Wow, that weekend went fast.
Southern Illinois is as beautiful as ever. The weather was great and we all had a great time.
Our “cabins” in Giant City State Park (which is neither giant nor a city, discuss) were really more like hotel suites, but set in the rocky and wooded area surrounding the Giant City Lodge, they’re the best of both worlds. I loved it.
I don’t want to turn this into a boring personal travel log but here are a few items of minor interest I wanted to share:
Bring Food. South of Carbondale and Murphysboro eateries can be sparse. The Giant City lodge has a good restaurant (including a family style all-you-can-eat fried chicken dinner with all the fixings) but there’s not a whole lot else to choose from unless you know where to go.
We went looking for the Pomona Winery after spending too much time goofing off on the Makanda Boardwalk Sunday afternoon. Well, we had seen something about a Root Beer Saloon in Alto Pass, which is on the way to the winery. When we got to Alto Pass, we discovered the place had only two or three tables (all full) and NO public restroom. By then it was like 1:30 in the afternoon and we needed to feed the children. So we high-tailed it back to our base of operation at Giant City and ate there.
We never made it too the winery. Thing is, there were picnic areas with great views we passed along the way but we had not thought to bring our own food. Lesson learned.
Booby’s. Or, more precisely, Booby’s Submarine Sandwiches (I can’t wait for the Google searches to come rolling in now).
Anyway, anyone who has ever attended SIU-C knows about Booby’s. I had not eaten one of their subs since before I graduated in 1983. 22+ years later they still make great sandwiches. We stopped there on our way through Carbondale after leaving Giant City today. The menu was much the same and I had a Bruce.
I’m not sure why, but Booby’s doesn’t appear to have a web site. SG and I were speculating over our sandwiches that students today were probably ordering delivery via the web. Back in our time at SIU, especially in the dorms, Booby’s was a great after hours (i.e. drunk) munchie option and a good choice for Sunday evening grub when the cafeteria halls were closed. But no. You still need to order by phone. How 20th century.
Going Back. SG and I snuck out after we ate at Booby’s to walk a couple of blocks in Carbondale to look at one of our old addresses on Ash Street. It’s funny how little has really changed in that neighborhood just north of campus where so many students live and party (or at least used to). Even our old apartment building looked much the same. The apartments had new doors but otherwise it was just the way we left it.
All and all a good trip and I look forward to next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment