After about six hours of driving, we arrived in Creston, a town of roughly 8,000 people. Dinner was at the Knotty Pine, on a hill outside of Afton, where we ate some wonderfully complex steaks and enjoyed the hunting lodge decor -- deer heads and pheasant festooning the walls while a stuffed wildcat perched on the bar.
While the turkey was cooking the next day, we went to Creston's deserted downtown. Bernings Café,
once a local hot spot where all five of us Hall kids worked, is no longer in business. Even on a regular day, there isn't much going on downtown. Most of the stores are closed -- run out of business by Wal-Mart. I remember walking downtown on Saturday 40 years ago for a lemon Coke at Hansen's Drug Store after sighing over Bobby Sherman in 16 Magazine, shopping for bell bottoms at JCPenney's, and checking out books at the Matilda J. Gibson Library.
On the way home on Friday, we stopped in Eldon, the location of the house that was used in Grant Wood's famous painting American Gothic.We had our picture taken in front of the house in American Gothic garb -- fun (even though the picture didn't turn out very well).Back home on Friday, we introduced Chelsea's boyfriend Chris, who had brought her
down from Elgin, to the Springfield horseshoe. The horseshoe is a real gut-bomb, invented right here in Springfield. In a horseshoe, toast, some kind of meat, and fries are covered in cheese sauce. Sounds gross but it tastes great.Chris pronounced it "fantastic." Saturday was Chelsea's 22nd birthday, which we celebrated in style at a local restaurant with Emily and Jake (note -- no horseshoes were consumed).
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