If you don’t happen to be one of those lucky long-term employees with enough vacation time stacked up to leave for a month, don’t worry–you can drive 100 miles southwest and find yourself a world away.
Down Interstate 55 and west on State Highway 140 lies the tiny village of
Elsah, nicknamed “the town that time forgot” (www.elsah.org). Unlike
some “restored” towns that feel like Disney came in and plastered on a coat
of quaint, this town feels genuinely preserved. The entire village is listed
on the National Register of Historic Places. Here you can park and stroll through
the town, most of which is situated between two parallel streets that run about
six blocks long. You can shop for beautiful handmade pottery, fired in a salt
kiln at Crocker and Springer (www.elsah.org/crockerandspringer),
and dine at the one restaurant, My Just Desserts (618-374-1607). If you’re
inclined to stay a while, there are three B&Bs–The Corner Nest (www.elsah.org/cornernest,
800-884-3832), Green Tree Inn (www.greentreeinn.com,
800-701-8003), and Maple Leaf Cottages (www.elsah.org/mapleleaf,
618-374-1684).
Wedged into the bluffs bordering the Mississippi River, Elsah was founded
in the 1850s by James Semple, a politician who plotted the village and offered
free lots to anyone who would build a house using stone from the local quarry,
which Semple himself just happened to own. Thus was born a particularly durable
town that withstood all the Mississippi threw at it–everything from floods to
steamboat crews, who patronized the local taverns. The village was also protected
by its relative isolation. Jersey Landing provided the major access to the town
until 1965, when the Great River Road (State Highway 100) was built.
But that doesn’t mean the village didn’t grow. In the 1930s, the town gained
a college campus designed by one of America’s top ten architects, Bernard Ralph
Maybeck. The largest commission of Maybeck’s career was the campus for The
Principia (www.prin.edu)–the
world’s only Christian Scientist college. Originally planned for a site in St.
Louis, the project was derailed when administrators learned a highway would
bisect the property. Maybeck suggested the campus move to the bluffs he had
seen from the train as he rode into the city. Those bluffs belonged to Elsah.
The college purchased 2,000 acres, which Maybeck adorned with creativity.
The campus resembles an English village, and includes a whimsical “Mistake House”
he used to experiment with various building materials. In 1993, the entire collection
of structures was given National Historic Landmark status. Visitors can take
driving tours of the campus.
The village proper is in a valley shielded from television and cell phone
signals, meaning B&B guests find themselves effectively “getting away from
it all.” Those who need relief from the overwhelming peace and quiet have a
variety of options for getting back to more bustle.
Just four miles west is the town of Grafton, with restaurants, antique shops,
wineries, and a bargain ice cream stand. The Fin Inn (www.fininn.com),
open for lunch and dinner, offers the novel dining experience of seafood served
in plain view of four well-stocked 2,000-gallon aquariums.
For more active visitors, Grafton offers bike and boat rentals, and Raging
Rivers Waterpark (www.ragingrivers.com).
This 20-acre facility has all the standard attractions (giant water slides,
a wave pool, kiddy pool, endless river), plus a ride said to be unique in the
nation–the “swirlpool,” which takes swimmers down a tunnel flume and around
a giant vortex before flushing them into a deep pool. The park is open May 31
to Labor Day, except August 25 through 29, from 10:30 a.m. until at least 6
p.m. Tickets are $15.95 for adults. $12.95 for children ages three to eight;
prices drop by $4 after 3 p.m.
Just five miles farther down the Great River Road is Pere Marquette State
Park (http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/Landmgt
/PARKS/R4/PRM/PEREMARQ). Although the grounds include a riding stable and
a playground, the park seems geared toward more mature guests. Its centerpiece
is a massive stone lodge built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Recently restored by the Illinois Department of Conservation, this lodge and
conference facility boasts a cocktail lounge, an “elegant dining room” with
a menu that includes prime rib, and a Sunday brunch said to attract diners from
two states. The indoor pool is equipped with a special lift for handicapped
swimmers.
If you leave Elsah heading east, you’ll soon find Alton, another city with
a wide range of diversions. Tethered to downtown is the Alton Belle Casino (800-711-GAME), a 60,000-square-foot boat offering endless ways to part with
your money amusingly 8 a.m. to 6 a.m. daily. Behind the casino is the spectacular
Clark Bridge, a cable-stay bridge unlike any other in the United States.
Designed in 1985 and constructed in 1990, the bridge spans more than 3,000 feet
across the Mississippi River.
Back on land, there are more antique shops and restaurants. For lunch, locals
favor Cane Bottom/My Just Desserts (31 East Broadway, 618-462-5881),
which is reported to be both male- and family-friendly despite the tearoom décor.
Moonlight Restaurant (3400 Fosterburg Road, 618-462-4620), an Alton institution
for more than half a century, features chicken and Italian cuisine.
