Carl's Bakery & Restaurant

For years we've talked about stopping by Carl's Bakery & Restaurant, 815 E. Camp Street in East Peoria. How could we resist, with the regal rooster perched in the parking lot? But time and time again when we drove by, we found the place closed.
Today we lucked into finding Carl's open. We stepped inside, which was a bit like stepping back in time. I'll bet things haven't changed much there in 40 years.
There were a few booths in the dining room, and a case of pastries along the back wall near the kitchen. There was also a counter which I'm sure used to host a row of stools, but now there's a booth in front of the counter.
At 10 a.m., we found about three tables of people enjoying coffee and reading the paper.
We took a seat along the wall, above which hung an old framed Daylight Donuts poster.
Our waitress, Edna, was a delight, joking with us throughout our visit. She also took care of the fairly steady stream of people who stopped in for the donuts.
Checking out the menu, I was surprised at how reasonable the prices were. All of the sandwiches except the tenderloin were under $4, many of them even under $3.
We both chose the two eggs with corned beef hash, served with a side of toast. While we waited, we shared an apple fritter that seemed very fresh, filled with apple and cinnamon goodness.
Right about the time we were expecting our food to arrive, there was word from the kitchen, where things seemed to be a little harried, that there was no corned beef hash. We were somewhat devastated by this, as we have corned beef hash pretty much every place that serves it. StfRon decided to sub ham and I went with bacon.
Our meals arrived a bit later with an apology, piping hot. StfRon found the ham to have some sweetness to it, and my two scrambled eggs must have come from the biggest egg laying chicken around.
The lady who brought our meals out stopped over at the next booth and bantered around with the couple who are apparently regulars, as she took their order.
In addition to the Daylight Donuts, Carl's is also home to Broaster chicken, and offers catering and special occasion cakes. They are closed Sunday and Mondays, and serve breakfast and lunch the rest of the week.
On our way out, the lady from the kitchen again apologized for our wait, and said, "Next time we'll have corned beef hash...maybe!" with a wry grin.

Round up

Not a whole lot has been going on with us, save for spending large amounts of money on car repairs!!

Last weekend we had a fun time in Milwaukee with our friends, despite plenty of rain. We did the Sprecher Brewery Tour for the first time, and the beer garden at the end of the tour was a nice time, but a group of guys who had been rowdy from the time they checked in ended up getting the boot in the beer garden. And I don't mean the German beer boot...
We had dinner at Karl Ratzsch's, an historic German restaurant opened in 1904. The live piano music lent a bit of an upscale feel to the evening, and I thought the food was pretty good.
We also hit Ma Fischer's for breakfast. The food was decent but service was a little slow.
And of course we hit our standard haunts, the Old German Beer Hall, Alterra by the Lake, Brady Street, the Public Market and the Wicked Hop.

This week I enjoyed lunch at Water Street Wines, Café and Coffees and Adams Street Café, both in Peoria. We had some wings at Gracie's Chicago Style Grill in Washington. We're still waiting to get a gander at the new menu, which last we heard was supposed to be in place three or four weeks ago.

Around the area, I see that Fedora's at McClure and University Street in Peoria has replaced their sign that disappeared from its post in April.
Emo's in Peoria is closing for the season next week, Wednesday, I think, so head on over for one last treat.
German Specialties will be moving to Peoria's Metro Centre in October, just in time for your holiday shopping enjoyment.
I just remembered something I found out a few weeks ago: Vertucci's Chicago Style Eats will soon be open in their larger location just north of where they currently are (the Shell station) in East Peoria.
The restaurant portion of Tavern on the Water in Peoria closed in late July, and now it looks like the riverfront roost will be dubbed Johnny's Hide-A-Way and the Skybar. Not sure who this Johnny is, but just now it made me think of Johnny B's in Westlake. Back in the day, that was a fun hangout with lots of good finger food. Must have been during the mid to late 1990s, when I also spent a lot of time at Barnacle Billy's along the river in Peoria Heights.

Speaking of the riverfront, despite record flood stages for the Illinois River, looks like Peoria Oktoberfest is staying put. We'll be out there in all our glory later on Saturday.
The fest starts Friday at 5 p.m. and continues through Sunday.

Round up

Friday after work we swung by the newly-opened Sullivan's in Peoria Heights for an after work cocktail. The atmosphere is great and if I didn't know it had just opened that week, I would have thought the place had been there for years. Our former Main Street Sullivan's bartender Larry was holding down the fort, and it was good to see him again. The kitchen won't be open for a couple of weeks yet, but the bar is in full swing.
That night we took in the American English concert at Lakeview Museum in Peoria, one of the free Ameren summer concert series events. This fab Beatles tribute band put on a great show, as usual. If you would like to check them out, they'll be at the Morton Pumpkin Festival this Saturday night.

