Pleasant Hill Antique Mall and Tea Room

A couple years back, a friend of ours claimed he had the "best steak ever" at Pleasant Hill Antique Mall Tea Room, 315 S. Pleasant Hill Road in East Peoria. I've yet to try the steaks, but it's an interesting claim.
This weekend, StfRon and I enjoyed breakfast in the tearoom at the mall. The crowd wasn't huge, but not terrible, either, considering the snowfall, and the later breakfast hour.
Our waitress came over right away, before I perused the drink menu and asked if we wanted coffee, so instead of making her wait, I said yes. Normally, since I had coffee at home, I probably would have had some sort of juice. But, much to my surprise, they had a decent cup of Joe here. Some breakfast places seem to chintz out on the coffee. I'd rather drink juice or chocolate milk than subpar coffee, but this was good.
Trying to be good, I went with oatmeal and wheat toast, with a side of brown sugar. To hell with being good, StfRon ordered biscuits and gravy with a side of corned beef hash, which of course, for the sake of blogging, I sampled.
Our food came out very quickly, which was good because we were very hungry. The gravy with the biscuits was not your standard fare, quite tasty. The hash was a little different, too. We couldn't tell if it was homemade, but it was good.
My toast was nicely doused with a butter or butter-like substance, and smeared with strawberry jam, was good. The oatmeal was piping hot and not too thick.
The two waitresses we saw were hustling, and didn't have a lot of time to run by with the coffee pot, but did a great job nonetheless.
After our breakfast, which set us back around $12 before tip, we spent about an hour browsing through booth after booth of furniture and collectibles.
Pleasant Hill Antique Mall seemed huge on this visit. By the time I got to the third section of the building, I was sure they had added on, but StfRon assured me they had not.
We saw a few blast from the past toys and books, and lots of neat furniture. Despite their name, not everything sold here is from Grandma's attic; there is newer merchandise throughout, too.
All in all, this was a great way to spend a chilly morning.

On a side note, we finally put up our tree this evening. I got the tree (made in USA) last year on sale after Christmas, from Christmas Depot. If you're looking on their site, scroll down on the left sidebar and look for made in USA or click on the banner ad right below the text links on the left sidebar.
I also got some new lights for half price last year, the LED clear strands of lights. Whoa, are these lights psychedelic!! While stringing them up to drape on the tree, they were pulsing in some sort of strobe effect. Once they were on the tree, they stopped pulsing, but they have an odd bluish purple light to them. Our dining room looks like it's bathed in blacklight or something.
I'm sure we'll get used to it. If other people make the switch to LED lights, ours won't look so out of place, either. And, I can leave them on longer and not feel like I'm going to send the CILCO bill sky high.

August, 2009 — The tea room in the antique mall has closed.

Holiday shopping, local style

It's about time for me to ramp up my Christmas shopping, as the parties begin the first week of December.
I've been scoping out the local holiday open house shopping events because they're a good way to get in the spirit, sample some special treats and even enter drawings for prizes.
Friday, November 16 (which I sadly cannot attend), Junction City will feature the Joe Metzka Trio from 5-8 p.m. in the Butcher Block for their annual holiday walk. Carriage rides around Junction City will be available from 6-8 p.m., and lots of goodies will be available for sampling in the stores.
The Peoria Metro Centre's holiday open house is November 17 & 18. The Metro Centre features local businesses like The Hyacinth, Naturally Yours, Pottstown Deli, Mocha Joe's Beanery, Scrapadoodle, Abe's, and more!
The thing I look forward to most, though, this holiday season, is spending time with good friends and family, and reviving old and new traditions.

Interstate Center

Finally, this coming weekend on August 19, I think I will make it to the Third Sunday Market at the Interstate Center in Bloomington.
This event features antiques and collectibles from 400+ dealers in air-conditioned comfort. A good entertainment alternative on a hot, August day.
The Mennonite relief sale is also hosted here, plus livestock shows, poker tournaments and much more. The site is also available for rentals for your event.
The Interstate Center is off I-55 at exit 160B, on Route 9.

Weaver Ridge

Thanks to Numero magazine and StfRon's geocaching prowess, we scored ourselves a gift certificate to Weaver Ridge and dined there a couple of months ago.
Located at 5100 WeaverRidge Blvd. in Peoria, Weaver Ridge is a newer championship golf course, and has a restaurant to boot.
We took our mothers there about three years ago for a Mother's Day brunch, but other than that, had never really spent much time there. On that occasion, due to some late people and such, we all darted off and filled up on breakfast food without listening to our waitress' instructions. It was only after we ate that we realized there was prime rib being carved on the other side of the room!
I heard that Weaver Ridge has a good rack of ribs, though, and that, combined with the gift certificate, convinced StfRon to dine there.
StfRon and our dining companion had the ribs, I tried the Thursday special, the hickory smoked chicken. The food was good. The decor seemed a little like a hotel restaurant. And our service was also good.
Weaver Ridge also has a popular brunch every Sunday, and golf packages for the golfers out there. They also run coupons often with http://localvaluesonline.com.

American Apparel Store

OK, this isn't local to Central Illinois, but I am excited about this! I have bought items from American Apparel before, because they manufacture items in the US, which is very hard to come by these days.
I have been looking for a new light jacket with a hood for quite some time, because I have to walk outside several times a day at my job, and you never know when an overcast day will turn into a downpour. I really wanted to find a jacket made in the US, or Canada, or even Europe or something.
Today, searching the web, I found that American Apparel has a jacket made in the US in three colors! I ordered one, and tossed in a sale tank top to qualify for free shipping. My order is on the way to our door as I type.
You can find American Apparel clothing locally at Von Maur in Bloomington.
Check out American Apparel's web site; you may spend a couple dollars more for your t-shirts (many, many colors), but they are made by Americans paid a decent wage, so I would think it's worth it. Plus, after you place your order, you get an e-mail from a real person's address, giving you the names of your customer service reps, should you have any questions.
Update: OK, the jacket is lighter than I expected, but it is nice. The T-shirts from American are very nice, as are the undergarments.

Wildlife Prairie State Park

I remember Wildlife Prairie State Park, 3826 N. Taylor Rd. in Hanna City, from when I was a kid. Looking at the bison through the binoculars you paid a quarter to use; sitting on the back of the bronze pony; looking to spot the bears in the trees.
A few years back, StfRon and I even went to Wildlife Scary Park and rode the train through the haunted park.
AND we visited the park to look at the banquet rooms for our upcoming wedding. We wanted something rustic and cozy, not so sterile and banquet-y like most places around here. They have some great rooms at the park.
We have also tried to partake in the Mother's Day brunch, but, alas, this books up a year or more in advance. Maybe in a few years, Mom.
Wildlife Prairie Park has all of this to offer and more. They opened for the season March 1, and are serving brunch each Sunday. You can even spend the night at the park in a caboose or cabin. Central Illinois is lucky to have this wonderful park, thanks to Mr. Bill Rutherford.