Showing posts with label Illinois. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Illinois. Show all posts
Thrifty Travel Fun: Chicago, IL Read Post

Thrifty Travel Fun: Chicago, IL


Heading to the Windy City? Have a blast! Here are three family-friendly activities to add to your list, none of which will cost you a penny.



1. A free zoo? Can it be? Welcome to Lincoln Park Zoo! Located mere minutes north of the city, the Zoo is the perfect place to spend the day: visit the animals, rest in the zoo's many gardens, check for daily events - the usual zoo fun!

2. Take a stroll through Millennium Park. Sure, it's touristy, but for good reason. With the city skyline in the background but lots of open space, you'll still feel like you're doing Chicago, but the kids will have plenty of room to run. Depending on what time of year you visit, there festivals, performances, an ice rank, the five-acre Lurie Garden to explore...and of course, there's the giant silver bean, perhaps the coolest piece of public art in the country. Wrangle everyone underneath for a reflected family portrait - holiday cards done early!

3. All that Chicago-style sightseeing might leave the whole family all tuckered out; if only you could all plop down and have someone read to you...Storybook Mom to the rescue! Award-winning Nili Yelin is a celebrity among Chicago parents, and you can experience her storytelling prowess nearly any day of the week at her weekly storytimes. Check her calendar for locations.

Affordable accommodations: Best Western Plus River North Hotel, the only downtown Chicago Hotel that offers free parking.
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Day 9: Paducha to Memphis Read Post

Day 9: Paducha to Memphis

Our journey came to end today. From Paducah, Ky., we continued to trace the Ohio River to Cairo, Ill, where the river we've been following for the past week meets the Mississippi. We stood at the confluence of the two mighty rivers, feeling excited, accomplished and a little sad. Our trip was nearly over...but first we needed to make it to Memphis where we planned to see the famous Peabody ducks. Huh, ducks? Read on to find out...

Budget
We went well over our $200 a day budget in Memphis—but we came in under budget on so many other days that it didn't matter.
Total: $269.39


Highlights

1) Cairo, Ill.
Cairo is the southernmost city in Illinois and sits on a skinny strip of land at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.


Six hours down I-57 to the southernmost tip of the state, where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers meet, is yet another pocket of Illinois poverty: Alexander County and its county seat, Cairo. There, amid crumbling 19th century mansions, a history of segregationism and steady economic decline have conspired to make Cairo one of the most impoverished places in the state. The city’s population has dwindled every decade since 1920 — from a high of 15,205 to the current low of 3,632 — prompting the principal of Cairo High School to advise the 1990 graduating class to leave.

In downstate Cairo, 47 percent of children live in poverty, according to the 2000 Census. Alexander County’s poverty rate of 26.1 percent was the highest of any county in the state, and its infant mortality rate of 15.4 percent from 1998 to 2000 was the state’s second-highest.  

 
 The Elias Ace Hardware in Cairo is open, but the Shell is closed. The Washateria is open, but the CutMart has closed. There is no McDonald’s, no Burger King, no Arby’s. There is no recreation center, no bowling alley, no movie theater. The Spirit House — for liquor — is open, but the Christ Temple — for souls — is closed. Churches are for sale, prices reduced. The Martin CME Temple on Poplar Street is available, its public auction sign nailed to a dead tree stump.





2) Steele, Missouri
The stretch of highway between Cairo and Memphis is a food desert. As my husband drove, I sat in the passenger's seat searching on my iPhone for a highly recommended greasy spoon, a hamburger stand, an old-school diner with great pie. Nothing. I kept browsing the options using my favorite restaurant-finder app Urban Spoon. Nothing. 

And then at 2 p.m. my husband said he was starving and pulled off the freeway in Steele, Missouri, which looked to be absolutely nothing. I quickly looked up our options on Urban Spoon, my favorite app for finding restaurants. 

Steele Family Restaurant? We're a family...why not. We parked the car and walked in. 

Everyone in the restaurant, which was about 10 people, looked at us and continued to stare as we found ourselves at the soda fountain counter. I felt as if we were aliens from another planet.

A woman working behind the counter broke the ice with a big smile and said, "What can I getcha?"

And then we went onto to enjoy the most memorable meal of out trip. We enjoyed bowls of homemade steaming vegetable soup served with grilled cheese sandwiches while chatting with the woman behind the counter who was named Ms. Kim. She is originally from New Orleans but she evacuated during Katrina and drove for 17 hours with her kids and mother in search of a hotel. The only place they could find a room was Steele, Missouri. "And I've been here ever since," she told us.

By the end of the meal we were friends with everyone in the restaurant and we listened to their stories about their town that was once booming and is now dying. "We used to have clothing stories here in town on the main street," one woman told me. That woman was originally from Steele and after college she returned to become a teacher. "I wanted to give back to my community," she told me. She's now retired and helping run programs for troubled youth. "We have a lot of drugs."

The kids with Ms. Kim.