Saturday night we met some friends at Water Street Wines, Café & Coffee in Peoria and shared one of each of the cheese fondues. Both were good, but I would have to say I prefer the classic. We had a fun time, and I enjoyed our waitress' sense of humor. The second wine we tried, a Shiraz, was quite good, especially after a gentleman dining in the restaurant came over and gave us some chocolate to compliment the wine. I'll have to get the name of the wine from our friends, who were wise enough to jot it down.
We then walked over to John S. Rhodell Brewery & Bar for a pint. It's been a while since I'd been in there, and it was such a nice night, we were able to sit on the brick patio.

Today my mind was on the tomato grilled cheese soup from Le Café in Peoria. I think it may have been the roasted red pepper tomato sauce on our asparagus appetizer at Water Street Wines that reminded me of the soup. It's a hearty, comforting, cheesy soup. Slogging though the rain to the café's door in the Metro Centre, though, only led me to a dark restaurant with a piece of paper taped to the door informing customers that the restaurant is closed for major renovations. It will be interesting to see what the changes will be.
Oh, well, chances are that the soup of the day would have been something else anyway, right?

Kelleher's Irish Pub & Eatery

The Salty Sam fundraiser last week gave us good occasion to visit Kellher's Irish Pub & Eatery once again.
Phil Luciano's column in the Journal Star brought to light the fact that the popular actor from the local Captain Jinks Show, George Baseleon, is buried in Peoria's Springdale Cemetery sans headstone.
The show aired from 1956-1972, a bit before my time, but apparently had scores of fans, including my husband, StfRon.
A fundraiser was organized to help raise money for a more appropriate burial, with the extra funds going to St. Jude (the last tally we heard before leaving was that $2,600 had been raised).
Kelleher's, 619 SW Water Street in Peoria, hosted the event Thursday, August 28, complete with several characters dressed Salty style, sporting caps and mustaches. Owner Pat Sullivan was one of them.
I've always loved the atmosphere at Kelleher's, with the exposed brick walls and worn wood floors in the old warehouse building. There's even a balcony with upstairs seating, and the back bar is beautiful. Add to all of this a nice brick patio with seating, and the site is a real winner in my book.
There is also a good amount of neat memorabilia scattered throughout the building.
Hanging around watching the Salty Sam hi jinx, we decided to order some appetizers. We settled on an order of Irish chips and some wings, half with Beamish BBQ and half with hot sauce. A few of the other appetizers caught my eye, too, like the Galway Bay crab cakes and the crab crunchers, but despite being a fan of Captain Jinx and the USS Albatross, StfRon is no fan of seafood.
The Irish chips were potato wedges, most likely from frozen, nicely crisped on the outside, topped with some cheese sauce and crumb style bacon bits. The cheese sauce was much tastier than I thought it would be at first glance.
Normally when it comes to wings, I stick to the hot or mild variety, as I haven't found a BBQ wing I like thus far. However, upon sampling these wings doused in Beamish BBQ sauce, I now have an acceptable BBQ wing option, one I will probably even crave from time to time. The sauce hit just the right note with me, smoky, sweet and savory.
With all of the hubbub, we found the service to be good. We were seated at the bar, and our bartender was wearing a Salty Sam cap. He was cheerful and on the ball throughout our stay.

Round up

Over the past seven days, we checked out Andre's Restaurant in Peoria. It was the same week they were reviewed by the Journal Star, so I'm wondering if things were a little off because of the response. I'll try it again and hope to have a full rave review. The entertainment while we were there, the Soggy Bottom Blues band, was an unexpected treat, though.
We stopped by the Erin Feis on the riverfront. Humid, humid, humid, but great to hear the Irish music.
I also enjoyed lunch at the Adams Street Café and City News in Peoria this week.

I noticed on Peoria Chronicle today that the date of Vonachen's Old Place closing has been set.

EastPort Marina Cantina Bar and Grill

It may be one of the longest business names I've heard in a while, but the EastPort Marina Cantina Bar and Grill decks boast one of the best views in town.
I noticed that the bar and grill, located at 701 Mariners Way in East Peoria, was open again when I saw their ad in the Washington Times Reporter a couple of months ago.
We are lucky enough to go boating quite often with some friends, and another lunch option on the river is always a good thing.
We docked at the marina a few weeks ago for lunch on a weekend, and took a seat on the lower deck. The view of the Peoria skyline and the light breeze made the spot quite relaxing.
After checking out the menu inside, I decided to try a Cuban sandwich. StfRon had a cheeseburger, and our friends split the same two sandwiches, plus an order of chips and salsa.
The food was nothing fancy, but hit just the right spot.

