|
I want to reply to both of these posts. My family and I have often travel back from out present home in MN to our childhood homes where our parents still reside in southern IN and southern IL. So we get to see that 39/90/94 logjam headed north out of Chicago. On our trip we cross into WI with a much smaller version of the Chicago logjam coming out of Minneapolis heading into Hudson WI. It's all the Gopher's heading to their western WI lake homes. But it usually only lasts about 20 miles until we hit US 63 and then they start dispersing. by Eau Claire, 60 miles into WI on 94 all we see are WI plates. From Eau Claire to the Tomah split ( where 90 & 94 come together if you are going east bound or split if you are headed westbound) things begin building on the other side of the freeway. Then sixty miles east of Tomah all hell breaks loose on the west bound lanes. Of course that's Dah Dells! From the Dells to 39 about another 20 miles it's a continuous stream coming at us. But one of the things I can not figure out is --- was it mandated by god that all Wisconsin freeways have to converge on that section of road between Poratage and Madison called the 39/90/94 corridor! That is only one of two places in the US interstate system where three routes run concurrently. The other spot is in East St Louis, IL (55/64/70) but it is only 2 miles long - NOT 30! Wisconsin needs to bring all of US 12 from Madison to Baraboo up to interstate standards, this would alleviate some of this overusage. But having digressed - come on Chicagoans is Wisconsin really that wonderful that you would put yourselves through that kind of pain on that stretch of road. Often the traffic is at a dead stop! and then it tends to move in waves.
There are some wonderful attractions on the other side of Joliet, believe this or not! More than just corn and beans. First off being from the "Land of Lincoln", if you want to be truely Lincolnized, go to Springfield. In Spfld there's the Lincoln law office, Lincoln's home, Lincoln's Tomb (make sure you rub his nose on all his statuary for good luck), the new Lincoln Presidential Library. Twenty miles to the west of Spfld is Lincoln's New Salem. A rebuilt log cabin town that Lincoln lived in in his twenties. Besides Lincolnorama, ther are the old and new state houses. The Frank Lloyd Wright Dana house. The birth place of Vachel Lindsey, and the state fair in late August.
Lindsey was a black poet. Other noted Illinois literary figures, are Carl Sandburg in Galesburg, and Edgar Lee Masters in Petersburg.
And Illinois has had 2 former state capital cities. One is Vandalia, and the other is much disappeared Kaskaskia near present day Chester IL.
Chester lies in the french belt of IL. That is the area in southwestern Illinois along the Mississippi (following IL route 3) from Grafton, IL to Chester, IL. At Grafton, is a monument to the French explorer and Jesuit priest Pere Marquette. Illinois largest state park and lodge is also found in Grafton and named for Marquette. Then in Cahokia IL there is the Cahokia courthouse built in 1740. The oldest building west of the Alleghanies! And more French colonial architecture is found at Prairie Du Rocher and Dupo (formerly Prairie Du Pont). At Chester is the home of French Canadian Pierre Menard (he was Illinois first Lt governor) it is of classic French colonial design with a veranda running around the whle house. There were also two French forts, Fort Kaskaskia and Fort des Chartres. Both are now state park sites. Fort des Chartres has been reconstructed to appear as it did in 1753. (We are talking pre Revolutionary War era stuff here folks! IN ILLINOIS!).
Enough history - oh before I forget google Cahokia Mounds State Park - it's a world heritage site!
Now lets talk geography. Yes about 85 percent of IL is as flat as a tabletop and BORING! But the other 15 percent is rolling hills and knobs and drop dead gorgeous! Those areas are found in the three driftless areas of Illinois. They are called driftless, because the ice age glaciers did not "drift" in and flatten them out! The first driftless region is far NW IL. Mainly Jo Daviess county. Most provincial Chicagoans have even heard of this are because of Galena, IL. Galena is an old lead ore town that went boom and bust. Going to it is like going back in time to the 1850s. Near Galena there is skiiing in the winter at Chestnut Mountain. They have great rates between Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you get there also cross over the Mississippi to Dubuque, IA and go on the world's shortest railroad line. and to Dyersville, IA home of the field from the Movie "Field of Dreams".
The second driftless area is a pennisula (you Chicagoans love your penninsulas - think Door County) found between the Mississippi and the Illinois Rivers. It is mainly Pike and Calhoun Counties. Lots of river bluffs, eagle watching, deer hunting, and fishing to be found in this area. To get into Calhoun county by land, you enter from the north through Pike county. To get into Calhoun county from the east, there are three options to cross the Illinois River, the bridge at Hardin, the free ferry at Brussels and the free ferry at Kampsville. To get into Calhoun from the west, there are only two options, the Golden Eagle Ferry or the Winfield/Batchtown ferry. You can't get there from the south, because that is where the Illinois River dumps into the Mississippi. It ain't an easy county to get into but thats what makes it so fun! Its beautiful in the fall, thats when the apple orchards there are in full swing and the trees llok like New England. It's also pretty around Tax Day (April 15th) thats when the redbud trees and dogwood trees are blooming.
Now for the third driftless area - southern IL! the Illinois Ozarks! This are has the Shawnee National Forest - yeah the part of IL without corn or bean fields. Sites there are the Giant City State Park and Lodge, Lake Rend, Garden of the Gods, The Tunnel State Bike Trail (40 miles long with an abandoned 500 feet railroad tunnel), Bald Knob, Cave In Rock State Park (a cave on the Ohio River where pirates would hide and hi jack flatboats as they came down the Ohio River), Pyramid State Park (a great park for canoeing - full of lakes which are actually abandoned strip coal mine pits from the 1920's), Devil's Backbone in the Mississippi River, the Karmac Cypress Swamp (no you don't have to go to the states of Alabama or Mississippi to see Cypress Swamps!).
Nuff said..... or possbly too much said?
|
Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 370,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 13,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. Within the last few months our forum was cited in an article in 15 newspaper and in a story on AOL's homepage.
10-13-2007, 10:11 AM
wow real classy post
Linear Mode
