The first stop when we visited the Caterpillar Visitors Center in Peoria, Illinois, was the 797 Theater. The theater sits in the bed of a 797f mining truck. Read more
A Peek Inside Caterpillar
Illinois
Chicagoland Guide to Easter Egg Hunts 2014
When I was a kid, the town Easter egg hunt was a really big deal. Everybody looked forward to it. There was one hunt for the young kids and another for everyone else. The Everyone Else hunt was in a huge field scattered with candy and plastic eggs in the distance We all stood in anticipation behind a line painted in the grass, posed one foot in front of the other, ready to take off the moment we heard—bang!—the starter pistol. Off we ran toward the candy bars and eggs. Being small, I lagged behind the crowd and was lucky if I got a couple of pieces of candy. The bigger kids raked in the mother lode.
Today Easter egg hunts are almost always divided into several age groups, eggs are plentiful, and everyone comes away a winner. Besides regular egg hunts for children with prize-filled plastic eggs in plain sight, some towns have nighttime flashlight hunts for teens or egg hunts in a pool. Some even have egg hunts for dogs. Here is a list of many of the Chicago area Easter egg hunts and other Easter activities planned for 2014:
Chicago
April 12, 9 a.m. at Soldier Field
Spring Egg-Stravaganza
Kid and family friendly activities include face painting, inflatables, and balloon artists. The first group starts in the candy grab on the field at 10 a.m. Go early for breakfast with the Easter Bunny. A fee applies for breakfast, but everything else is free.
April 19 at Lincoln Park Zoo
Easter Egg-Stravaganza
Festivities, including meeting the Easter Bunny, creating crafts and visiting zoo animals run from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and the Easter egg hunt from 9 a.m. to 9:20 a.m. Carousel and train rides will be available, weather permitting. Fee applies, and tickets must be purchased in advance.
West Suburbs
April 5, 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Easter Egg-Xpress: Aurora
Train departs from Aurora Metra station and goes to Naperville. See the Easter Bunny and hunt for Easter eggs. Fee applies.
April 5, 8:30-11:30
Breakfast with the Bunny: Warrenville
Warrenville Community Building, 3S260 Warren Avenue. Menu includes pancakes, sausage, fruit and beverage. Register in advance. Fee applies.
April 12, 10:00 a.m.
Easter Egg Hunt: St. Charles
Pottawatomie Park, 8 North Avenue. Please limit your child to 10 eggs.
April 12, 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 am.
Breakfast with the Easter Bunny: Elmhurst
Wilder Mansion, 211 Prospect Avenue. Decorate bunny face pancakes, color bunny pictures, entertainment. Fee applies.
April 12, 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Doggie Easter Egg Hunt: Oakbrook Terrace
Terrace View Park, Hodges Road near Rte. 83. Dogs must wear a collar with tags. Pre-registration required.
April 12, 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Easter Egg Hunt at Terrace View Park: Oakbrook Terrace
Terrace View Park, Hodges Road near Rte. 83. Pre-registration required. Fee applies. Bunny Breakfast at the Oakbrook Terrace Park District Fitness Center afterwards.
April 12, 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Itasca spring Fling: Itasca
Springbrook Nature Center,130 Forest Avenue. Includes candy hunts, crafts, Easter Bunny to pose for photos.
April 12, 10 a.m.
Annual Egg Hunt: Lisle
Community Park, Short Street off of Route 53. Ages group: 2 & under; 3-5; 6-10. Advance registration required. Fee applies.
April 13, 3:30 p.m.
Underwater Egg Hunt: Elmhurst
Courts Plus swimming pool. Some eggs float, some will sink. Fee applies for non-Courts Plus members. Check the web site for rules.
April 13, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Easter Brunch, Addision
Dave & Busters, 1155 N Swift Road. Brunch, Easter Bunny, egg hunt, game cards. Fee applies.
April 17, 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Teen Flashlight Egg Hunt: Elmhurst
Wilder Park, 175 S Prospect Avenue. Prizes and candy. Bring your own flashlight.
April 17, 9:00 p.m.
Flashlight Egg Hunt: Lisle
Community Park Bandshell, Short Street off of Route 53. Bring your own flashlight. Registration required; fee applies.
April 18-19, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Breakfast with the Easter Bunny: Lisle
Morton Arboretum, 4100 Illinois Route 53. Check the web site for buffet menu. Fee applies. Preregister.
April 19, 9:30 a.m.
Spring Egg Hunt: Sandwich
James Knights Park, 1001 N Latham Street. Children up to 9 years of age may participate.
April 19, 1:15 p.m.
Easter Egg Hunt: Hinkley
Pioneer Park, 600 W Lincoln Avenue. Pose for a photo with the Easter Bunny.
April 19, 10 a.m.
Easter Eggstravaganza: Bensenville
Varble Park, 1000 W Wood Street (behind Deer Grove Leisure Center). Ages 2-4 10 a.m.; ages 5-7 10:30 a.m.
April 19, 10 a.m.
