Welcome to Forgotonia

So I never got around to telling you about my trip to Chicago a few weekends ago. (You were waiting, I know.)

This was C-Nor’s first trip on Amtrak. And, as always, I loved watching the scenery change from Forgotonia landscape into suburbia and then downtown.

Here are some highlights:

1. My (our) first trip to Chinatown.

2. We saw a hilarious show at Second City, the revue called “America: All Better!”

And, even though it seems a bit undemocratic, or something, to draw attention to this fact—since the most hilarious cast member, in my opinion, was the tiny, red-headed Emily Wilson, (shown at right), but:

one of the cast members was a guy named Rob Belushi.

(Yeah, you might recognize that name).

I Googled him after we got back home, and confirmed my suspicion (with this article from the Las Vegas Sun, which is also where I borrowed the photo) that he is indeed Jim Belushi’s kid (and John’s nephew.)

3. On Saturday morning, a trip to the Oak Park Farmer’s Market. (We stayed at C-Nor’s sister’s place in the ‘burbs.)

Does it seem strange to anyone else that I live in a rural area, and my farmer’s market is … um… a handfulla stands, and this farmer’s market in suburban Chicago was the most bustling, busiest farmer’s market I’ve ever seen?

It was amazing.

Endless tubs and varieties of tomatoes, apples, etc.; musicians playing; people jockeying into line for homemade donuts…it was so lively.

4. Back downtown: because we were in the area, we tried to go to Uno’s for deep-dish pizza. The wait was over an hour–even at about 3 in the afternoon. Luckily, we were able to get in fairly easily right across the street at… Duo’s. Both places are part of the same franchise, and apparently were started by the guy who introduced deep dish to the world.

Is is blasphemous of me to say I think I actually prefer it thin?

5. Our first visit to Millenium Park, though I have to say I kinda felt like I’d already been there, due to the surreality of being a Facebook vuyeur— I’ve only seen probably a hundred other peoples’ pics posed in front of this thing.

6. Did you know there’s a new modern art wing of the Art Institute? AND that it has a walking bridge leading from its roof down to Millenium Park?

Yeah, I didn’t either. Apparently it opened in May.

So I felt like a pretty big dork about the fact that I led us to the MCA, (Museum of Contemporary Art), where we were only able to see a fraction of the exhibits because certain wings were closed. And then we discovered this whole new Institute wing, like, right before we were supposed to be back at Union Station.

Oh well.

At least we got to take a dorky picture of ourselves waving at the Cloudgate!

1. The Spaz is back open!

As I reported awhile back, this badly needed eatery-option had been in a sad-seeming state recently.
Chris and I went on Sunday night. We were about the only people in there, sadly.


2. Spirit in the Sky has acquired the inventory from Bliss.

(You can browse the selection while making sure to pick up your Slutty Version of a Disney Character costume for Halloween!

But what will happen to the empty space where Bliss was located?

Let’s hope for something other than an insurance office or dream catcher emporium, shall we?

Thanks to the commentors on yesterday’s post.

I hope all of us will be proven wrong and The Spaz will re-open with a bustling business.

Or that, if not, something good will open up in its place.

(Dear Local Alderman: What can we do to get a Panera up in this mug?)

Is it just me, or are things on the southwest side of the square looking a wee bit depressing?

Chris and I were taking a walk around the square over Labor Day Weekend when we stumbled upon the revelation that things apparently aren’t going too well:

1. According to a sign taped on the door of The Spaz, (which is the kind of casual-but-not-greasy-spoon, lots-of-options, coffee-bar-that-actually-stays-open-during-the-evening place Macomb really, really needs), the business will soon be under new management.

Ok, maybe not a big deal.

But when I happened to pass by it again last Friday noon, the place was still shuttered.

I wonder what it will take for Macomb (a town with thousands of college students in it) to keep a coffee shop open past dusk. Srsly!

(oh, and btw, I tried to put my coffee-money where my mouth is and support them this summer, but since I was the only soul in the place they kinda had to ‘hint’ me out.)

