Music and Motorcyles - My Fourth So Far
Busy weekend so far. After work on Friday, I went to FitzGerald's Great American Music Festival to see Brave Combo, Dallas Wayne, Jon Dee Graham, Ian McLagen, and Anders Osborne. They were all great.
Stopped by Pete and Sarah's on the way, just to say 'hi' and maybe park the bike in front of their house. (Turned out I found great parking right next to the club.) Anyway, as often as we're in that area, I've been scoping out different places to eat - we seem to have slipped into a rut as far as that goes. One of my missions is a place with good Gelato and Pete came through for me. He got a recommendation from a friend for a place called Freddy's in Cicero.
So, before the concert, I rode over to Freddy's and enjoyed a nice pizza slice, sitting outside and reading my book. Freddy's is a neighborhood corner Italian grocery with some hot food available and maybe 7 flavors of gelato. After my slice, I tried some Oreo gelato - yummy. Thanks, Pete!
When Lori got to the club, she hadn't eaten and wanted to grab something. She was happy with walking next door to Di Nico's - pizza's just so-so, but you got a lot and it's cheap. We enjoyed the quiet time away from the music festival, until the girl's baseball team came in. We left Di Nico's shortly after for the relative calm of the music festival.
On Saturday morning, my plan was to hop on the bike and end up on Sunday evening in Rock Island, IL for the Brave Combo show downtown - fireworks over the Mississippi and everything! I left at 11:20am - an hour and twenty later than I intended. I love trips with no itinerary!
I got off of I-88 right before the Quad Cities and took the local roads through Galesburg and over to Monmouth. (6 to 150 to 34 if you're scoring at home).
The ride on 150 was particularly nice. Once I got past some construction, it's a little 2-lane road, with some hills and a few twists and turns. Nothing challenging, but pretty after the interstate.
I didn't notice much change to Monmouth since the last time I was there, probably over 10 years ago. It actually seemed a little more depressed this time. I bought gas and a snack and called Lori. The band was playing in Ottumwa, IA - a private gig at a family reunion. Apparently, the public was invited after 9pm. Plus, she and the band were staying at a Days Inn, so I didn't have to get a hotel room, so I decided to make my way to Ottumwa. Straight west on 34 and you're in Ottumwa. Heck, I didn't even need to make a turn!
I stopped in Burlington (home of the Bees!) and wanted to go to the advertised casino there. I saw signs (casino parking that-a-way), but couldn't find the casino. The visitor information center, which was right next to the casino parking sign, was closed and the workers setting up for what looked like a wedding reception in the same building as the visitor info center said they didn't know where it was. What a curious place...Back on the road.
Dinner in Fairfield, IA followed. I stopped for gas and asked the clerk that I wanted to have dinner and was there a place in town she recommended? She said she hadn't eaten in Fairfield, but knew there were a couple of restaurants on the square and one on the edge of town called Kokomos. On that great advice, I ate at Kokomos and had a disappointing meal. "Open-faced turkey sandwich" was really 4 giant slabs of turkey on top of 1 slice of white bread with salty gravy and bland veggies. Of course, within a mile of leaving Kokomos, I passed 3 better looking restaurants, all with packed parking lots. The third was a barbequed rib place. It smelled great as I passed with a belly full of processed turkey and a curse muffled by my helmet.
Ottumwa reminded me a little of Appleton. Nice old town, right on the river. Ottumwa has a few hills, lots of trees, and a dam that looked very pretty right at sunset. The hotel was nice for a nap. The reunion was a bust. No one was dancing, so the host told the band to quit at 9. I arrived at 9 to hear the final song.
The next morning, the weather report showed severe thunderstorms throughout IA, due into the Quad Cities by evening. The next day they continued to IL and Chicago. The rain could be accompanied by high winds and hail, too. So after considering the alternatives, I decided to just go home that day. I left at 9:50 - greeted on the road by a super-strong headwind. Aside from a couple of hours in pouring rain one time, this was easily the most miserable I've ever been on a motorcycle. My helmet's visor kept getting blown up at least once every mile or so. As I headed north on 63, the sky ahead to the northwest kept getting darker and darker and the darkness kept moving eastward till it was directly in front of me. Finally, I got to I-80 and headed east. After about an hour, it was still merely windy - no longer dark as night.
Had a great buffet lunch at the World's Largest Truckstop at exit 284, just northwest of the Quad Cities. Really good cream of potato soup - creamy, bacony goodness.
Anyway, then I continued home. The weather got better. The wind died down. Took I-39 north to Rockford, then 20 to 23 to 176 to 45 to 120. The ride ended just as pleasantly as it had begun.
Best place stopped just for a break - Illinois welcome center on I-80 EB. Great view, clean bathroom, air conditioning, friendly people, travelers with actual picnic baskets. Worst place stopped just for a break - DeKalb oasis on I-88. Crabby people, crowded mini-mart, closed restaurant, construction, fresh tar. All-in-all a good trip. 730 miles, one hotel room, 2 sit-down meals.