One night after an event in East Peoria last week, we met up at EastPort Marina Cantina Bar and Grill again for drinks, and ended up ordering a Butch's white garlic pizza to serve as our dinner. The bar was featuring a special on Bud Light bottles, $2 each.
Once again, the view was tops and with our appetite nicely sated by the pizza, we were set for the night.

The bar and grill is open from 2 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday-Wednesday, 2 p.m.-2 a.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Saturday and noon-1 a.m. Sunday with live music featured on weekends.
You can also carry out ice and cases of beer for boating, should you run low.

Round up

I suppose it's high time I catch up on what's been going on.

Last week we hit the grand opening of Bernardi's North in Dunlap for my mom's birthday. They handled our pretty large group with typical Bernardi's style and grace, and we enjoyed a nice evening there.

The next day we dined at Sushigawa in Peoria for my friend's birthday. My bowl of tempura noodle soup was good, however StfRon's teriyaki beef won my rave reviews. They were out of green tea ice cream, but had a substitute ice cream in green tea flavor that I really enjoyed. It had a gummy coating on the outside and was cut into wedges, which made it great to just pick up with your fingers and pop the pieces into your mouth. The coating reminded me of the big tapioca balls that were in the tea that they used to have at the Monkey King at the Shoppes at Grand Prairie.
Oh, and when they delivered the bill for the meal, they brought some melon hard candies that were most excellent. I must check around at the ethnic markets here and see if I can find some.

Our next stop was the state fair in Springfield, where I sampled polenta with feta from the Romania booth at Ethnic Village. We shared a Pronto Pup dog and elephant ear, and on our way out were going to hit the "Deep Fried What?" booth for some deep fried Oreos, but there was quite a line, so we passed.
Didn't see any sign of chocolate covered bacon, or I'm sure we would have been up for that.

Friday night we met some friends and rode bikes to dinner at Basta O'Neill's in Washington. I tried the special o' the night, grouper Oscar, which was wonderful, and the plate presentation was quite nice, too.

This week brought the attack of the car problems. Tuesday, between the time that I drove to work and lunch, both of my turn signals stopped working. I was going to have StfRon meet me at the dealership that evening to drop it off until we met, and he said his transmission was acting up. He had made an appointment to drop his off at Kauth & Mauyer in Peoria, and since that problem trumped mine, we've been sharing the Jeep for a few days (turns out it wasn't a transmission leak, so we're on to the stage where they find out what the problem is and how much the repair will cost). I just figured out that we're averaging about $10 a day in gas using the Jeep, which would put a serious cramp in the ole budget if we did this permanently.
This morning the Jeep had a rough start, as it has from time-to-time, but evened out and got us out to bring home the bacon, and the turn signals are currently working, so I don't feel like such a jackass switching lanes and turning.

I had lunch with a friend at One World in Peoria and checked out the new menu. I was glad to see that my faves are still on there, and didn't branch out and try anything new. The place was hopping.

On the new biz front, I see that Emack & Bolio's is moving into Peoria Heights, near Basta Mangiare on Prospect. Not really local, but tasty nonetheless. I'll bet they do well there.
On the local front, Sullivan's, just down the street from the aforementioned businesses, should be opening in a week or two, and we're looking forward to that, and Davis Brothers Pizza is taking over the location vacated by Kkolors in Heritage Square, again in Peoria Heights.
And, in a depressing bit of news regarding the end of summer, Lou's Drive-In in Peoria is closing for the season August 30, so head on out for a burger and a root beer a.s.a.p.

Round up

One day this week I headed to the Metro Centre in Peoria for lunch and errands.
My first stop was Kay's Hallmark. After TCB there, I decided to walk down to Jalepeno's because I had noticed a board touting their $3.99 lunch special on the sidewalk when I drove by.
I walked in and was seated right away, and noticed the decor seems to be updated from that last time I'd been in, and I liked what I saw.
The $3.99 lunch specials advertised were the numbered lunch combos, from #1-#11. I decided to go with #8, a beef burrito and a tamale with refried beans.
Someone dropped of my prerequisite chips and salsa, and I enjoyed a few while looking out the window as I waited about five minutes for my meal.
In the second dining room, where I was seated, I noticed that the overhead lights were off, and I thought, why the heck not? Save some energy while enjoying the sun that filters in through the large windows along the front.
My combo arrived quickly, the burrito topped with a red sauce and the tamale was cornmeal through and through topped with green sauce and shredded pork. Very tasty.
When the bill arrived, the meal was indeed $3.99, with $1.50 added for my iced tea. After a decent tip and tax, I made it out just over $8, and with the speedy service still had time to pop into Abe's on my way back to the car to pick up some gum.