Does anyone out there know about the future of The Spaz?

2. Kittycorner from there, Bliss has gone kaput.

This one, too, had a sign on the door. But it listed a phone number any interested buyers could call.

It’s a bummer, at least in the sense that it was a somewhat unique, hip, locally owned business (and downtown, vs. in a strip mall) that didn’t make it.

But hey, watch for a classified ad:

“Wanted: size 0′s to shop at close-out sale! Lots of XS, XXS, and XXXS items; all must go!”

Unless they’re just getting a whole new set of kitchen knobs or something, it doesn’t look too promising:

(Classified ad in the McDonough County This Week:

CLOSE-OUT SALE

The Secret Garden Restaurant close-out fixture sale will be held Thursday, June 25…All equipment, appliances, kitchenware and furniture will be sold…

Sniffle.

The one place in Macomb with outside tables, too!

Sniffle. Goodbye, portabello wrap. It’s been real.

Where do Forgotonia folks like to (or wish they could) eat, shop, and explore?

This week we hear from one of my lifelong friends, Kimberly Kelly, who was born in Forgotonia.

When she was growing up in Carthage, her family owned the Kelly Co. store on the west side of the Carthage square.

Though she moved to Florida after high school and has lived in Portland, OR and Scottsdale, AZ, since then, I have the good fortune of seeing her every summer and Christmas when she returns home to work for and visit with her family in McDonough and Hancock counties.

Kim is a friendly, never-meet-a-stranger kind of gal who manages to make me laugh in nearly every sentence that comes out of her mouth.

Married to Michael Burch, and proud owner of a French bulldog, Mabel, (who you might see Kim walking around the Macomb square when she’s home–and who was an honorary “bridesmaid” in Kim’s Macomb wedding), Kim offers a unique perspective on what it’s like to live somewhere else and still stay up-to-date on what it’s like “back home.”

Name: Kim Kelly
Age: 31
Hometown: Carthage, IL and Macomb, IL
Current city of residence: Scottsdale, AZ
Occupation/ employer: Account VP 21st Century Global Corp, Inc.
Forgotonia resident for ___18 years

1) I ended up in Forgotonia because: Family. (Kim was born and raised in the area, where her parents, brother, grandparents, and aunts and uncles still reside.)

2) Favorite food item for sale in Forgotonia: Pork Tenderloin, Chicken Lips, Brooks Catsup

3) Favorite touris spot/place to take visitors in Forgotonia: Going to Keokuk to see the Eagles at the lock and dam, Macomb Heritage Days, the spillway [at Carthage Lake] and the Nauvoo Grape Festival.

4) Favorite spring or summer event/moment/memory in Forgotonia: Cruising route 136, road tripping, getting hit by a runaway tire off a horse trailer on the way to school.

5) Favorite fall or winter event/moment/memory in Forgotonia: cheering at footballs games, NOT!

6) Favorite place to eat in Forgotonia: Larry A’s Pizza [in Macomb]

7) Favorite place to shop in Forgotonia: Bliss [botique on Macomb square]

8) Favorite place to spend a Saturday in Forgotonia: Parents’ house

9) Place(s) I’d like to spend more time in/visit more often in Forgotonia: Elms Nursing Home [to visit Grandma]

10) Forgotonia in general (or) my specific town needs needs: Organic grocery store

11) Forgotonia in general (or) my specific town needs less: consignment shops

12) Best bargain for your buck in Forgotonia: Dollar General

13) Best bragging point about/ landmark/place to take visitors in Forgotonia: Carthage court house.

14) Places I like to think I discovered in Forgotonia: The back field which my grandma called “the holler” in Colchester, IL the land has been in my family since the late 1800’s. We would play war and build forts back there all summer. My grandma told us to be careful cause there are coal mines back there, unfortunately we never found one, believe me we sure did look!

