PEORIA

In my haste to finish my last post, I failed to discuss my recent trip to the lovely city of Peoria, Illinois. I definitely should have discussed it, because it has proved to be a fun place to be.

Things Peoria has that Springfield DOESN'T:

A real skyline...It's pretty fun to drive around at night and see all of the glittering lights and the view from the neighboring hilltops.

A river! Not only the river, but a bunch of really cute little bars lining the river. It actually reminds me a little of New Orleans, one of my all-time favorite cities.

Cold Stone Creamery...The best ice cream I've tasted north of the Mason-Dixon line...(Bluebell still wins) they mix the ice cream with your choice of ingredients. I departed from my health food kick briefly and ordered Boston cream pie ice cream, which consisted of the vanilla ice cream mixed by hand with yellow cake, chocolate, and other yummy stuff. It was well worth the extra miles I ran to make up for eating it.

A huge, outdoor mall! And yes, it has the biggest Dick's I've ever seen...(see Krissa's comment on the previous post) Dick's Sporting Goods, that is. I made the mistake of letting that comment slip out of my mouth...Krissa was positively rolling with laughter before I had realized what I said. SIGH...lol. And it doesn't have the random run-of-the-mill shops that can be found in Springfield...they've got the Bergner's to end all Bergner's (it's also huge), Sharper Image, Ann Taylor Loft, and a number of other stores I enjoy that cannot be found in the happy confines of Springfield Illinois.

Catepillar...Not that I really care if Springfield has a Catepillar or not, but Krissa took me on a driving tour of her new workplace, so I felt like I should mention it. It's HUGE! Apparently, it employs something like 80,000 people...very amazing.

So, all in all, Peoria was a fun place to visit, and I hope it works out well for Krissa. The best part about it is that for the first time in years, my best friend is only an hour away! Yay!