Original Gulley's BBQ

Last week we made a stop StfRon had been talking about doing for several days: Original Gulley's BBQ. He wanted to swing by the restaurant at 123 S. MacArthur Highway in Peoria and pick up some carryout for dinner.
The dining area is quite small, with seating for about six people, and a counter where we stepped up to check out the menu.
The menu features chicken and fish, pulled pork and beef sandwiches, a rack of ribs and rib dinners. We ordered two of the latter, $12 each, both with baked beans and cole slaw as our sides.
After about 10 minutes, we had our bag of food and were on our way home. StfRon went around the side of the building to take a gander at the smoker, and ran into the original Gulley himself, who built the smoker at that location over 50 years ago.
Pulling the Styrofoam boxes out of the bag, I swear each one weighed several pounds. Opening my dinner, I could see why. The ribs are very meaty, and we were served several of the hearty rib bones. A piece of waxed paper covered the dinner and my slices of soft white bread were placed on top of that.
Taking a bite, the pork had a good smoky flavor and was crusted with some BBQ sauce. The meat was not falling off the bone, but was good nonetheless. There was a side of BBQ sauce as well, and to my untrained BBQ palate, it tasted like a Kansas City style sauce.
The beans were fine as a side, and the creamy slaw was tasty.
At $12, this meal was quite a take out feast. I'll be enjoying the leftovers this week.

January, 2009 — Gulley's has closed

News

We've heard talk of it for several months now, and now it's officially noted that the Kaiserhof Restaurant of Bradford fame will be opening a location at the Shoppes at Grand Prairie.
The opening is slated for October and the restaurant will be across from Border's back entrance.
We'll certainly be checking it out and enjoying some great German cuisine and wish Gary and the crew the best in their Peoria location.

We'll also be checking out the opening of Bernardi's North at Lake of the Woods Plaza in Dunlap in honor of my mom's birthday next week, and look forward to their new location. I spent many a Thursday night in the Woodcutter back in the 90s, so it will be interesting to step inside after all these years, but even better to see some familiar Washington faces.

Pottstown Meat & Deli

Some more moderate temperatures moved into the area this week, which made me contemplate a picnic lunch of sorts.
StfRon stopped by Pottstown Meat & Deli at the Metro Centre in Peoria (4700 N. University) to pick up some sandwiches, and called me with some options.
He rattled off the salad sandwich (ham, chicken or tuna salad on honey wheat, white or croissant); ham and cheese; corned beef and swiss on pumpernickel; turkey, cream cheese and cranberry sauce on a croissant (which I considered, but I'm not a big fan of croissants, so I let him go on); the smokehouse (smoked turkey, Black Forest ham and Vermont cheddar on honey wheat with brown mustard and mayo) which he placed his order for; beef and cheddar; the Sicilian; Horsey beef, homemade roast beef on marble rye with horseradish cheese, onions and sauce...OK, now you've got my attention. I stopped him and said, "I'll have that!"
He added a bag of Kitchen Cooked potato chips to the order and we met and headed to a picnic table along the riverfront to sample our lunch.
The sandwiches run between $4.99-$5.99 and include a pickle spear (a good one at that), no chips included, but the sandwiches are piled pretty high with toppings.
The Horsey beef had a nice kick to it, and I could barely choke down any chips since the sandwich was pretty filling.
StfRon proclaimed his sandwich a good picnic lunch option.
Pottstown Meats has been providing meat in Central Illinois for over 100 years. They also specialize in marinated meats, with tons of flavors of marinated chicken breasts.

City News Café

Recently I've taken to having lunch at City News Café, 311 Main Street in Peoria.
I've always loved the City News logo. It's so metropolis!
This coffee shop makes me think of the virtues of living downtown in an urban area. Once I saw a sign posted next door that said "unique loft apartment for lease" that really got me to thinking how cool it could be. It's close to the river, close to bars, close to several dining establishments. Now, if only there was a patch of grass for our dog...
The café has a wall lined with shelves of reading material like Peoria magazines, newspapers and more. WiFi is also available.
For drink selections, choose from espresso drinks, brewed coffee, organic tea, hot cocoa, chai and specialty sodas, just to name a few.
The City News has Boar's Head Brand meats and cheeses, with sandwiches like Black Forest ham, smoked turkey and a grilled tomato basil. Also available are salads, pizza by the slice, baked goods, hot dogs and breakfast sandwiches. They also have boxed coffee.
There are lunch specials each day, and I've always gotten out for under $7 with chips and a drink. My favorite so far has been the French dip, even though that day they ran out of hoagie buns and I had it served on sourdough, which might have made it even better. Those Boar's Head meats and cheeses make a mean French dip!
I enjoy sitting in the café and enjoying the day's Sun Times on my lunch hour, watching the many people pop in and out for lunch.
I can also attest to the fact that they serve a delicious black and white cookie, since StfRon and I shared one one day after eating lunch from a vendor cart.
The City News Café is open from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday. Pick up a lunch punch card to save some dough.

