Yesterday, we transitioned to the RV Park on the grounds of the Hollywood Casino near Joliet, IL.  The park is ok - good 50 amp power, water pressure, wide grassy sites, and cement pads with a patio, but I thought when I made the reservation on-line that we would have full hookups ("full service" were their words), but when we arrived at our site there was no sewer connection.  No big problem, but...

That evening we went to the casino for an early dinner and ate at their 99 Hops House.  Yes, they offer at least 99 different brews with most being drafts.  Shirley ordered their taco salad (a deconstructed taco salad and lots of the key ingredients), and I opted for their buffalo crisp chicken wrap that was huge and very tasty, and the twice fried fries were very good.  The waitress was a bit short, but ok.  The place would be a great one to watch sports and have a beer as they have TVs everywhere and one ginormous projection screen above the bar.  After stuffing ourselves we went down stairs to the casino and dropped a few bucks in the slots.   Most of the slots are penny machines, but they do have quarter and dollar machines as well.  Plus, they have live roulette and card tables.  To me the slots seemed a bit tights, but then I don't hit them too often to really have a baseline.  After dropping $20 in and walking out with a little over $5 after only a few minutes of play, we went back to the coach.

Today, we drove into Joliet, home of the first Dairy Queen, and the cross roads of Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway, to check out the Joliet Area Historical Museum.  The museum is housed in the former Methodist Church.  They retained the beautiful wood interior architecture and beautiful stained glass windows.  Their exhibits and displays were excellent and capture their history very well. 

It was interesting to learn that John Houbolt was from Joliet.  He was the chief conceptualizer of the lunar orbit rendezvous segment of the Apollo Program and the use of the lunar module to shuttle astronauts to and from the surface of the moon.  His concept challenged the preferred classical approach which was to land a rocket on the moon with the capsule attached and to use the rocket to launch the capsule and recovery rocket from the moon's surface.   His approach was more efficient in cost, fuel, and weight, and saved development and testing time. 

Joliet was located near huge deposits of limestone that was used in constructing many of the buildings in the area, thus the town got the nick name "City of Stone" in it's early years.  Later, it would garner the nick name "City of Steel" after a large steel mill was constructed that produced rails for the growing rail industry. 

Joliet was key in the construction of the Illinois and Michigan canal and locks on the Des Plaines River that eventually connected Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River.  Unfortunately, the canal's life was short lived with the expansion of the rail roads and eventually the highway system.  However, today, there is still considerable river traffic on the river.

From there we drove to the Old Joliet Prison and the site of the opening scenes of The Blues Brothers movie where Elwood Blues (Dan Akyroyd) picks up "Joliet" Jake Blues (John Belushi) after his release from the prison.   In all, the lime stone gothic prison and/or site have been featured in at least a dozen other movies and TV shows.  The Joliet Area Historical Museum has attempted to acquire the prison and to open it for public tours, but since it closure in 2002, nature, vandals, and an arson's fire have taken their toll on the massive structure and grounds. It is sad to see it continue to deteriorate.

We then drove past The Rialto Theatre hoping to get a chance to go inside, but found that they do not offer tours except on Tuesdays.  According to pictures at the museum, The Rialto is a magnificent building that was built in 1926 and fully restored in the 1980's.  It features a pipe organ that was built into the structure when originally constructed to support vaudeville acts and silent movies, and is still played on special events.  The console rises from the orchestra pit to stage height.  Today, the building is used to host social gatherings, weddings, dinners, and intimate musical and theatrical events.

After doing a "drive by" of the theatre, we drove to Mokena, IL and the Tribes Beer Company for lunch.  Tribes is a microbrewery that has a restaurant and bar.  They offer a n extensive list of their own beers as well as local area, and western US beers.  Shirley opted for their Pig and Goat burger (prosciutto, goat cheese, and beer onions).  While I ordered their baked Mac n' Cheese (smoked mozzarella, gouda, white cheddar, diced peppers and shrimp).  Good eats, but waaaay too much food - we both ended up taking half of our meals back to the coach.