3) Peabody Hotel, Memphis

Our goal was to make it to Memphis by 5 p.m. to see the famous ducks at the Peabody Hotel. Ducks? Yes, this grand and historic hotel in the middle of Memphis is known for a family of ducks who swim around in a fountain in the downstairs lounge during the day and then at 5 p.m. the duck master leads the flock in a march down a red carpet and into an elevator, which takes the ducks to the hotel roof deck where they sleep for the night. We were in Memphis a few years ago and missed the ducks by about 10 minutes. This year we were determined to make it!
And we made it! When we arrived at 4 p.m. the ducks were swimming around in the fountain. People gathered round snapping photos and taking video.
The duck master gave the crowd an overview of the history:
Back in 1932 Frank Schutt, General Manager of The Peabody, and a friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. The men had a little too much Jack Daniel's Tennessee sippin' whiskey, and thought it would be funny to place some of their live duck decoys (it was legal then for hunters to use live decoys) in the beautiful Peabody fountain. 
Three small English call ducks were selected as "guinea pigs," and the reaction was nothing short of enthusiastic. Soon, five North American Mallard ducks would replace the original ducks. 
In 1940, Bellman Edward Pembroke, a former circus animal trainer, offered to help with delivering the ducks to the fountain each day and taught them the now-famous Peabody Duck March. Mr. Pembroke became the Peabody Duckmaster, serving in that capacity for 50 years until his retirement in 1991.

And then the procession began! The ducks were like celebrities strutting down a Hollywood red carpet and we were the paparazzi. 
On the roof deck we met up with the duck master.
Views of Memphis from the Peabody roof deck.

4) Rendezvous, Memphis
Our evening ended at the Rendezvous, tucked away in General Washburn Alley just across the street from the Peabody. Many say this institution, originally opened in 1948, serves the best ribs in town. All I can say is they're the best ribs I've ever had in my life. Dry-rubbed, hickory smoked, and falling off the bone. We were fighting over them.

Up next? Home! We've officially reached the end of our trip!
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Day 5: Cincinnati Read Post

Day 5: Cincinnati

Looking out at the Ohio River from Eden Park.
On our second day in Cincinnati we tracked down a great vegetarian restaurant, spotted an albino squirrel, learned to skip rocks and spent a relaxing afternoon hanging out at a world-class art museum.

Budget
Breakfast: $7.45 (danishes at Graeter's)
Lunch: $25.28 (Melt Eclectic Cafe)
Dinner: $33.79 (Lemon Grass Thai)
Hotel: Free! (We earned enough Best Western Rewards points for a free night at the Best Western Premier Mariemont)
Total: $66.52 (Phew! We needed a cheap day to balance out yesterday when we went way over)

1) Cincinnati Art Museum
So many art museums these days charge $20 per person for admission. Not this one. The Cincinnati Art Museum is free thanks to generous donors in the community. Hooray!
This dramatic bronze statue called Pinnochio Emotional greeted us at the entrance of the museum.
The Cincinnati Art Museum is a world-class museum and it's one of the oldest in the United States. The museum houses some 60,000 works spanning 6,000 years, and in its galleries you'll find everything from an Egyptian mummy to an Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup can.

One of the most memorable pieces is a 30-foot-long mural by Joan Miro that originally hung in the Terrace Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati.
My kids will tolerate art museums, but let's face it, they'd rather be at a playground. And so I appreciated the small yet interactive exhibits that are placed around the museum for kids. Here they're putting together a puzzle featuring a painting by Sisley.
After walking through three floors of art galleries, my kids were ready to run around. The Art Museum is located in the middle of Eden Park, and we found this play structure nearby. Playgrounds are a great source of free entertainment.


2) Melt Eclectic Cafe, Cincinnati
After four days of hamburgers and meat chili, I was desperate for something green. In the funky Northside neighborhood, we found this sandwich shop specializing in vegan and vegetarian cuisine.
Melt is a hippy sort of place where the hummus is homemade, the walls are painted purple, the art on the walls is painted by locals, and the guys cooking in back have bushy beards. Everything we ordered from a greek salad to black bean chili was delicious and hearty.
A fresh green salad has never looked so good! And the lettuce isn't even iceberg.
A ratatouille sandwich on homemade bread served with a side of sun chips and hummus.
Each table had its own magnetic board and poetry set. "Two furry well corn..." My son isn't a poet but he had fun!



3) Albino Squirrel
The coolest thing we've seen on our trip yet is an albino squirrel running through the grass of someone's front yard in a Cincinnati neighborhood. And we didn't even have to pay for zoo admission to see it. Isn't he beautiful?



4) The Little Miami River, Cincinnati
The Little Miami River meets up with the Ohio River just east of Cincinnati. My husband is a river scientist and worked on a project on this river. He was eager to show us this scenic spot. We hiked along a dirt path through lush foliage filled with birds and eventually came to a rocky beach.
The beach was covered in flat rocks, perfect for skipping.
Dad had to give us a lesson in rock skipping.
 After seeing the albino squirrel my daughter was convinced that she had found an albino rock.
On our hike, we spotted a fallen tree that had been chewed up by a river beaver. Cool! But we couldn't find the beavers who did the damage.