Egg Hunt: Elmhurst
Wilder Park, 175 S Prospect Avenue. You are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items, drug store gift cards or cash donations for the Elmhurst/Yorkfield Food Pantry.
South Suburbs
April 5, 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Central Park Egg Hunt: Oak Forest
Central Park, 15601 Central Avenue, Age 2 & under, 12:30; Age 3, 1:00; Age 4-5 (Pre-K and K), 1:30; Grades 1-3, 2:00
April 11, 7:30 pm. to 8:30 p.m.
Flashlight Egg Hunt: Olympia Fields
Iron Oaks Environmental Learning Center, 20000 Western Avenue. Pre-register by April 10.
April 12, 7:00 p.m.
Flashlight Egg Hunt: Olympia Fields
Sgt. Means Park, 3633 Breakers Drive. Ages 2-12. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
April 12, 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 am. And 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Oak Lawn’s Annual Egg Hunt
Stony Creek Golf, Restaurant Banquets. 5850 West 103rd Street. Call for further details: 708/857-2433
April 12, 10:00 a.m.
Easter Egg Hunt: Orland Park
Centennial Park, 15600 West Avenue. Ages 1-9
April 12, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Easter Egg Hunt: Oak Lawn
Village Green, 9446 Raymond Avenue.
April 12, 10:00 a.m.
Lucky Egg Hunt: Homewood
Richard D. Irwin Park & Marie Irwin Community Center, 18120 Highland Avenue. Rain location, H-F Sports Complex. Find a lucky egg and win an extra prize.
April 12, 12:00 noon
Mokena Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt, Mokena.
Mokena Main Park, LaPorte and Mokena Streets
April 12: 10:30 a.m.
Great Dog Egg Hunt
Richard D. Irwin Park & Marie Irwin Community Center, 18120 Highland Avenue. Dogs must be on a leash. Dog owners under age 12 must be accompanied by an adult.
April 12, 13, 19. 9:00 am. And Brookfield Zoo
Breakfast with the Bunny
Brookfield Zoo Discovery Center, 3300 Golf Road. Reservations required.
April 13, 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m.
Bunny Hop: Tinley Park
South Street and 67th Court, adjacent to the Oak Park Avenue train station. Egg hunt, kid crafts, games, food, craft show, more.
Northwest
April 12, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Bunny Bash: Schaumburg
Community Recreation Center, 505 N Springinsguth Road. Egg hunts, games, inflatables, train ride, more. Registration required. Fee applies
April 13, 8:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Breakfast with the Easter Bunny at GameWorks: Schaumburg
601 N Martingale Road. Breakfast, photo with Easter Bunny, egg hunt, game play. Bring in non-perishable food item and received $5 credit play card. Register by April 12.
April 17, 6:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.
Underwater EGGstravaganza: Schaumburg
505 N Springinsguth Road. 6:15, age 2 and younger; 6:30 p.m. age 3-4; 6:45 age 5-6; 7:00 7-8, 7:15 9 and older. 7:30: zero-depth pool open for all ages to swim. Egg hunts, entertainment, games, prizes. Registration required by April 15.
April 19, 10:00 a.m.
Boomers Annual Easter Egg Hunt: Schaumburg
Boomers Stadium, 1999 S Springinsguth Road. Gates open at 9:30, egg hunt begins at 10 a.m. Four age groups: 3 and under, age 4 to 6, age 7 to 8, age 9 and older. $2 per person, cash only, incudes ticket for any May Boomers game.
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Q Smokehouse, Champaign IL: Authentic Smoky Barbecue
I love good barbecue, the kind with deep smoky flavor, the kind that’s everywhere in the south but rare in Illinois. I tend to gravitate to barbecue restaurants even in Illinois regardless, on the off-chance I’ll find a winner. So when I was in Champaign looking for a quick lunch, I was drawn to Q Smokehouse. Walking through the door, I drew in the aroma of an authentic smokehouse.
At the walk-up counter, order your choice of sandwich: pulled pork, pulled chicken, sliced brisket, smoked sausage, or burnt end. Burnt end—it jumped out at me. I’d only had a burnt end sandwich once before and I had instantly decided that was my favorite of all barbecue sandwiches. What are burnt ends? According to Wikipedia, “Burnt ends are flavorful pieces of meat cut from the point half of a smoked brisket…considered a delicacy in barbecue cooking.” Burnt ends have some char, but they’re also quite tender.
Sandwiches come with two toppings from a choice of ten, including items like bourbon apples and Carolina slaw. I chose caramelized onions and bacon. Several different sauces were available in pump dispensers. I like to do taste tests with different sauces, but unfortunately only two of the dispensers were working properly.
As it turned out, the sandwich didn’t even need sauce, it was that flavorful, and the house cut fries, with enough in the order to feed two, were a tasty addition. A muffin shaped cookie was a nice finish to the meal.
In addition to sandwiches, Q Smokehouse offers appetizers like barbecue eggrolls and entrees like pulled pork burritos and baby back ribs.
Q Smokehouse, located at 617 E. Green Street in Champaign, is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. Check the web site for the full menu.