Mel's Port O' Call

We recently purchased some bikes to see if we would enjoy riding, and found out a couple of our friends are avid bikers.
They ride from Goodfield to Deer Creek often for dinner at Mel's Port O' Call, a trek dubbed "Ride for Fried". We decided to meet them in Goodfield and give it a shot.
The ride clocked in at about 11.5 miles round trip, and after some grumbling about sore asses, we made it to Mel's.
Keep in mind, the farthest that we'd ridden up to this point was 2.5 miles.
Walking in, we drank in the air conditioning and took our seat at a table along the wall. The restaurant was decorated with several nautical paintings, some oars and other seafaring decor.
Our waitress came over and took our drink order, mostly Fat Tire beers and big ice waters.
We checked out the menu and made our selections. I chose a chicken fried steak served with mashed potatoes, StfRon and Dr. Z ordered burgers, and I think Dr. Z's lovely bride chose chicken strips, but I could be mistaken. Several of the meals came with salads, which were mainly iceburg lettuce, and StfRon placed an order for some chili cheese fries.
Upon the fries arrival at the table, the rest of us expressed shock at the size of the order, but StfRon said for $5, he figured they were going to be large. We sampled a few to help him out.
Our group was a bit high maintenance that night, but our waitress took it all in stride and handled us very well.
Soon, our bellies full of bar food and our wallets not much lighter, we made our way back out to the bikes for the trek back.
Mel's offers lunch specials during the week, and I also noticed a board listing several varieties of pie, which I may have to sample on a future ride.

Crusen's

Tuesday I turned on the radio at work, which I rarely do anymore. 99.9 was playing some good tunes, and the morning moved along well. I also heard the DJ say probably four times that Crusen's on Farmington Road had a grilled chicken sandwich special with two sides for $5.25 or thereabouts, which sounded like a bargain to me, so when StfRon stopped by for lunch, I threw that option on the table.
He went for it, so we headed to 2117 W. Farmington Road for some lunch.
Crusen's is a college hangout during most of the year, and the wear and tear seems to show on this location more than the Peoria one. They do have a nice back patio (and the War Memorial location recently built a beer garden).
We walked inside at 11:45 and took a booth near a table of about seven people just taking their seats. There were also a couple other booths of customers.
Our waitress stopped by to take our drink order, and we learned she was the only waitress on the floor. No worries, though, as she did great and checked on us several times throughout the course of the meal, even after the dining room filled up a bit more. There were a couple of guys who helped with refills and delivery of meals, too.
We both went with the grilled chicken sandwich basket, and I had cole slaw and applesauce for my sides. StfRon chose their homemade chips and some cole slaw.
The chicken sandwich was juicy and nicely seasoned, not like some bland birds I've been served at other places. I added a slice of swiss to mine for 50 cents plus lettuce and some nice Claussen-esque ridged pickle slices. They keep their menus on the tables, though, and during my meal I read a line I remember from the Peoria location "We'll buffalo anything for a dollar" and contemplated the merits of having this bird buffaloed.
The little plastic containers of sides were more generous than some I've seen places, and the cole slaw had some zip to it.
I also noticed there are lunch specials all week long, including cheeseburgers on Thursdays. With our lunch coming in at around $13, I'm sure we'll be back.

Summer vacation

We just got back from a little jaunt to Missouri and hit some local joints along the way.

Our lodging of choice was Dogwood Acres Resort in Sunrise Beach, MO. We had a little one bedroom cabin with a balcony overlooking the lake, and spent some nice time sitting there visiting and watching the boats.
A short walk around the property took us to their boat launch, where we let our dog play in the water. She had a blast.

Our first night, we hit Ozark BBQ in Sunrise Beach for dinner. I had a margarita, which I think might have been a little heavy on the sweet and sour, but had a nice neon fish in it for fun garnish.
We decided to sit inside in the back dining room, where the atmosphere was OK, but it was terribly humid and hot outside and we were looking forward to some A/C.
I ordered the BBQ chicken, which was a half chicken, smoked and topped with a hearty helping of their dark BBQ sauce. I also ordered some green beans and baked beans for my two sides.
StfRon chose a full rack of ribs, half wet, half dry. He envisioned getting two half racks so he could judge the merits of each, but instead the meal came out with one full rack, half being doused in sauce.
The meats had a nice smoked flavor and everything was good, and the employees we ran across were very nice and friendly.

On our way back to Dogwood, we stopped at a bar called Neighbor's Landing in Sunrise Beach for a drink. The interior was clean with walls lined with diagonal tongue in groove wood and Keno was being broadcast on the bar TV. The four patrons at the bar were having a bit of a heated discussion about a neighborhood snafu in which the police had been called on one of the customers, who now was apparently on the outs with his neighbor, who he used to be friendly with.
So that night, at least, Neighbor's was the place to grouse about your neighbor. We quickly finished our drink and headed back to our cabin.

