Local Poll II #13 - DECATUR, ILLINOIS!

What's yer name/nickname yer going with here: Grrr

Where do you live/what city are you e'splainin?: Decatur, Ill.

People love to trash talk Decatur, and nobody does it more than the people who live there. The whole town has a massive inferiority complex, and the neighboring towns treat it like it's a trailer park princess walking barefoot into the country club. But it's not that bad, and if you live in Champaign, it's not a bad day trip.

What neighborhoods or areas around here do you recommend exploring? The west side, which is the more fashionable side (according to those who live there), has some really cool stuff; a small handful of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed houses, Governor Oglesby's mansion, Millikin
University. There are a lot of trees. I'm a lot more familiar with the east side;
if you want to explore around here, start with the lake and work your way around it.

Any good parks round you for sitting in or wandering through?
Decatur has the best parks. Seriously. There's none of this "plant a flowerbox and stick a park district sign in it" sort of business going on; Decatur has HUGE parks, mostly ringing Lake Decatur. A brief tour:

NELSON PARK is located off of Rte 36 on the east side. It features a golf course (with hills, no less), a rock garden, a public pool, the marina, miniature golf, batting cages, fishing piers, an outdoor bandshell,lakeside jogging/biking paths, multiple playgrounds, and two restaurants (a
fancy bar and grill, and a not-at-all fancy chili parlor). This is home base for
the city's fourth of July celebration and for SummerStart, a music-and-arts festival Memorial Day weekend. There's an observation deck, soccer field, and, if you know where to look, some really cool tornado damage. If you go far enough, it turns into Chandler Park, which is home to the sailboat club. Really good wading to be had over there.

SCOVILL PARK is across the lake, also on the east side; access it from Country Club Road. Scovill has the zoo, the state's children's museum, an enormous wooden playground, and a flower garden gazebo that is extremely popular for weddings. There's also a sculpture trail, I think, though
Maybe I'm mixing that up with the Oriental gardens at Nelson Park.

FAIRIES PARK is on the northeast, near ADM. It's very popular with fishers, also edges the lake, and also has a public golf course. It's also in view of the largest poured-concrete structure in the Western hemisphere, a train trestle. It's smaller than the previous two parks and has fewer grills and facilities, but is also less popular and less crowded.

FAIRVIEW PARK on the west side is really awesome. It's got a public pool, the skate park, a fishpond called Dreamland Lake, loads of trails, several pavilions, and lots of nooks and crannies for teenagers to get up to all sorts of things. Back in the 20s the real Dreamland Lake--an amusement park with roller coasters, ballrooms, the whole boardwalk thing--was located here; Richard Peck wrote a children's book set here; lots of 5k road races go through here. It's really pretty--very green and loads of flowers. It's very close to Millikin University. The main car path goes all around and over and through, under some creepy old railroad bridges, and there are Lots of offshoot trails for biking and walking. And if the miles of trails here aren't enough for you, a paved pedestrian/bike path runs a few mile north to...

ROCK SPRING CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOVERY. I love Rock Springs. It's huge--acres and acres--and has trails through deciduous forests, restored prairie, along the Sangamon River. It's got a pine forest. It's got an old time prairie village where they do educational programs about pioneer
life. It's got frog ponds with a LOT of frogs. It's got the aforementioned bike trail, plus some short and easy discovery trails, plus some longer, tougher hiking trails. And they actually keep trail maps out for hikers, a concept I wish would catch on. Yeah, Lake of the Woods, I'm looking at you. Give a girl a break. Anyway, Rock Springs. It's not a bring-the-lawnchairs-and-have-a-cookout park like the others, but it's nice to have easy access to a lot of different types of trails, which are out of sight of the highway. Plus, the park's old-timey baseball team, The
Ground Squirrels, plays old-timey baseball against visiting teams.

Then there are the neighborhood parks, and the sports parks, and this doesn't even count the state parks right outside the city. Did I mention that the park district also owns the city airport?

Other local features or beautiful natural spots to take in: Central Park in the middle of downtown has Decatur's iconic Transfer House, a funny squat little building where people used to transfer streetcars and, later, buses. It's been moved a couple of times and is fairly beloved. As beloved as Decatur allows, anyway.