Stopped by Pete and Sarah's on the way, just to say 'hi' and maybe park the bike in front of their house. (Turned out I found great parking right next to the club.) Anyway, as often as we're in that area, I've been scoping out different places to eat - we seem to have slipped into a rut as far as that goes. One of my missions is a place with good Gelato and Pete came through for me. He got a recommendation from a friend for a place called Freddy's in Cicero.
So, before the concert, I rode over to Freddy's and enjoyed a nice pizza slice, sitting outside and reading my book. Freddy's is a neighborhood corner Italian grocery with some hot food available and maybe 7 flavors of gelato. After my slice, I tried some Oreo gelato - yummy. Thanks, Pete!
When Lori got to the club, she hadn't eaten and wanted to grab something. She was happy with walking next door to Di Nico's - pizza's just so-so, but you got a lot and it's cheap. We enjoyed the quiet time away from the music festival, until the girl's baseball team came in. We left Di Nico's shortly after for the relative calm of the music festival.
On Saturday morning, my plan was to hop on the bike and end up on Sunday evening in Rock Island, IL for the Brave Combo show downtown - fireworks over the Mississippi and everything! I left at 11:20am - an hour and twenty later than I intended. I love trips with no itinerary!
I got off of I-88 right before the Quad Cities and took the local roads through Galesburg and over to Monmouth. (6 to 150 to 34 if you're scoring at home).
The ride on 150 was particularly nice. Once I got past some construction, it's a little 2-lane road, with some hills and a few twists and turns. Nothing challenging, but pretty after the interstate.
I didn't notice much change to Monmouth since the last time I was there, probably over 10 years ago. It actually seemed a little more depressed this time. I bought gas and a snack and called Lori. The band was playing in Ottumwa, IA - a private gig at a family reunion. Apparently, the public was invited after 9pm. Plus, she and the band were staying at a Days Inn, so I didn't have to get a hotel room, so I decided to make my way to Ottumwa. Straight west on 34 and you're in Ottumwa. Heck, I didn't even need to make a turn!
I stopped in Burlington (home of the Bees!) and wanted to go to the advertised casino there. I saw signs (casino parking that-a-way), but couldn't find the casino. The visitor information center, which was right next to the casino parking sign, was closed and the workers setting up for what looked like a wedding reception in the same building as the visitor info center said they didn't know where it was. What a curious place...Back on the road.
Dinner in Fairfield, IA followed. I stopped for gas and asked the clerk that I wanted to have dinner and was there a place in town she recommended? She said she hadn't eaten in Fairfield, but knew there were a couple of restaurants on the square and one on the edge of town called Kokomos. On that great advice, I ate at Kokomos and had a disappointing meal. "Open-faced turkey sandwich" was really 4 giant slabs of turkey on top of 1 slice of white bread with salty gravy and bland veggies. Of course, within a mile of leaving Kokomos, I passed 3 better looking restaurants, all with packed parking lots. The third was a barbequed rib place. It smelled great as I passed with a belly full of processed turkey and a curse muffled by my helmet.
Ottumwa reminded me a little of Appleton. Nice old town, right on the river. Ottumwa has a few hills, lots of trees, and a dam that looked very pretty right at sunset. The hotel was nice for a nap. The reunion was a bust. No one was dancing, so the host told the band to quit at 9. I arrived at 9 to hear the final song.
The next morning, the weather report showed severe thunderstorms throughout IA, due into the Quad Cities by evening. The next day they continued to IL and Chicago. The rain could be accompanied by high winds and hail, too. So after considering the alternatives, I decided to just go home that day. I left at 9:50 - greeted on the road by a super-strong headwind. Aside from a couple of hours in pouring rain one time, this was easily the most miserable I've ever been on a motorcycle. My helmet's visor kept getting blown up at least once every mile or so. As I headed north on 63, the sky ahead to the northwest kept getting darker and darker and the darkness kept moving eastward till it was directly in front of me. Finally, I got to I-80 and headed east. After about an hour, it was still merely windy - no longer dark as night.
Had a great buffet lunch at the World's Largest Truckstop at exit 284, just northwest of the Quad Cities. Really good cream of potato soup - creamy, bacony goodness.
Anyway, then I continued home. The weather got better. The wind died down. Took I-39 north to Rockford, then 20 to 23 to 176 to 45 to 120. The ride ended just as pleasantly as it had begun.
Best place stopped just for a break - Illinois welcome center on I-80 EB. Great view, clean bathroom, air conditioning, friendly people, travelers with actual picnic baskets. Worst place stopped just for a break - DeKalb oasis on I-88. Crabby people, crowded mini-mart, closed restaurant, construction, fresh tar. All-in-all a good trip. 730 miles, one hotel room, 2 sit-down meals.
posted by Paul at 7:49 AM
1 Comments:
Glad you liked Freddy's.
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