TRAIN FESTIVAL 2011
                     ROCK ISLAND, IL

Finally the day the three guys have waited for arrives.
We're up early, eat breakfast and head to downtown Rock Island.
A parking place waits just for us. We park, then head across the street to wait in line to board the train. Just us, and about one thousand other people.

Okay, we're on board, find our seats and collapse.
Brother-in-law Stanley did well, he was the reservations director.
We had comfortable captain chairs at a table in a dome car that was air conditioned, which was great because it was only around 100' outside.
The locomotive pulling us was a 2-10-2 wheel Chinese built steam locomotive, pictured above.
This is one of two Chinese built steamers purchased by the Iowa Interstate Railroad in 2006.

Located at either end of the car were rest rooms. This was so cool, especially for me, since it would be an all day ride.

Once under way we were served coffee, tea, or orange juice and pastries. Yum-Yum.
After leaving the rail yard the train crossed over a back channel of the Mississippi to Arsenal Island. I spoke of the museum there in a previous blog.

The U.S.Government built a fort on this island in 1816. During the Civil War, it served as a Confederate POW camp. Today, it's the largest government owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the U.S.

Because of that, as we entered its territory, we were told to put away all cameras, including cell phones and video cameras.

They said we were being watched closely and if the guards saw the tiniest flicker of a possible camera, the train would be stopped, cameras confiscated, and the train backed to the station, and cancel the excursion. Yikes, just like in the movies.

Whew, everyone obeyed the rules and we went forward to cross the Mississippi River via, what else, the Government Bridge.

Now in Iowa, we traveled up the east coast to Iowa City.
Along the way we were served lunch, a choice of beef or chicken. I chose chicken and it was tasty for catered food.

It was a pleasant ride with a stop for a run-by. This is where all the rail fans get off the train with cameras in hand. The train backs up a mile or so, gets up a head of steam and runs-by for its picture to be taken. They actually did two run-bys.

The scenery was beautiful, and before we knew it we arrived in Iowa City. The engine went to the reverse end of the cars and we were on our way back via the same route.

When we pulled into the station we saw two small engines made by the Vulcan Iron Works in Wilkes Barre, PA.
One, the #75, was owned by the Flagg Coal Co. of Avoca, PA and the other, the #126, was owned by the Leigh Valley Coal Co. of Hazelton, PA. The #126, was eventually sold to the Heidelberg Coal Co. of Avoca, PA.

Those of you from Northeast PA have probably heard of these coal companies one time or another.
Avoca, PA is the next town over from where I was born and raised. I was familiar with those coal breakers. Our town of Hughestown was also a coal town. Pagnotti's No. 9 colliery was located there. In fact my dad worked for that coal company and worked on engines like the #75 and #126. They were called "loceys" and were the work horse around the coal yard.

Both the #75 and the #126 were purchased and restored by father and son John and Barney Grambling. They moved them to their shop in Ashley, IN.

After the train ride we were ready for supper. Yep, hungry again.
We ate in a small cafe' across from the station.
Their sandwiches were large, with fresh fixings, on delicious breads.

After eating we were tired and headed back to the hotel. It was a tiring day, sitting and watching the world go by, literally, does that.

We had to pack and get ready for our next destination the following day.

Our next stop was the American Pickers, you know Antique Archeology, Mike, Frank and Danielle, from the History Channel.

If you watch that show you'll want to come back and read my next blog.

THE CELEBRATION BELLE

Isn't she a beauty? We boarded the Celebration Belle, a three deck paddle wheel boat, at Rock Island, IL, for a two hour cruise on the Mississippi River.

It was a beautiful day and we sat on the top deck outside in the sunshine. The tour was narrated but this one wasn't a lunch cruise.

When we arrived back at the dock we were famished. We found a Bennigan's in the center of town. Yes, there is still a Bennigan's open in this part of the country.

After a filling lunch we set out to do some sightseeing. We wanted to check out the Rock Island Arsenal Museum. We found out in order for a Garmin to find an address one must enter accurate information. We eventually did and located the museum and not the arsenal.

Since this is a US Military Facility, security abounds. The driver of our vehicle had to show his driver's license and the guard at the guardhouse scanned it into a computer. Since there were no wants or warrants on him and he wasn't on a terrorist watch list, they allowed us to proceed to the museum.

