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The Old Schoolhouse

After the blacksmithing demonstration we toured the original house that John Deere built for his family. There was the original three-room house, the house with a later addition, and the house and addition with a still later addition. The John Deere Historic Site was a real gem of a stop!

In the parking lot of the boyhood home.

From there we drive to Dixon. We first stopped at Mama Cimino’s pizzeria for lunch before heading over to the Northwest Territory Historic Center for self-guided tours. The building is the old school house where our 40th President, Ronald Reagan, attended grades six and seven. It is a three-story school house that has been completely rehabilitated and now houses — in different rooms — displays on Abraham Lincoln, the story of the Lincoln Highway, Ronald Reagan, Blackhawk and the Sauk Indians, and the Blackhawk War.

Jay’s Drive-in

After this stop we drove over to the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home. (The on-street car show was canceled because we only had six MGs and six cars do not a car show make.) We first toured the Reagan Visitors Center and the obligatory walk through the gift shop. Then about half the group went to the Boyhood Home while the other half stayed at the visitor center to view a film about Dixon and the Reagan family. The two halves then switched sides. Parked out back in a garage, was a 1919 Ford Model A. This was not the car the Ronald Reagan’s father owned but was a car of the same make and model, or at least the same vintage.

From there we drove back to the Paddlewheel Inn for a brief respite before heading off to Jay’s Drive In, a 1950s/1960s diner. Because it was cold (and, dare I say, really cold for late May) nobody chose to eat in the car — although we could have. Instead all went inside for really good French fries, prime rib burgers, and incredible ice cream. Jay’s even had their own homemade root beer!

Upon returning to the Paddlewheel some selected to sit around a table and watch Jamie Schaffer drink a cup of cold, bad coffee as she chewed the Styrofoam cup. The bar in the restaurant next door had closed, but few cared. We were tired and most headed up for a winter’s nap (it felt like winter).

Saturday

Chief Blackhawk under wraps

The day began as Friday began – breakfast at the Sunrise III Caf (although some opted for a bakery around the corner on Washington Street. From breakfast we went east on West Washington (Illinois Route 64) and eventually into Louden State Park and the Chief Black Hawk statue. The statue is shrouded in black plastic as Doug warned it would be. Seems the statue is in need of significant maintenance. It has been wrapped to prevent further deterioration.

But the view of the Paddle Wheel Inn and of the Rock River were fantastic.

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