Good Eats, Good Museum

The skies were cloudy when we woke up this morning, and within a few minutes a line of thunderstorms passed through.  For about a half hour it was black, wet, and loud.  Pris went crazy of course, but the storm soon passed, and we went about our business.

First on our list was a visit to one of our favorite restaurants while we're on the road:

Country fried steak, grits, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and bacon....we had it all!

Thus fortified, we ventured out to find the town of Tampico, Illinois, whose claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of President Ronald Reagan.  The late president was born here on Feb 6, 1911, in an apartment upstairs over a bakery/restaurant. The First National Bank moved in to the downstairs in 1919, but the Reagan family had moved to the Burden House in Tampico by then, and soon moved again to the neighboring town of Dixon, where Ronalds father Jack took work as a shoe salesman. Ronald and his brother Neil graduated from school in Dixon, and Ronald got his first taste of acting there.

The room where the President was born:

The President as a young boy:

Tampico is about 65 miles from where we're staying, so we took a leisurely route home through the town of LaSalle, Illinois, to visit two charming examples of opulent 1850's homes:

The red brick home is in need of much repair.  The local historical preservation society is trying to raise funds to begin work on the house, but it is deteriorating at a faster rate than funds come in.  It's sad, because the it could be a fine home, with hand-formed copper gutters, and extensive brickwork that cannot be found in homes today.  The lower home has been refurbished to its period, with Edison light bulbs throughout, and labor intensive woodwork.  Both homes are on the National Historical Registry.

A bit south of LaSalle is one of the locks used on the Illinois-Michigan Canal.

The canal was 96 miles long and 60 feet wide, with a path on each side.  A bargeman walked with his mules about 12 to 15 miles a day.  Abraham Lincoln was a strong proponent of the I-M canal as it did much to encourage trade between Illinois and points east.  A good part of the canal system used rivers, of course, but from time to time, connecting canals had to be cut between lakes or rivers that may be at different elevations, hence the hand operated locks, where the doors were opened and closed to allow water in or out. Quite a remarkable system for its day!