Stuff to do near Peoria IL and my travel stitching

Where are you flying into?

First off, I don't know any of the shops in or near Peoria -- sorry!

What to see. Lincoln was born in Kentucky, lived early childhood in Indiana, and then in Illinois. You are probably thinking of New Salem, just south of Petersburg, IL and about 20 miles north of Springfield. If you want to see Lincoln sites, come to Springfield rather than Peoria! New Salem is the restored 1830's village where Lincoln lived and worked as a young man, met Ann Rutledge, and first ran for office. It's a wonderful place to visit -- great visitor's center, lots of volunteers in the roles of villagers, evening theater performances in summer, two smallish gift shops (one in the village with distinctly historic-site stuff, and one near the entrance with food, geegaws, and very good books), and campground. In Springfield itself are Lincoln's law office he shared with Billy Herndon, the Old State Capitol where he made several important speeches, the train station where he left for Washington, his tomb (Tuesday summer-evening flag ceremony by re-activated Civil War regiment), and his house (excellent visitors center and gift shop, guided tours through the house, and restored neighborhood). The newest Lincoln thing to see is the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, which is unbelievable and fabulous! You can spend an entire day there and not see it all. Children as well as adults are enthralled with the library -- lots of interactive things, historical information, displays of legit artifacts, and almost always a special display of some sort.

Hodgenville, Kentucky is where you will see the log cabin that he was born in.

just me, Cathy from KY in CA

Midway and driving 3+ hours.

Must be what DH's cousin was referring to; it does sound like a good way to kill a day when we can't be visiting.

Darn - there's several good ones in STL and even on the way east to Peoria! Don't know of any coming down from Chicago though.

My daughter lives in the Peoria area so we are fairly familiar with the craft shops. Morton is a little town just east of Peoria and it has a great Quilt shop plus their newsletter says that a new craft shop has opened selling handmade glass beads, jewelry and supplies. There's also a new yarn shop. (The Quilt Corner, Pumpkin Glass - Morton is the pumpkin captial, and Ewe Nique Yarns)

There is a nice area along the riverfront in Peoria with great restaurants and about this time of year they open a fantastic farmers market on the weekend. There's often something else going on in the lovely little park area. It is near Old Chicago - a great restaurant.

If you enjoy looking at lovely homes and a beautiful view, the Peoria Heights river overlook is splendid. There's an actual castle plus the millionaire's row of stately homes. They all are on the highest point overlooking the river and it's quite a lovely drive.

There are two bead shops listed: Free to Bead and Just Bead It but I haven't been to those YET! They have the usual Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Jeffrey Alans, if I recall.

Things close down so quickly that it is hard to keep on top of the current stores. Lots of neat shops and great restaurants. If you are near the Paradise Casino, there's an amazing seafood restaurant called Jonahs. That would be in East Peoria where they also have a new shopping area with all the usual chain restaurants.

The Shops at Grand Prairie is a great mall area that is pretty busy and has lots of shopping and food. Peoria also has a pretty good amount of cultural and fun events at their Civic center and other places. We are entering the time of year they have festivals for one thing and another, so you might get lucky and find something great. We found a craft festival along the river last year and a taste of Peoria food festival.

Have a good time - Moni

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