Any good festivals? When? Oh, my lord, yes. If there's one thing Decatur gets swept up in, it's festivals. What else would you do with all those parks? The bigger ones include:
* SummerStart, Memorial Day weekend: until this year, SummerStart was a boozefest surrounding the eastern national speedboat races. Those were cool--colossal high power speed boats getting lifted into the water by cranes, then zooming around at insane speeds (and at insane volumes; I heard them from miles away playing in my backyard as a kid, and though we were being attacked by bees). The boat races lost too much money, though, so this year they made it a music and arts festival. It might be called the "Lakeside Music and Arts Festival" now.
* Yesteryear Fair, Labor Day weekend. Old people in old clothes talk about blacksmithing, rope braiding, and quilting. That's all well and good. But what's more important is that they make fantastic homemade donuts, cheap. Mmmmm. This fair is held by Macon Country Historical Society on their museum grounds; right down the street is the museum-owned White Book House, which
is an old house packed full of books, donated by everybody and available to you for a dime or a quarter. I spend three bucks and bring home a grocery sack full of books.
* Fourth of July. The main 4th celebration is centered at the Nelson Park Marina, where a day long celebration of food, beer tents, and picnicking are supplemented by performances by the much-loved Municipal Band and the Decatur Park Singers. (It is unbelievable how much people love the Park
Singers. They're kind of Up With People-like--pop standards, God Bless America, maybe a highly show-choir stylized Madonna medley. People LOOOVE the Park Singers. The Municipal Band is the oldest non-military band in the country; this is their 148th year.) There's a parade in the morning and fireworks at night. The fireworks are shot off a barge in the lake, and people sit on this big hill (known to locals as "the hill") to watch. You can also see the fireworks from all the other parks and towns and individuals ringing the lake, so you get little shows surrounding your big show. It's very small-town America nice.
* Decatur Celebration, first weekend of August. Insane. Twenty-two blocks of downtown Decatur are blocked off for three days of heat, food, crafts, rides, food, performers, and food. There are 10+ stages at various points in the grid, plus little pockets of small-time entertainment--magicians
and cloggers and baton twirlers and the like--and it's all free admittance. Past performers have included Rick Springfield, Air Supply, Three Dog Night, The Presidents of the United States, Los Straightjackets, Moxy Fruvous, Don McClean...I can't even remember. This year? Oh, yeah, baby--Boyz II Men and the Village People. THE VILLAGE PEOPLE. Plus a carnival, plus the
food—my god, the food! In addition to your typical corn dogs and elephant ears, they try to get a really exotic and diverse type of fair food--crepes, jambalaya, alligator, roasted corn, tempura, and, oh! weird yummy fried stuff, like fried twinkies, which are infinitely better than you'd think. There are a fair number of drunks, particularly around the main stages, and it's always really freaking' hot.

Best non-stupid on-line/print source(s) for local entertainment info: The city has the hookup for festivals and educational-type stuff: http://www.decaturcvb.com/

Or try Decatur Magazine for more complete listings: http://www.decaturmagazine.com/

Best place(s) to stop in to see inexpensive local music (particularly those that regularly book bands with females): Outside of the festivals, Decatur has blues in the park in the summer. Bands tend to play bars and churches, but the only place I know that regularly books touring bands is Wake the Dead--a rather intimidating all-ages venue on Eldorado.

Best place(s) to stop in to get a beer without pretention or hoo-haw: Most places are non-pretentious; lawyers and truck drivers and doctors and factory workers are all hanging out in some of the same places. I'd go to Schaffers, a really old, really tiny bowling alley downtown, or to the Lincoln Lounge, also downtown. But then I might run into people from high school.

Best place(s) to stop in just to stop in while visiting:
The main post office downtown (Franklin St.) I am in love with this building. It's big, granite and marble art deco fabulous. The walls are covered with WPA murals--the nation's largest collection of true frescoes, actually--depicting the history of Illinois and great Illinoisans. It's massive and heavy and full of early-twentieth century grandeur, at least on the surface; you can see just past the nice dividers to the drab underfunded reality of modern municipal work behind the gold lettering. Love it. It's open 24 hours most of the time.

Best secret deals:
I don't know so much about the free, but Decatur is the place to buy anything used. Need books? CDs? Dishes? Orthopedic limbs? Babies? You can probably get it used and cheap. Thrift shops open and close a lot these last few years, but they are plentiful. Check out Olga's House of Stuff on
Water, The Lutheran School Association Thrift Shop on Eldorado, and the St. Mary's Hospital shop on Wood.

Where can you find Galaga in your town? Or Space Invaders. Or Elvis pinball. Or batting cages? Any other favorite play spots to share?:
Paul's Putting Place in Nelson Park has batting cages, mini golf, and snacks. There's a big new citywide sports center over by Millikin that apparently has everything ever--batting cages, climbing walls, tracks, you name it--but I haven't seen it myself.

Best public place to nap and/or picnic:
For sun, head down to the lake and sit on a hill, or a pier, or the overlook. For shade, the pine forest at Rock Springs. Oh--and if you're not napping alone, there are little overlooks all around the lake that provide plenty of scenic parking for sparking.

Best inexpensive way in from the airport for travelers who have no one to pick em up, or who wanna spare their hosts the hassle (public transport options preferred!): You can take the bus during its limited hours, and to its limited range. It's a car-based town, and the airports on the far
East edge. Or call my parents--they'll give you a ride.

Best bets for lodging: Loads of hotels and motels. It sounds very middle-class to say, but we have a very nice Holiday Inn (the Chicago Bears stayed there during their brief, whiny, self-indulgent stay). We also have lots of very Route-66 looking seedy motels.

Is public transport available? Do you recommend it? If so, how much is it? If not, how should a visitor get around? Not very much. There is a bus system, but its limited in range and hours. It's about a dollar to ride.