The next day we set off in search of Dog Days Inn in Kaiser, MO to drop off our pooch for the day.
After winding down some country roads, we found the place, and were greeted by a nice lady who was holding down the fort for the owner.
We found a large room filled with dogs happily ensconced in cubicles. We leaned over one and played with Ladybug, a happy yellow lab mix.
We decided to leave our dog at Dog Days until the end of the day, which was a bargain, plus kept her out of the heat for the day. We waved at her out the front window as we headed to the car.

We then were off to look for On the Rise Bakery, which StfRon had seen in a travel guide in our cabin.
We drove by it a few times but finally noticed the bakery in Osage Beach.
Looking at the menu in the bistro, there were so many things I wanted to try, but I settled on a breakfast flatbread, topped with eggs, Parmesan cheese and sausage, served with a small cup of fruit. It was delicious.
StfRon ordered biscuits and gravy and upon sampling a bite, I found the biscuits to be fluffy and wonderful, and the gravy quite good.
I really wanted to come back for another breakfast or at least some dessert, but it was not meant to be for this trip.

Our next stop: the Bagnell Dam area and the strip in Lake Ozark. We walked through the arcade and tried our hand at the mystery maze, then toured Crazy Cousin's Cabin.
We drove over the dam, and then headed back to Osage Beach for a while.

We went to pick up our GPS at the cabin, then stopped at Bambooze in Sunrise Beach to check out their menu for dinner possibilities. It looked like a winner, but the music was a bit loud for us in the bar, especially for early afternoon. We figured the outside "Tiki" bar would be an option.
Strangely enough, our bartender at Bambooze knew Peoria well and used to play for the Peoria Chiefs about three years ago.

The oppressive heat during much of the trip kept our hunger at bay, but we decided to stop by the Topsider and hit the Poopdeck in Osage Beach. We had some fruity drinks and appetizers, then changed into our suits and headed up to their deck pool to cool off. Shortly we were the only ones in the pool, which was nice and relaxing.

Next we headed off to pick up our dog a bit early. On the way back to our cabin, we stopped by Paradise Tropical Restaurant and Bar in Sunrise Beach, again to check dinner menus. This place seemed pretty laid back and more our speed, so we decided it would be the place.
When we got back later, the dining room had filled up, but we still got a table near the expansive windows where we could enjoy the view and the breeze.
We both went for the buffalo chicken tender sandwich, which was good enough, and I had the black bean salad, which was just black beans, corn and peppers.
We had some trouble getting our bill when we were ready to go, due to our waitress being pretty busy, but all worked out well in the end.

The next morning, we set out for Camdenton and breakfast at the Wee Chef. The exterior of the place has seen better days, but inside is tidy, if a hair dated.
The breakfast was good, scrambled egg for me with hash browns, bacon and a biscuit with a side of gravy. Normally I don't eat biscuits and gravy, but someone had complimented them on the web, so I wanted to check them out. StfRon had eggs over medium with biscuits and gravy, sausage and toast.
The bacon was pretty ordinary, but everything else was very good. I had covered my scrambled egg in pepper, used to the lame pepper most restaurants offer, only to find that the pepper used there had some kick to it, which was a nice surprise.
The meal was also a great bargain and the service was good.

Next stop, Ha Ha Tonka State Park in Camdenton. We did some hiking and checked out the ruins of a castle built in the early 1900s.

After that, we headed back to Lake Ozark in search of a banana split, which we vowed we were going to share on this trip.
We found one at the shop next to Peace Frogs. The chocolate ice cream tasted good to me, but the rest fell flat. I really think that the heat messed with my appetite and taste buds on this trip.

For dinner, we decided to try JB Hook's in Lake Ozark. The menu looked interesting, and they also allowed cigar smoking in their lounge.
We were told there would be a 30 minute wait for a table, which sounded great. After about 15, we were called to be seated.
Upon walking past the hostess station, I was stunned by the expanse of windows surrounding the dining room, giving a great view of the lake.
We were seated and made our selections; prime rib for StfRon and pork tenderloin for me, with portobella mushrooms in a Cabernet reduction.
For sides, I chose green beans and salmon bisque and StfRon had the twice baked potato.
The bisque was slightly sweet and tasty, but I didn't finish it all. I was initially torn between that and the French onion, and was wondering if the French onion would have been better.
The pork was tender and juicy, but I think my taste buds were still off and the reduction just seemed so so. I never really worked up any appetite on this whole trip.
Our service was not the greatest in the dining room, as our server kept disappearing for long stretches of time or taking quite a while to bring by some horseradish that had been ordered with our meal.
The bartender in the lounge, though, was courteous and prompt, and we enjoyed a glass of wine there before heading back to our cabin for the night.