What’s your favorite barbecue restaurant? Answer in the Comments below.
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Museum of the Grand Prairie: Lincoln and Life in Central Illinois
Museum of the Grand Prairie: Lincoln and Life in Central Illinois
Abraham Lincoln is most often associated with Springfield, but he spent time in nine counties throughout Central Illinois as he traveled the 8th Judicial Circuit practicing law. The Museum of the Grand Prairie in Mahomet captures Lincoln’s travels through the area, as well as life on the prairie in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Sit in a wagon much the same as Lincoln did. The video in front of you gives the illusion that you are riding through the prairie.
Learn humorous stories about Lincoln, like the time he hid the meal gong from the American House proprietor because it would wake up Lincoln and the other lawyers who stayed there.
When Lincoln was having his photograph taken, he was wearing his travel clothes, which were inappropriate for a formal photograph. The photographer, Samuel Alschuler, gave Lincoln his jacket to wear. The sleeves came almost up to the elbows of tall Lincoln.
See a replica of the Goose Pond Church where Lincoln spoke to a packed house, campaigning for John C. Fremont, the first Republican Party presidential nominee.
Other exhibits in the museum include artifacts like the Mitchell Wagon, used to cart corn to the local elevator.
The Chesebro Blacksmith shop that stood untouched from the 1930s until 1993 in Saunemin, Illinois, has been partially reconstructed with the contents in the exact place as they were originally.
Learn about typical families who lived in the area. This intricate gate was at the home of the local blacksmith.
A temporary exhibit titled, “Home Grown: Gardening Yesterday and Today,” opened in March, begins with the cultivation ways of Native Americans, moves to 19th century orchards and pollinators, into the mid-20th century Victory Gardens and canning, and onto sustainable gardening techniques of today.
The next time you’re traveling to or through Champaign County, make a little jog to visit the delightful Museum of the Grand Prairie. The museum is located at 950 N Lombard, Mahomet, Illinois, in the Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve. Check the web site for hours and directions. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.
Thank you for reading Midwest Wanderer. If you enjoyed this post and would like an e-mail notification when other posts are published, enter your e-mail address below and click Subscribe. Be sure to click the link when you get the e-mail asking you to confirm.
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The I Hotel, on the University of Illinois Campus, is the perfect place to stay during your visit to the college, or for that matter, any time you visit the Champaign-Urbana area. Read more
Big Grove Tavern, Champaign IL: Farm-to-Table Fine Dining
You would think that a restaurant with “Tavern” in its name would be a casual bar that serves only pub food like burgers. Not so at the Big Grove Tavern, one of just a couple of fine dining establishments in Downtown Champaign, a fine dining restaurant whose menu changes with the seasons to use ingredients from local farms, sources that are written on a chalkboard in the dining room.
Yes, there is a bar in the Big Grove Tavern, and yes, they do offer bar snacks. And at lunchtime you can get a burger, too. But the Tavern Burger isn’t your ordinary pub burger. Rather, it’s a combination of beef, bison and pork with red onion marmalade and cornichon aioli.
At dinner a small pail of popcorn on your table continues the tavern theme, but low lighting from bulbs strung across the ceiling creates an ambiance that complements the elegant dinner menu choices. Although you can still order a Tavern Burger for dinner if you’d like, entrees like Seared Mahi Mahi served with charred leeks, glazed chestnuts, broken yolk and celery leaf are offered. I enjoyed the succulent Bistro Filet, medium-rare, on a bed of cider BBQ sauce with sides of roasted root vegetables and crispy fingerling potato chips.
The uniqueness doesn’t stop with entrees, but follows through to dessert, too. I was tempted by the Popcorn Panna Cotta just out of curiosity and thought about the grapefruit sorbet, light and refreshing after a beef dinner. But as usual, I couldn’t pass up the chocolate and went for the Spiced Chocolate Bread Pudding. Its rich brownie-like texture and flavor, offset by cool vanilla bean whipped cream that topped it, was a decadent finale to a delectable dinner.
As for service, it couldn’t have been better. Our server was attentive and knowledgeable about menu choices, water glasses were refilled regularly, and service was prompt but not too rushed.
Whether you’re in the mood for a snack, a sandwich, or a full entrée, Big Grove Tavern’s farm-to-table menu offers unique and tasty options. My opinion is obviously shared by many others, as Big Grove Tavern has won multiple OpenTable Diners’ Choice Awards.
Big Grove Tavern, located in Downtown Champaign at the corner of Main and Neil, is open seven days a week. Check the web site for hours and menu.
Disclosure: My visit to Big Grove Tavern was hosted by the Champaign County CVB, but any opinions expressed in this post are my own.
Thank you for reading Midwest Wanderer. If you enjoyed this post and would like an e-mail notification when other posts are published, enter your e-mail address below and click Subscribe. Be sure to click the link when you get the e-mail asking you to confirm.
Other blog posts you may enjoy:
University of Illinois Museums: Complementary Themes
The Art Party Studio, Champaign IL: Discover Your Inner Artist