Joliet: A Historical Prison and Rock and Roll History

 The first Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction was delayed because of the pandemic. When they rescheduled, I was ready to go experience this exciting night – and spend some time checking out the city of Joliet.

I took my friend Lisa along. It had been quite a while since we had traveled together, but we certainly had a lot of trips behind us.

Our first stop was at a place I’ve never been to in any city, a prison. We spent about two hours on a private tour exploring one of the most famous in the country. Old Joliet Prison, which was featured in the Blues Brothers movie.  

 

Given the importance of keeping a lot of the historical artifacts, the accessibility to every building wasn’t available to me. I still felt I got to see a lot from the outside in my scooter. I let Lisa do the deeper exploring and picture taking.

It was even more interesting to hear about how important these structures were to the development of the prison system in the state, and one might say to the United States. The first prisoners arrived at this facility in 1858 and it was a functioning place of incarceration until 2002.

We also learned about two books that tell a lot of the story, Joliet Prison Blues and Old Joliet Prison: When Convicts Wore Stripes, both by Amy Kinzer Steidinger. The boxes depict a lot of the treatment of prisoners, which was criticized in later years.

After we left the prison, we were more than ready for lunch and headed to downtown Joliet. Lunch was at Chevre Latin Café.

It was a nice day to sit out on the patio. The food was both excellent and unusual. We shared some empanadas, then Lisa had the Café Steak Bowl, and I had the Chicken Bowl with Plantains. We were too stuffed for dessert, but we ordered lattes and picked up Cheesecakes by James next door to bring back to our hotel. We settled on one cherry and one turtle.

 

Before we went to the hotel, we met up with some other journalists at the Bishop Hill Winery for tastings. We didn’t stay long because I was tired and wanted to put my feet up before the night’s festivities.

We quickly checked into Harrah’s Joliet Hotel. It was a nice hotel. It wasn’t quite like some of the previous Harrah’s properties I had stayed at, but had a few restaurants and a large casino. It was also within walking distance (in my case mobility scooter) of everything we would be going to that evening and the next day.

I always like a reason to get dressed up and I did so for the event, as did Lisa.  It was being held at the Rialto Theater, a beautiful and historic building in Joliet. The Illinois Hall of Fame was the brainchild of Ron Romero, the President & Founder of the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66. He was (and is) determined to bring publicity to the huge collection of music that has come out of the state.

Many people don’t realize how many top performers come from Illinois and this first induction class was certainly a good sampling: Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon, Chicago, Buddy Guy, Muddy Water, Dick Biondi, Larry Lujack, Ides of March, The Buckinghams, WLS Radio, and Chess Records.

 

The show was phenomenal, with representation from all the Hall of Famers, including Kevin Cronin from REO, and the full bands of The Buckinghams and the Ides of March. The rest were video acceptances, and live tributes by those such as Blues legend John Primer.*

It was quite an evening. I never saw so many people standing and singing for so long. Everyone knew the songs and it was one big giant singalong, especially for moments such as The Buckinghams singing “Kind of A Drag.”

If I hadn’t been so tired from the long day, I would have loved to get to know some of the performers, but it would have to wait for the next one. Lisa and I headed back to the hotel. We hadn’t really had dinner in the rushed evening, but there was the cheesecake. Yes, both pieces were delicious.

 

*For more specifics on the concert, check out this story.

I was hosted on this trip, but opinions are my own. 

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More Cheap Trick, Gardens & Brew in Rockford

When I planned my trip to Rockford, I heard from quite a few people that I must have breakfast at The Stockholm. I was a bit disappointed when it wasn’t on our (very full) schedule, but a twist of fate brought us there anyway. 

The first stop of the day on the Rockford itinerary for Brittany, Amanda, and I was the Anderson Japanese Gardens. We were to have brunch there and then explore. 

Since they were also having an event that day, there was no brunch. That opened up our chance to go to The Stockholm. This restaurant is on the Cheap Trick Trail because of the Rick Nielsen connection. He’s a part-owner and full lover of this restaurant. 

The menu is huge, reminding me of a New York diner, but Swedish specialties where you would see Greek ones. Due to the breakfast mix-up, we were starving by the time we sat down. I ordered a Swedish Coffee Cake for us to share while we waited. 

It was as scrumptious as it looked and certainly whet our appetite for the rest. I always go toward the sweet and I continued with the Swedish pancakes with lingonberries, which are well worth an order at The Stockholm Inn. 

I also got the potato bake. Although it was delicious, it was a bit too rich for me to have more than a spoonful of. I did pass the rest around the table. 

