Visiting Peoria (Chicago, Pekin, Galesburg: how much, buy, theatre)

[Earniefan]

Hi all we will be in Peoria for a couple days in August - my husband's going bowfishing I'm not so sure about the boat so I'm going shopping. Is Northwood's Mall the place to go or is there a better mall somewhere in town. I'll have our three year old daughter with us so I'm wanting to find something for us to do to fill the time. Any suggestions would be great. My husband remembers a show about a bowling alley there with almost 200 lanes if anyone can tell me the name. Also, if you have any suggestions on restaurants or eating establishments that you just have to go to if you're in Peoria I'd appreciate that also. Thanx a bunch.

[angelawilson0005]

I live in Washington which is only about 15 minutes from Peoria. The Northwoods mall is quite small (I used to live in Vegas). They have opened up a newer outdoor type mall called the Grand Prairie Mall. It is about 10 minutes farther up the road from Northwoods. You might enjoy that. It has a pretty nice movie theatre there called "The Rave." Inside of of the sporting store, Dick's Sporting store, they have a free rock climbing wall, the kids might enjoy that. As far as 200 lanes of bowling, I am not sure. There is a bowling alley near the Northwoods Mall called the Landmark, that may be what you are hearing about. Good luck!

[BLOOMINGTONIAN]

I beg to differ with the previous entry, but the Northwoods Mall is anything but small. And yes, I've been to Woodfield and the Mall of America. The Galesburg Mall (Sandburg) is small, Northwoods is not.
As for the Shoppes at Grand Prairie, not much there besides Bergner's. Kinda disappointing. Nice place to walk around once a year or so.

[M TYPE X]

Drive the Illinois River. Aren't there places to eat in Pekin?
I have not been to Northwoods, but there are decent restaurants in the Shoppes at Grand Prairie.

[jwhittak]

Just go to both malls. Northwoods is where I buy things. The Shoppes is where I window shop. The Shoppes are a little more upscale, and very nice to walk around. It is an outdoor mall, so keep that in mind. Don't go to the zoo. Wildlife Prarie Park is better, but it is boring to me as well. There is Chuck E Cheese (bad pizza, great breadsticks) or Splashdown (water park) in East Peoria. It's sad I can't think of that much to do because I have a three year old and a 1 year old.

[Earniefan]

Thanx so much for all of your responses. Coming from Wyoming I'm going to try to avoid being outside as much as possible. We don't have humidity here so we melt when we get to a place that does.

I have another question, how much tornado activity do you get around that area. I grew up in tornado alley in Nebraska and hate going back to the area during the season so I'm curious if I need to worry about it in your area.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Earniefan

Thanx so much for all of your responses. Coming from Wyoming I'm going to try to avoid being outside as much as possible. We don't have humidity here so we melt when we get to a place that does.

I have another question, how much tornado activity do you get around that area. I grew up in tornado alley in Nebraska and hate going back to the area during the season so I'm curious if I need to worry about it in your area.

Tornadoes are a threat, but not nearly as much as in OK or TX or KS. Ive lived here 30 years and have still never seen one, not that Id really want to.

As for humidity, Peoria's humidity is pretty high, but dont limit yourselves to spending time indoors just because of it. Take advantage of the warmer nights here than in Wyoming, go swimming or something, enjoy your vacation. Also, you DO have humidity in WY, about 40-60% in the mornings, which is not far behind what we have here. Up here in Chicagoland weve have 60-90% in the morning and in the afternoons anywhere from 30-45% lately, which is completely comfortable. We've yet to have any really bad days, but I know those are coming soon.

[Earniefan]

I grew up in eastern Nebraska so I know what humidity is. We may "have humidity" here in Wyoming, but it's not something you feel like you do in states with "real" humidity. Actually, we love our cool nights that's why we live here.

[Steve-o]

[quote=Earniefan;996610]We don't have humidity here[quote]



I know. I was just making an example, I get tired of western folks saying "there is no humidity out here" and bla, bla, bla. 50-60% humidity in the mornings, like WY has, is definitely perceptible. If you can survive that, you can survive Peoria, even though our afternoon humidity readings are higher than Wyoming's, but we're definitely not Florida. Humidity levels are increasing today, but they show dropping off again come late Thursday and Friday.

[Earniefan]

That's a strange thing to be aggravated about. I understand what you are saying, my point is you don't feel it. You say that it's perceptible, it is not. You know how you step outside and feel the humidity, we don't. That was my point. Come on out for a visit, you will see what us western folk that irritate you so much are talking about.