The museum houses many displays of military fire power. There was a wall of just handguns. I never knew there were so many different kinds. Since this was mainly a "guy's" museum, we women lost interest fast and found a bench to sit and chat until the boys were finished looking at every display.

That evening we went to CIRCA' 21, a dinner playhouse in downtown Rock Island. As I mentioned in the previous blog, Rock Island is an artisan community, and includes acting. CIRCA' 21 serves to give local actors a chance at honing their craft.

We had a delicious dinner served and cleaned up by the actors themselves. After dinner they went on stage to perform the opening act. This was followed by the main show which was "HAIRSPRAY". The performers of this show were not locals and were there specifically to do the show. Although not well-known names at present, I'm sure some of them will become well-known in the future.

After the dinner theater we were tired and headed back to the hotel for a good nights rest, because the next day was an 8' train ride, I'll tell you about that in the next blog . . . Choo-Choo.

ART SCULPTURE IN ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS

The QUAD CITIES, as this part of the country is known, consists of four communities along the Mississippi River.
On the east side of the river are the communities of Moline and Rock Island, Illinois. On the west side are the communities of Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa.

Rock Island, especially is an art influenced community. There are many free standing pieces of sculpture all around town, like the frog one in the above picture.

TRAIN FESTIVAL 2011 is what drew us to this area of the US.
Since our three husbands, whom I spoke about in the previous blog are all train fans and go to great lengths to see them, hence our trip to IL/IA.

After checking into our hotel we headed downtown to locate our places of interests for the following day.
As usual we got lost, a lot, until we acclimated ourselves and realized Moline and Rock Island were two different distinct areas.

After some meandering we were hungry. Someone mentioned there was a restaurant named Johnny's Italian Steakhouse. It sounded good so off we went to find it.

Our travel took us past the huge John Deere Compound. Moline has been home to John Deere & Company for more than 170 years. Their world headquarters and their largest combine factory are located in Moline. Many of their other complexes are situated in and around the Quad Cities.

The Mississippi River is conducive to industry and there is much of it located along that stretch of river, including the largest Alcoa Aluminum plant, on the western side.
Besides the river the railroad helps to move the freight.

Now back to the restaurant.We found Johnny's Italian Steakhouse in part of the John Deere complex . . . I guess that's why it's called Johnny's.

After a delicious dinner, I had scrumptious chicken picatta, we headed back to the hotel for a good night's rest because the following day was sure to be busy.

Check in for the next blog about those exploits.

STEAMY HOT MIDWEST

I know its been hot here in the Northeast, but it's been STEAMY in the Midwest.

We traveled to St. John's, Michigan and stayed at hubby's sister and husband's house, where we met up with hubby's cousin and husband.

All six of us were about to embark on travel to Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

In the next few blogs I'll try to recount the sights we saw along the way.

First we had a day of rest in St. John's where we ventured to Lansing which is about 20 miles away.

We had lunch at Emil's, a restaurant that serves delicious Italian entrees.
One of the things they're famous for is their Coca Cola. It tastes like the old-fashion kind that is syrupy and not watered down.  They have daily specials, one is all the spaghetti you can eat and scrumptious Italian bread. Sadly we were there on the wrong day for that one.

After we finished lunch we headed toward East Lansing, home to Michigan State University.
The campus is beautiful and we were treated to Michigan State University Ice Cream.
Needless to say with temps bordering at 100', the line for cool, refreshing ice cream was lo-o-o-ng.

Around here people know of Penn State Ice Cream, which I must admit I've never tasted.
However, since I have family in the ice cream business I had to try my favorite flavor in the MSU variety, which is Coconut Chocolate Almond, you know I had to compare brands.

It was delectably creamy and flavorful. Yum-Yum, good to the last drip. I'll reserve judgement as to the winner.  On a hot day ice cream is ice cream.

After indulging in thousands of calories we headed back to the ranch ... I mean farm.

The next day we packed up and headed to Moline, Illinois, after breakfast at Flap-Jax in Michigan. Pancakes and waffles, need I say more?

At the end of my travelogue I'll tell you how much weight I gained.

Stay tuned.