15) Radio station playing most often in my car when in Forgotonia: whatever the one Mike Gillett’s on [Modern Rock 95.9 WNLF]

16) Most dependable/ favorite media outlet in Forgotonia: none

17) Restaurant, business or trend I’d like to see start in Forgotonia: Culvers

18) Best place to buy a beverage in Forgotonia: Chicken lips [Chick's on the Macomb Square]

19) I saw a good concert/ underrated live performance of some kind / notable moment in regional or national history in Forgotonia and it was: David Kroll at LaHarpe Fair, Motley Crue and Type O Negative in Quincy, IL

20) One thing I miss/ would miss since leaving / if I left Forgotonia would be: No traffic, fresh air, one finger wavers.

Despite the attempts to save the place several months ago, the owners of the poor little Student Prince, the mom-and-pop diner on Jackson Street (long popular for that Saturday or Sunday morning need-for-grease meal), have called it quits.

I noticed several weeks ago when I drove by that the place appeared to be shuttered, but I never got around to posting anything about it.

I’ve only eaten there a handful of times, but I’m sad it see it go, mainly because it’s just been around forever.

And because when I was a cub reporter [miserable little pee-on] for The Macomb Journal back in 1999, I did a feature on how the owners at that time were closing shop; then another one a few months later when some other people saved it and re-opened it.

It just seems that every town should have that [formerly smoky] little diner where you can fill up on eggs and toast and endless coffee for only a few bucks, and where you see farmers and truckers and factory workers gathered in the same place with late-night college revelers. Don’t you think?

One small bright spot about this passing is that, according to an ad in Friday’s Western Courier,
those breakfasts will actually still be available, just in a different place:

“East [I didn't know there was a west] Student Prince Crew has Moved to Rocky’s! Same GREAT Breakfast! Just Different Location“

So there you have it.

Order up!

Who lives in Forgotonia, and what do the people here think about their surroundings?

This week we hear from Kay Hamada, who–considering her origins–often brings about baffled looks when she tells people she actually likes (liked) living in the Midwest.

A native of Pahoa, Hawaii, Kay originally came to the Midwest to attend Drake University in Des Moines, where she earned a degree in journalism. After teaching English in China for a year, Kay came to Macomb, where she tutored, taught in the English department as a graduate assistant, and even did a stint reporting for The Macomb Journal.

As her time in Macomb was wrapping up, Kay considered staying in the Midwest, maybe even in Macomb–yes, for real!–but later landed a faculty job at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. An article she wrote for a project at Western is forthcoming in the Journal of Popular Culture. [How cool is that?]

Kay is a devoted “House” fan, loves Seth McFarlane, and is missed by the WIU second-year grad students in English.

TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR ….

Kay Hamada
Age:24
Hometown: Pahoa, HI
Current city of residence: Honolulu, HI
Occupation/ employer: Academic Advisor, University of Hawaii
Forgotonia resident for 2 years

1) I ended up in Forgotonia because: I was completing an MA program at WIU

2) Favorite food item for sale in Forgotonia: Anything at El Rancherito–they all taste the same after a while: fantastic! :p

3) Favorite spot in Forgotonia (tourist/ scenic/ commercial/ other): Galesburg movie theater…it was a tourist spot for us out-of-towners.

4) Favorite spring or summer event/moment/memory in Forgotonia: Avoiding deer wandering around [WIU graduate housing complex] Lamoine Village at night.

5) Favorite fall or winter event/moment/memory in Forgotonia: snowstorms that led to school being closed…twice.

6) Favorite place to eat in Forgotonia: Jackson Street Pub

7) Favorite place to shop in Forgotonia: Wal Mart…where else?

8) Favorite place to spend a Saturday in Forgotonia: The coffee shop in the square…I can’t even remember what it’s called (it’s the only one there, I think) [perhaps Sullivan Taylor?]

9) Place(s) I’d like to spend more time in/visit more often in Forgotonia: Anywhere I can track down people I knew from my graduate program.

10) Forgotonia in general (or) my specific town needs/needed more: Places to shop.

11) Forgotonia in general (or) my specific town needs/needed less: Trash.

12) Best bargain for your buck in Forgotonia: Martini glasses at the Dollar Tree…literally a buck!

