15 posts tagged “illinois”
In central Illinois there is a small town called Monticello (locally pronounced Mon-tea-sell-o unlike everywhere else in the world); Just outside of town there is a park managed by the University of Illinois called Allerton. You can check out my photo gallery to see more images taken in the park. But, the reason for this post is this: Within the park there is a large statue called "Sunsinger" it stands over 15 feet tall, it is bronze, and it is exposed to the weather. Over the years it has started show a little wear and tear, but not so much that it looked too bad compared to most outdoor statues of it's kind. Well, someone didn't like the way that it was starting to look so over the winter they took it down and did some "restoration" work on it. Last week I finally had a chance to take a look at the result of the work. *sigh* Now it looks like something out of Disneyland.
Yes it is really coated in what looks like light blue paint.
Below you can see the before and after pictures.
Over my four day weekend I spent time down in Southern Illinois hiking and taking photos with my girlfriend. Took just over 400 images while I was out and about, and got some much needed time out in nature.
So, in case anyone is wondering the Angry Bunny makes it's home in central Illinois, and since 4:37 this morning we have had two Earthquakes. They were no where near as bad as the ones that have been hitting overseas and that routinely shake the West Coast up, but also not very common around here.
So need less to say I have been bumping around since that time. Figured it wasn't worth my time to go back to bed for 40 minutes just to get up again.
No real damage except that I am guessing a lot of people called their gas companies and reported they may or may not smell gas.
Did anyone out there feel it?
Went down to
Makanda, IL over the weekend to stay at the Giant City Lodge in the Giant City State Park. Of course we hadn't heard about the 7 inches of snow that melted into 4 inches of ice covering everything; or that they had been without power for the three days before we got there. Pretty much everyone canceled their reservations except for us. Call us crazy, but as I have said before: "A little snow (ice) never hurt anyone. The photo below is us at the Blue Sky Winery after a long day of ice hiking.
Thursday night we got 9" of snow, the entire area all but shut down, so of course Saturday my girlfriend and I went out hiking in it; we took some photos and of course had a really good time.
Show us some footprints.
Footprints across a frozen lake. I took these January a couple of years ago when the temps were noticeably colder than they are today.
Show us your desktop.
Submitted by Anthony.
My current desktop wallpaper. A photo that I took from the corner of Neil and University in downtown Champaign. The photo was taken using a Pentax *ist DS with a 28mm lens on a tripod with a 10 second exposure.
Show us a picture of you on vacation.
Submitted by ●ßoηi†a.in.Ρink●.
Me out hiking at the "Garden of the Gods" state park in Illinois. It is one of those places that does not look like it is in the Midwest.
For me it was just over a 2.5 hour drive. We got there way too early since neither one of us had been to the resort or the city before; Check-in time is 4:00 and we showed up at 12:30, but they let us check in anyway. I had booked a room in the courtyard area, but this weekend they had a large wedding reception and a Antique Sign Swap Meet going on in the Convention Center and it appeared that they were at capacity, so they bumped us up to a Deluxe King Room in the main tower for no extra charge. For some odd reason it is hard to complain when they put you in a better room than what you reserved. They have kept the resort up, but it is very reminiscent of the type of places that you see in old Rat Pack movies. Golf Course, Day Spa, an indoor/outdoor swimming pool (Yes, a pool that goes under the wall so it is inside and outside of the hotel and heated all year round), and they have a dinner theater, a live band bar (Lilly's Lounge), a couple of boutiques, a Zanies Comedy club, a nice restaurant (The Horizon, I recommend the Brie and Baked Apples appetizer; and their Flour-less Chocolate Mousse Layer desert.). All of the theaters, clubs and shops were connected via an indoor brick lined lane called Bourbon Street.
Over the weekend we ended up visiting St Charles downtown. They have many old architecture buildings dating back to the mid 1800's and many boutique shops, some way over priced tourist style places, and some are older Mom & Pop places. For lunch we hit the World Famous "McNally's Traditional Irish Pub" (okay maybe it is not world famous, but it is a very good place to hang out for a couple of hours) the Irish Breakfast and the Guinness Pie were really good, so I am assuming that the rest of the menu was equally tasty. After walking around town and taking a few photos here and there we stopped by the KnightsCourt Bakery... well... at least it was pretty and clean. It is a little Greek bakery, but the cappuccinos and the pastries that we had there were a little bland.
Saturday night we hung out on "Bourbon Street" where after hours they have added couple of street vendors (free popcorn, a fortune teller and what not) after checking out all of the happenings we decided to get a couple if tickets to the Zanies Comedy Club. The Corazone Tequila Comedy tour was there with featured performer Jason Robinson. The show was really good, and as usual the shows require that you buy two drinks person while you are there. I stuck with beers and my girlfriend went with a couple of Margaritas, which were as expected, watered down. So my advice is enjoy the show, always buy beer. *laughter*
Well this is all I am posting for now. If I have time later today I will post a little more on what we did on Sunday.
Show us a sign of the times.
Submitted by Lex Vox.
Found this sign at Rockome Garden's just outside Aurther Illinois. It is kind of an Amish Garden, tourist location.
I am not saying that the sign is true or not, I am just saying that I found it amusing.