On our way home the next day, we tried to stop at Super Smokers in Eureka, MO. They were closed, but right down the road a bit we saw Phil's Bar B Que. We stepped in and ordered some carryout: a spicy brisket sandwich and a pulled pork sandwich topped with cole slaw and a side of baked beans to go. We chatted with owner Phil while we waited, and found him to be a friendly chap.
The food was good and soon we were back on the road headed for home sweet home.

I think it was a little difficult for us to slow down the pace a bit on our trip. We toyed with leaving a night early because we didn't feel like there was enough to do. We normally go go go on trips. But taking it easy on the balcony and enjoying the pool at the resort and the Poopdeck made for a nice addition to the rest of the things we got to do.

Meat Heads

StfRon's been raving about his new favorite lunch stop in Bloomington, Meat Heads.
I stopped by 305 North Veterans Parkway to give the place a try for an early dinner.
Meat Heads is all about burgers and fries. There's not much else to the menu, save for a grilled cheese and hot dog.
Simple can be good.
The mainstay is the hamburger for $4, two certified Angus patties on a bun, adorned with your choice of toppings.
Being a fairly small person (and hoping to stay that way) I went with the 'Lil Meat Head, a single burger patty, and ordered it crowned with cheese, mustard, ketchup, pickles and raw onions (they also have grilled onions), and based on StfRon's recommendation I also ordered a small order of their fresh cut fries with bacon ranch sauce.
My ordered was delivered to my long booth in about five minutes.
The burger was juicy and good, and the combination of my selected toppings gave it just the zest I was looking for.
The fries were salted and tasty, and the bacon ranch (which I never would have ordered without a recommendation) lent a savory flair to the spuds.
With an iced tea, my meal came to about $11.
If you're all about burgers and fries, Meat Heads has got you covered.

Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works

Lunch stop number two in the twin cities: Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works.
Located at 318 S. Towanda Avenue in Normal, at the Shoppes at College Hills, Destihl, as you might guess, is a restaurant and brew pub.
The decor is fairly modern, with mod fabric on the booths and geometric panels scattered on the exposed ceiling, which may help with acoustics. It wasn't overly loud and busy when I was there, so it's hard to say.
I saw many things on the menu I would be interested in trying, especially some of the appetizers like Reuben egg rolls and beer battered asparagus.
I went with a more lunchy selection, though, the Cheddar ale soup and a strawberry goat cheese salad.
The soup is made with white Cheddar and Bleu cheese, and was nicely presented on a white square platter with my salad alongside. The soup was tasty, and had a good cheese bite to it.
I was also glad to find a peppermill on my table. I've often said, if I ever find myself running a restaurant, I will be sure to have peppermills available for the customers.
The salad was delicious, with spinach, strawberries, mandarin oranges and toasted cashews interspersed with chunks of goat cheese.
I didn't get to sample any beer, but chose an iced tea to accompany my meal, which had a subtle fruity or floral flavor which I found refreshing.
The employees I encountered were all quite professional and pleasant, as was my lunch. Speaking of which, my meal arrived within five minutes of my order (although it was not a hugely complex order) and I was out the door with 20 minutes of my hour to spare; a nice bonus.
Destihl also features live music a couple of times a month. The lineup can be found on their web site.

We stopped by Destihl on August 3 to sample some brews. The beers were better than most brew pubs we've tried lately, and we found they use a mixture of fresh hops and pellet hops.
We also had an order of Ropp cheese curds at the bar; very tasty. The staff once again was super-friendly, and we had a nice time.

Reality Bites

No, it's not 90's movie night...I recently had occasion to visit Reality Bites, 414 N. Main Street in Bloomington.
It's too bad their menu would not come up on a Mac running OS 10.5.x in either Safari or Firefox, as I was going to give a more detailed description of my lunch, but suffice it to say that it was good.
As for the restaurant, it features nice exposed brick walls and wood floors, with a few earthy colored walls.
I've wanted to check the place out for quite some time. My friend M reminded me of it this week, and said she had recently had a nice orzo salad there.
Reality Bites was doing a pretty good lunch business at noon, with the sidewalk dining and inside bar tables, so I was offered a seat at the bar counter or upstairs. I decided to sit at the bar.
I didn't get too far into the menu before I saw the seared Ahi tuna on the cold plate menu, served with some sort of cucumber pepper salad with a puréed carrot dressing. I went with that, and scarfed down the tuna, accompanied by ginger, soy sauce and wasabi. Once I got to the salad, I found it interesting and attractive. After sampling some cucumbers I got to one of the peppers, which looked like strips of green bell peppers, but were surprisingly spicy. After biting into one and feeling the heat, I vaguely remembered thinking they would be spicy based on the menu description, but I had forgotten by the time my food arrived. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the salad and I managed to eat several of the pepper slices and all of the cucumbers.
The manager-type gentleman behind the bar was friendly and helpful, and my server was friendly and efficient, too.
With an iced tea, my bill came to $11.92 before tip.
There were many other entrées I would be interested in trying, and the dessert menu caught my eye, too.
I can say the film version of Reality Bites didn't live up to my expectations, but the restaurant was a nice surprise.