Local book store(s)/music shop(s)/co-ops/otha shops to check out:
BOOKS: Although I'm loath to send tax dollars to the Interstate big-box mall town of Forsyth, there's a great used bookstore on the north side of this 'burb, The Book Barn. You can't get them as cheap as you used to, but you can still get classics and first run paperbacks for a couple of bucks; prices are generally about 1/4 of the cover price. They also have added an assortment of housewares for cheap. CDs: G&B's CDs on Eldorado is an awesome place to find used and new
CDs. It's grimy and disorganized, but they've got a crazy assortment of music. I've bought everything from the Go-Gos to bootleg Uncle Tupelo to out of print Hum there. The guys who run it are very cool and will help you dig through the sometimes apparently random bins of music. Also has vinyl.


Locally-run cheap restaurant(s) you dig (yay to veg-friendly and regional flair ones!):
Krekel's Custard and Hamburgers shops are the best. I regularly consider going back to beef to eat one of their hamburgers, but I'll settle for a cheese toastie and a lemon cone. The prices are ridiculous--grilled cheese is a buck, fries are a buck, a cheeseburger sets you back.... Their ice
cream makes Custard Cup taste like plastic. Some Krekelses are walk-up stands, but Eldorado, Mound Rd., and Mt. Zion do provide some seating. Krekel's is also home to the rather famous chicken cars--giant old Cadillacs, red and white striped, with an enormous fiberglass chicken sprouting from the top. Alas, Mr. Krekel died a few years ago and the cars have been tied up in probate.

If you're looking to sit, try Paul's on North Water. Once upon a time it was a confectionary, now it's a greasy spoon with great chili and a damn fine green river. Excellent shakes, too. A good old fashioned malt shop, good and cheap.

Thai: We don't hold with that sort of thing round here.

Mexican: El Matador at Pershing and Martin Luther King. Good, cheap, excellent service.

Breakfast: Jan's East End Grill on Brush College Rd has served my dad, my uncle, my grandfather, and a whole bunch of other cranky old coots every Satrday for a million years. Nothing fancy, but decent and cheap. For a more elegant Sunday brunch, the Main Hangar restaurant at the airport is good, and you sit right beside the tarmac and watch the planes come in and take off.

Diner: There are a bunch, and every old guy in town has his favorite. I like Jan's East End and Norma's.

Comfort food: French fries from Mr. G's

Vegan food?: Ha. Nice try.

Coffee shop with character: You'd be hard-pressed to find a $5.00 latte around here. People get their coffee with their eggs, or else they stop by the gas station.

Regional fare: Krekel's hamburgers are kind of Decatur's pride

Yer fav fancier place: Main Hangar at the airport

Others to recommend: Lock, Stock, and Barrel has a very nice lunch menu (and is one of the more popular bars in the evening). It's over by Millikin. And if you're downtown, go to Merchant Street and stop by Del's Popcorn Shop, even if it's just to inhale. Fresh popped popcorn, caramel apples, fudge, pralines...mmmm. Yum.

Cool local activism to look out for: UNION YES! Many active unions; not many successful ones, at this point. And community-based music; while there aren't a lot of bar bands, several of the local choirs and community and school bands are very well-known, and the choruses and bands are used a lot for community building.

One road trip outta town you like: Lake Shelbyville is nearby, and has great camping, boating, and swimming options.

Best/worst time of year to come. Why: The Celebration is fun, but you can't get a hotel room (and there are 300,000 other people there). Summers are really hot. Winters are really cold. Come in the fall.

Shoes you recommend bringing for a good visit: Any. No shoes, no service.

Quirks of yer town we should know about:
Okay. If you've heard of Decatur at all, you've probably heard about one of three things: (1) Decatur? You'll get killed if you go there! (2) Decatur's where they make exploding Explorer tires. (3) Decatur smells.

First, Decatur has a lower crime rate than most comparable cities in
the area, including C-U and Springfield; you just hear a lot more about crime in Decatur, where you don't have a giant university or state government to hush it all up. I have never been shot in Decatur, nor have I ever known anyone who was shot in Decatur.
Second, well...not anymore, because Firestone blamed the Decatur plant for the whole thing and shut it down, instead of admitting that they locked out the skilled workers and hired scabs and used the untrained non-union office workers on the plant.
Third, Decatur does smell. Two of the world's largest agribusiness conglomerates are based here, and there's a whole lot of grain processing going on. It smells different depending on what it is they're making; usually, it's kind of an odd pasta-y smell, or soy saucey. But you know what? Unless you're growing all your own food and not using anything plastic or driving a car--if you drink a can of Coke or a bottle of beer, if you eat grain-fed beef or fill your tank with low octane gas, you're reaping the benefit of those grain processing plants. You can't get soymilk without that smell. And depending on what part of town you're in, which way the wind is blowing, and what they're doing that at the plants that day, it might not be noticeable.

A bit about who you are:
I grew up in Decatur, my family still lives there, and I go over there a LOT. I can recommend eight good routes from Champaign to Decatur that don't involve the Interstate.