Surprise Trip Home

Tim and Carrie married on 9-10-11 (clever) and I made plans for a surprise trip back home in order to attend the festivities in Peoria. I got a pretty good rate on a rental car for the three days and Allegiant was pretty reasonable that week also.

Last Thursday I posted some foods that I had to have when back, and you'll unfortunately have to put up with it again today.

On Friday I went to Mt. Pleasant Iowa, home of the Tigers and West Side Tap, but, sadly, no longer a Phi Delta Theta chapter. Had to have a Jerry's pizza and amazingly that place never changes. Jerry still lives and hopefully has given the recipe to his pizza to a young person who will continue with this must-have treasure. I have never had another like it, and while Davis Bros in Peoria comes close, it can't really compare.

I then returned via Keithsburg and Joy road and remembered a cemetery Mark showed me once. I had time so I thought I'd check it out again. Sadly, I couldn't, but I did spot these turkeys ambling out in a roadside field.

As I inched ever slowly in the car, they slowly walked into the underbrush. By this picture-time they were tough to spot.

Now look in the center of the picture, the four white marks are their heads.

About as close as I can get with my zoom.

I love the river. This old bridge has quite a history. We walked on its track a ways from shore more than once back in high school.

OK once more the best pizza in the whole freaking world.

Miss Maddie looking at her world from the nice of porch Mark & Holly.

A quick trip to Candor Cemetery to visit the folks and pick up another small original foundation stone to the church that is undergoing renovations. I had permission.

Pictures from the plane on the way home.

Overall it was a great trip back. I accomplished what I needed to do but still ran out of time to see many old friends that I miss every day. You know who you are.

Comments

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless. Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001. It was one of those things that can generate crime: two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job. Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things. Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold. But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find. His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead. He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds. He will be paralyzed for life. None of this is pleasant. Reading the f...

Philippe Park and The Tocobaga Indian Mound

About ten miles or so north of Bedlam is a place called Safety Harbor. Its the place that has the 300-500 year old oak that the city tried to kill I featured a couple weeks ago on BFE . They have a pretty nice park that has some interesting history, too. Count Philippe landed here and introduced the pineapple and cigar making to the Tampa Bay area. Today, however, I want to mention something else about this area, besides the really nice scenery. Phillipe Park was also the home of the Tocobaga Indians. The Tocobaga occupied the Tampa Bay area from around 600 A.D. to the 1600's. This is a fairly common view of old stately moss-laden oaks down here. This shot was taken atop the only Tocobaga Indian mound in the area. This exact spot is home not only to the Tocobaga until they died out, but then to Count Phillipi who settled the area after the Tocobaga died out. The place is full of oak and ...

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me, they came right from the MDH website. I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access. After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances. But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs. I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered. The original MDH at this site was just the front part. The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library. It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place. He passed away around 2002, I think. Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...

Existing In BFE

Search This Blog