Reality Bites menu now works on a Mac running Safari 4.0. Excellent, as I will be visiting there again soon!

Round up

Our local biz adventures have taken us several places lately.
I've enjoyed lunch at the Spotted Cow, Peoria Hofbrau and One World in Peoria.
We popped into Alwan's & Sons Meat Co. in Peoria where we bought a small bulk selection of meat.
We stopped by Russell's Cycle and Fitness in Washington to pick up a bike tire in for repair and I found a stylin' shirt made in the USA. Russell's has a nice selection of fitness equipment, bikes and apparel.
We checked out Red, White and Boom, the fireworks display put on by Peoria and East Peoria on the riverfront. Wow!!!
We visited the Peoria Zoo and I got to watch the sea lions for a while, which I love.
We made a stop at Emo's in Peoria where I had a child size butterscotch sundae with krunch coating. Yum!

Happy anniversary wishes to StfRon and I (one year next week), Bernardi's (seven years) in Washington and Paparazzi (25 years) in Peoria Heights!

Free and fun in Peoria

A retiree we know enjoys checking out the free concerts offered in Peoria during the summer months, as do we. Which got me to thinking, I've checked out lists of free things to do in Chicago and Milwaukee.

Why not comprise a list of fun free things to do in the Peoria area? There's a little something for everyone, and it's great to have a blast without breaking out the Bejamins.

In the next few weeks, check out:

Botanical and Landscape Photograpy by CynThia Gysin exhibit will be on display beginning through August at Kickapoo Creek Winery, 6605 North Smith Road, Edwards.

Red, White and Boom Independence Day celebration and fireworks display set to music at Peoria's Downtown Riverfront and East Peoria's Riverfront Park, 5 p.m. July 4.

Peoria Municipal Band concerts. 7:30 p.m. July 9, 16, 23 and 30. CEFCU Center Stage at The Landing, Peoria RiverFront. August 6, 10 & 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Glen Oak Amphitheatre in Glen Oak Park, 2218 N. Prospect Road, Peoria.

Brown Bag It entertainers perform from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at the Peoria County Courthouse Plaza through August 30.

Dancing Under the Stars ballroom and the country line dancing on Peoria's only outdoor dance floor. July 10 Jim Park/Starlighters, July 24 Glen Reader, July 30 Nancy West 7 p.m. at the Glen Oak Amphitheatre in Glen Oak Park, 2218 N. Prospect Road, Peoria.

CEFCU Jazz Series: July 10, Todd Kelly Quartet. 7:30-9:30 p.m. July 17, Kevin Hart & the Vibe Tribe. 7:30 p.m. July 24, Billy Cook Quartet. 7:30 p.m. July 31, Ed Kaizer Quartet. 7:30 p.m. CEFCU Center Stage at The Landing, Peoria RiverFront.

Ameren Summer Serenade Concerts, July 11 featuring New Odyssey, Central Illinois Jazz Train August 8, American English Septebmer 5. 7 p.m. Back lawn, Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1125 W. Lake Ave.

Luthy Botanical Garden, 2218 N. Prospect, Peoria. Admission is free to outdoor gardens daily 8:30 a.m.-dusk (except during special events).

The RiverFront Market features free entertainment from 8 a.m.-noon June 7 to September 27 at Liberty Park, corner of Water and Liberty, 212 SW Water Street, Peoria.

July 12th, storytime at 10:30 at Borders in Peoria featuring: We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States and The Star Spangled Banner, followed by outside play at PlayHouse Jr. across from Charley’s Grilled Subs.

Classic Car Cruise-In July 26, 5-9 p.m. Pekin Main Street.

Christian singer and songwriter Mark Harris will perform August 9 at 5 p.m. at Tower Park, 1222 E. Kingman Ave., Peoria Heights.

Free summer movies at the Rave theater, 5311 West American Praire Drive, Peoria. Showings at 10 a.m. Shrek the 3rd July 8 & 9, Surf's Up July 15 & 16, Veggie Tales July 22 & 23, Charlotte's Web July 29 & 30.

Labor Day Picnic September 1. After the Labor Day Parade, food and live entertainment is provided for the whole family at the CEFCU Center Stage at The Landing, Peoria RiverFront.