Travel Day 45 to Peoria, IL 9/4/21 Labor Day Weekend

We left Henry for a short comfortable ride of 25 NM to the Illinois Valley Yacht and Canoe Club. The entrance was a little shallow and we had to deal with the sailboats going in after their race. We docked against the breakwall which made for a very long walk to the club and the main road.

The Illinois Valley Yacht Club, IVY, welcomed us with open arms. They invited us to their Labor Day pig roast and cardboard boat races. All the members were very friendly. They have remote control sailboat races every Sunday. In the background is the Spirit of Peoria.

Monday night, Jack and JoAnn's niece and nephew came and we all went to dinner at Alexander's Steakhouse. It was fun group.

I made a Rosh Hashanah dinner for Mary and Chris, JoAnn and Jack, Brenda and Sonny, and Ron and Sonja. We had matzah ball soup, brisket, matzah meal pudding, noodle pudding, vegetables, challah, chocolate cake, cheesecake, and fig pie. Everyone came the next night for leftovers.

One couple, Tony and Janet, lent us his truck to do laundry when we first arrived. We rented a minivan for 5 days that allowed us to come and go.

Brenda, JoAnn, Mary and I went exploring some local shopping areas before going grocery shopping. There were nice boutiques and plenty of restaurants.

Brenda, Sonny, Jack and I went to the Holocaust Memorial that was downtown near the Riverfront Museums. It was buttons in Star of David shaped glass cases and 5 triangular cases. The buttons signify coming together as a community and family. They cases were arranged in lines on the left and ride side showing how the people were divided into two lines. One went to the gas chambers and the others lived. The five triangles are for the millions of people killed that were enemies of the Nazi’s.

On Friday night we enjoyed a looper group dinner at the restaurant in the club. We were 16 people all together.

Saturday was the 20th anniversary of 9/11. We went to a local firehouse where we were given a tour. At noon we went to the Civic Center where there was a memorial service. Chris was brought up and recognized as a first responder at Ground Zero. It was very moving for all of us.

Afterwards we went to Kellerher’s Pub for lunch. There were many people from the memorial there. The councilman who spoke paid for all of our lunches.

Saturday morning, Dustin Kidd from Bourbon City Yacht Tenders brought our dinghy to us. Hal and I took it for a test run and really loved it. The throttle was easy to handle also. It went up on the crane so easily. No creaking and squeaking. We are thrilled with the new addition.

Saturday night there was a “boat crawl” at the marina. Each participant had to have a theme with a signature drink and an appetizer. They gave out playing cards and you had to try and make a poker hand. We had a couple come and tour our boat. It was a nice night. Sunday we made a quick run to the grocery store before we had to return the rental car. This was a very nice place to stay for an extended time.