What's up next? Louisville, Kentucky!
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Day 4: Cincinnati Read Post

Day 4: Cincinnati

Cincinnati is a city that's coming back to life, after years of economic downturn and the race riots of 2001. Everywhere there's construction, especially along the riverfront where a park with walking paths, fountains and playgrounds is unfolding between the two sports stadiums where the Reds and Bengals play.

We encountered blight in some areas, with buildings practically crumbling to the ground, but we also walked around several neighborhoods where funky art galleries, cafes, and boutiques are moving into revitalized red-brick storefronts. And everywhere we turned, we found a park, beautifully landscaped, free of graffiti, and always with a play structure for kids. This city that was once considered America's most American city is getting its swagger back—and our family found lots to do here.

Budget

Breakfast: free at hotel
Lunch: $18.58 (Skyline Chili)
Parking: $4
Ice cream: $8.77 (Graeter's)
Dinner: $49.11 (Hoffbrauhaus)
Hotel: $182.04 (Best Western Premier Mariemont Inn; We have lots of points with the Best Western Rewards program so tomorrow night will be free!)
Total: $262.50



1) Skyline Chili
Chili over spaghetti? Yes! That's what our waitress at Skyline Chili recommended . "Our chili is more of a sauce," she told us. "It needs to be eaten with something."

I was troubled by this because I love a chunkier chili filled with beans and big pieces of meat—but I decided to try it and we ordered what's called a Three-Way with spaghetti covered in chili and a heaping pile of cheese.

The flavor is all chili but the consistency is more like spaghetti sauce. My son loved it. My daughter was puzzled by a strong spicy flavor that she couldn't identify. "What's in this chili? It tastes different? It doesn't taste like yours, Mom!" she said. A diner sitting at the table next to us revealed the secret. "They add chocolate and cinnamon," he told us.

First-time diners at Skyline get bibs. Good thing. My son dumped half his chili down his front. This stuff is messy.

Skyline Chili dates back to 1949 when a Greek immigrant named Nicholas Lambrinides opened an eatery serving chili in downtown Cincinnati. The original restaurant was destroyed but now you'll find them throughout the city and around the Midwest.

*Thank you to Jennifer Reese for recommending Skyline. Jennifer is an incredible story-teller and talented writer who'll make you laugh and inspire you to cook on her Tipsy Baker blog and in her new cookbook Make the Bread, Buy the Butter. 
 


2) John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge
One of our favorite things to do when we visit a city is walk across a bridge. It's free, active, and always offers sweeping skyline views. The kids grumble when we point out the bridge and say we're going to walk across that.

"That's too far!" they'll scream. But once we get going, and we're out on the bridge and the wind is blowing through our hair and a big boat is passing under, they forget about walking for a moment and stop complaining.
According to Wikipedia: "The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky. When the first pedestrians crossed on December 1, 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,057 feet (322 m) main span." Roebling is best known as the architect of New York's Brooklyn Bridge, but he built the one in Cincinnati first.


3) Covington, Ky.
Across the bridge we strolled into Covington, Ky., which dates back to 1814. From here, you can take in views of the Cincinnati skyline rising above the Ohio River.

And you can explore leafy streets lined with historic grand mansions dating back 200 years.  My daughter decided that she wants to live in this one.

 You can also meet folks like John Audubon. Life-like bronze statues depicting Kentucky legends, from Daniel Boone to the founder of the Boy Scouts, are scattered about the neighborhood.


4) Cincinnati Riverfront Park
Along the riverfront, a park with walking paths, fountains and playgrounds is unfolding between the two sports stadiums, where the Reds and Bengals play. A lot of it is still under construction but we found some fun things to do.




5) Graeter's Ice Cream
This is Oprah's favorite ice cream. And I'm sure my kids would tell you that Graeter's is their favorite spot in all of Cincinnati. They lucked out because one of these ice cream shops (there are many) was across the street from our hotel, the Best Western Premier Mariemont Inn.

They both ordered cotton candy ice cream that turned their tongues an electric blue color. Why do kids always get the most disgusting flavors? But even at Graeter's those sugar-packed flavors are delicious. This ice cream is handmade in a French pot, two quarts at a time. Their most popular flavor is black raspberry chocolate chip.


6) Hoffbrauhaus
Dinner at the authentic German Hoffbrauhaus. There's one in Munich, another in Hong Kong and the third is in Newport, Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati. Who knew?

At Hoffbrauhouse, you eat dinner family-style gathered around a long table with other diners. It was quiet early on a Monday night when we arrived, but by the time we left at 7:30, this place was packed. A man in lederhosen was on stage singing "Free Bird" and playing the concertina.

The waitstaff sports proper German attire.

If you're a regular, you get your own mug and store it in this locker.

 If I lived in Newport, Ky., I'd be a regular because the beer is delicious and brewed on site. Since we're on a tight budget, we typically don't order beer at dinner, but at the Hoffbrauhaus we couldn't resist.
Food's good, too. Schnitzel was thin and delicate and perfectly cooked.

What's up next? Another day in Cincinnati.

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