13) Best bragging point about/ landmark/place to take visitors in Forgotonia: Ummm…. WIU.

14) Places I think more people should check out in Forgotonia: Hm…can’t think of any. Jackson street, maybe?

15) Radio station playing most often in my car when in Forgotonia: Didn’t have a car :(

16) Most dependable/ favorite media outlet in Forgotonia: Just about any TV station or whatever was on the WIU homepage.

17) Restaurant, business or trend I’d like to see start in Forgotonia: Still, better places to shop–especially smaller independent stores that carry ecclectic items.

18) Best place to buy a beverage in Forgotonia: That coffee shop…darn it, wish I could remember the name!

19) I saw a good concert/ underrated live performance of some kind / notable moment in regional or national history in Forgotonia and it was: at the Cafe. Sadly, I can’t remember the name of the band. It was folksy, and not too loud or too twangy.

20) One thing I miss/ would miss since leaving / if I left Forgotonia would be: my friends, and the good times I shared with them. For some reason, times like those can never be reproduced elsewhere.

–

These are the people in my neighborhood!

Highlighting some of the interesting people who came from, or migrated to, Macomb (or west-central Illinois in general) and some stuff they think is great, or some stuff they’d like to see improved, about living here.

This week we hear from Caren Bordowitz.

An East Coast native, Caren moved to Macomb in summer of 2007 from New Jersey with her husband Hank, (a music-business expert who has written several books on popular musicians), and their three sons, Michael (21), Larry, (16), and William, (10). A former employee of for Toys R’ Us (at the corporate HQ, I think), Caren, a graphic designer, is also a successful member of Weight Watchers, a Weird Al Yankovich fan, and–as you can see here in her YouTube instructional–a hopeful future superstar.
(She would like to teach the world how to properly make a mock-up.)

Unfortunately (for us), Caren will be returning with her family to the East at some point in the indeterminate future.

But while we still have her here, we get to hear some of her perspective on life in Forgotonia:

TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR CAREN BORDOWITZ

Name: Caren
Age: 48
Hometown: Ventnor, NJ
Current city of residence: Macomb, IL
Occupation/ employer: Graphic Designer, WIU
Forgotonia resident for 1.5 years

1) I ended up in Forgotonia because: husband got a job here

2) Favorite food item for sale in Forgotonia: no fav

3) Favorite (tourist/ scenic/ commercial/ other) spot in Forgotonia: corn fields out to the horizon

4) Favorite spring or summer event/moment/memory in Forgotonia: William taking horse riding lesson

5) Favorite fall or winter event/moment/memory in Forgotonia: going to NY

6) Favorite place to eat in Forgotonia: Landmark in Galesburg

7) Favorite place to shop in Forgotonia: you got to be kidding!

8) Favorite place to spend a Saturday in Forgotonia: home

9) Place(s) I’d like to spend more time in/visit more often in Forgotonia: no fav

10) Forgotonia in general (or) my specific town needs/needed more: Jews

11) Forgotonia in general (or) my specific town needs/needed less: lack of diversity

12) Best bargain for your buck in Forgotonia: Aldi’s

13) Best bragging point about/ landmark/place to take visitors in Forgotonia: again, you got to be kidding

14) Places I like to think I discovered/ think more people should check out in Forgotonia: no answer

15) Radio station playing most often in my car when in Forgotonia: NPR [Tri States Public Radio WIUM/WIUW]

16) Most dependable/ favorite media outlet in Forgotonia: no answer

17) Restaurant, business or trend I’d like to see start in (or return to) Forgotonia: Target

18) Best place to buy a beverage in Forgotonia: across the hall from my office

19) I saw a good concert/ underrated live performance of some kind / notable moment in regional or national history in Forgotonia and it was: no answer

20) One thing I miss/ would miss since leaving / if I left Forgotonia would be: the people are genuine, warm & kind. But seriously, get me back to NY where people are snarky!

I don’t know why I felt the need to take a picture of this, but I just did.

(Five bucks no actually just bragging rights to anyone who can identify where it’s from.)