Brittany and Amanda went for more traditional egg and meat breakfasts and were enjoyed their choice.

The trails were all filled with beautiful plants and flowers and the lakes had colorful fish and ducks. It was a bit warm, but the scenery was tranquil.

We then headed to the Anderson Japanese Gardens. I knew there would be a lot of walking and took my scooter along. Almost all of the garden paths were very accessible. 

With the Japanese Festival taking place there were also booths and additional tea ceremonies taking place (they do have authentic tea ceremonies at other times too). 

The Midway Village is a most unusual place that is a great experience for children and adults. In addition to the recreated 19th century village, representing a typical Northern Illinois town, there is a museum dedicated to the history of Rockford. 

I asked Brittany and Amanda to explore the village while I walked around the much smaller Dollhouse exhibit. We then met up in the museum.

I was really amazed at the history of Rockford after going through the Midway Village Museum. 

There were displays on the Emerson Carriage Company, the immigration to this area from Norway, Sweden, and Italy that was recruited through Ellis Island, and the dedications to the Rockford Peaches, the baseball team you may remember depicted in A League of Their Own. 

Also at Midway Village is another Cheap Trick shoutout, this one a Sock Monkey (Sock Monkeys were also made in Rockford) in their honor. 

We drove through downtown to look at some of the nine murals created in the Rockford CRE8IV project. They are well-worth a look. 

Our last Rockford stop was at Prairie Street Brewing Company, located in the spot Englishman Jonathan Peacock arrived in 1849 with the dream of building a brewery. 

Prairie Street has a large selection on microbrews, with the Peacock, Passion Fruit, and Peach Wheat all getting accolades from Brittany and Amanda. I enjoyed one of their mules, and their house made non-alcoholic root beer. 

The menu is very large and has some interesting things on it. The Poutine was a huge hit and Amanda raved about their creative Trolley Burger, with Applewood bacon, fried egg, provolone, thousand island dressing, and an onion ring. 

For dessert, we shared a rich and chocolatey S’mores Tart. 

Rockford is another Midwest spot that outlived my expectations with so much to see and do. The team at the CVB really put together a great trip for us!

Ready for Rockford

I was looking for someplace not too far to go for a last-minute trip. I had never been to Rockford, Illinois, and a quick look at the tourism website showed me there was a lot to do there.

After getting in touch with Andrea Cook, the CVB’s Associate Director of Marketing & Communications, I found out there was more than I ever imagined.

Andrea put together a great itinerary for Brittany, Amanda, and me. It had the right amount of adventure for them and accessible and enjoyable things for me. We also had a big selection of restaurants to try out together.

Our home for the weekend was the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center.  The location was central to the places we were visiting, and our room was big for a standard hotel room.

We had lunch at Mary’s Market Café & Bakery. The description is in the name as there was plenty to chose from. Everything there was made from scratch, including a variety of breads, and used mostly local ingredients.

The sandwiches were very good and Brittany raved about her fish tacos. I really enjoyed the Watermelon Cucumber Mint Fruit Refresher with my turkey sandwich. We had some chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

One of the things that surprised me about Rockford is all the parks and beaches they have. We couldn’t possibly go to all of them. A stop at the 3,000-acre Rock Cut State Park satisfied a kayaking urge for my friends, and Brittany even saved a little girl’s plastic unicorn boat while on one of the lakes.

After a break at the hotel and a chance to change, we took a walk through the Downtown City Market, which is open Fridays, from June 5th through September 25. The market has some hot food, but also products from nearby vendors such as Raines Honey Farm, Rockford Art Deli, and Bear Moon Soap.

We then went a few blocks to the very popular restaurant, Octane InterLounge, which has been in Rockford for 20 years. This would be the first of many Cheap Trick related stops in Rockford, the place the band got started.

Robin Zander’s son, Ian, worked here for a while. They are also well-known for the Budokon Burger. I concur that the concoction of a beef burger with pineapple, roasted onion, and white cheddar, with teriyaki aioli, was delicious.

We also loved the Pork Dumpling appetizer, which we paired with some of their specialty cocktails, including the Espresso Martini and Ginger Pineapple.

Brittany and Amanda liked their flank steak and seafood pasta choices too.

When it came time for dessert, the choices made it tough, so we decided to get three different ones and share.

The Chocolate Crepe Cake, Nutella Peanut Butter Bao, and Chocolate Nachos (Do you note a theme?!) were all fantastic.

We were pretty tired and had a very full day coming up, so we headed right back to the Radisson Hotel in Rockford for a good night’s sleep.