Food for thought is also available in Alton. At the corner of Broadway and
Landmarks Boulevard is a large commons area with two statues–one of Abraham
Lincoln, the other of Stephen Douglas. Lincoln Douglas Square marks the
site where the two men staged their final famous debate on the issue of slavery
in 1858. Also visible from almost anywhere downtown is the winged monument
to Elijah Lovejoy, an abolitionist newspaper publisher who fled to Alton
in July 1858 to escape harassment in St. Louis. His attempts to move his printing
press, however, proved frustrating. The first one that arrived at the Alton
dock was almost immediately destroyed and dumped into the river. A little more
than a year later, Lovejoy and his friends stood guard inside a riverside warehouse
over the fourth press he had delivered to Alton. A mob gathered, demanded they
surrender the machine, and then began throwing rocks and brandishing guns when
Lovejoy refused. Someone in the warehouse fired through a window, striking a
man on the dock. When Lovejoy ran outside to stop the mob from torching the
warehouse, he was gunned down and died.
Alton had other noteworthy abolitionists. The town’s proximity to the river
made it an active “depot” for the Underground Railroad. The town contains more
than a half-dozen documented Underground Railroad sites. Most–such as
the Old Stone House, the Enos Apartments (at Third and George), and the Lyman
Trumbull House (home of the U.S. senator who proposed the Thirteenth Amendment,
which abolished slavery)–are private residences and not open to the public.
But the Alton Museum of History & Art (2809 College Avenue, www.altonweb.com/museum,
618-462-2763) offers more information about the railroad, Lovejoy, and black
pioneers. The museum also features exhibits on the Confederate prison that was
located in Alton, and the Lewis & Clark Expedition, which spent the winter
of 1803 to ’04 in a base camp near town. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
weekdays, 1 to 4 p.m. weekends.
Across the street from the museum, there’s a life-size statue of another Alton
resident–Robert Wadlow, the world’s tallest human being. Born in 1918,
Wadlow had an overactive pituitary gland. He was six feet tall by his eighth
birthday, almost seven feet tall by age 12, and eight feet tall before he turned
18. He was nearly nine feet tall when he died at the age of 22, after being
poisoned by a blister on his foot. Wadlow lived most of his life in Alton, where
he was known as the “Gentleman Giant.” A bronze replica of his special oversized
chair is available for visitors to try.
Finally, one other route away from Elsah is to take the private ferry across
the Mississippi to St. Charles, Missouri. This little city boasts its
own historic districts served by trolleys, including the Frenchtown district,
said to contain the largest selection of vintage architectural products in the
nation. A round-trip ticket that includes your vehicle costs $12.
ALTON
AREA CALENDAR
Alton Block Party, May 31
(618-463-1016).
Alton Muny Band Park Concerts, June 5 through August
3, from 8 to 9 p.m. Thursdays at Riverview Park, Sundays at Haskell Park (www.altonmuniband.org).
Two Rivers Family Fishing Fair, June 7 at Pere
Marquette State Park Visitor’s Center (618-786-3323).
Lewis and Clark River Market, farmers’ market and
flea market every Saturday in June, July, and August (618-463-1016).
Alton Symphony Orchestra Pops & Jazz Concert,
June 14, 7 p.m., informal concert at the promenade at the Price Lock and Dam
Visitor’s Center (www.altonsymphony.org).
American Ghost Society, June 19 through 22, seventh
annual conference featuring Loyd Auerbach, David Hatchers Childress (My Life
as a Cargo Cult God & Other Supernatural Experiences), Troy Taylor,
Dale Kaczmarek, Rene Kruse, and John Brill (www.prairieghosts.com/conference.html).
Country Days Antique Tractor & Gas Engine Club
Show, June 21 and 22 in Godfrey, featuring antique tractor implements, cars,
and trucks. Hours 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday; free admission
and parking (618- 462-7954).
Pride, Inc. Home & Garden Tour, June 22 noon
to 5 p.m. in Alton and Godfrey. Tickets are $12, children 5 and under are free
(618-467-2375).
Great Rivers Towboat Festival, June 27 through
29, featuring dinner cruise aboard the St. Charles Princess June 27. Tickets
for the dinner cruise are $55 per person. Other festival events include crawfish
boil, rope-throwing competition, and zydeco music (618- 786-3555).
Riverside Flea Market, June 28 and 29, July 26
and 27, August 23 and 24, in Grafton (618-786-8210).
Alton-Mississippi Fireworks Festival, July 3, free
festival featuring food, entertainment, and fireworks 5 p.m. to midnight at
Riverfront Park (618-463-3526).
Fireworks in Grafton, July 5 (618-786-3344).
Alton Drum & Brass Review, July 10 at 7 p.m.,
competition sanctioned by Drum Corps International, benefitting Alton School
District music programs. Tickets are $13 in advance, $14 at the door (618-465-8281).
Alton Arts & Crafts Adventure, July 11-13,
18th annual fair featuring quilting, woodworking, jewelry and baskets, floral
crafts, fabric crafts, soft sculpture, and painting. Free admission. Hours are
10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday (312-751-2500).
Lilly’s Birthday Party, July 13, free carnival
rides (618-786-2353).
Jimmy Buffet Parrot Head Tribute Party, July 26
(618-465-6676).
Open Buddy Bass Tournament, August 10, fourth annual
competition presented by Jersey County B.A.S.S. Anglers (618-786-3524).
Great River Road Music Festival, August 15 through
17, hosted by the Gateway Dulcimer Society at the Lodge in Pere Marquette State
Park
This article appears in May 29 – Jun 4, 2003.
