We expected to see the National Route 66 Museum, But we visited these three other museums in the same complex—for one admission fee.
I believe in the “never say never” mantra. However, there are exceptions—like jumping out of an airplane. I can say with 99.9% certainty that I will never jump out of a plane, possibly even if my life depended on it. I did get a chance, though, to experience the exhilaration of freefalling, without the fear of crashing smack dab onto the ground, with the iFLY Chicago indoor skydiving experience. Read more
If not for the sign out front, you might think you were pulling up to someone’s home. Actually, you are. The family dog may greet you and escort you to the door of the manufactured home set on a hill overlooking a lush pine valley.
Inside, you may be seated next to the fireplace in the dining room. Family photos fill the walls, including photos of Nicolas Black Elk, medicine man and warrior of the Native American Oglala Lakota tribe, who was restaurant owner Betty O’Rourke’s great-grandfather.
Bette’s Kitchen’s menu includes fare like fried chicken, burgers, BLTs, chef’s salad and soup. However, for our group that Betty hosted, she put out a huge spread of chicken, beef, chicken noodle soup, salads, baked beans, fresh watermelon and cupcakes frosted in vivid colors, punctuated with colorful sprinkles. The meal was served buffet style with paper plates from a folding table in Betty’s kitchen, an experience much like a family picnic.
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In fact, you can savor your meal picnic-style while enjoying the beauty of the South Dakota scenery in the tented outdoor seating area if you prefer.
Betty’s cooking is like that of your aunt or grandmother, down-home deliciousness. The soup was chock full of thick noodles, the chicken crispy and juicy, the beef tender and flavorful. It’s no wonder that Betty served over 2,000 people last summer. Besides local regulars, it isn’t uncommon for Betty to serve busloads that stop in for lunch in the remote location.
Bette’s Kitchen is located at 111 Black Elk Road, one mile north of Manderson in western South Dakota. Phone (605) 867-1739.
Disclosure: My visit to Bette’s Kitchen was hosted by the South Dakota Department of Tourism and Bette’s Kitchen. However, all opinions in this article are my own.
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Fresh rolled butter. Peach fritters the size of softballs. Peanuts ground into cappuccino peanut butter. Salads made from generations-old Amish recipes. The aroma of hickory smoked ribs and chicken. It’s no wonder that Yoder’s Country Market in Centreville, Michigan, has had to expand three times in its ten-year existence—and the market is bursting at the seams again. Read more
You expect to find Abraham Lincoln sites all over Illinois, and I have. Of course, they’re ubiquitous in Springfield, his home for 24 years, including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and the Lincoln Home.
And then there’s Vandalia, the state capital prior to Springfield and the oldest existing Illinois capitol building.
Decatur was his first Illinois home, and he lived in West Salem prior to Springfield.
As a lawyer, Lincoln rode all over the 8th Judicial Circuit, and there are commemorative sites throughout Central Illinois where Lincoln stayed, spoke and worked. The Museum of the Grand Prairie captures Lincoln Travels through the area.
I’ve searched out many of these places, which are often part of the Illinois Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition.
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There are plenty of Lincoln sites outside of Illinois, too, like his birthplace and First Lincoln Memorial in Kentucky, his Indiana boyhood home, and of course, his place of honor on Mount Rushmore.
Occasionally, however, Lincoln pops up where you least expect him. We found him recently in Beloit, Wisconsin. Skip and I were browsing the shops in the downtown area when we wandered past this building and noticed the plaque commemorating Lincoln’s 1859 visit.
In what unexpected place have you found a Lincoln site? Let me know in the comments below.
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The term “film festival” always brought a picture to my mind of a series of artsy films with deep meanings I didn’t understand, mostly in non-English languages with subtitles. When I was invited to the Beloit International Film Festival (BIFF), I thought why not? I’m always up for a new adventure, I was curious, and I saw there was going to be a Grease sing-along on Saturday night.
