holiday festival train over the years. Here are a few highlights of eighteen Midwest zoo holiday lights events for 2021, listed by state:
