Welcome.....
To my world of the weird, the strange, the unexplained.........
no, I'm just kidding, this is a happy place......OK, maybe I am just a little weird.
 
          
        
          
        
Had lunch at Applebee's with Carol, Lind and Sandie today.  Always a good time out with my best buds.
 
 
 
            
        
          
        
          
        
Most of you know the Brown Shoe Company in Salem burned last night, we 
drove by there today and it is still smoldering....so sad to see this 
beautiful historic building destroyed.  The house across the street 
caught on fire also...the road was blocked so I had to take photos from 
the back, but just breaks my heart...it has been there my entire 
life....sad, sad...it seems like Salem has a black cloud having over it 
these days, so many terrible things happening...
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| I did not take these photos of the fire, a person on facebook took them. | 
 
 
 
After we left Moonshine, by the way, they do not sell moonshine at Moonshine, just so you know..
After Moonshine we drove to Casey, IL, which is a quaint little 
town, but is becoming known for their collection of "World's 
Largest.....",  I was told that the Guinness Book of World records would
 be there soon to check things out.  Anyway, today we saw the WORLD'S 
LARGEST WIND CHIME, you could actually ring the chimes.  We also saw the
 WORLD'S LARGEST ROCKING CHAIR, this was just recently added to the town
 square.  Then we saw the WORLD'S LARGEST PENCIL..there was also the 
largest golf Tee, and the largest knitting needles and crochet hook, but
 we didn't take time to search them out.  My mother in law needed to get
 back home for an appointment.  Here's a few pix...
 
 
 
We went off on an adventure today, any of you ever been to Moonshine, 
Illinois?  Population 2?  This is a very old general store, and is very 
popular with bikers, it was awesome to see all of the old items 
throughout the store.  We had a moon burger for lunch and sat outside at
 the picnic tables, which is the only place to sit...lol...a gorgeous 
day, cool under the trees.  What a hamburger they fix there...huge and 
delicious!  You order from the ladies that are at the grill, they call 
your name, you get your burgers, you put  on your own condiments , you 
get you own, chips, soda, napkins, and pay...that's it...the place was 
packed! They close promptly at 12:30, so get there between 6 a.m. and 
12:30 p.m. There's more...but here are the pix from the Moonshine store,
 which is actually the only building in Moonshine.
 
 
 
            
        
          
        
          
        
Went to a baby shower today, had such a good time!  Got to chat with 
people I hadn't seen in a while.  The cakes were just darling.  They 
baby's name is going to be Timber, isn't that the most awesome name?  
Grandpa's name is Timberly (which I didn't know until today, because I 
always knew him as Ted) and Lydia and her husband love to hunt and be 
outdoors, so double reasons for such a perfect name for their baby girl 
that is due in October.   It was a beautiful day too, I hope you all 
enjoyed your 
Sunday.
 
 
 
            
        
          
        
          
        
          
        
We started our day by touring a steamship THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE, which 
was moored in Manistee, MI.,  we got to see the entire ship and had an 
interesting tour guide as well.  Bill was just thrilled with the engine 
room, especially.  The ship used to carry railcars across Lake Michigan 
for over 50 years, passengers could ride as well, the accommodations 
were  beautifully designed with wood and brass.  
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| Bill got to operate the steam whistle. | 
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| The
 common room in the ship where passengers would gather during their 
travels, you can actually stay there during the weekends in one of the 
state rooms, which are really small, but elegant. — at Lake Michigan - Manistee MI. | 
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| Our tour guide | 
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| The ship THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE moored at Manistee, MI | 
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| The coast guard ship, Acacia | 
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| White Lake lighthouse | 
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| The view from the top of White Lake lighthouse | 
 We also toured a Coast Guard ship that is permanently moored there too, very
 informative and interesting.  It was really foggy, as you can see by 
the picture.  After we left there we traveled to White Lake Lighthouse, a
 beautiful stone structure, with an awesome museum too.  There was even a
 life preserver from the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. There were only
 40 stairs to the top of this lighthouse...piece of cake...lol. We ate 
at a fabulous restaurant, where we sat outside and ate on the porch and 
watched the boats on the White river, the Harbor View Grill, just 
wonderful food.  We are at the Comfort Inn in Whitehall, I took a nice 
long swim in the heated pool for an hour of so, what a great way to end 
the day.  Starting home tomorrow, to avoid all of the Labor Day traffic.